tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054910627465846465.post5937238948192937150..comments2024-03-28T15:30:35.153-07:00Comments on The Hitchhiker's Guide to National Affairs: Trucker Wins Democratic Primary for Mississippi GovernorUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054910627465846465.post-45658950152466074802015-09-09T19:08:07.745-07:002015-09-09T19:08:07.745-07:00I do see the kind of partisanship seen in the Deep...I do see the kind of partisanship seen in the Deep South as an example of the threat of faction Madison mentioned in Federalist #10. However, this kind of faction can pose more threat to the democratic system on the local level than on the national level. I see the problem of people throwing their Democratic vote away on non-serious candidates as a problem of people not wanting to give their vote to the Republican Party, but not believing that their Democratic vote will make any difference. The strong Republican faction in the deep South is strong because many people believe in their conservative ideals, but also because it has become expected that the Republican party will win in the South. Thus more liberal minded people do not think that their vote will make any difference to break this Republican tradition, so they are less likely to actively participate in the democratic process. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18088513337091365746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054910627465846465.post-81272532640072018982015-09-08T19:58:14.173-07:002015-09-08T19:58:14.173-07:00Uncooperative general elections are not in the spi...Uncooperative general elections are not in the spirit of democracy, as they force the entirety of a population to be represented by a single representative who does not need to actually compete to hold office, also destroying the concept of elections based on merit. A system by which parties hold primaries and the resultant victors of each square off in a general is fine if the balance of democrats and republicans is close to 50-50, but in lopsided states, this just creates the same problem, as the general election becomes a joke. One solution to this situation is what California has done with its gubernatorial elections, as the top two candidates with the most votes run against each other, regardless of party, allowing for a general election that is more likely to be competitive, ensuring that the most competent candidate, as decided by the voters, holds office. This is not a perfect system by any means, but it ideally helps lessen the role of partisanship and forces individuals to think deeper on who they want as their most powerful state representative, which is marginalized by frivolous elections.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10431602830805844566noreply@blogger.com