US electoral system one of the worst in the world

[KMRblue1027]

What the hell are you talking about? Of course if you have a single, properly resourced, impartial electoral body administering a single set of rules, you're going to get better-run elections.

He's not talking about anything really. He's just combining various conservative buzzwords to try to sound informed and having a point. People do it all the time just look at Yahoo comments, I recommend some brain bleach afterwords though.

 

[bhsup]

Yes, we have a federalism too. That doesn't mean it's a good idea to let the local councils run important things like elections. It seems utterly mad that even things like registration rules and counting procedures are different from one state to another.

Why does that seem mad? What business could anyone in Wisconson possibly have telling us here in Missouri how to run our elections? We're a sovereign State just like they are and do not need their meddling in our elections. It makes as much sense as letting someone in, oh say Canberra, have a say in our elections.

EDIT: Regarding monarchs, regardless of whether they are figureheads or not, they are still technically the heads of state of these nations. And mind you, I've nothing against monarchies as long as they are not in America, but please do not pretend that having your head of state determined by "insert peg A into slot B" is in any way democratic. And correct me if I am wrong, but technically I believe the Queen of England can still, again technically, dissolve Parliament if she so desires. It may not be realistic to think she ever would, and I doubt it would happen, but under the rule of law as it currently exists in the UK I believe she does still have that power.

 

[Ahovking]

So if I'm following your logic here, the US electoral system is one of the best in the world, but it's not quite the best, therefore it is the worst.

No I said by others logic America is MEANT to be the most advance the most democratic nation on earth and to be honest the United States lost that title in the mid 90s

 

[Ahovking]

Why does that seem mad? What business could anyone in Wisconson possibly have telling us here in Missouri how to run our elections? We're a sovereign State just like they are and do not need their meddling in our elections. It makes as much sense as letting someone in, oh say Canberra, have a say in our elections.

EDIT: Regarding monarchs, regardless of whether they are figureheads or not, they are still technically the heads of state of these nations. And mind you, I've nothing against monarchies as long as they are not in America, but please do not pretend that having your head of state determined by "insert peg A into slot B" is in any way democratic. And correct me if I am wrong, but technically I believe the Queen of England can still, again technically, dissolve Parliament if she so desires. It may not be realistic to think she ever would, and I doubt it would happen, but under the rule of law as it currently exists in the UK I believe she does still have that power.

And yet according to the United Nations freedom index Australia, New Zealand, Britain, France, Norway citizens have more rights and more freedom than citizen of the United States.

 

[Core Imposter]

The use of electronic ballots that can't be trusted is one of foundation blocks for the eventual rebellion. The pressure is building up and its only going to take one more event. We risk the whirlwind.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

That democracy list is a joke. There are nine nations ahead of the United States which still have a hereditary monarch as their head of State.

There you have it folks, proof. Jingoism is rose-coloured.

 

[Evie]

Which is better for democracy (as in the concept of rule by the people), a powerless head of state who is not elected with all the power in the hand of hundreds of representative from across the country, or an Emperor-President with significant actual power and the will to use them who represent barely more than half of the citizens who bothered to vote (and really only by barely half the citizens who bothered to vote in Ohio)?

 

[Ailedhoo]

That democracy list is a joke. There are nine nations ahead of the United States which still have a hereditary monarch as their head of State.

As much as I like to agree that a monarch as the head of state is anti-democractic (I would call myself a republican if the American Republican Party had not decided to set itself on ruining its name), our Queen is a consitional figure. Parliament is supream, not the queen. This has been the case since the glourius revolution of 1688. Head of States can be just ritual in purpose, as seen with the President of Germany and Ireland. Basically our head of state is a mascott.

It is possible that Parliament dissolving the Queen, not the other way round. That is the power of 1688. That is the legacy of John Lock, the man you Americans have a lot to give to for he was the intellectual root of your inspiration and rebellion against the rule of the colonial.

 

[Evie]

Anti-democratic to an extent, but I think the only thing that's more democratic is an elected (or nominated by elected people) figurehead leader without real power.

Countries do need a single focal point, a leader, but giving major real power to a single figure who represent in some situation less than half the country (eg, W Bush first term) is far worse than giving no power (other than symbolic) to someone who represent nobody.

