this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2024
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PS.

I would for vote Kamala. I would vote for a cactus with sunglasses if it had the Democratic nomination. You would do yourself well to consider anything that is weaking the resolve of the anti-trump sentiment straight poison to your brain. We have only one job this novemeber and that is to stop trump. The Supreme Court has given him the status of king. Quit acting like your vote is sacred and start realizing your vote is your final cry before your rights are forfeited.

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[–] rsuri@lemmy.world 11 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

That's extremely simplistic. The complicated truth is:

  1. It's a law of political science (Duverger's specifically) that a first-past-the-post system leads large, mass-appeal parties, and parties that don't go for mass appeal will fail.
  2. In the US, the political balance is further pushed to the right by a) unequal representation that typically favors rural states and districts, most egregiously in the Senate, and b) denial of representation to particularly blue parts of the country like PR and DC. This means that relative to the country, Democrats cannot be as far left as Republicans are far right and still hold power. This can be observed in the simple fact that in the 21st century, Democrats have won 5/6 national popular votes, but have only controlled the Senate in 4/12 sessions.
  3. From 1 and 2, it follows that Democrats would effectively lose what little political power they have by taking a firm leftist stance, leading to effectively a one-party far right state.
[–] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemm.ee 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

How can you discuss the flaws of First past the post and NOT want to change the voting system?

[–] IzzyJ@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Its not that we dont, but that we effectively cant. That requires a Constitutional amendment, which requires a two-thirds vote.in both the house and senate

[–] MarciaLynnDorsett@lemmy.world 0 points 5 months ago

duverger's "law" is basically a tautology. it does not have predictive power.