I feel you misunderstood. North Korea has elections. Russia has elections. Syria under Assas had elections. Strangely, the dictators always won by huge margins. Many dictators have a farce of a democracy to both give the people they rule a veneer of hope of freedom and to muddy the waters on the international stage.
Stalin had elections in Soviet Russia but he made it clear he didn’t care who voted. He cared about who counted the votes. Once the democratic institutions are subverted and their independence destroyed by a leader that leader gets to choose who sits in the seats: judges, legislators, bureaucrats, officers, and especially elections officials.
You’re right about the citizens being responsible for defending the institutions. In the end, the ultimate responsibility for the health of the republic lies with the people, not the government. The US does not understand just how much we have failed to defend the republic and we are on the verge of losing it.
I understood your statement, but the underlying connotation was “elections are bad”. Elections can be fair. Unfair elections can be restored, but not easily.
I feel you misunderstood. North Korea has elections. Russia has elections. Syria under Assas had elections. Strangely, the dictators always won by huge margins. Many dictators have a farce of a democracy to both give the people they rule a veneer of hope of freedom and to muddy the waters on the international stage.
Stalin had elections in Soviet Russia but he made it clear he didn’t care who voted. He cared about who counted the votes. Once the democratic institutions are subverted and their independence destroyed by a leader that leader gets to choose who sits in the seats: judges, legislators, bureaucrats, officers, and especially elections officials.
You’re right about the citizens being responsible for defending the institutions. In the end, the ultimate responsibility for the health of the republic lies with the people, not the government. The US does not understand just how much we have failed to defend the republic and we are on the verge of losing it.
I understood your statement, but the underlying connotation was “elections are bad”. Elections can be fair. Unfair elections can be restored, but not easily.