I wish I were in a position to say even this much. I do admire Australia’s compulsory voting mechanism and the simplification of the polling process:
This!
Because this:
Meanwhile, in Texas… stolen votes, suppression, fantastically effective gerrymandering, and so much more:
… in one of the most liberal counties in Texas, this lovely lovely map with Austin located dead center of that snarl of borderlines:
Good on ya Australia!
Keep the good parts of your system, and I wish you good luck and godspeed fixing the parts that need changing.
And may we resist authoritarianism in all forms, everywhere. Depending on how that’s defined…
… [P]olitical scientist Juan Linz synthesized authoritarian political systems as possessing four qualities: [2]
- Limited political pluralism, realized with legalistic constraints on the legislature, political parties, and interest groups;
- Political legitimacy based upon appeals to emotion, and identification of the regime as a necessary evil to combat enemies of the people, socio-economic underdevelopment, and guerrilla insurgency;
- Minimal social mobilization consequent to legalistic constraints, such as political suppression of all anti-regime activities;
- Informally defined executive powers, which extend and allow government authority into every sphere of life.[3]
… the U.S. is already well into this phase of its decline. How long before the U.S. drops off the cliff into this mess…
… is anyone’s guess, though the trend has signs everywhere.
ETA: federal contexts added