(My favorite system still remain the one that was proposed in a tentative Quebec constitution back for the 1995 Referendum: the President is elected by Parliament, where he must have not only the majority support of the entire parliament, but the majority support of both major parties in parliament. It ensures that whoever the leader is really speak for the people, and not just some of them.)

 

[Core Imposter]

What the hell are you talking about? Of course if you have a single, properly resourced, impartial electoral body administering a single set of rules, you're going to get better-run elections.

Yea, and all we lost in the bargin was liberty. Neato.

 

[Evie]

Yea, and all we lost in the bargin was liberty. Neato.

Liberty to have your elections run in fifty different ways, thereby making it way easier to use dirty tricks such as turnout suppression?

All hail liberty!

 

[Aleksey_aka_al]

17 Russia 3-4 Authoritarian regime

Lol.

Flawed democracy

LOOOOOOL!

They should shorten it to only "bad guys" and "good guys" categories, so that intellectual minorities could grasp it too.

 

[Camikaze]

News flash to the rest of the world. Ohio is not the United States. It is one state among 50 and to suggest that because Ohio sucks the rest suck shows a complete lack of understanding of the United States, thereby totally invalidating those foreign opinions.

Why does that seem mad? What business could anyone in Wisconson possibly have telling us here in Missouri how to run our elections?

Ohio has about a 50% chance of deciding the election. Which is why it reflects on the election as a whole, and another reason in itself why the US electoral system isn't that flash. Why shouldn't someone in a non-swing state, such as say, Alaska, have a say in how elections are run in Ohio, given the Ohioan election is far more important to Alaskans than the Alaskan election? Noting that the Ohioan election is simply the business of Buckeyes (or so wikipedia tells me they're called) seems to miss the point that in reality, though not theory, the Ohioan election has just as much impact on an Alaskan as an Ohioan.

Also, what's with elections on Tuesdays?

Regarding monarchs, regardless of whether they are figureheads or not, they are still technically the heads of state of these nations. And mind you, I've nothing against monarchies as long as they are not in America, but please do not pretend that having your head of state determined by "insert peg A into slot B" is in any way democratic. And correct me if I am wrong, but technically I believe the Queen of England can still, again technically, dissolve Parliament if she so desires. It may not be realistic to think she ever would, and I doubt it would happen, but under the rule of law as it currently exists in the UK I believe she does still have that power.

This is actually indicative of the same thinking. IMO, you're looking at things far too theoretically. The constitutional monarchies of the UK and Australia are evidently democratic, and it doesn't matter how much power the Queen of Australia technically has to dissolve Parliament on a whim, because in reality she has absolutely none. If the Queen seriously wished to dissolve Parliament on a whim, she would have absolutely no ability to do so whatsoever. Likewise, though it might be theoretically correct to look at the US election as a series of individual elections in a loose federation of independent actors, that's evidently not what it actually is! That you would perhaps like the system to be as you describe (rightly or wrongly; even if I agreed with you that the Ohioan election should just be the business of Ohioans, it doesn't mean that in reality it is) unfortunately does not make it so.

 

[Arwon]

Yea, and all we lost in the bargin was liberty. Neato.

Are you suggesting the Australian Electoral Comission is oppressing us?

Why does that seem mad? What business could anyone in Wisconson possibly have telling us here in Missouri how to run our elections? We're a sovereign State just like they are and do not need their meddling in our elections. It makes as much sense as letting someone in, oh say Canberra, have a say in our elections.

EDIT: Regarding monarchs, regardless of whether they are figureheads or not, they are still technically the heads of state of these nations. And mind you, I've nothing against monarchies as long as they are not in America, but please do not pretend that having your head of state determined by "insert peg A into slot B" is in any way democratic. And correct me if I am wrong, but technically I believe the Queen of England can still, again technically, dissolve Parliament if she so desires. It may not be realistic to think she ever would, and I doubt it would happen, but under the rule of law as it currently exists in the UK I believe she does still have that power.

I'm a strident republican, mate, but the level of democracy in our system is not in any way reduced by being a constitutional monarchy. That's a strange furfy for you to throw out there.

