Yes, by a broad definition. They can be considered democracies because elections, while not free and fair, are not directly rigged, opposition parties are allowed to contest them, and the press is partially free. Contrast this to a country like China or Russia, where elections are a sham, opposition is banned or controlled, and the press is tightly controlled by the government.
I will say though that both V-Dem and the Economist are being somewhat generous. Considering recent events in Hungary, one could argue both countries should really rank lower than Hungary.
I’m not sure what you mean? It has been the trajectory led mostly by the Republicans for decades.
Gerrymandering, illegal surveillance by agencies and even the police, secret laws upheld in secret courts overseen by a tight group of political leaders that are used to silence the press. Sounds like a conspiracy, except Obama admitted it, and even called it a good balance! The Republican rigging of the supreme court.
But maybe you mean it has dropped more?
Because I think it has because of Trump, and I also think the score of 8.22 that places it as a full democracy is moronic, considering it’s a 2 party system with fpp voting. And USA has the highest number of prisoners, and they are not allowed to vote.
Nixon actively made cannabis illegal to silence the peace movement. And it has been used since to also oppress minorities.
We’re in agreement. It seems way too high to begin with and dropping that little from Bush->Obama->Trump I->Biden->Trump II makes me think there’s some kind of bias at play.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index
Israel and USA are both flawed democracies placed at 30 and 34.
But they are still democracies.
Yes, by a broad definition. They can be considered democracies because elections, while not free and fair, are not directly rigged, opposition parties are allowed to contest them, and the press is partially free. Contrast this to a country like China or Russia, where elections are a sham, opposition is banned or controlled, and the press is tightly controlled by the government.
I will say though that both V-Dem and the Economist are being somewhat generous. Considering recent events in Hungary, one could argue both countries should really rank lower than Hungary.
I agree, and in Hungary Victor Orban had a lot of control of the media. That’s a pretty big part of being a democracy, that the press (media) is free.
In the US, corporate media is largely aligned with the Trump regime and journalists that dare to ask an actual question are denied access.
Yes the media is very much controlled by the 1%. And Trump paid them back with heavy tax cuts for the 1%.
According to the scoring since 2006 the United States index has dropped by a whole 0.57
That seems highly suspect to me.
I’m not sure what you mean? It has been the trajectory led mostly by the Republicans for decades.
Gerrymandering, illegal surveillance by agencies and even the police, secret laws upheld in secret courts overseen by a tight group of political leaders that are used to silence the press. Sounds like a conspiracy, except Obama admitted it, and even called it a good balance! The Republican rigging of the supreme court.
But maybe you mean it has dropped more?
Because I think it has because of Trump, and I also think the score of 8.22 that places it as a full democracy is moronic, considering it’s a 2 party system with fpp voting. And USA has the highest number of prisoners, and they are not allowed to vote.
Nixon actively made cannabis illegal to silence the peace movement. And it has been used since to also oppress minorities.
The score has been consistently way to high.
We’re in agreement. It seems way too high to begin with and dropping that little from Bush->Obama->Trump I->Biden->Trump II makes me think there’s some kind of bias at play.