NationStates Jolt Archive

I saw a thread that was the opposite of this so I decided to be an ass.

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?

Can you name any of the minor parties?

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?

Do you know how American elections work?

Do your news media highlight the American elections?

Do you think American democracy is out of date?

Do you think America is a conservative nation?

The opposite of "socialist" is not "conservative." I would use "fascist."

Why are you asking Brits? I'll bet most Americans couldn't answer those questions. It has been my experience that the average European knows more about American history/politics than does the average American.

Why are you asking Brits? I'll bet most Americans couldn't answer those questions. It has been my experience that the average European knows more about American history/politics than does the average American.

You're wrong. I just saw in person an average Briton being set in place by an average American in a confrence chat. This was followed by an average Hungarian stumbling into the same trap.

Just because you THINK you know everything doesnt mean you do. The US is a big place and you need to follow local news to understand more intricate workings.

What they basically teach us here is in the respect of history, political, and economic situations, amounts to: "Europeans are silly. Stay away from them. Stay out of their fudged politics. Dont make their mistakes."

This has been the case for about 3 centuries. Its becoming more and more obvious that the originators of this philosophy was correct.

Most of you dont understand the basic ideas underlying American politics, economics, and to some extent even the culture here. Were isolationist and commercialistic. Although currently tied up in an odd situation with this election based on non-issues and a small margin of undecideds, we would normally shrug at your shows of attention to us. It really doesnt matter to the US as a whole what Europe does. The future no longer lies there.

Why are you asking Brits? I'll bet most Americans couldn't answer those questions. It has been my experience that the average European knows more about American history/politics than does the average American.

And, traveling through Europe, it has been my experience that the average european only /thinks/ they know a lot about american history and politics while actually having huge misconceptions about both.

Let me put it this way, the average European can hold forth much more intelligently about American history/politics than the average American can about European history/politics. Certainly many Europeans have misconceptions about the U.S. However, a recent poll indicating that the number of George Bush supporters who believe that Saddam Hussein was behind the 911 attacks actually has gone up since widely published reports have come out indicating otherwise, reveals that many Americans have misconceptions about the U.S., as well.

You're wrong. I just saw in person an average Briton being set in place by an average American in a confrence chat. This was followed by an average Hungarian stumbling into the same trap.

Just because you THINK you know everything doesnt mean you do. The US is a big place and you need to follow local news to understand more intricate workings.

What they basically teach us here is in the respect of history, political, and economic situations, amounts to: "Europeans are silly. Stay away from them. Stay out of their fudged politics. Dont make their mistakes."

This has been the case for about 3 centuries. Its becoming more and more obvious that the originators of this philosophy was correct.

Most of you dont understand the basic ideas underlying American politics, economics, and to some extent even the culture here. Were isolationist and commercialistic. Although currently tied up in an odd situation with this election based on non-issues and a small margin of undecideds, we would normally shrug at your shows of attention to us. It really doesnt matter to the US as a whole what Europe does. The future no longer lies there.

And I was told that I was narrowminded. Ha!

Not that I think it's true, but if Europeans know more about our system than we know of theirs, well, it would be pretty appropriate. Let's not kid ourselves: Americans' incentive to learn about every irrelevant European territory just can't compare to the incentive for Europeans to learn about us, the role model of the Free World...

I mean, no one complained during the Cold War when Americans knew more about the Soviets then we did about Cambodians... the U.S.S.R was simply a more relevant, more important country than Cambodia, kinda like the U.S. versus Europe today... you gotta prioritize.

I saw a thread that was the opposite of this so I decided to be an ass.

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?

Can you name any of the minor parties?

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?

Do you know how American elections work?

Do your news media highlight the American elections?

Do you think American democracy is out of date?

Do you think America is a conservative nation?

1. It functions much in the same way as the House of Commons doesn't it? A system of voting on government proposed laws and enactments plus a debating house for government policy.

2. Democrats and Republicans

3. Isn't it just a two party system?

4.Conda Lisa Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney

5. Electoral college system, like in the UK. Each state elects a representative (or set of representatives) and who ever gets the most representatives elected gains the majority therefore the control of the government.

6. Unfortunately yes, although many of us don't want to hear about it. Usually it is about the fifth item on the national news and usually is the first thing in the international section of broadsheet newspapers. We also have TV documentaries about how corrupt and maligned your system is. I think this difference shows the the difference between the UK and the US: most British people do actually know the answer to these questions whereas most Americans can't even point the UK out on a map.

7. I have no opinion here. While inferior to the British system (which of course started it all), it seems to function in much the same way. I have noted there is heavy debate over what should win: electoral vote or popular vote. In the UK that is much less of an issue due to population/voting differences.

8. God yes. It is capitalist through and through without a singular trace of socialism. But this just shows how socially irresponisble you are as a nation.

role model of the free world?
a few months ago an international poll rated the USA the 2nd largest threat to world peace; just after Israel.

Not that I think it's true, but if Europeans know more about our system than we know of theirs, well, it would be pretty appropriate. Let's not kid ourselves: Americans' incentive to learn about every irrelevant European territory just can't compare to the incentive for Europeans to learn about us, the role model of the Free World...

I mean, no one complained during the Cold War when Americans knew more about the Soviets then we did about Cambodians... the U.S.S.R was simply a more relevant, more important country than Cambodia, kinda like the U.S. versus Europe today... you gotta prioritize.

If you keep on telling yourself that, hell it might come true

role model of the free world?
a few months ago an international poll rated the USA the 2nd largest threat to world peace; just after Israel.


And? You're saying other nations don't value being able to defend themselves? Just because we're the only nation capable of striking any other, anyplace on Earth, doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to, just because doing so wouldn't be peaceful.. :rolleyes:

If world peace means appeasement, you're right, we're a threat. :D

Not that I think it's true, but if Europeans know more about our system than we know of theirs, well, it would be pretty appropriate. Let's not kid ourselves: Americans' incentive to learn about every irrelevant European territory just can't compare to the incentive for Europeans to learn about us, the role model of the Free World...

I mean, no one complained during the Cold War when Americans knew more about the Soviets then we did about Cambodians... the U.S.S.R was simply a more relevant, more important country than Cambodia, kinda like the U.S. versus Europe today... you gotta prioritize.

The European Union is the second largest economic power on the planet, with a population only behind China and India, and is the U.S.'s number one trading partner, accounting for a two-way cross border trade in goods and services in excess of $650 billion, as well as an EU investment in the U.S. of $870 billion.

Yes, we wouldn't want to tax our brains too much by learning about such an insignificant place. Expecially when we have to spend so much time learning the names of the new people on Survivor.

a few months ago an international poll rated the USA the 2nd largest threat to world peace; just after Israel. Aint that funny... America Backs Israel and they're top 2 in the world....awesome
:sniper:

The European Union is the second largest economic power on the planet, with a population only behind China and India, and is the U.S.'s number one trading partner, accounting for a two-way cross border trade in goods and services in excess of $650 billion, as well as an EU investment in the U.S. of $870 billion.

Yes, we wouldn't want to tax our brains too much by learning about such an insignificant place. Expecially when we have to spend so much time learning the names of the new people on Survivor.

The EU can keep adding more and more partners and claim to be whatever they want. ;) However, if you want to go that route, we have more in common with our NAFTA partners than, say, Scotland does with Greece or Turkey, while remaining distinct from oneanother. Diplomatic arrangements that aren't worth the paper they're written on don't say much about each individual country.. just look at voter turnout for the EU constitution/whatever election.. laughable. ;)

Free Markets > Socialist welfare states. :p

The EU can keep adding more and more partners and claim to be whatever they want. ;) However, if you want to go that route, we have more in common with our NAFTA partners than, say, Scotland does with Greece or Turkey, while remaining distinct from oneanother. Diplomatic arrangements that aren't worth the paper they're written on don't say much about each individual country.. just look at voter turnout for the EU constitution/whatever election.. laughable. ;)

Free Markets > Socialist welfare states. :p

So I guess you continue to argue that Europe is too insignificant for Americans to bother learning about?

I'm not sure what you mean about the "laughable" voter turnout for the E.U. Constitution election. The E.U. Constitution was agreed upon in June and just signed three days ago. There have been no elections to ratify it yet. Those will take place over the next two years.

