To think that democracy isn't necessarily the best form of government?

[Thebestwaytoscareatory]

For example, I'm interested in politics and governance and have spent time learning about the topic, yet my vote counts exactly as much as someone who thinks all brown people are rapists or that all women are nothing more than broodmares.

This doesn't sit right with me. Surely we should acknowledge that some opinions are not as valid as others and take steps to ensure that the lowest common denominator isn't represented equally at elections?

Sparta was a Monarchy.

Or eventually we re-coalesce around the real world ?

People need to be free to have the opinion the world is flat (remember, we've all been "got at" by Big Globe). But they also need to be put to the test to prove it. You know. Like in science and shit.

Although for awhile they had a Duo-monarchy. Because a Queen wanted both her sons to be king and paid off the Oracle of Delphi to say so.

Yeah. It feels a bit as though we are entering a new Dark Age and will have to wait awhile for the next Renaissance .

Sorry, I was unclear too - I was saying we're not compelled to vote as distinct from get our names crossed off more for the benefit of the people who scream about their right not to vote whenever our system is mentioned than because I thought you didn't understand it. Admittedly they tend to be a subset of Americans rather than British, 'cos those are the sites I hung around on for years.

Yes I agree OP that democracy isn't working.

I'm suggesting a dictatorship with me in charge.

The screaming headlines are online with click bait on every search and in social media. You can't miss them and even if you try the drip drip effect means they have much more impact than we realise

You could make it like Ankh-Morpork's democracy - One Man, One Vote. Lord Vetinari was the man and he had the vote.

so your vote should have greater valued because you prefer your own opinions? How would that work?
As it happens, I grew up in Clacton - so presumably some posters think that should remove my right to a vote?

news to you - most votes have sod all value unless unless you live in a marginal seat - FPTP does not result in a democracy.

Even when you do live in a marginal seat sometimes... Tory/Lib Dem seat here... Labour doesn't even stand any more.
People vote tory to get/keep the tory in. Lib dem to get/keep 'em out.

I can see how you are being unreasonable, but I don't entirely disagree.

I do think voting should be blind. For example, you vote for policies with no party listed. Voting could be done online and in person. Yes, it would take far more effort for people voting, but I don't think our democracy works because many people have no clue what they're voting for.

Childhood reading ...

I can see how you are being unreasonable, but I don't entirely disagree.

@MooseBreath thats all very well, but what if one of your opinions- thought to be perfectly reasonable today - becomes “unreasonable “ in 10 years’ time. You’ll lose your vote. How would you feel about that?

There is NOTHING reasonable about the OP. NOTHING.

I do think that people shouldn't be allowed to vote if they do not know what they are voting for. Just because (for example) Mary's parents voted Labour and raised her with liberal values does not mean that the Labour party's manifesto aligns with Mary's views. Uninformed voting is worse than voting at all. That's not me saying that Mary shouldn't get a vote, just that she needs to have a clear understanding of her choice.

I do think that people shouldn't be allowed to vote if they do not know what they are voting for.

MooseBreath by what means should people prove they do or do not know what they are voting for?

Funny we require immigrants to pass a test to have the privilege of being a UK citizen that we do not require of natural born citizens.

Seems a tad unfair.

Maybe we should require it of all citizens ? In fact it's hard to think of a cogent argument against that doesn't descend into low quality brain activity which it would be embarrassing to describe as "thinking".

I already explained what I meant. A system where people vote blind for policies rather than a named party.

Who decides whose views are moral and whose aren't, OP?

Answer me, OP!

I do think that people shouldn't be allowed to vote if they do not know what they are voting for.

And how will you test that?
Who will determine what the test is?
How will it be administered?
who are the people who will assess the tests?

In Australia there’s a very famous case of a political dissident being denied his vote as a citizen. In the past in Australia you had to be able to speak the language of the British Idles. So they tested him in a Gaelic language ( I think it was Welsh).

In the south of the USA before the civil rights movement it was a regular thing to deny Black Americans their vote on the grounds that they could not write their names. The test? A biro on a piece of waxed paper.

I don’t think you’ve thought this through @MooseBreath

So I’m going to take your vote away because you don’t know what you’re voting for.

And how will you test that?
Who will determine what the test is?
How will it be administered?
who are the people who will assess the tests

I’ve asked similar questions every time this undemocratic idea is proposed, but they are never answered.

Funny that @Barbadossunset

Tory bots?

. It's not about only people of a certain background or views being allowed to vote. You can vote for flat earth if you like, so long as you can show a basic understanding of what each theory comprises of. I proposed a simple online (or paper based available at libraries etc) multiple choice about really simple ideas that say an 80% pass mark would show at least some level of engagement..who are the leaders of each party?, Which part y has proposed policy X? And so on. Nothing about right or wrong, just basic understanding of what you are voting for. It can be available in any language on request and if you achieve the passmark you get a code which is scanned at the polling booth.

Nothing about right or wrong, just basic understanding of what you are voting for.

If you need an 80% pass mark then candidates will need to answer questions correctly. Therefore there obviously are right and wrong answers.

Bibble Will these exams have to be taken to vote in by-elections as well as general elections?
What about council elections?