> poll of 1,746 adults was carried out in mid-December – before the huge slew of Partygate allegations
Imagine what it is now.
Since the referendum right up today our political standings has been trending downwards. There isn’t a shred of decency left in this government. Not one good person who can hold there head up high, just look at the voting record on the Owen Paterson case In November.
If the UK could break free of its relationship with America, that alone would solve 50% of the problems.
I’d say the political establishment should be very pleased about the little scam they’re pulling, if nearly half the public thinks that we have anything approaching a functioning democracy.
Democracy requires a well-informed electorate to function as intended. This is essential – no process is, of itself, ‘democratic’ (an election in Russia isn’t inherently democratic, for example).
Clearly a fully-informed electorate will never be a reality, but as long as there are more informed voters than uninformed/misinformed ones, democracy shuffles along.
Tipping points are reached when this is not the case. It’s increasingly not the case. Technology has made it easier than ever for certain factions to deliberately and disproportionately misinform large groups of people. Rational debate is increasingly being drowned out by populist fervour, cheered on by useful idiots and seemingly funded by opaque groups with an agenda.
I don’t know how we take back control at this point. Getting rid of FPTP seems like a step in the right direction, but I don’t see any chance of that happening right now.
Remember that the ruling class had to be fought tooth and nail so that normal people could have a democratic say in their own governance. The people who run our democracy come from an established line of rulers who never wanted us to have democratic representation in the first place, of course they’re going to make it seem as dysfunctional and pointless as possible. It’s the same reason small government conservatives are as a rule completely incompetent and wasteful when it comes to running governments.
Which major UK party will do anything about it by backing PR?
How does democracy work when 3.8million people voted UKIP and they only got a single seat?
I’m definitely not a UKIP supporter but this is the biggest example of how fucked up democracy is. Something is broken.
Democracy isn’t broken as a concept but the U.K’s approach is. You have the archaic FPTP system leaving droves of voters feeling ignored and underrepresented, leading to voting apathy, which continues the status quo and development of “safe seats” that don’t see any change in decades.
You have the unelected House of Lords being the only body that appears to be a voice of reason when it comes to things like draconian policing bills, or the Government’s refusal to criminalise misogyny.
You *then* have cunts like David Cameron using the referendum as a party policy, promising it not because he believed in leaving the EU, but because it was a fantastic way to hoover up BNP, UKIP voters, etc. It was meant to be a kangaroo court style vote but, because young people have no reason to believe or engage in politics, the gamble backfired. This mean they actually had to deliver on this ridiculous promise that should have never gone to the public vote in the first place. This then led to the conveyer belt of Prime Ministers coming in, each fucking up the exit agreement a lots more, before running away when it gets too hard. So strong! So stable!
I believe we vote for politicians who (in theory) understand the actual, real impact of decisions like this, and are the ones who make it. They shouldn’t be putting these kinds of choices to the largely uninformed/misinformed public, and it absolutely should not have been a partisan issue. Putting EU membership to a public vote should *never* have happened.
The main question we need to ask ourselves is why anyone who was born in the last 20 years *would* believe in democracy? Their only experience of it has been seeing democratically elected politicians fuck them over at every single opportunity.
43.6% of the popular vote coveys 100% of the power, yeah, I’d call that broken.
I’m happily surprised that so many think this.
Alas I suspect many might think so for totally backwards reasons and actually want things to be worse
Much as it’s not the popular thing to say here, the problem *isn’t* the voting system. Doesn’t matter *how* you select a pack of (largely) corrupt sellouts, the problem is that your choices *are* (largely) a pack of corrupt sellouts. The places to attack the problem are the party system and the system of funding political candidates.
Imagine your party fucking a county up that bad the half your citizens lose faith in democracy.
12 comments
> poll of 1,746 adults was carried out in mid-December – before the huge slew of Partygate allegations
Imagine what it is now.
Since the referendum right up today our political standings has been trending downwards. There isn’t a shred of decency left in this government. Not one good person who can hold there head up high, just look at the voting record on the Owen Paterson case In November.
If the UK could break free of its relationship with America, that alone would solve 50% of the problems.
I’d say the political establishment should be very pleased about the little scam they’re pulling, if nearly half the public thinks that we have anything approaching a functioning democracy.
Democracy requires a well-informed electorate to function as intended. This is essential – no process is, of itself, ‘democratic’ (an election in Russia isn’t inherently democratic, for example).
Clearly a fully-informed electorate will never be a reality, but as long as there are more informed voters than uninformed/misinformed ones, democracy shuffles along.
Tipping points are reached when this is not the case. It’s increasingly not the case. Technology has made it easier than ever for certain factions to deliberately and disproportionately misinform large groups of people. Rational debate is increasingly being drowned out by populist fervour, cheered on by useful idiots and seemingly funded by opaque groups with an agenda.
I don’t know how we take back control at this point. Getting rid of FPTP seems like a step in the right direction, but I don’t see any chance of that happening right now.
Remember that the ruling class had to be fought tooth and nail so that normal people could have a democratic say in their own governance. The people who run our democracy come from an established line of rulers who never wanted us to have democratic representation in the first place, of course they’re going to make it seem as dysfunctional and pointless as possible. It’s the same reason small government conservatives are as a rule completely incompetent and wasteful when it comes to running governments.
Which major UK party will do anything about it by backing PR?
How does democracy work when 3.8million people voted UKIP and they only got a single seat?
I’m definitely not a UKIP supporter but this is the biggest example of how fucked up democracy is. Something is broken.
Democracy isn’t broken as a concept but the U.K’s approach is. You have the archaic FPTP system leaving droves of voters feeling ignored and underrepresented, leading to voting apathy, which continues the status quo and development of “safe seats” that don’t see any change in decades.
You have the unelected House of Lords being the only body that appears to be a voice of reason when it comes to things like draconian policing bills, or the Government’s refusal to criminalise misogyny.
You *then* have cunts like David Cameron using the referendum as a party policy, promising it not because he believed in leaving the EU, but because it was a fantastic way to hoover up BNP, UKIP voters, etc. It was meant to be a kangaroo court style vote but, because young people have no reason to believe or engage in politics, the gamble backfired. This mean they actually had to deliver on this ridiculous promise that should have never gone to the public vote in the first place. This then led to the conveyer belt of Prime Ministers coming in, each fucking up the exit agreement a lots more, before running away when it gets too hard. So strong! So stable!
I believe we vote for politicians who (in theory) understand the actual, real impact of decisions like this, and are the ones who make it. They shouldn’t be putting these kinds of choices to the largely uninformed/misinformed public, and it absolutely should not have been a partisan issue. Putting EU membership to a public vote should *never* have happened.
The main question we need to ask ourselves is why anyone who was born in the last 20 years *would* believe in democracy? Their only experience of it has been seeing democratically elected politicians fuck them over at every single opportunity.
43.6% of the popular vote coveys 100% of the power, yeah, I’d call that broken.
I’m happily surprised that so many think this.
Alas I suspect many might think so for totally backwards reasons and actually want things to be worse
Much as it’s not the popular thing to say here, the problem *isn’t* the voting system. Doesn’t matter *how* you select a pack of (largely) corrupt sellouts, the problem is that your choices *are* (largely) a pack of corrupt sellouts. The places to attack the problem are the party system and the system of funding political candidates.
Imagine your party fucking a county up that bad the half your citizens lose faith in democracy.