esme Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 But what has that got to do with the OP's question?Personally I don't believe we have a democracy, and further very few people want one, my apologies if I didn't make that clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Hans Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 A democracy shouldn't mean that you vote in the least bad party and let them make all the decisions for 5 years, it should mean the citizens get to vote on things that matter to them. A democracy in the UK apparently means we choose which dictator we get for the next 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeX Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 A democracy shouldn't mean that you vote in the least bad party and let them make all the decisions for 5 years, it should mean the citizens get to vote on things that matter to them. A democracy in the UK apparently means we choose which dictator we get for the next 5 years. EVERY elected official has a term, they are not dictators If there is no party that represents your views, stand for parliament yourself or would that be too inconvenient for you? It's much easier to just sit on the sidelines and whine isn't it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manlinose Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 such cynicism, such distortion of the meaning of words anyone who thinks we have a dictatorship really needs to get a new dictionary we do live in a democracy - it has many faults but it is a democratic system in that we, the electorate, have a regular opportunity to vote to elect our Parliamentary representatives and a regular opportunity to throw out the existing Government it isn't a perfect system and it isn't a pure democracy - in a country of 60+million people it never will be - it could also be a lot better, but it doesn't stop it being a democracy the imperfect system we have is something that many people in many countries would (and often do) die for the majority of the population are apathetic regarding the electoral system and the process of appointing the Government and the decision making process but it doesn't mean we don't live in a democracy - it just means we could live in a better democracy if only enough people could be bothered (and if a consensus could be reached on what is "better" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Hans Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 EVERY elected official has a term, they are not dictators If there is no party that represents your views, stand for parliament yourself or would that be too inconvenient for you? It's much easier to just sit on the sidelines and whine isn't it! You need money to stand for Parliament and lots of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manlinose Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 You need money to stand for Parliament and lots of it. no you don't, you need a deposit of £500 and a handful of the electorate to support your nomination (I think its 10 but I could be wrong) although to stand any chance of getting elected you would have to spend a bit of money on publicity to get your message across - mostly what you need is time (and a popular policy or two) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Hans Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 no you don't, you need a deposit of £500 and a handful of the electorate to support your nomination (I think its 10 but I could be wrong) although to stand any chance of getting elected you would have to spend a bit of money on publicity to get your message across - mostly what you need is time (and a popular policy or two) There you are then, you have no chance of getting into Parliament unless you can buy enough votes. Anyway, you're de-railing the thread. How can it be a democracy when the public don't decide on the issues? There are loads of issues that come up mid-term, that the people who voted have no say on. Politicians lie about what they are and aren't going to do until their party is elected. Tuition fees is one example. I really can't be arsed to argue about it, but if you vote for someone on the understanding that they will or wont do something, then they they go and do it or not do it anyway, and you still have them for another 5 years making all the big decisions ignoring public opinion, then that's not a democracy. Ok we don't know what public opinion really is, because they don't ask us. That's my point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjw47 Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Manlinose. who said we lived in a dictatorship? It's quite obvious we don't, wouldn't we require an all powerful Mussolini or Stalin type 'Great Leader' to qualify? What people are saying is more on the lines of 'calling this a democracy is stretching it'. And it is stretching it. Whenever I have heard a description of Democracy it has invariably included the word Majority. As pointed out in my previous post, not one single Political party has formed a Government in this country since the Second World War with a Majority of the votes cast. That is a pretty pathetic statistic for anyone wishing to boast of our democratic standing. The voting system in this country is not fit for purpose, but it suits most of the elected politicians because that's how they got in & they have no incentive to change it on the 'Turkeys voting for Christmas' principle. In my opinion the main reason why there is such apathy in this country with regard to the political process is that people simply cannot see the point of bothering to vote. Whilst I take an interest in politics it doesn't obsess me but I would definitely take the opportunity to vote if I felt it would make a difference. It doesn't though does it. As I have previously mentioned I have lived in the same house since 1984. On every occasion an election has been held the same party has won. I hold no allegiance to any party & sometimes the one I voted for got in, on other occasions they didn't. But it was the same result every time. So next time I'm not going to bother, why waste my time. In my view what we have in this country resembles an Oligarchy as much as, if not more than, a democracy. A well connected ,relatively small group of people, including but not exclusively politicians, exerts a disproportionate influence over the country's affairs. The current system suits them & so it will remain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swarfendor437 Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Democracy, oh yes, "I am not a number, I am a free man" - conditioning works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southcoast Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Britain does not have democracy,we wont have it until we have PR for all elections,every vote should and must count,of course this wont happen as the present system favors the big boys,so sod the rest eh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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