A Few Thoughts About American Elections

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Robert Mugabe ‘won’ the recent presidential election in Zimbabwe through intimidation tactic. This election marks Mugabe’s third decade of ruling Zimbabwe — democratically, if you ask him.

Mongolia’s election this week was marked by the deaths of five people who protested fraud during the election process. They were caught in a riot. Democratically-ruled Mongolia is currently in a state of emergency.

Today is the 4th of July. That may not mean much in most countries, but it marks the independence of the U.S. We didn’t dream up democracy, as much as we might think so. The U.S. broke off from a country ruled by an elected Parliament, with a few aristocrats thrown in. I could talk for hours about the problems in our representative democracy, even if I just limit myself to the mechanics. Hanging chads, electronic voting machines, third parties’ difficulties in getting on the ballot. Problems are legion with our system.

But…

Our system is pretty good. People don’t die during American elections. Elected officials don’t commit rampant fraud just to stay in power. American democracy, with all its little problems, still works.

There’s a quote from Robert Heinlein that often comes to mind when I read the day’s political news:

The only good thing about democracy is that it’s about a hundred times better than anything else we’ve come up with.

Some days, the U.S.’s brand of democracy seems the same way — it isn’t perfect, but it’s better than all the alternatives.

So, get out there. Light some fireworks. Have a hot dog. And, come November, vote. Because democracy isn’t democracy if you don’t participate.