Look, the thing is, I look at your elections, and they look skewed and broken and unbefitting a first world democracy. Just off the top of my head, some of the stuff we've seen result from letting petty local elected officials call the shots: the suppression of voter groups with sneaky registration and other laws, gerrymandering, untrackable voting machines with dubious ownership, deliberately complicated and misleading ballots, the placement of inadequate booths in opponents' strong vote areas, miscounts, dubious recounts, dodgy counting errors, court interventions, all that stuff.

From my perspective it all seems to stem from the hodge-podge and unregulated way elections are run by amateurs and low level politicians. It looks embarrassingly ramshackle and prone to corruption. I think this is part of a broader problem which is that the US seems to really struggle with establishing and maintaining independent non-partisan institutions, but that certainly isn't helped by having podunk local elected officials all over the country be allowed to stick their fingers in. Having a national level body sitting above all that almost certainly would improve things.

Please understand that absolutely none of these above-described things happen here, and that more than that, the very idea that they could happen is simply not a discussion that gets had. This is because we have a single strong and independent body with a charter to run elections, and they do so fairly and uniformly and are considered utterly above reproach. So forgive me if the clumsy mess I see in the US looks outrageous from here.

So, what interest do Wisconsin have? Probably the same interest I do in knowing my fellow Australians in Perth or Queensland are voting in the same system and on the same playing field that I am. Their decisions chose members of the national legislature, can affect the over all distribution and balance of power. Their votes affect me, mine affect them. The idea that people in parts of my country were living in a system where partisan politicians could manipulate how their decision-making worked, and that that could affect me, would be abhorrent to me. It's pretty bloody important that I can trust that dodgy stuff isn't happen to skew their part of the decision.

 

[Murky]

I love when people on the internet say it's well documented. 9/11 truthers were well documented too. It's the internet, you get anything "well documented", but that doesn't mean anything if the document is crap.

OSCE election observers have been observing US elections since 2002. Not once have they ever came across anything but very minor issues. The internet gives rise to a wide range of conspiracy theories, but they never really ever pan out. We have everything from 9/11 truthers, planet X and free energy cold fusion. And no one seems to ever find out about these things but people on the internet.

The POTUS is a Democrat. You think he's not even going to at least look in to this if there was any truth to it? ... but wait, most conspiracy theories think the President is in on "it" (What "it" is seems to change a lot).

Voter fraud is very rare in the US. No, it's just not the other side that does it. ... no one does.

This is not some conspiracy theory that I was referring to. It's documented fact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voting#Documented_problems

 

[Bamspeedy]

For the last god damn time: USE PAPER BALLOTS

So we should not be "following the lead" of those above us on the 'democracy index'?

Some of the nations that use electronic voting (with rank on the democracy index):

1 Norway
6 Australia
7 Switzerland
8 Canada
9 Finland
10 Netherlands
12 Ireland
14 Germany
18 United Kingdom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voting_examples

 

[Grisu]

Switzerland doesn't really use e-voting. There have been a few pilot projects for cantonal elections/votes, but nothing large scale.

 

[Leoreth]

News flash to the rest of the world. Ohio is not the United States. It is one state among 50 and to suggest that because Ohio sucks the rest suck shows a complete lack of understanding of the United States, thereby totally invalidating those foreign opinions. There is no such thing as a "US electoral system" unless they are specifically talking about the Electoral College, which really doesn't have any bearing on polling stations.

Funny thing is, it's pretty likely that Ohio is the United States in this election.

 

[Camikaze]

6 Australia

Australia doesn't use electronic voting in any meaningful way. I'd never heard of it being used at all (I don't think I've heard of anyone voting using anything other than a paper ballot; I voted from Istanbul in the last federal election and they mailed my paper ballot back rather than using some electronic system), but that wikipedia article seems to suggest it's used for deployed soldiers and on a trial basis at limited polling stations.

Also, the ballot instructions tend to be really simple, and you have a separate piece of paper for each thing you're voting for (which is really only ever a maximum of two at a time, unless there's a referendum).

Out of curiosity, how many polling stations are there near most people, and do you have to go to a specific one? I know there's usually about three within walking distance of my home, but in the UK, for instance, there's a shocking lack of them.

 

[Angst]

You don't even need to say Ohio. It's Marion County, Ohio. Obviously with a population of 300 million in the whole country. there will be issues somewhere.


