
It's election day in Ireland. Once again I am subject to cynical assessments of the process via social media. This derives from fundamental mistakes people make when considering their role within "democracy" and "politics", two terms that are basically meaningless without further descriptives.
I grew up in Canada, which is similar to the USA and UK in having "first past the post" elections. Technically called "plurality voting", such a system only simulates democracy. Voting is treated like a horse race. A representative government can never result by definition. It is safe to say that there is no democracy in Canada. (Despite Leonard Cohen's optimism!)