I'm curious as to what you find unclear in American government.
You're definitely right that familiarity is the biggest factor of all, but from my perspective, we've got three clearly-delineated branches of government, each with its own set of responsibilities, and I know how the people who fill them are chosen. The British system seems to halfway mash the executive in with the legislative, with the Prime Minister and his Cabinet crammed in there somewhere, and then you've got the ceremonial remnants of royal authority muddying the whole thing up, and this "forming a government" notion, and votes of no confidence or resignations or whatever that mean you have to toss things out and start over, and you seem to have elections at semi-random times . . . .
Which is not, of course, to say that the American system doesn't have its muddy points. Even before Dick Cheney and his "fourth branch" bullshit, the contention between federal and state government has been a source of confusion for a couple hundred years now. Is that the stuff that confuses you, or something else?
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yati
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Date: 2008-10-29 12:35 am (UTC)You're definitely right that familiarity is the biggest factor of all, but from my perspective, we've got three clearly-delineated branches of government, each with its own set of responsibilities, and I know how the people who fill them are chosen. The British system seems to halfway mash the executive in with the legislative, with the Prime Minister and his Cabinet crammed in there somewhere, and then you've got the ceremonial remnants of royal authority muddying the whole thing up, and this "forming a government" notion, and votes of no confidence or resignations or whatever that mean you have to toss things out and start over, and you seem to have elections at semi-random times . . . .
Which is not, of course, to say that the American system doesn't have its muddy points. Even before Dick Cheney and his "fourth branch" bullshit, the contention between federal and state government has been a source of confusion for a couple hundred years now. Is that the stuff that confuses you, or something else?