Originally Posted by dteowner
Ummm, not participating in the democracy (by not voting) would have to be slightly MORE anti-democratic, wouldn't you say, perfesser?

Democracy means power to the people, not adherence to bureaucratic systems.

Originally Posted by dteowner
After all, the only guaranteed impact a citizen can have on government is via the ballot box since mere conversation is readily and regularly ignored by those in power.

If the ballot box have no real impact, it's a reduction of power. By representing an illusion of power, it diminishes the demand for real power.

Originally Posted by dteowner
You'll have to forgive me for not having a textbook full of impressive references, it's just lil old me getting the hamster running again.

It's you who make the naive "textbook" assumptions as you had no experience with the real world.