In explaining the peculiarities of “American democracy” to an Indian audience, journalist Roberto Carlos Alvarez feels the need to offer a confession: “I will vote for the Libertarian Party and their candidate for President Bob Barr and vice president Wayne Allyn Root in spite of the repression of the Republicans and Democrats.”
“America is a Republic instead of a Democracy,” says Alvarez. “[A]lthough it cannot be denied that the American Republic, with its freedom and democracy, is killing itself softly and surely.”
The article, entitled Dubious Democracy in the USA, was prompted by the recent turmoil over whether to seat Democratic delegates from Michigan and Florida. Many U.S. third-party advocates find it ironic that America, which has been known to “export democracy” with its military, has what they consider to be such a confusing and undemocratic system that articles such as this must be written to explain it to people from other countries.