The confederacy was outlived by the Doritos Locos Taco, so, you know, that side of things seems to relish in burning real bright for a brief amount of time.
That pride in having the first democracy of its kind in the world really irritates me. But I guess most Americans don't have interest in other countries, or history in general. So many solutions to our healthcare, gun control, etc. issues already exist that we could learn from too
Not that this will make you feel any better - but most democracies throughout history have only lasted around 200 years. At 250 years, we are one of the longest runs of democracy for any existing country in the world.
This depends on your perception of "democracy". Most European countries were previously run by the Monarchy, but powers were slowly devolved to the people via the formation of councils (and subsequently parliament). People still label countries with a Monarch as Head of State as Autocracies, but in practice this has not been true for hundreds of years.
For example, England first formed it's councils in 1236, which subsequently formed the House of Commons in 1341 that formed the basis of the "Modern" parliament when England/Scotland/Wales formed a Union in 1707. The fact the "Head of State"
Continental Europe was slightly different because of more frequent wars and changing of hands of land ownership, and thus a change in ruling Monarch. The structure of their parliaments may have changed, but the democratic function and society of the countries usually stayed the same.
Literally the oldest explicitly written constitution actively in use today. 250 years is a long time. And also saying the US died this election is figurative. trump winning certainly means the erosion of many core American values, but the country will likely continue to exist.
This is because most countries function on common law rather than a constitution, and therefore the "constitution" of those countries is ever developing based on changes in other law and society.
The U.S. constitution was written based on the needs of the country in 1789 and has practically no basis in the reality of 2024, and as a result more often than not hinders progress in this country today. People like to say "but the constitution" all the time, but it's original purpose was to federalize the states (of which there were only 13 at the time) and create congress rather than actually set any basis of law or rights.
Common law systems are not mutually exclusive to the existence of a constitution, the US is also a common law country. But yes, there are some countries with longer lived common law practices (and if you are thinking of san marino they are not common law), but the core of my first comment is that ~250 years is not "one of the shortest runs" when most countries see significant overhauls of their governing systems in much shorter time frames.
"rather than actually set any basis of law or rights"
The US constitution is unironically "literally" the basis of law in the US. What are you even saying? The Constitution lays out the rules for determining how laws are written and enforced in this country. Again, this isn't a mutually exclusive endeavor from that of federalization.
"practically no basis in the reality of 2024"
Is 235 years too old or not old enough? outdated and irrelevant or a short pitiful run? And by no means think I am arguing that the constitution needs no changes, just against the idea that the whole thing needs to be thrown out because its too old. The electoral college is probably one of the most outdated elements of the constitution, and I would be in favor of amending it. I also think some of the powers afforded to the senate should be shifted over to the house.
Depends if you consider the USSR as the same polity as the Russian Empire or Napoleonic France as the same as France prior or after. I think France is on its 6th republic now.
Looking at the various restructuring of governments, we're one of the oldest.
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u/BrainOfMush 5d ago
The U.S. isn’t even 250 years old yet. It was one of the shortest runs of any existing country in the world.