>Luckily that's not quite how it works Luckily? Democracy (direct democracy being a specific kind of democracy) has it's own issues as Thomas Jefferson pointe

>Luckily that's not quite how it works Luckily? Democracy (direct democracy being a specific kind of democracy) has it's own issues as Thomas Jefferson pointed out (51% holding 49% ransom) but the problem with anything else is that it is not direct. In the US you can vote someone in for their stance on some hot button issue and when they get in office they can do the exact opposite. What do you do then? "Hold them accountable" by voting them out. But they've already done the damage. Contrast this with Switzerland. The reason Switzerland isn't in the EU is because the citizens don't want to be and will not vote themselves into it. >but all-in-all we're not doing too bad. Really? Your phone can now be tapped and a warrant requested after the authorities have found something they think is incriminating, if you are suspected of being a terrorist you forfeit your rights, nearly all of the new candidates from one political party are openly on the payroll of one company [1]. What exactly would have to happen for you to say "well, it's not working so well at the moment"? [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/opinion/04krugman.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/opinion/04krugman.html