In “Please Vote For Me”, democracy is introduced to children who have never encountered it before, and so we get to see it play out in an interesting way, perhaps acting as a sort of microcosm for larger, more established democracies such as the United States. By removing the patriotic connotations that many Americans associate with democracy, it allows us to see the nuances of the system that make it more flawed than it might initially appear. Moreover, those flaws are inherent to democracy, as surely if they are present in this elementary school classroom, they are present at a larger scale in our own country. For example, the parents of the students can act as large-scale donors, providing the candidates with resources to bribe their constituents. Luo Lei was able to give his classmates treats, while the religious right in Iran was able to provide the poor in rural areas with food and sustenance in order to create a positive image as a “giver”. Similar to the Islamic Republic, however, Luo Lei rules over his classroom in a less-than-democratic fashion. His Machiavellian mindset allows him to maintain steady power, with the fear that he induces in his classmates. All of these demonstrate that the straightforward voting that we associate with democracy is not actually how it ever is. Democracy as a system is inherently vulnerable in all of the ways demonstrated in this Chinese classroom, and the unfairness that we observe can all be paralleled on a larger scale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In “Please Vote For Me”, democracy is introduced to children who have never encountered it before, and so we get to see it play out in an interesting way, perhaps acting as a sort of microcosm for larger, more established … Continue reading