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Notes -
Depending on one's view of the soviet union, it could be categorized as either a hostile jungle or a laboratory, but in any case it is not a laboratory of democracy. America's special status, and special success, comes from the fact that both the experiments and the laboratory at large are managed under democratic principles.
If democratic principles include sending in the military to crush dissent, no system isn't democratic.
Have you never seen the word "democratic" defined before? Google says:
Democracy is about how choices are made, not what those choices are. Nothing precludes a democracy from using force-- either externally or against its own citizens. In particular, the majority overriding a minority and imposing their will by force is so inextricably linked with the nature of democracy that the founders intentionally tried to temper it with anti-democratic republicanism. Argue against democracy itself if you want, but don't argue that sending the 101st to end segregation was anti-democratic.
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