• Kusimulkku
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 day ago

    Some countries have their people elect their government

      • Kusimulkku
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 hour ago

        I was thinking more European countries, since the discussion was, you know, foreign countries hosting US military bases

        • masquenox@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          40 minutes ago

          So-called “liberal democracy” works pretty much the exact same way it does in Europe (or anywhere else) as it does in the US.

          Ie, it’s 95% capitalism and 5% fake democracy substitute (the ratios vary slightly but never by much). And, like “liberal democracy” everywhere, the 5% fake democracy substitute will be rapidly replaced with 5% very not-fake fascism if you threaten the 95% capitalism part in any way whatsoever.

          • Kusimulkku
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            25 minutes ago

            So-called “liberal democracy” works pretty much the exact same way it does in Europe (or anywhere else) as it does in the US.

            Lol no. Much of Europe ranks much higher in all sort of democracy, press freedom etc indexes. Not all liberal democracies are created equal.

    • wpb@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      17 hours ago

      They do. However, I’m sure you can imagine an elected government acting in a way that the majority disagrees with. We’re about to see it in the US (actually, we have for years if not decades). This is not just a US phenomenon, there’s actual research showing that in liberal democracies, there’s very little correlation between what the general public wants, and the policies instated by their elected officials. There is a strong correlation with the interests of the owning class though.

      Here’s a study for American politics: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B

      There’s a Danish study as well. I’m having terrible trouble finding it though. It’s an important addition because the democrats not representing the interests of the working class could in theory be a consequence of the US’s two party system. The same result holding in multi-party Denmark shows that this is not the case.

      At any rate, the point is that just because these countries are liberal democracies doesn’t mean their population wants a US military presence.

      • Kusimulkku
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        11 hours ago

        No it doesn’t automatically mean people want it, but add in stuff like living next to Russia and suddenly it’s very easy to understand why some actually want it.