Democracy

Did you know that 75 to 80 percent of the residents of the United States of America believe that we live in a democracy?

Really, they do. And they're stunned to find out that they don't. I love this part because it shows them how much they really do still have to learn about things that they've taken for granted for so long. I tell them that the answer lies in a simple pledge they all learned as a child (well, the ones that were born and raise here anyway).

They still don't get it when I give the clue "pledge" so I tell them the "Pledge of Allegiance" has the answer. It's amazing how many people say "but it doesn't say democracy in there". And they're right, it doesn't.

Does anyone know what we do live in? It's very simple. We live in a "republic" More accurately we live in a Constitutional Republic. Need a definition? Click here and read.

There's another question I like to ask: Do you have a constitutional right to vote? The correct answer is "No".

That's right, no. You do not have a constitutional right to vote. Nowhere in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights or any of the other amendments to the Constitution are you given the right to vote.

This simple bit of knowledge sheds light on the reason why when there is a presidential election, the winner of the election can lose the popular vote. There's more, so keep reading.

So if you don't have a constitutional right to vote, then why do we vote you ask? Well, that's because your voting rights come at the state level. The state you live in gives you the right to vote (as long as you register first) and practices democracy in all the elections. Democracy means that the winners of all elections and votes are determined by the totals of the popular vote.

When you vote in your state for a presidential candidate, you're not actually voting directly for that candidate to become the president. Instead you are telling the state who you want the president to be. Once the voting is completed, the state allocates Electors. For the most part the winner of that state's Elector votes is the the state level popular vote winner, and that my not be who you wanted.

This method of election for the President uses a process called the Electoral College which is defined in the Constitution. Again, click here and here for more information. Each state gets a set amount of electoral votes based upon the total of the count of senators and representatives that represent the state in Congress in Washington DC.

Many people want to do away with the electoral college but in all honesty we still need it, and here's why: The majority of the population of this country resides in big cities (Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, etc).

I bring it up because statistically the majority of big city residents tend to be liberal/Democrats while again, statistically the majority of suburb and rural residents tend to be conservatives/Republicans. If we go with popular vote every time, then the majority of election winners would be liberal/Democrats, which would cause the conservatives/Republicans to be under-represented in the political process.

For all intents and purposes, this country is a two party country. Yes there are other parties, but until they get more people voting in line with their beliefs, we will remain a two party country.

Back to the Electoral College vs the Popular Vote. Now I realize that many of the more liberal minded would say "So what? if the majority of the residents are liberal then we should have liberal leaders." The problem is that not all liberal leaders are good for the people who elected them. I'm not saying that conservatives are any better, but in order for the process to work we need to have at least two political parties to perform the checks and balances that we need to maintain. If we don't it's very likely that our country, our form of government and our way of life will fall apart. And that's very likely not going to be good for us citizens of the USA.

That all said, no matter what your feelings are towards politics and our current government, remember these two things:

1. It's better than a lot of the other options, and

2. The process we have allows each and every person who's a citizen and registered voter to participate in the process.

As long as you have the freedom to vote and you are allowed to participate in the process, then your life is much better than many other people in the world. That said, in the next election, please don't vote for whomever has the best soundbites, educate yourself and make good decisions on who gets your vote.

Good luck!