| The UK Government | |
|
+5Wraith -JKR- Stickman ~Sgt-Jay~ Fordy 9 posters |
|
Author | Message |
---|
Fordy Hero Member
Number of posts : 691 Location : Engerlarrrrnd Registration date : 2008-11-01
| Subject: The UK Government Fri May 07, 2010 9:15 pm | |
| As you've all probably heard by now, Britain has a hung parliament. To find out what this means to you Americans, here's a young British chap explaining it simply in 3 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS5tyfPztlY&playnext_from=TL&videos=Uio5OW78aLg&feature=subAlso here's a VERY ROUGH guide of the parties; Conservatives = Republicans Labour = Democrats Liberal Democrats = Somewhere inbetween o.0 We have no outright winner, so now they're all going to bicker and the main two are going to try and form coalition governments with the Liberal Democrats - only they want a proportional representation system, which apparently is what you Americans have. Is it a good voting system? Could it work for us? Do you have a party preference? Is the UK (And all of Europe) going down with Greece? Do you guys even care about our government (Seeing as how we followed yours pretty closely... ) | |
|
| |
~Sgt-Jay~ Hero Member
Number of posts : 1023 Location : England Registration date : 2008-11-01
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sat May 08, 2010 5:34 am | |
| I think I will sum it up
The Tories got the most votes right? Why aint they won.
what a rubbish system when 2 losing parties can join up to form a super loser government. democracy in action, a government of losers. | |
|
| |
Stickman Master of the EMP
Number of posts : 1882 Registration date : 2010-04-13
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sat May 08, 2010 7:44 am | |
| Part of me thinks that the voting system is retarded. But then another part of me is glad that the Conservatives aren't in charge. | |
|
| |
-JKR- Hero Member
Number of posts : 709 Registration date : 2010-04-12
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sat May 08, 2010 8:41 am | |
| THREE MINUTES?! But I want to understand it NOW! | |
|
| |
Wraith Destroyer of hopes and dreams.
Number of posts : 479 Age : 33 Location : Cubetoons Registration date : 2008-10-25
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sat May 08, 2010 2:14 pm | |
| The problem is partisan politics, which is an issue here as well -- if political parties were just abolished altogether, none of this would be an issue. God forbid anyone ever want to think for THEMSELVES, though, right?
But I digress.
The United States' government isn't actually as "proportional" as you might think. I'm also not sure which part people are referring to. There's three branches to our government; the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The Judicial is made up of members appointed by the president (so there's no election involved), and they're basically just there to decide if laws made are or are not constitutional, and to handle big court cases (it's just the supreme court). We'll ignore them for now, since they're mostly irrelevant in this whole thing. The Executive is the branch that carries out the laws created by the legislative branch (the president is head of the Executive, and although we do elect him, we don't really elect any other Executive members). The Legislative branch is the one I would imagine you're thinking that a reform would be most similar to, but it's a bit confusing.
Our congress (the Legislative branch, the people who write and pass laws) is actually made up of TWO houses: one is the House of Representatives, and one is the Senate. The former has 435 members who are elected based on population (so yes, proportional), and the latter has 100 members, where each state gets two, regardless of size or population (so no, not proportional). The HoR generally handles the stuff that happens inside the country with the general population, whereas the Senate is more tailored to address issues with the bureaucracy itself, and how it relates to the public. Think of the House as the people at Walmart (or the British equivalent of Walmart) who greet you and sell you crap, and the Senate as the marketing team. Both still defer to one another on different issues now and again (the Senate has to approve anything the House tries to pass), and one has slightly more power (that being the Senate).
............................................................ US government
....................................|....................................|....................................|
................................Judicial.........................Legislative........................Executive
..........................................................................|
....................................................................Congress
..........................................................................|
................................................. HoR ....................................... Senate
So it's... Half proportional. Sort of. The only real reason we've never had the problem you guys are having right now is that our third parties rarely get more than 1% of the total votes, and nobody listens to them anyway. If ever the Independent party or whoever else there is managed to get a nearly equal standing in congress as the Democrats and Republicans, we'd be having the same issue that you all are right now. | |
|
| |
Stickman Master of the EMP
Number of posts : 1882 Registration date : 2010-04-13
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sat May 08, 2010 3:19 pm | |
| I'm far too bored to read all of that. | |
|
| |
Dizzy Hero Member
Number of posts : 778 Registration date : 2008-12-18
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sat May 08, 2010 7:10 pm | |
| If the other parties besides Republicans and Democrats got more votes, we'd be in the same mess you UKers are.
