In my post yesterday, one of the limits I mentioned on US democracy today was the denial of voting rights to former prisoners and prisoners. (To be more precise, this is generally those who had been convicted of felonies, although some states apply it to misdemeanors.) Not everyone will feel concerned about those considered to have been criminals by the courts. It's worth noting that many who have been convicted are later found to be innocent, and presumably some who were wrongly convicted never have their innocence accepted by the courts. Also, even if one accepts denying voting rights to prisoners, why should those who have already served their sentences be denied such a basic right? Canada allows convicted felons to vote, even while in jail.
There is another great significance to this point. Of all the nations of the world, the US has the number one highest incarceration rate. Because the US has so many more prisoners than other countries, it is creating a large number of people who are denied voting rights.
Incarceration rates are available at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Here are a few examples of countries and their number of prisoners per 100,000 population.
USA 730
Russia 502
Iran 333
Mexico 206
Saudi Arabia 173
Turkey 168
England & Wales 154
Australia 129
China 121
Canada 114
Germany 83
Sweden 70
Pakistan 40
India 30
The total number of US prisoners and former prisoners subject to losing voting rights was approaching 6 million in 2010 - amounting to 2.5% of the voting age population! (See: http://felonvoting.procon.org/...) The percent of the population excluded from voting varies by state. A total of 7 states deny voting to over 5% of the voting age population - going as high as 10% in Florida. Consider the role the Florida vote count played in the 2000 presidential election. If Florida only excluded the national average of 2.5% of the voting age population, the election would probably been won by Gore.
Even if we don't count those who are currently prisoners, parolees or on probation, the number of former felons is over 1% of the US voting age population, and considerably more in some states. These are numbers which could make a substantial difference in an election.
Meanwhile, who has been prosecuted for Wall Street crimes? The federal government has attempted to prosecute few Wall Streeters. One of the reasons given is they can afford the best lawyers, which makes conviction difficult. This means unequal justice in the courts and unequal voting rights.