Completely OT : Cannes, Mickael Moore and the Iraq War

primitive · #1 July 8th, 2004, 02:53 PM

No worries

Fyron · #2 July 8th, 2004, 07:32 PM

Quote:

You say Bush didn't get a majority?. Well them I'm sorry but it doesn't sound as if your democracy is organised correctly. At least in accordance to my idea of it.

Actually... the electoral college system in the US is set up to provide checks and balances for the minority (low population states) against dictatorship by the majority (high population states). This ranges from electing the President to the composition of the Congress. As Mephisto said, such checks and balances are needed in a democracy... this was how the people that set up the government of the US balanced it. That, and it was the only way to get the small states and large states to agree to be part of the same union and not have two separate nations after the secession from the British empire...

Randallw · #3 July 9th, 2004, 02:53 AM

Yes, I know a bit about this. Each state gets 2 senators right?. with 50 states that is 100 senators. So the 2 senators out of a lowly populated state get as much power as the 2 senators from a huge state.

Caduceus · #4 July 9th, 2004, 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Randallw:
Yes, I know a bit about this. Each state gets 2 senators right?. with 50 states that is 100 senators. So the 2 senators out of a lowly populated state get as much power as the 2 senators from a huge state.

Yes, that's the Senate. The House of Representatives is based on population. Both of those compose the Legislative branch of the US Congress.

A bill to be submitted to the President has to pass through both in order to be made into a law.

President and VP are the Executive Branch and the US Supreme Court is the Judicial Branch.

Wildcard

Here's a primer on the electoral college.
Electoral College

And the House of Representatives
House of Representatives