Is Australia a more Democratic country than the USA?

[malaise]

Discuss

[Irish_Dem]

1. Fairly soon, many countries will be more democratic than the US.

[spooky3]

2. Hi, malaise!

1) they require everyone to vote and impose a small fine if you don’t vote. Huge contrast to the barriers to voting here.

2) there is no Citizens United, so money plays a much smaller role.

3) there is no electoral college, and Aussies who have talked with me about it think we are insane to have it.

[Dial H For Hero]

3. I can't agree with #1 (requiring people to vote).

If someone cares so little about politics that they won't vote except when under duress, I don't want them to vote.

[malaise]

4. True but when that mandatory voting law was introduced

it excluded the indigenous people.
They were able to ban assault rifles without the madness of an NRA.
Season’s Greetings sis.

[JanMichael]

5. Look up Juice Media for your answers.

They have been run by Trump lite for some time now.

Maybe institutions have survived?

[malaise]

6. Yep - there is no simple answer here

It’s why I asked the question.

[KentuckyWoman]

7. Snort

It won't be much longer and North Korea will be more democratic than us if we don't put a stop to the Republican shenanigans.

Yes I'm being ridiculous ....

[Budi]

8. The entire roots of Silicon Valley have to be pulled up to fix the Oppo that's been running against

...against Democracy.
Silicon Valley runs the backdoor oppo against Democracy that the RW runs in our face.
Peter Thiel's ties to Kochs & Trump et al, is a good place to start.

It's the damaging oppo we don't hear about.
But should if we're seriously intent on saving our Democracy.

[roamer65]

9. It's not that Australia has become more democratic.

It’s that the US has gotten a lot worse.

[Dan]

10. Don't think that the USA is considered a real Democracy anymore

I think Autocratic or one controls by the oligarchs since Citizens United.

[malaise]

11. So here is another question

Is the US regressing to what it was before the Russian Revolution, the Spanish flu, WW1 and the excesses of the 1920s?

[pecosbob]

14. Yes, in many ways

[Dan]

15. Not a history major, but if I had to guess this is what I would say

In parts:

- We are in part in the period of the Robber Barons…
- We are also in part in the period of the Guilded Age…
- We are also in part in the period preceding the Civil War…
- We are also in part in the period of Mass Propaganda of the early 30’s…

We’re in a mess…

[malaise]

20. Agree

We are also in a mess here.

[brooklynite]

12. You first.

[malaise]

13. You're getting shy in your old age

[pecosbob]

16. I wouldn't say "more" Democratic, but...

Australia was ranked 11 out of 180 countries for the least perceived corruption in Transparency International's 2020 Corruptions Perception Index.

I don't think they even needed laws on the books to prevent domestic political spending by foreign entities until recently (China).

* The U.S. was tied for 25th with Chile.

[malaise]

19. One of the most important indices on the planet

Thanks for this.
Season’s Greetings.

[NQCowboy68]

17. I'm a dual citizen of Australia & US

Born and raised for first 30 years of my life in Australia and have been in US for 23 years. I'd move back tomorrow if I could but jobs, family etc currently restrict that. This whole concept of "freedom" in the US is completely overblown. In some ways I felt I had more freedom in Australia than I do here. Freedom in the US has been bastardized to mean owning guns, typically a semi automatic weapon. I was a gun owner in Australia and I'm a gun owner in the US and I've never felt the need to own an AR-15 to prove my freedom.

Some of my random thoughts
- There are multiple political parties in Aus. Often govt's have to be formed via coalitions.
- We do not elect an individual as the primary political leader like a president. The head of the party(s) in power is made Prime Minister and a party can remove that person mid term.
- Voting takes place on a Saturday.
- Compulsory voting is never really an issue because that's how we are raised. Turnout is usually over 90+%.
- We generally don't identify ourselves cult like for a party either right or left. People might vote a certain way but I've never really heard a friend or family member self identify with a certain political persuasion. We have our nutjobs like any country but they really are in the minority.
- It was nice growing up, getting an education and joining the workforce without having to worry about healthcare costs or the cost of university.
- 4 weeks paid annual leave, 2 weeks paid sick leave, paternity leave, long service leave etc etc. Govt Pension at 65.
- I'd rather all these leave entitlements, a bachelor's degree and no healthcare costs than owning an assault weapon. I guess my definition of freedom is different...

[malaise]

18. Thanks for a great post

I live in a parliamentary system myself, but data suggests that the once independent bureaucracy has been weakened with copycat Thatcher-initiated partisan Quangos. Further the overlap between the executive and the legislative branches has facilitated the rise of partisanship. Party before country is a real worry in many countries.

That said, your points related to elections, guns, money and special interests in politics and importantly, the social democratic benefits available to all Australians, are very important.
Love your implied definition of freedom.

Season’s greetings and thanks.

[FakeNoose]

21. Thanks friend, for your honest answer