Is the US political system more democratic than the UK political system?

Their system is far better than ours if that was sorted though, the House of Lords is a joke.

Sure, in theory.
In practice, George Bush and Mitt Romney.
EDIT: Not to mention how much money sways their elections.

What was undemocratic about Bush? Just because he did things you don't like doesn't make what he did undemocratic. As for Mitt Romney...he lost, amirite?

The question wasn't what was undemocratic about Bush, it was about what was undemocratic about the system, in which case I would say: just about all of it. You give a right-wing or a left-wing lunatic some money and they run rampant with bull**** adverts and propaganda. The result is a warmongering president that was re-elected despite having an IQ of barely five and a rich Mormon nutjob who hated everything anybody anywhere stood for.

I quite agree. However the subject of this thread is whether Britain or America is more democratic. Putting your valid criticisms of money and redistricting aside, the only conclusion that can be made about the Electoral College is that it is a deliberate, intentional, means of distorting the public vote, balancing outright votes with concerns for small States.

As such, it is not a democratic means of choosing a President.

Of course the US system isn't perfect. It just seems in this country we have so many anomalies and a one size fits all system. The US was designed as a democracy, the UK system sort of dragged its heels and evolved and still has a lot of work left to do.

Well then how would you describe the UK where one can win 35% of the vote and form a government? I guess the question is which is more undemocratic, the electoral college or parliamentary system in the UK?

The question wasn't what was undemocratic about Bush, it was about what was undemocratic about the system, in which case I would say: just about all of it. You give a right-wing or a left-wing lunatic some money and they run rampant with bull**** adverts and propaganda. The result is a warmongering president that was re-elected despite having an IQ of barely five and a rich Mormon nutjob who hated everything anybody anywhere stood for, and was only barely not elected over the at least fairly sane current president.

Well, for one thing the College and the elections for the Commons are doing different things; elections for the Commons choose a local MP.

In any case both countries use FPTP - so on the voting systems we're pretty much even

And George Bush, what did he do wrong exactly other than upsetting the liberal media and being portrayed as a dictator

Get fewer votes than Al Gore

Is there anything other than the war in Iraq that Bush did that you didn't like?

His handling and reaction to 9/11, and terrorism in general I suppose, his blatant disregard for the separation of church and state and his shameless attempts to codify marriage as a union solely between a man and a woman.
Oh, not to mention his effective reversal of Clinton's abortion policies.

There was nothing wrong with his handling of 9/11, they got UN backing for the war in Afghanistan immediately after and many countries joined them. Most Americans seem to think he did OK on terrorism but Iraq was a major distraction no doubt. If you're upset about Guantanimo, well I think Guantanimo was absolutely necessary and by the way someone else does too, Barack Obama! Which is why he hasn't closed more than 4 years on.

Disregard for church and state, how?

You don't seem to understand the American system, the President has a say but not much in abortion policies. Congress passes laws, the President signs those laws. The only abortion law I can think of was the Partial Birth Abortion Act, which doesn't really seem like much of a restriction to me.

Again, he has little say on whether marriage should be between a man and a woman, that's a constitutional issue and right now it's left up to the states. Many in his party were against gay marriage. Loads of people are uncomfortable with the idea of gay marriage. The gay marriage thing was a vote winning tactic used in 2004 pushed by Karl Rove. Dick Cheney the Vice President is for gay marriage. Laura Bush is for gay marriage. The Republican party in the whole is against gay marriage, if you're a Republican President that's who you have to work with.

gladders I'm disappointed in you. I used to think you were a sort of non-partisan figure who had no agenda, when in reality you are fiercely protective of the British establishment and it's traditions.

Have you ever looked at the Meiji constitution from Japan? Reads like your wet dream

Excuse me? Just because I disagree with you, you claim I'm some kind of establishmentarian?

Does or does not America share the FPTP voting system with the UK? Does it not follow, therefore, that it is not a useful avenue to follow down when it comes to deciding which country is more democratic or not?

For the record, in my undergrad days I used to think very much like you - then I did a Masters and my knowledge became much less superficial.

Do you work in Parliament or something?

You believe you can only think my way if you work in Parliament?

I'm doing some digging. You've dogged my posts in the UK Politics thread here for about 2 years, you and Lib. There isn't really much to go on almost all your posts are in the Politics or Current Affairs thread.