This is such a ridiculous thread. The premise holds that the US has the worst electoral system (whatever that means) in the world because 1 county in 1 state screwed something up! Seriously, think that over for a sec. And then you get a quote from a Russian! Is this a joke? I mean, maybe if you got a quote from a Swede or a Canadian. But a Russian!

Oh yeah: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index

Spoiler :

1 Norway 9-10 Full democracy Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, unicameralism
2 Iceland 9-10 Full democracy Parliamentary republic and parliamentary democracy, unicameralism
3 Denmark 9-10 Full democracy Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, unicameralism
4 Sweden 9-10 Full democracy Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, unicameralism
5 New Zealand 9-10 Full democracy Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, unicameralism
6 Australia 9-10 Full democracy Federalism, constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
7 Switzerland 9-10 Full democracy Federalism, directorial system, bicameralism
8 Canada 9-10 Full democracy Federalism, constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, bicameralism,
9 Finland 9-10 Full democracy Parliamentary republic and parliamentary democracy, unicameralism
10 Netherlands 9-10 Full democracy Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
11 Luxembourg 8-9 Full democracy Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, unicameralism
12 Ireland 8-9 Full democracy Parliamentary republic and parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
13 Austria 8-9 Full democracy Federalism, parliamentary republic and parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
14 Germany 8-9 Full democracy Federalism, parliamentary republic and parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
15 Malta 8-9 Full democracy Parliamentary republic and parliamentary democracy, unicameralism
16 Czech Republic 8-9 Full democracy Parliamentary republic and parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
17 Uruguay 8-9 Full democracy Presidential system, bicameralism
18 United Kingdom 8-9 Full democracy Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
19 United States 8-9 Full democracy Federalism, constitutional republic, presidential system, bicameralism
20 Costa Rica 8-9 Full democracy Presidential system
21 Japan 8-9 Full democracy Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
22 South Korea 8-9 Full democracy Semi-presidential system, unicameralism
23 Belgium 8-9 Full democracy Federalism, constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
24 Mauritius 8-9 Full democracy Parliamentary republic and parliamentary democracy
25 Spain 8-9 Full democracy Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
26 Cape Verde 7-8 Flawed democracy Unitary parliamentary republic
27 Portugal 7-8 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic and parliamentary democracy
28 South Africa 7-8 Flawed democracy Constitutional democracy, bicameralism
29 France 7-8 Flawed democracy Semi-presidential system, bicameralism
30 Slovenia 7-8 Flawed democracy Constitutional democracy, incomplete bicameralism
31 Italy 7-8 Flawed democracy Bicameralism, parliamentary republic and parliamentary democracy
32 Greece 7-8 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic and parliamentary democracy
33 Botswana 7-8 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic, unicameralism
34 Estonia 7-8 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic, unicameralism
35 Chile 7-8 Flawed democracy Presidential system, bicameralism
36 Israel 7-8 Flawed democracy Parliamentary democracy, unicameralism
37 Taiwan 7-8 Flawed democracy Semi-presidential system, unicameralism
38 Slovakia 7-8 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic, unicameralism
39 India 7-8 Flawed democracy Federalism, parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
40 Cyprus 7-8 Flawed democracy Presidential republic, unicameralism
41 Lithuania 7-8 Flawed democracy Semi-presidential republic, unicameralism
42 Timor-Leste 7-8 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic
43 Trinidad and Tobago 7-8 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic
44 Jamaica 7-8 Flawed democracy Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, unicameralism
