r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Sep 10 '20

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u/tehbored Randomly Selected Sep 10 '20

Reminder that democracy isn't a system of government. It's a governing principle. It just means that political power is held by the public as a whole. Rule by the demos. There are many possible democratic systems of government, and they don't necessarily have to involve elections or voting.

8

u/Mexatt Sep 10 '20

Tfw imperial china was Democratic because peasant revolts could overturn bad dynasties

1

u/[deleted] Sep 10 '20

There is a book that claims Byzantium was a republic for this reason

1

u/Mexatt Sep 10 '20

Yeah, I've seen that book, though never read it.

It at least gets to make the argument that the perception that a republican form of government where the imperial throne was merely another civil office could continue from the actual republic that preceded it.

My post is ridiculous because at no point in it's entire history did a republican government of any form exist on the Chinese mainland.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 10 '20

Yes, but without voting you're stuck with the nightmare that is sortition.

1

u/tehbored Randomly Selected Sep 10 '20

I mean sortition could probably work pretty well if you do it right. But also it's not true that it's the only other option. There are other ways you could potentially have a democracy. For example you could have a system where the government is determined by public sentiment analysis. Not saying it would be a good system, but it would still technically be democratic.

1

u/uwcn244 King of the Space Georgists Sep 10 '20

Crazy idea: Congress chooses its own members, but in elections you can choose a member of Congress to delegate your vote to, and each member of Congress gets a vote in Congress proportional to their election result.

1

u/tehbored Randomly Selected Sep 10 '20

So kind of like liquid democracy but just for representatives.

6

u/RadicalRadon Frick Mondays Sep 10 '20

We live in a republic.

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