4 ms·

By what metric are they the best democracy? I visited Hyderabad and Chennai for work in 2018 for about three weeks. It’s certainly not a place I would want my

By what metric are they the best democracy? I visited Hyderabad and Chennai for work in 2018 for about three weeks. It’s certainly not a place I would want my family with me. The food in Hyderabad was amazing though, I’ll give them that.

parthdesai 8y ago
While i'm not well versed in politics and democracies around the world, i have seen a common person protest against the government, get over whelming public support, start his own party and go on to become the chief minister of Delhi all within a span of 5-7 years. I know for sure that isn't possible in the US.
- rayiner 8y ago
  Bill Clinton was a common person. While he didn't start his own political party, he radically changed the Democratic party into a more conservative form, and got himself elected President.
  - throwaway123156 8y ago
    Was Bill Clinton appreciably more conservative than Jimmy Carter, the last Dem President before Clinton?
    - rayiner 8y ago
      Very much so. Clinton trimmed the welfare rolls, cut the number of federal employees, deregulated finance, deregulated telecom (though Carter was also a major deregulator, having deregulated airlines, trucking, and beer), signed NAFTA, signed DADT, signed DOMA, signed RFRA, passed aggressive violent crime legislation, etc.
calvinbhai 8y ago
Are you sure you are not conflating the meaning of the word "democracy" to different issues, including quality of life, climate, infrastructure etc? There's no way you can evaluate how good/bad democracy is in any country, in 3 weeks.
- tracer4201 8y ago
  I didn’t make any statement on their democracy. I questioned by what metric are they the best and I commented that Hyderabad and Chennai are not a place I would take my family. Not sure how you took that to be any kind of judgement on India’s democracy.
  - calvinbhai 8y ago
    > By what metric are they the best democracy? I'm not sure what else you meant by that.
modi15 8y ago
Indian cities are a mess for a very different reason - they dont have elected city governments - you might ask why but the answer is too detailed to give here.
- tiuPapa 8y ago
  I am pretty sure we have municipal elections here.

parthdesai 8y ago

While i'm not well versed in politics and democracies around the world, i have seen a common person protest against the government, get over whelming public support, start his own party and go on to become the chief minister of Delhi all within a span of 5-7 years. I know for sure that isn't possible in the US.

rayiner 8y ago
Bill Clinton was a common person. While he didn't start his own political party, he radically changed the Democratic party into a more conservative form, and got himself elected President.
- throwaway123156 8y ago
  Was Bill Clinton appreciably more conservative than Jimmy Carter, the last Dem President before Clinton?
  - rayiner 8y ago
    Very much so. Clinton trimmed the welfare rolls, cut the number of federal employees, deregulated finance, deregulated telecom (though Carter was also a major deregulator, having deregulated airlines, trucking, and beer), signed NAFTA, signed DADT, signed DOMA, signed RFRA, passed aggressive violent crime legislation, etc.

calvinbhai 8y ago

Are you sure you are not conflating the meaning of the word "democracy" to different issues, including quality of life, climate, infrastructure etc? There's no way you can evaluate how good/bad democracy is in any country, in 3 weeks.

tracer4201 8y ago
I didn’t make any statement on their democracy. I questioned by what metric are they the best and I commented that Hyderabad and Chennai are not a place I would take my family. Not sure how you took that to be any kind of judgement on India’s democracy.
- calvinbhai 8y ago
  > By what metric are they the best democracy? I'm not sure what else you meant by that.

modi15 8y ago

Indian cities are a mess for a very different reason - they dont have elected city governments - you might ask why but the answer is too detailed to give here.

tiuPapa 8y ago
I am pretty sure we have municipal elections here.