Which one of the hundreds of Italian governments that they've had since WWII were you referring to?

The idea behind democracy is that no person's interests come before another person's. While we may be is some disagreement about the exact nature of "one man, one vote," I think we both agree on what a good system is. And the Federalist Papers really are a good read if you want something political/philosophical.

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"It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a 'dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.

--Murray Rothbard

I was referring to them all in totality, as you know.
White Fox, I could easily end our discussion here on a congenial note, as you have made your above reply congenial. But I really was serious in asking the question I did at the outset.

And though it seems the answer to my question might simply be the "first-past-the-post" principle used in the US, I would like to hear Americans' view on the pros and cons of this system, and especially whether they realize that this system is just one of many systems of democracy and if they do, how they feel about their own system.

In short, I'm not ready to end our discussion.

The purpose and/or wonderful quality of a democracy (or a republic) as a form of government is the fact that it protects the life, liberty, and property of every individual by limiting the tyranny of government. This is not quite the same as "one man, one vote" which is more the definition of a true democracy, which is not the same as the federalist republic of the US. Every person's interests should be in the government because every person has a vote, but every person also has rights. American democracy is a federalist republic, and, as someone put it, is "the worst form of government, except for all the rest." I think that's a sufficient explanation. Third parties can be a good thing in some circumstances, and I think the Libertarian Party might rise in the next few years to whip the GOP back into shape or (hopefully) to completely replace it. The main problem with the Italian system is that it represents "one man, one vote" in a truer sense than the American way does, due to their system of proportional representation. Our system does have many cons, but try to come up with a better system.

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"It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a 'dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.

--Murray Rothbard

I have to agree with Spanky on this one...We are most definitely different than the rest of the world.

Thats not a uniquely American thing mind you, I dont think either of us are claiming that. The French are different than the English, the Japanese are different than the Aussies, the Danish are different than the Mexicans etc etc etc.

Some nations are pretty similar to each other, however as a whole I believe that the beliefs and views of people are different in almost every single part of the world. Peoples world views are formed by their history, their upbringing, and outside social factors (religion, who their parents were, what their parents political beliefs are, what type of government they grow up with, whether they have money or not, their daily activities etc etc).

Americans are unique....No more unique than your people mind you, just unique in our own way, as you are in yours.

Comparing us to the Brazilians doesnt really hold any merit. Our reasons for having our government the way it is doesnt necessarily have anything to do with the reasons theirs is how it is. Same with your nation and other nations who have somewhat similar governments.

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"The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments"

--George Washington

"Never spend your money before you have earned it."

--Thomas Jefferson

"One man with courage is a majority."

--Thomas Jefferson

you can establish your own political party like Greens did.........

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Jesus beat the devil with two sticks. Colossian 2:13,15

Proud American!

Communism/Socialism is similar to legalizing burglary and murder!

Any form of Democracy would fulfill that.
It was Winston Churchill who said: "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."

And you have yet to explain why a system which limits the choices people can make to just two is better than those who don't have such limits, where people don't need to vote "strategically" for the least worst, but can vote for one of a plethora of choices, in the knowledge that the party only needs 2% or 5% of the vote to be represented.
The Swiss system perfectly represents the "one man, one vote" system, as you seem to understand it, and they haven't had unstable governments historically. The Italians, who have a form of Democracy called Parlimentarism, have historically had unstable governments. But they are almost alone in this among Parliamentary democracies.

I didn't compare you to Brazilians, but to the Jamaicans. But nevermind. In any case your argument still doesn't explain anything. I wish it did.

Not exactly, the majority could vote that I had to give up everything I owned and that would still be democracy. I thought it may have been him, but I thought it could have been FDR. No one is really stopping you from voting for a third party candidate, it's your own choice. The Swiss have been stable even when surrounded by Nazis. I don't think America could handle it. We are just a very large country with very different interests.

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"It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a 'dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.

--Murray Rothbard

If you are declared personaly bankrupt, isn't that the same thing? Or are you saying you cannot be declared personally bankrupt in the US?
Yes, but almost no one does as they know they are probably throwing away their vote. This is due to the "first-past the-post" system.

Wouldn't it be nice not to have to worry about throwing away your vote?
All the more reason to best represnt those many views in the law making body.

lol.....oh yeah the Jamaicans.

I was debating energy independence in another thread and brought up how Brazil was able to become energy independent and must have had them on the mind.

We are going to have to agree to disagree then because I think my argument fully answered every single question you had. No offense but I think you are looking for ways to disagree rather than trusting us to give you a correct answer.

We may not have answered it 100% accurately, there may be more to it.....However we gave you a general feeling of what goes on here in the U.S. and what our mindset and culture is like. I also explained (somewhat) our voting procedures and also pointed out that 3rd parties are also on almost every ballot.

It seems to me...and again no offense meant with this because I like you, but it seems to me that you are simply looking for something negative and sinister in our system that you can ultimately criticize.

If im wrong in that assesment then by all means let me know, it certainly wouldn't be the first time lol. I guess I should ask though...What do YOU think is the reason we dont have more than 2 relevant parties in our system??

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"The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments"

--George Washington

"Never spend your money before you have earned it."

--Thomas Jefferson

"One man with courage is a majority."

--Thomas Jefferson