45 Poland 7-8 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic, bicameralism
45 Brazil 7-8 Flawed democracy Federalism, presidential system, bicameralism
47 Panama 7-8 Flawed democracy Constitutional democracy
48 Latvia 7-8 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic, unicameralism
49 Hungary 7-8 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic, unicameralism
50 Mexico 6-7 Flawed democracy Federalism, presidential system, republic
51 Argentina 6-7 Flawed democracy Federalism, presidential system, bicameralism
52 Bulgaria 6-7 Flawed democracy Parliamentary democracy
53 Croatia 6-7 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic, unicameralism
54 Suriname 6-7 Flawed democracy Constitutional democracy
55 Colombia 6-7 Flawed democracy Presidential system, republic
56 Peru 6-7 Flawed democracy Presidential system, republic, unicameralism
57 Sri Lanka 6-7 Flawed democracy Semi-presidential system, democratic socialist republic
58 Thailand 6-7 Flawed democracy Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, bicameralism
59 Romania 6-7 Flawed democracy Semi-presidential system, bicameralism
60 Indonesia 6-7 Flawed democracy Presidential system, republic, regional state, bicameralism
61 El Salvador 6-7 Flawed democracy Presidential system, republic
62 Paraguay 6-7 Flawed democracy Constitutional republic, presidential system
63 Mali 6-7 Flawed democracy Semi-presidential system
64 Serbia 6-7 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic
64 Lesotho 6-7 Flawed democracy Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary system
64 Moldova 6-7 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic
67 Papua New Guinea 6-7 Flawed democracy Constitutional monarchy, Parliamentary democracy, unicameralism
68 Namibia 6-7 Flawed democracy Republic
69 Mongolia 6-7 Flawed democracy Semi-presidential system, republic
70 Dominican Republic 6-7 Flawed democracy Democratic republic, representative democracy
71 Malaysia 6-7 Flawed democracy Constitutional monarchy, Parliamentary democracy, Federalism, bicameralism
71 Zambia 6-7 Flawed democracy Presidential system, representative democracy
73 Macedonia 6-7 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic
74 Montenegro 6-7 Flawed democracy Parliamentary republic
75 Philippines 6-7 Flawed democracy Presidential system, constitutional republic, bicameralism
76 Benin 6-7 Flawed democracy Republic
77 Guyana 6-7 Flawed democracy Semi-presidential system, republic
78 Ghana 6-7 Flawed democracy Presidential system, constitutional republic
79 Ukraine 5-6 Hybrid regime Semi-presidential system, republic
80 Hong Kong 5-6 Hybrid regime Quasi-presidential Autonomous region with limited suffrage, unicameralism
81 Singapore 5-6 Hybrid regime Parliamentary republic
82 Guatemala 5-6 Hybrid regime Presidential republic
83 Bangladesh 5-6 Hybrid regime Parliamentary republic, unitary state
84 Bolivia 5-6 Hybrid regime Presidential republic, unitary state
84 Honduras 5-6 Hybrid regime Constitutional republic
86 Malawi 5-6 Hybrid regime Republic
87 Albania 5-6 Hybrid regime Parliamentary republic
88 Turkey 5-6 Hybrid regime Parliamentary republic
89 Ecuador 5-6 Hybrid regime Presidential system
90 Tanzania 5-6 Hybrid regime Republic
91 Nicaragua 5-6 Hybrid regime Presidential republic
92 Tunisia 5-6 Hybrid regime Republic
93 Senegal 5-6 Hybrid regime Semi-presidential system
94 Lebanon 5-6 Hybrid regime Confessionalist parliamentary republic
95 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-6 Hybrid regime Semi-presidential system
96 Uganda 5-6 Hybrid regime Presidential system, republic
97 Venezuela 5-6 Hybrid regime Federalism, presidential system
98 Liberia 5-6 Hybrid regime Presidential republic
99 Palestine 4-5 Hybrid regime Semi-presidential system, parliamentary democracy
100 Mozambique 4-5 Hybrid regime Presidential system
101 Cambodia 4-5 Hybrid regime Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy
102 Georgia 4-5 Hybrid regime Semi-presidential system, republic
103 Kenya 4-5 Hybrid regime Presidential system
104 Bhutan 4-5 Hybrid regime Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy
105 Pakistan 4-5 Hybrid regime Islamic republic, federalism, parliamentary republic
106 Sierra Leone 4-5 Hybrid regime Constitutional republic
