I have an even more legit reason for not voting - I don't live in the US

But I agree wholeheartedly on your stance about complainers. It's one of those things that can really get to you 'cause it's a pretty hypocritical and arrogant take on the world.

~~

Your welcome KIE. And...

Did my parents vote? O.o

Always a pleasure KIE. And both my parents did vote along with my sister . And yeah, it is alot bluer than before. I guess it's a time of change. It has been pretty darn red for 6 years now.

Democracy (literally "rule by the people", from the Greek demos, "people," and kratos, "rule") is a form of government for a nation state, or for an organization in which all the citizens have an equal vote or voice in shaping policy. While the term democracy is often used in the context of a political state, the principles are also applicable to other bodies, such as universities, labor unions, public companies, or civic organizations.

The people chose the candidates, hopefully we choose right . Anyway, is it still a tie or are the Democrats ahead? I haven't seen the news today, in a hurry and I got to go somewhere after I post this .

The Democrats have the house officially; the confirmation of the Senate's status is hung up on ol' Virginny here. Let that be a lesson to you, Virginians are troublemakers.

Considering the two candidates are still in pretty much a dead heat, even with over 99% of the precincts in, it might be a little while before anything is officialized here.

I would have voted, if I was 18. Although I must admit, either way Wisconsin's Governor is going to suck. We had the worst candidates for Governor. Some of the stuff I would have voted for did win so that makes me a little bit happy.

Kohaku

Yeah, if only I could vote, alas, come april I'm going to register to be able to vote (since you can register when you turn 17). That'll give me a strong sense of community.

And you're right, every vote counts, if you don't vote, you can't complain because you didn't contribute to the process. Voting is a privelage that Americans should take advantage of, but of course, it's not that we take anything else for granted.

I blame our culture. And yeah, indeed, welcome to the fray.

And on a side note, I'm liking all the blue.

And on a side note, I'm liking all the blue.

I'm rather worried. O.o

I can't, nor will I, blame you for your (what could be argued as) hardcore enthusiasm. Many times I've had it in the back of my head to post in the New Member Q&A and ask if I could put something like "Twenty-Two Wants You to VOTE In Your Next Election!", but of course I've never got around to it. Voting is important. It's democracy in motion. If we don't vote, who will?

Ironically, this past Sunday was my brother's birthday, so my family met up with my father and paternal grandmother to celebrate at a nearby Acapulco (I probably misspelled it, apologies). And with elections just two days away, of course the conversation rolled over to politics. I was so surprised to hear my grandmother say that she "had done her fair share." In other words, she's not voting anymore, apparently.

This coming from the mother (my grandmother) whose son (my father) happily served on a grand jury not five years ago.

I unfortunately was unable to get anything in about civic duty, but I figured it wasn't worth getting into an arguement about; we were there for my brother, and no one was really listening to my grandmother anyway (she-uh -- she was in "rare form" that night).

I should totally try and draw Twenty-Two in the Uncle Sam pose. "Twenty-Two WANTS YOU! TO VOTE!" Yeah, that'll get people to the polls. :-P

*calls Makaru's bluff*

The United States is a republic, not a democracy.

*stops EVERYONE before they get started*

This has nothing to do with the Republican or Democratic parties or policies.

A republic is a style of government where representatives of the people do the governmental deciding.

A democracy is a style of government where the people as a whole have a say in the goings-on of government.

Basically, if the US were a democracy, there would be no Congress (or there would be one in a very limited capacity), as every law would be up for vote by the entire public. Instead, the Founding Fathers [in all honesty] did not trust the ability of the common man to govern, so they crafted a government run by representatives of the people. Representatives who were sufficiently versed in the affairs of government.

So, we elect representatives from among ourselves to take care of the government work.

These representatives are elected in a democratic fashion (Y'know, in times past, such representatives were hand-selected by an authority figure: the US was one of the first to put it to a popular vote.), but since not everything comes up to the direct vote of all the people it would affect, the US government is, at its basest, a republic.

</Civics lesson>

-KIE

The Pilgrims tried Communism when they first arrived. No really, in that first year or so. Odd, but true.

Of course, I feel sorry for the poor little babies now... >.>

And the Biology classroom...<.<

I hate Biology Honors.

My Civics teacher would disagree with you KIE. He calls it an Indirect Democracy. A Direct Democracy is where everyone gets a vote, and that method is very inefficient as people don't pay attention to what is going on in the government.

Kohaku

Then ask him for me, what is the difference between an indirect democracy, a representative democracy, and a democratic republic.

I'm interested to hear this.

I still say it is a republic, because there are representatives responsible for most of the governmental duties. In any case, it's a hybrid form of government that has worked pretty well for the past 220ish years since the Articles of Confederation were scrapped.

-KIE