thats usually what you instill in a culture at the school, university & social level. we are not talking about a practice run here, we are talking about politicians supposedly -_-’

your second point actually made me realize something that might be relevant. is it that once you believe that your vote holds a certain power and when that power is reduced to rubble do u keep on going on the principle or do u lose the impetus to participate, but i on the other hand in an environment with little exposure to voting beyond the tribal backed bill does really help create the culture as you say.
if you can provide some examples of that you would have won me over i think

I disagree. People’s intentions when voting can be exclusive of the candidates intentions of running. They do not have to go hand in hand. And in a system where there are no real tangible consequences to voting, there may never BE a better time to practice the art of voting and building that culture.

“when you teach someone a system and an ideal…”

I am talking about practicing democracy in the absence of such a system. And the political effect your looking for is obviously not going to happen as both you and I have pointed out. The point is not to vote for the sake of having an actual political effect, but by merely exercising the action of voting we are inadvertently creating a culture.

Now the difference in my opinion is the activism in those countries the power of the unions the need for the people to voice their verdicts and the ability to have oversight on the actions of the government.

Why is it counter intuitive to vote in our elections ?
if i vote i am encouraging the current behavior and in a way i am approving of it, when all that matters to candidates is to have their name on a poster instead of what they aim to achieve. for the few that do say they end up talking more about what they achieved in the past. the actual jurisdictions not being laid out clearly & nepotism being the only reason to vote !

economically speaking it is not feasible to vote in any system since a single vote makes a little difference, and especially when there is a culture of staunch rejection of even the appointment of certain officials due to their background and not their qualifications seals the deal. (nevermind the last minute laws that reduce the possibility of those type of people actually making it, even with the near extinct participation from people of that sector of society)

So all in all it is pointless, that faux democracy doesn’t need to be headed much attention at all.

when you teach someone a system and an ideal, and they see that this ideal actually impedes their progress compared to what every body else in doing is not going to give much positive enforcement to that behavior, now they might believe that the ideal is righteous but soon they will learn that is not practical and they will abandon its use. now doing it for the sake of doing is fine, but it will garner little effect in my humble opinion.

ENJOY !