what kind of system allows a democratically elected government to be shut down, while members of that government still get paid...in a country where the normal people can not access services and so on. Who devised this system and is there need for a revamp?
It's the elected ones who decided it was best this way. Apparently to chicken to face the consequences. But they are willing to sacrifice those beneath them. Speaks volumes, doesn't it?
I mean the senatorial system that is in place in the US was a result of the American revolution and is in dire need of a revamp, much like the Parliamentary system in the UK. However, our system does not have a complete government stand still and is almost impossible for that to occur. Has there been much talk about it in the US, I mean changing the current system, not copying a parliamentary system that is?
There are tons of proposals. A few off the top of my head (some of which I support and some of which I don't):
- Getting rid of the senate filibuster
- Getting rid of the electoral college
- Term limits for all politicians
- Term limits for no politicians
- Instant runoff voting
- Multimember disctricts
- Nonpartisan redisctricting committees
- Universal mail-in voting
- Universal voter registration
- Suffrage for felons
For better or for worse, every time these arguments come up they get derailed. Some wonk suggests it in an article, it starts making the rounds, and the think-tanks, lobbyists, pundits, and politicians who stand to lose from it drown it in noise. If people can't be arsed to pay attention to who's sitting on the Supreme Court or what a filibuster is then how do you expect them to pay attention to a nuanced discussion of congressional procedures? And that's not even to mention that most of these would take a Constitutional convention in order to implement.
Ah filibustering, we don't really have much of a concept of it, I'm not sure if it happens in Parliament but it certainly isn't at a scale to hold up proceedings. Why is something like that allowed to proceed? Can't a simple law be brought in to limit how much someone is allowed to say, or rather, for how long?
Log in to comment