Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Suppose there was a country where individualism was prioritized. Having your own opinions, avoiding "groupthink", even disagreeing with others, is a point of pride.

Suppose there was a country where collectivism was prioritized. Harmony, conformity and agreeing with others is a point of pride.

Suppose both countries have similar government structures that allow ~everyone to vote. Would it really be surprising that the first country regularly has 50-50 splits, and the second country has virtually unanimous 100-0 voting outcomes? Is that outcome enough basis to judge whether one is "democratic" or not?




The funny thing is that I’m sure NK is very democratic, it’s just that voting wrong probably gets you killed


I wonder if anyone that voted "wrong" has ever tried to say the election was rigged, and their votes were changed to avoid their families receiving a bill for a bullet.


I doubt anyone votes wrong, there's no open counter-culture in NK I've ever read about


Suppose that countries have more than two parties...


You can democratically decide to have only two parties, or for that matter only one.

It only takes 51% of the vote to outlaw opposition.

Just recently, the US democratic convention stripped all the voters in New Hampshire from their votes the presidential candidates.


Even in multi-party systems, it comes down to ruling coalition vs. opposition. DPRK technically has multiple parties, but they are in a tight coalition.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: