On 15 Mar 2002 at 15:23, Kakki wrote: > > Americans > believe and have always believed that they ARE the government "by the > people and for the people." >
I can't help thinking that the majority of Americans don't believe this. If they did, wouldn't we have a higher voter turnout? Where is the patriotism on election day? On March 5, California had it's lowest voter turnout on record, less than 35% of registered voters cast ballots, which equates to a mere 22% of eligible voters (registered and not registered). And other states have not faired much better with elections since 9/11. I think this quote from Arend Lijphart, a UC San Diego political scientist speaks plainly and directly to the point. "'But what kind of democracy do we have when only a third of the people vote? If government means by and for the people, can we really call ourselves a democracy?'" http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000017220mar08.story Brenda n.p.: Great Chefs
