Peter Dunbar and Mike Haridopolos
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813066127
- eISBN:
- 9780813058337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813066127.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
The chapter underscores the significance of the growth in population and its impact on changing political demographics. It highlights the events that triggered the influx of new Florida voters for ...
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The chapter underscores the significance of the growth in population and its impact on changing political demographics. It highlights the events that triggered the influx of new Florida voters for other parts of the country. The chapter also describes the philosophical division between the Pork Chop Gang and urban Democrats inside the Democratic Party and the opportunities that the division created for Republicans. Finally, the chapter discusses the convergence of three political events that created the foundation for a meaningful two-party system in the state’s political arena: (1) the “one-person, one-vote” redistricting mandate from the U.S. Supreme Court; (2) the shift of Florida’s state-wide elections to the midterm elections; and (3) the dramatic shift in the partisan makeup of the state Legislature following court-ordered elections.Less
The chapter underscores the significance of the growth in population and its impact on changing political demographics. It highlights the events that triggered the influx of new Florida voters for other parts of the country. The chapter also describes the philosophical division between the Pork Chop Gang and urban Democrats inside the Democratic Party and the opportunities that the division created for Republicans. Finally, the chapter discusses the convergence of three political events that created the foundation for a meaningful two-party system in the state’s political arena: (1) the “one-person, one-vote” redistricting mandate from the U.S. Supreme Court; (2) the shift of Florida’s state-wide elections to the midterm elections; and (3) the dramatic shift in the partisan makeup of the state Legislature following court-ordered elections.
Tongdong Bai
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262028431
- eISBN:
- 9780262323628
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262028431.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Rawls in The Law of Peoples argues that decent peoples should be tolerated by liberal peoples, but he offers few considerations about the relative merits of decent peoples to liberal peoples. In this ...
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Rawls in The Law of Peoples argues that decent peoples should be tolerated by liberal peoples, but he offers few considerations about the relative merits of decent peoples to liberal peoples. In this chapter, I discuss some problems with democracy, and argue that Rawls and other liberal democratic thinkers also acknowledge these problems. However, they fail to consider a crucial fact of modern democracies that prevents their internal “cure” of these problems from being effective, namely, the failure of democratic participation. I argue that an imagined decent society, the society of Confu-China, may handle this fact better, and thus may be a more realistic utopia for realizing the ideals shared between Confu-China and a Rawlsian liberal democracy.Less
Rawls in The Law of Peoples argues that decent peoples should be tolerated by liberal peoples, but he offers few considerations about the relative merits of decent peoples to liberal peoples. In this chapter, I discuss some problems with democracy, and argue that Rawls and other liberal democratic thinkers also acknowledge these problems. However, they fail to consider a crucial fact of modern democracies that prevents their internal “cure” of these problems from being effective, namely, the failure of democratic participation. I argue that an imagined decent society, the society of Confu-China, may handle this fact better, and thus may be a more realistic utopia for realizing the ideals shared between Confu-China and a Rawlsian liberal democracy.
Daniel A. Bell
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691173047
- eISBN:
- 9781400865505
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691173047.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
Westerners tend to divide the political world into “good” democracies and “bad” authoritarian regimes, but the Chinese political model does not fit neatly in either category. Over the past three ...
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Westerners tend to divide the political world into “good” democracies and “bad” authoritarian regimes, but the Chinese political model does not fit neatly in either category. Over the past three decades, China has evolved a political system that can best be described as “political meritocracy.” This book seeks to understand the ideals and the reality of this unique political system. How do the ideals of political meritocracy set the standard for evaluating political progress (and regress) in China? How can China avoid the disadvantages of political meritocracy? And how can political meritocracy best be combined with democracy? This book answers these questions and more. Opening with a critique of “one person, one vote” as a way of choosing top leaders, it argues that Chinese-style political meritocracy can help to remedy the key flaws of electoral democracy. It discusses the advantages and pitfalls of political meritocracy, distinguishes between different ways of combining meritocracy and democracy, and argues that China has evolved a model of democratic meritocracy that is morally desirable and politically stable. It also summarizes and evaluates the “China model”—meritocracy at the top, experimentation in the middle, and democracy at the bottom—and its implications for the rest of the world. The book looks at a political system that not only has had a long history in China, but could prove to be the most important political development of the twenty-first century.Less
Westerners tend to divide the political world into “good” democracies and “bad” authoritarian regimes, but the Chinese political model does not fit neatly in either category. Over the past three decades, China has evolved a political system that can best be described as “political meritocracy.” This book seeks to understand the ideals and the reality of this unique political system. How do the ideals of political meritocracy set the standard for evaluating political progress (and regress) in China? How can China avoid the disadvantages of political meritocracy? And how can political meritocracy best be combined with democracy? This book answers these questions and more. Opening with a critique of “one person, one vote” as a way of choosing top leaders, it argues that Chinese-style political meritocracy can help to remedy the key flaws of electoral democracy. It discusses the advantages and pitfalls of political meritocracy, distinguishes between different ways of combining meritocracy and democracy, and argues that China has evolved a model of democratic meritocracy that is morally desirable and politically stable. It also summarizes and evaluates the “China model”—meritocracy at the top, experimentation in the middle, and democracy at the bottom—and its implications for the rest of the world. The book looks at a political system that not only has had a long history in China, but could prove to be the most important political development of the twenty-first century.
Edward B. Foley
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190060152
- eISBN:
- 9780190060183
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190060152.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law
A constitutional amendment to replace the Electoral College is not feasible, at least for the foreseeable future. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact plan, as a method of nullifying the ...
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A constitutional amendment to replace the Electoral College is not feasible, at least for the foreseeable future. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact plan, as a method of nullifying the Electoral College without a constitutional amendment, is a seriously flawed idea for several reasons, the most significant of which is that it would award the presidency to a plurality winner of the national popular vote. Thus, if there were a three-way split in the popular vote—for example, 43 percent, 42 percent, 15 percent—the compact would award the presidency to the candidate with 43 percent even though 57 percent of the electorate strongly opposed that candidate. The fear that an independent candidate could cause Trump’s re-election even when roughly 60 percent of voters oppose this, because the opposition is split among two (or more) candidates, applies equally to the existing system and the compact. Litigation is unlikely to eliminate plurality winner-take-all. States must act.Less
A constitutional amendment to replace the Electoral College is not feasible, at least for the foreseeable future. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact plan, as a method of nullifying the Electoral College without a constitutional amendment, is a seriously flawed idea for several reasons, the most significant of which is that it would award the presidency to a plurality winner of the national popular vote. Thus, if there were a three-way split in the popular vote—for example, 43 percent, 42 percent, 15 percent—the compact would award the presidency to the candidate with 43 percent even though 57 percent of the electorate strongly opposed that candidate. The fear that an independent candidate could cause Trump’s re-election even when roughly 60 percent of voters oppose this, because the opposition is split among two (or more) candidates, applies equally to the existing system and the compact. Litigation is unlikely to eliminate plurality winner-take-all. States must act.
