• Telodzrum@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    11
    ·
    11 months ago

    Yes, competency is up to the electorate, as it should be. Anything else is antidemocratic and a horrible idea.

    • Billiam@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      11 months ago

      Yes, competency is up to the electorate electoral college

      You don’t get to argue what is or isn’t democratic when the system allows for the most-popular candidate to lose.

      • Telodzrum@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        13
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        Sure I do, direct elections aren’t the only type available to representative democracies. Allowing an unelected member of the judicial branch to bar candidates from federal office is antidemocratic and (more importantly in this case) unconstitutional.

        • Billiam@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          11 months ago

          No you don’t, if you’re being honest. No system which allows itself to act against the will of its people can be said to democratic at the most basic definition of the word, regardless of which specific type of democracy it is.

          Also it’s funny you talk about representative democracy, when the people who actually vote for the President- the electoral college- aren’t elected by voters.

          • Fedizen@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            edit-2
            11 months ago

            the only reason the US was considered a democracy was because the electoral college tended to vote along popular lines anyway. If Trump wins again he won’t win the popular vote. Between the electoral college, the broken nature of the senate, and the gerrymandering of the house… its not a democracy now, for sure.

    • PrinceWith999Enemies@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      11 months ago

      Here’s what’s interesting though. The constitution itself sets several rather arbitrary qualifications for the office of president, so clearly they didn’t think that limiting people’s choices by making some candidates illegal was anti-democratic. They decided that the will of the people could not be permitted if it were to elect someone too young, or foreign born. It is anti-democratic, but it’s also fully constitutional. The constitution was written by several people who were rather skeptical of democracy and sought to limit its influence.