"We don't have a democracy, we have a RePUBliC!!1"All democracies are republics. [Edit: this is not strictly true, what I should have said is any 'pure' democracy would be, but constitutional monarchies aren't republics]. Not all republics are democracies. These are not things that are in opposition. The only alternatives to democracy are oligarchy and monarchy(and in practice, monarchies are primarily oligarchic).Our sainted Founding Fathers didn't oppose democracy in order to defend oppressed minorities. They were slavers. They were rich and powerful men whose families gained their hereditary wealth and power from service to the kings of Europe, who they'd just convinced the public were illegitimate. There was a very reasonable fear that putting the systems that legitimized and enforced their wealth and power up to a vote would result in them being rescinded. So they designed the system to insulate them from the public will.
The only minority they cared about in the slightest was the group James Madison referred to as "The Opulent Minority". Ie: themselves. The oligarchs.
I have always liked a truly democratic voting system where every candidate gets a yea or nay vote and the candidates with the least nays win.* Candidacy by petition so backing still would count whether corporate or grass roots. All regions use the same system to elect all candidates at all levels. in other words the nay votes filter up to the highest level the candidate represents.
*This not a misprint, the aye votes come with the petitions, so they don't count.
*This not a misprint, the aye votes come with the petitions, so they don't count.
More later
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