All votes are equal. But some votes are more equal than others.
In Part I of this two-part series, we came to the conclusion that the United States of America is both a republic and a democracy. It is a real failure of both the American education system and the level of civic engagement in the US that this idea of our country not being a democracy is so prevalent. In case you have not read Part I, we reviewed the varied types of government and concluded that the United States is not a monarchy, an oligarchy, or a theocracy, and it has neither an authoritarian nor totalitarian governing structure in place. While it does not practice uniform direct democracy, it does implement indirect democracy. Therefore, the United States is a constitutional republic and a representative democracy.
I suspect the real reason this argument is thrown around so often, that the United States isn’t a democracy, has to do with defending the use of the Electoral College when voting for the office of the president. No other republic has a similar system, so it isn’t a defining feature of a republic. It is specifically American. I have been either a resident or simply present in four countries during a presidential election: the United States, Mexico, France, and South Korea. I was also in Turkey for several weeks during the run-up to the 2014 presidential elections, although not during the election itself. All five of these countries define themselves as republics, but only one does not respect the popular vote…
