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There have been episodes recently like Jan 6th, the Occupy movement, BLM protests, and Antifa attacks where people tried to ignore the law and intimidate electe
by leereeves 2y ago
There have been episodes recently like Jan 6th, the Occupy movement, BLM protests, and Antifa attacks where people tried to ignore the law and intimidate elected officials.
But they failed, so the US is not an Ochlocracy.
- ordinaryradical 2y agoTrue, and because of the electoral college system, we do not have a popular vote for our most likely monarch, the President, hence a demagogue must win according to a different means than “appealing to the mob.” I still think the EC should be awarded proportionally according to each state’s vote but that is beside the point and would not compromise this difference.
- arunix 2y agoCan you say more about the EC being awarded proportionally according to each state’s vote? Wouldn't that mean some state's vote won't matter?
- adsteel_ 2y agoNone of those are examples of ochlocracy, even if they involve mobs. Mob rule is an "oppressive majoritarian form of government". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mob_rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mob_rule
- leereeves 2y agoElsewhere on that same page, "Ochlocracy is synonymous in meaning and usage to mob rule or mobocracy", which links to a different definition: "mobocracy: Rule or control by the mob (or by the mass of ordinary people); a mob as a politically powerful force." Those movements were certainly mobs as politically powerful forces. Had they succeeded, they would have been examples of control by the mob. Then there's the history section of the page you linked, where we hear about lynchings and riots as examples of ochlocracy. So why do you think those movements/riots don't qualify?