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Zeke posted an update 5 years, 4 months ago
With a 1:41 population ratio in comparison with California and Texas, these two scarcely populated States have the same Senate power in deciding the fate of the country and the world. But what do we know about them? Here’s a fun comparison between N and S Dakota.
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The U.S. system was specifically designed to keep high-population states from imposing their people’s will on all the other states. Equal Senate power among the states is a feature, not a bug.
Living in a country where the votes of the minority count double to offset inequality I can say it is definitely a bug and not a feature.
I see your point, but the U.S. was supposed to be a federation, and originally a confederation, of sovereign (or semi-sovereign) states that came together only reluctantly. The U.S. system attempts to balance population-based representation (House of Representatives) and state-based representation (Senate). The idea was to try to balance majority rule and minority rights. Personally, I think it was one of the best compromises in the history of politics.
Fiat: so glad to see someone point this out. So many confuse issues thinking the USA is a democracy. I was taught that goal of the Founding Fathers was to control factions and the poorly educated.
And to prevent mob rule–which we’re not doing a good job of these days! They feared pure democracy largely for this reason.
Yeah this post was mostly to share the cool video that showcases some of the key features of both these States. I understand how and why the Senate was setup to balance with the House, and agree with it’s principal.
However not same can be said of States winner take all EC positions – which are unconstitutional and should be abolished for a proportional version that neither helps any one party but gives more power to the people in representing their voice. This I think is a key problem that fuels the duopoly and focus on a few key States, helping bringing the US to a gridlock instead of a smoothly oiled efficient machine.
Rule by mob is one thing, but tyrannical rule by a tiny minority needs to be kept in check as well.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/09/10/winner-take-all-electoral-college-votes-unfair-unconstitutional-column/2264012001/
What “tiny minority”? The tens of millions who voted for Trump, or the tens of millions who voted for Biden? If the winner-take-all system was a consistent benefit to the Democrats, you wouldn’t hear a peep about it in USA Today or any other mainstream pseudo-journalistic rag.