Savvy? | |
|
| |
Stickman Master of the EMP
Number of posts : 1882 Registration date : 2010-04-13
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sat May 08, 2010 7:14 pm | |
| | |
|
| |
Fordy Hero Member
Number of posts : 691 Location : Engerlarrrrnd Registration date : 2008-11-01
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sun May 09, 2010 2:27 am | |
| Camerons evil laugh at the end of that is terrifying... | |
|
| |
Stickman Master of the EMP
Number of posts : 1882 Registration date : 2010-04-13
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sun May 09, 2010 7:41 am | |
| Sums up my opinions on Cameron. | |
|
| |
~Sgt-Jay~ Hero Member
Number of posts : 1023 Location : England Registration date : 2008-11-01
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sun May 09, 2010 10:25 am | |
| | |
|
| |
Malfious Insignifigant Peon
Number of posts : 7 Age : 38 Location : England Registration date : 2010-05-09
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sun May 09, 2010 12:43 pm | |
| I'm all for a Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition, I think it is the best choice to make in the current situation.
As for the political system, I think we should have proportional representation but many people don't see the long term backlash. There will never be an outright majority party again (at least not likely) leading to more bureaucracy and difficulty in passing bills and papers through parliament, the political process will be slowed down further. Also whilst smaller parties like the Liberal Democrats will gain more power, so too will other minority parties, such as the BNP | |
|
| |
Stickman Master of the EMP
Number of posts : 1882 Registration date : 2010-04-13
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Sun May 09, 2010 12:59 pm | |
| The BNP can take my big black balls, and suck them. | |
|
| |
Fordy Hero Member
Number of posts : 691 Location : Engerlarrrrnd Registration date : 2008-11-01
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Tue May 11, 2010 12:00 pm | |
| I still can't believe that the nation hosting the 2012 Olympics, and bidding for the 2018 World Cup, has 500,000 openly racist voters...
Anyway more urgently ----
CONDEMNATION! CONSERVATIVES AND LIBERAL DEMOCRATS ALL BUT AGREED A DEAL
GORDON BROWN ABOUT TO STEP DOWN
We are all doomed. | |
|
| |
Stickman Master of the EMP
Number of posts : 1882 Registration date : 2010-04-13
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Tue May 11, 2010 1:23 pm | |
| Lets riot on the streets! | |
|
| |
~Sgt-Jay~ Hero Member
Number of posts : 1023 Location : England Registration date : 2008-11-01
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Tue May 11, 2010 1:31 pm | |
| Tories and Lib Dems is epic convo | |
|
| |
Stickman Master of the EMP
Number of posts : 1882 Registration date : 2010-04-13
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Tue May 11, 2010 1:45 pm | |
| Sorry, can't hear you. Rioting. | |
|
| |
Wraith Destroyer of hopes and dreams.
Number of posts : 479 Age : 33 Location : Cubetoons Registration date : 2008-10-25
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Tue May 11, 2010 2:39 pm | |
| I don't get it. Why is this such a huge deal? | |
|
| |
Stickman Master of the EMP
Number of posts : 1882 Registration date : 2010-04-13
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Tue May 11, 2010 4:04 pm | |
| Cause he's a complete wanker who only cares about the upper class. | |
|
| |
Malfious Insignifigant Peon
Number of posts : 7 Age : 38 Location : England Registration date : 2010-05-09
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Tue May 11, 2010 4:08 pm | |
| If your going to argue a point, do so in a respectful manner.
If you even bothered to read the manifesto of the Conservatives there are many policies that favour lower classes, that and the fact that Cameron has accepted many Liberal Democrat policies on tax makes things even better.
Bear in mind that it was the failings of the Labour government that led to this change in the first place, maybe instead of believing propaganda you should have done some actual research into the parties.
Cameron rightly stated that Labour use scare tactics and I'm glad to see that they failed | |
|
| |
Stickman Master of the EMP
Number of posts : 1882 Registration date : 2010-04-13
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Tue May 11, 2010 4:10 pm | |
| | |
|
| |
Fordy Hero Member
Number of posts : 691 Location : Engerlarrrrnd Registration date : 2008-11-01
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Tue May 11, 2010 4:28 pm | |
| Yes yes, the global financial meltdown was all Labours fault and its Labours fault that Britain is just sooooo awful isn't it. His admittance speech made me cringe, "the old, frail and those in need must be supported" blablablaa bullllsheeeeeeeeeeeeit. Lib Dems coalition softens the blow, but this still sucks. | |
|
| |
Malfious Insignifigant Peon
Number of posts : 7 Age : 38 Location : England Registration date : 2010-05-09
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Tue May 11, 2010 4:34 pm | |
| And why does it suck, exactly? | |
|
| |
Stickman Master of the EMP
Number of posts : 1882 Registration date : 2010-04-13
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Tue May 11, 2010 6:03 pm | |
| | |
|
| |
Fordy Hero Member
Number of posts : 691 Location : Engerlarrrrnd Registration date : 2008-11-01
| Subject: Re: The UK Government Wed May 12, 2010 1:44 pm | |
| Coalition governments have never worked. Why should it now work, with two very different parties, and 2 extremely young leaders, suddenly work now? | |
|
| |
Sponsored content
| Subject: Re: The UK Government | |
| |
|
| |
| The UK Government | |
|