What is your political affiliation?
..and, don't just say, "I'm an Independent" or "I think for myself" if you CONSISTENTLY vote for the same party. Political scientist have shown that most people who call themselves 'freethinkers' or 'independents' (and who look down on those who let a party "think for them") almost always vote for the same party during a specific 'era' in history.

I just want to see what the spectrum is here. My guess is that there will be higher support for 'third' parties than in the general population.

I'm pretty much right down the middle.

And I think we should tally the non-votes of registered voters as a vote of abstinence.

If you're not sure, because you often vote for one party in executive elections and the other in congressional elections (or one locally and the other nationally), select the party you usually select your representative from (as the Congress, being the legislative branch of government, is supposed to reflect people's beliefs closer than the Presidency necessarily has to). Still, if you always vote for a Dem congressman, but vote GOP for the preseidency, and FEEL that you are a Republican, please select the party you DO feel closest to.

Hope I've made the poll clear enough.

The poll is American-centred and I can't answer as I am not eligible to vote in US elections.

Yes,
I understand that it does not incorporate EU and Canadian parties, but, if it did, it would be a meaningless poll.

Perhaps you should start a poll concerning parties in your home country?

Actually I think the poll would be quite valid if you dropped the party names and took some policy packages or political ideologies off the shelf.

American politics comes in two flavours (maybe 1.5). It is uninteresting in its own right. Look elsewhere for models of government that create better freedoms and progress.

Libertarian Baby!

regards
seekerof

Originally posted by MaskedAvatar
Actually I think the poll would be quite valid if you dropped the party names and took some policy packages or political ideologies off the shelf.

American politics comes in two flavours (maybe 1.5). It is uninteresting in its own right. Look elsewhere for models of government that create better freedoms and progress.

?????
Well, that all depends on what your definition of freedom is. Sure, a lot of foreign countries allow people to do more than what americans are allowed to do... but are those people really 'free'? Is 'freedom' the ability to do what you 'want' at any given time, or is it the ability to actively control and choose your own future?

That is, are you really 'free' if you can do any drug you want, but can't make your own economic decisions? Are you 'free' if you can do whatever you want because your life is totally subsidized by the government?

What I'm getting at is that the citizens (and, in many cases, subjects) of socialist european countries really aren't free at all, because socialism, in any form, is not compatible with a definition of freedom that incorporates self control and self-sovereignity. And, yes, I know that the USA has a mixed economy, but its society still encourages personal indpendence far more than European society does. Basically, democratic socialism is really just 'pleasant slavery'.

And as for the USA having really only two political flavors.. well, that's just because the citizens of the USA have rejected a lot of things (Communism, Nazism/Fascism, Monarchy) that people in Europe didn't reject or haven't rejected. It isn't that we don't permit more than two beliefs, it's just that we consistently pick those two over other things.

where the hell is echelon......

Is the Communist Party still banned in the USA?

cpusa.org

or .com
i don't know

I don't think so... just because you don't see it around doesn't mean that it's banned. It just means it isn't popular.

In a similar vein, are half of the countries in Europe still monarchies? I so much enjoy being a citizen and not a subject Granted, the government didn't assign me a job, nor does it gaurantee me a certain amount of money each year, nor can i use drugs.. but i can always move around at will and buy land, can always start my own business, and am always in control of whether I fail or suceed in life.

and, yeah, the economy is 'mixed' amd not as free market as it was in the 19th century... and the frontier has been diminished, but, still, in comparison to the EU states..

if any nation could make it work, it'd be america.

rid ourselves of corruption, and be united under no government at all, where the people are truely free.

just beacuse you can't hear the eagles wings beating, doesn't mean it isn't about to strike

I voted on this poll, but I'm not American (thanks God). I voted genuine independant. My reason was because I'm what you call a swing voter. My tastes change with the wind. Many times that I have voted, I havent made my mind up till I'm actually in the polling booth

I admit,

I screwed up and should have set-up a poll that includes political parties for world-wide bodies...

Oh well, my first poll was a disaster

The only reason i consider it a disaster is that people can be mislead as to what party they'd vote for if they lived in a different country than the one they're in. Basically, people in the 'worldwide' audience are not always seeing all the domestic issues that are brewing in a specific country. The person, in Sweden, who decries police activity in Chicago may never have lived in a neighborhood threatened by street gangs, for instance...

Oh well, I obviously don't believe in a one government world.

You could always let this kinda disappear then re-do a poll as you would have really wanted it.

regards
seekerof

I don't mind this poll at all.

It has statistically proven, as at the time of this post, that there are zero republicans at ATS, which is indeed a sign of the extraordinarily above average intellectual prowess of every poster.

Hmmmm.

One republican has subsequently chosen to address the poll anonymously.

Such is that entity's democratic right, and may God forgive him/her.

I am a Republican,been all my life. Well conservative all my life.

As far as I know the Commies are banned, and should be.