Was not referring to Bush at all in my points. The fact remains that there are certain situations in which an American president may, without the support of either elected body, make an executive decision.

As for the electoral colleges... very good point about why these were put in place. And also good points about the reasons why America is a republic. However, the public face of American politics always claims that it is a democracy (indeed some claim it to be the greatest democracy) and yet many of the points made so far in this thread present evidence (however speculative) that it is not a democracy at all (and as has been stated, was never actually intended to be so). So, to what extent is American democracy a lie? And is that lie justified?

As for 'computer democracy' not sure even that will work in practise. There is still the problem of far too many people all wanting something different...