It shows the overall low level of mainstream political discourse in America. Trump is Hitler, the Republicans are Nazis, Biden/Kamala are Marxists/Communists, not a democracy but a Constitutional Republic, etc. Just meaningless soundbites. I got the impression that saying 'not a democracy but a Constitutional Republic' is meant to signal one's high level of intelligence and deep understanding of the American political system. Only the most sophisticated of thinkers understand this profound distinction, after all. It is often followed by a meme about how in a democracy the first thing that always happens is the 51% immediately vote to have the 49% exterminated. A daily occurrence in every country with a voting system except the US, to be sure.
This is not a matter of semantic pedantry but real importance. Phrases like "direct absolute democracy" really denote democracy plain and simple. If democracy hasn't been attempted since antiquity apart from super rare outliers, then that says something historically and culturally significant. Probably mostly about the tendency to large states where democracy is extremely difficult to implement ; although modern technology could reduce/eliminate this extremity if there were a collective will for that (there isn't, because the democratic will is withered from lack of nutriment). The ancient Greek culture had a mania for small sovereign city states where democracy was one of the many favoured and practical forms of political organization, and where the will for democracy was often well nourished and very strong. What is now called representative democracy is actually representative oligarchy according to the Greek lexicon and practice from which democracy is also extracted. There's nothing wrong with representative oligarchy, if it works. But the name oligarchy is a constant reminder whom it works for, which is rather more and more often for the few rather than the demos. In the plutocratic mega states which predominate in modernity there are so many fundamental problems about the influence of private and corporate wealth on the elected representatives constituting the formal oligarchy that terms like democracy and even representative democracy look like exactly what they are ; propaganda to help disguise the political marginalization of the demos.
It shows the overall low level of mainstream political discourse in America. Trump is Hitler, the Republicans are Nazis, Biden/Kamala are Marxists/Communists, not a democracy but a Constitutional Republic, etc. Just meaningless soundbites. I got the impression that saying 'not a democracy but a Constitutional Republic' is meant to signal one's high level of intelligence and deep understanding of the American political system. Only the most sophisticated of thinkers understand this profound distinction, after all. It is often followed by a meme about how in a democracy the first thing that always happens is the 51% immediately vote to have the 49% exterminated. A daily occurrence in every country with a voting system except the US, to be sure.
Saying "This is a Republic, not a democracy" is as inane as saying '"I drive a four door sedan, not an automobile."
This is not a matter of semantic pedantry but real importance. Phrases like "direct absolute democracy" really denote democracy plain and simple. If democracy hasn't been attempted since antiquity apart from super rare outliers, then that says something historically and culturally significant. Probably mostly about the tendency to large states where democracy is extremely difficult to implement ; although modern technology could reduce/eliminate this extremity if there were a collective will for that (there isn't, because the democratic will is withered from lack of nutriment). The ancient Greek culture had a mania for small sovereign city states where democracy was one of the many favoured and practical forms of political organization, and where the will for democracy was often well nourished and very strong. What is now called representative democracy is actually representative oligarchy according to the Greek lexicon and practice from which democracy is also extracted. There's nothing wrong with representative oligarchy, if it works. But the name oligarchy is a constant reminder whom it works for, which is rather more and more often for the few rather than the demos. In the plutocratic mega states which predominate in modernity there are so many fundamental problems about the influence of private and corporate wealth on the elected representatives constituting the formal oligarchy that terms like democracy and even representative democracy look like exactly what they are ; propaganda to help disguise the political marginalization of the demos.