107 Kyrgyzstan 4-5 Hybrid regime Parliamentary republic
108 Nepal 4-5 Hybrid regime Parliamentary republic
109 Mauritania 4-5 Hybrid regime Islamic republic
110 Niger 4-5 Hybrid regime Semi-presidential republic
111 Armenia 4-5 Hybrid regime Presidential republic
112 Iraq 4-5 Hybrid regime Parliamentary republic
113 Burundi 4-5 Hybrid regime Republic
114 Haiti 4-5 Hybrid regime Semi-presidential system, republic
115 Egypt 3-4 Hybrid regime Semi-presidential republic
116 Madagascar 3-4 Authoritarian regime Presidential system
117 Russia 3-4 Authoritarian regime Federalism, semi-presidential system, bicameralism
118 Jordan 3-4 Authoritarian regime Constitutional monarchy
119 Nigeria 3-4 Authoritarian regime Federalism, presidential system
119 Morocco 3-4 Authoritarian regime Constitutional monarchy, bicameralism
121 Ethiopia 3-4 Authoritarian regime Federalism, parliamentary republic
122 Kuwait 3-4 Authoritarian regime Constitutional monarchy
123 Fiji 3-4 Authoritarian regime Military appointed Parliamentary republic
124 Burkina Faso 3-4 Authoritarian regime Semi-presidential system, republic
125 Libya 3-4 Authoritarian regime Provisional Parliamentary republic
126 Cuba 3-4 Authoritarian regime Socialist republic, single-party communist state
126 Comoros 3-4 Authoritarian regime Federal republic
128 Gabon 3-4 Authoritarian regime Republic
129 Togo 3-4 Authoritarian regime Republic
130 Algeria 3-4 Authoritarian regime Semi-presidential system, republic
131 Cameroon 3-4 Authoritarian regime Republic
132 The Gambia 3-4 Authoritarian regime Republic
133 Angola 3-4 Authoritarian regime Presidential system
134 Oman 3-4 Authoritarian regime Islamic absolute monarchy
134 Swaziland 3-4 Authoritarian regime Absolute monarchy
136 Rwanda 3-4 Authoritarian regime Republic
137 Kazakhstan 3-4 Authoritarian regime Presidential system
138 Qatar 3-4 Authoritarian regime Constitutional monarchy
139 Belarus 3-4 Authoritarian regime Presidential system
140 Azerbaijan 3-4 Authoritarian regime Presidential system
141 People's Republic of China 3-4 Authoritarian regime People's democratic dictatorship, single-party communist state
142 Côte d’Ivoire 3-4 Authoritarian regime Semi-presidential system, republic
143 Vietnam 2-3 Authoritarian regime Socialist republic, single-party communist state
144 Bahrain 2-3 Authoritarian regime Constitutional monarchy
145 Republic of the Congo 2-3 Authoritarian regime Republic
146 Guinea 2-3 Authoritarian regime Presidential republic
147 Zimbabwe 2-3 Authoritarian regime Semi-presidential, parliamentary, consociationalist republic
147 Djibouti 2-3 Authoritarian regime Semi-presidential republic
149 United Arab Emirates 2-3 Authoritarian regime Federalism, constitutional monarchy
150 Yemen 2-3 Authoritarian regime Republic
151 Tajikistan 2-3 Authoritarian regime Presidential system
152 Afghanistan 2-3 Authoritarian regime Islamic republic
153 Sudan 2-3 Authoritarian regime Federalism, presidential system, republic
154 Eritrea 2-3 Authoritarian regime Semi-presidential republic
155 Democratic Republic of the Congo 2-3 Authoritarian regime Semi-presidential republic
156 Laos 2-3 Authoritarian regime Socialist republic, single-party communist state
157 Guinea-Bissau 1-2 Authoritarian regime Semi-presidential system, republic
157 Syria 1-2 Authoritarian regime Presidential system, single party, republic
159 Iran 1-2 Authoritarian regime Islamic republic
160 Central African Republic 1-2 Authoritarian regime Republic
161 Saudi Arabia 1-2 Authoritarian regime Islamic absolute monarchy
161 Equatorial Guinea 1-2 Authoritarian regime Presidential republic
161 Burma 1-2 Authoritarian regime Unitary presidential republic
164 Uzbekistan 1-2 Authoritarian regime Presidential republic
165 Turkmenistan 1-2 Authoritarian regime Presidential republic, single-party state
166 Chad 1-2 Authoritarian regime Republic
167 North Korea 1-2 Authoritarian regime Juche unitary single-party state

Bottom line is that isolated incidents are bound to occur in the third most populous country and that all organizations still hold that US democracy is at least decent. I'm not saying it's the best, but it's certainly not the worst.

Wee! I'm #3!

technically I believe the Queen of England can still, again technically, dissolve Parliament if she so desires.

are you high