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sophrosyne42yesterday at 2:17 PM4 repliesview on HN

Yes it is. If you insist that the result of a democratic election does not reflect the will of the people, that, and nothing else, is election denialism.


Replies

swed420yesterday at 2:24 PM

> If you insist that the result of a democratic election does not reflect the will of the people, that, and nothing else, is election denialism.

No.

This reflects the common understanding of the term:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_denial_movement_in_th...

> The election denial movement in the United States is a widespread false belief that elections in the United States are rigged and stolen through election fraud by the opposing political party. Adherents of the movement are referred to as election deniers.

It requires that people still believe they're being given legitimate choices. My comments above do not.

Obscurity4340yesterday at 5:47 PM

At most the American people have a recurring dilemma. There really isnt choice in the meaningful sense of the word

GPersonyesterday at 2:24 PM

No it’s not. Election denialism in 2026 in an American context refers to Donald Trump and his supporters denying the results of the 2020 election (and related claims). Pretending that capital does not significantly affect our elections contributes to the deterioration of democracy.

If you actually don’t believe capital plays an outsized role in elections and government then take a gander at the Wikipedia page called Campaign finance in the United States. There is a chart called Percent of races won by top spending candidate… and lots of other information. Also looking into the role of lobbying in American politics.

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madaxe_againyesterday at 2:41 PM

It does reflect the will of the people, but the causal chain doesn’t stop there.

The will of the people is the result of the corporate interests that control the democratic system.

Manufacturing Consent is an excellent read - and don’t stop at Chomsky, read Bernays, who pretty much codified the system as it runs today. Propaganda is a good place to start.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays