I believe the Swiss hold the honor of being the oldest continuous democracy, if we cast a wide web. Poland had it’s Diet a long time ago. When the Netherlands became independent, it became a republic. Many city states in Europe were run that way. The UK is just one of many nations that followed, but naturally Anglos like to point to themselves as the first (actually, they’re not the only ones that like doing that).
The oldest official democracy title goes to Greece, but I believe it was Homer who wrote about a North-African King ordering his staff to rule his realm while he stayed away (for years), supposedly 9,000 years prior.
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I am not an elitist, Dave, and I give credit to the first persons able to handle their own wallet as also able to elect their own officials. If we give a person 25 cents, then of course they’ll never learn how to deal with money well because they’ll immediately spend it. American society does not respect its own people, and that is where proportional voting can truly help correct the situation.
I am glad Canadians wouldn’t have much difficulty switching to proportional voting because they are already used to hearing different political perspectives.
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I am a structural philosopher, so I have to find the structure in which TDG is presented. I understand you cannot accept the Catholic Church as having the same system, but so far it is the closest thing I’ve found.
The entity in top of your system may not be the Pope, but the ideal of your system is sitting in that one spot nevertheless. Not the Pope, but the ideal is holding it in place.
The fragility of the TDG structure that you readily admit to, cannot withstand scrutiny.
Words are not enough to establish a solid structure. Good intentions are never the best fuel for politics. In politics we need addressing (and sometimes not-addressing).
District voting addresses the issues (but in an elitist way, red and blue only). Proportional voting addresses the issues in full color. The happiest nations in the world are nations with proportional voting in place.
