hacker
Democracy is an expression of the people will.
When a small subset of the people have power that is larger (or smaller) than the average then the expression of peoples will is distorted.
Where one man/ one vote can be considered an ideal, and will ultimately reflect the expressed will of the people in the electoral contest, anything that may cause this will to be different distorts.
Examples in the American election of a President?
- the electoral college which can allow a winner who has not received a plurality of votes.
- the distortion by which a state receives electoral votes that do not represent its population within the country (or potentially the votes cast
- the potential for an electoral college member to vote other than for the candidate for whom he was nominated... (half the states at least)
- variance in registration and qualification for the franchise. In Florida about a third of blacks are disqualified because of criminal records. In Vermont, prisoners can cast a vote from their cells. (Someone convicted of marijuana possession does not stop being a citizen but their right to vote is often taken away.)
- variance in turnout because the regional nature of an election, with regional imbalances, can drive down voter turnout of minorities who despair at the effort of voting when the outcome is decided.... In a national contest, with equal standards for voters, this would be less likely to occurr as every vote would actually be equal.
Today its not. And therefore there is distortion.
(First pass the post system in a parliamentary election also can distort .... As can regional factors in representative areas... I'm not picking on just one system here.)
What do you mean by distortion?
Democracy is an expression of the people will.
When a small subset of the people have power that is larger (or smaller) than the average then the expression of peoples will is distorted.
Where one man/ one vote can be considered an ideal, and will ultimately reflect the expressed will of the people in the electoral contest, anything that may cause this will to be different distorts.
Examples in the American election of a President?
- the electoral college which can allow a winner who has not received a plurality of votes.
- the distortion by which a state receives electoral votes that do not represent its population within the country (or potentially the votes cast
- the potential for an electoral college member to vote other than for the candidate for whom he was nominated... (half the states at least)
- variance in registration and qualification for the franchise. In Florida about a third of blacks are disqualified because of criminal records. In Vermont, prisoners can cast a vote from their cells. (Someone convicted of marijuana possession does not stop being a citizen but their right to vote is often taken away.)
- variance in turnout because the regional nature of an election, with regional imbalances, can drive down voter turnout of minorities who despair at the effort of voting when the outcome is decided.... In a national contest, with equal standards for voters, this would be less likely to occurr as every vote would actually be equal.
Today its not. And therefore there is distortion.
(First pass the post system in a parliamentary election also can distort .... As can regional factors in representative areas... I'm not picking on just one system here.)