|
Authored by: Wol on Saturday, February 09 2013 @ 04:17 AM EST |
Oh - and by the way, my post recommended a way to PREVENT "ruler for
life", not encourage it!
The US Supreme Court is for life, is it not? What accident of luck placed those
Judges there? The UK House of Lords had a MASSIVE advantage in that while most
of its birthright members are reasonably well off, they're a far better
cross-section of society than pretty much any other governing body anywhere else
in the world. After all, time has done a reasonable job at turning it into a
random selection of society, something which can NOT be said of any elected
body.
The other massive advantage is we don't have "government for sale".
Look at the stats. I think you'll find pretty much EVERY election, for fifty
years or more, in the US has been won by whoever spent the most. It's not true
here because we have campaign limits.
Oh - and while you may be thinking of our Queen, I was ALSO thinking of people
like Hindenberg. As president of the Weimar Republic I don't think he had a lot
of power. I personally don't *want* an elected figurehead, but I don't see any
problem with it.
As for saying "the monarchy is currently quite benign", can't that be
true of ANY body in power - the problem is when people legitimately in power
make an illegitimate grab for more.
That's the point of the House Of Lords and the Monarchy in the current UK
system. The Lords run a toothcomb over legislation, and the Queen keeps the
Commons in its place. The problem at the moment stems from attitudes like yours
- the Commons is quite happily neutering the other two - fuelled by those
attitudes - in readiness for making a power grab!
I *WANT* a bunch of people there, who have little power other than that of
keeping the legislature in check. The US system is clearly failing. The UK
system was working, but is steadily moving towards a US model. I don't know
WHERE the European system is moving !!! :-(
Cheers,
Wol[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
|
|
|
|
|