Re:No-fly list takes legal hit
by beggi on Wednesday January 15, 2014 @03:14AM
(#7062214)
Seperation of power (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers), but even so they are picked indirectly by the public through politicians. As a european though I am pretty amazed by all the direct voting that is done in US - you can hardly drive through a town here without running into a plethora of posters for people campaigning for various offices. You could argue that this is good democracy but I just can't imagine how voters can make informed decisions when voting for all these various offices - that is if they even bother to vote.
[ Parent
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For many jobs, you need a professional rather than a politician. Judges, public prosecutors, police chiefs, etc should not be political positions.
In NY city and state, many judges are elected. However, they are limited to members of the NY bar (min. 10 years practicing in NY). Primarily wanted to point out that "professional" and election-based are not mutually exclusive.
Source (PDF): http://www.nycbar.org/pdf/report/become_a_judge.pdf
It's an appearance of freedom, but really, many public office officials do whatever they like so long as no one is watching. Scaling oversight past Tragedy of the Commons apathy is a must have in American public politics. (Sounds obtuse bullshit to make another point but the literal meaning is also a point.)