Democracy/secularism

Submitted by Kate (New Zealand), Sep 4, 2010 at 19:54

I'm interested in Dr Daniel Pipe's comment that the US is the most democratic and the most secular state. It is my understanding that democracy in the US is particularly captured by big business interests, due to the type of expensive campaigns that aspiring Senators are obliged to run. I live in New Zealand, which still allows prayer in Parliament, however I come from Australia, which I would argue is more secular than either New Zealand or the US. In addition I believe Australia's democratic credentials stand up very well to a comparison with the US. Australia has a compulsory voting system with a vote based on preferences (if the party you vote for does not get in, you can nominate your next-most preferred candidate, right down to your least-preferred).

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