But, of course, how could you be expected to know that, since it is nothing more than news about an insignificant part of the world.

I'm not sure what you mean about the "laughable" voter turnout for the E.U. Constitution election. The E.U. Constitution was agreed upon in June and just signed three days ago. There have been no elections to ratify it yet. Those will take place over the next two years.


Bah, you knew what I meant. ;)

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jun2004/euro-j15.shtml

And that's from the World Socialist folks, too. :p

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?
Congress is the primary legislative body in the US government. I believe it's made up of two groups; the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Members of Congress can introduce bills or resolutions (to create or enforce laws). After considering these proposals, members vote to adopt or to reject them. Only those that are accepted by the Senate, HoR and the President can theoretically become law.
However, the President can veto any bill. If this happens (I think), Congress can still force the bill if they have 2/3 majority voting for. Memory fails me on the details of this.

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?
Republicans
Democrats

Can you name any of the minor parties?
The Green Party
Libertarian Party
Communist Party
Revolutionary Communist Party
Socialist Workers Party
Reformist Party


Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?
Current candidates, if that's what you mean:
Republicans - Bush Jr
Demoncrats - John Kerry
Green Party - Cobb?
Libertarians - Badnarik

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?

Off the top of my head...Dick Cheney, Mr T, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, John McCain, Colin Powell, John Ashcroft and...Michael Moore. :D
Do you know how American elections work?
Yes.

Do your news media highlight the American elections?
Yes.

Do you think American democracy is out of date?
And which "democracy" would that be?

Do you think America is a conservative nation?
Very much so.

So...um...anything there which is horrendously wrong?

what i found kinda amusing was watching American question time t'other night. It was like watching the Jerry Springer show. They actually had to be told 'If you all talk at once, we can't hear you'. It was like watching a bunch of five year olds.

what i found kinda amusing was watching American question time t'other night. It was like watching the Jerry Springer show. They actually had to be told 'If you all talk at once, we can't hear you'. It was like watching a bunch of five year olds.

There wasn't nearly enough shouting, swearing and rioting from the speakers as I'd hoped. Maybe the crowd were trying to make up for it.

I saw a thread that was the opposite of this so I decided to be an ass.

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?

Yes

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?

yes

Can you name any of the minor parties?

yes

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?

most of them

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?

yes

Do you know how American elections work?

lol after the last election i don't even think americans do!

Do your news media highlight the American elections?

non stop....

Do you think American democracy is out of date?

needs revising but i don't think so

Do you think America is a conservative nation?

depends, half liberal, half conservative.. since bush is in power i'll say conservative for now

I am from England and I will try to answer your questions:

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?
No, it's corrupt probably

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?
democrats and republicans

Can you name any of the minor parties?
No

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?
Bush and Kerry - if I was American I wouldn't vote for either - Arnold Schwarzenegger for president!

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?
Dick something

Do you know how American elections work?
No

Do your news media highlight the American elections?
Unfortuanately

Do you think American democracy is out of date?
Yep

Do you think America is a conservative nation?
No, should be communist really, bring back the red farther

There wasn't nearly enough shouting, swearing and rioting from the speakers as I'd hoped. Maybe the crowd were trying to make up for it.

I always thought that American Politicians (well every politician really) never answered the question they were asked, but if you are asked questions that are as pointless as t'other night, you have to pull stuff out your ass.

I always thought that American Politicians (well every politician really) never answered the question they were asked, but if you are asked questions that are as pointless as t'other night, you have to pull stuff out your ass.

Well, the politicians pretty much did their best to avoid the questions. The only one that gave a single direct answer was Rodriguez.

I will answer each of these questions in turn:

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?

Vaguely, but I won't pretend to be an expert on it

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?

Democrats and Republicans

Can you name any of the minor parties?

The Reform Party, The Constitutionalists, The Libertarians

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?

Ed Gillespie is head of Republican Party

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?

Dick Cheney, Condallezza Rice (sorry about the spelling), Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, John Ashcroft, Tom Ridge, Rod Paige, is that enough?

Do you know how American elections work?

I have a vague understanding of the electoral college system, but again I wouldn't call myself an expert by any stretch of the imagination

Do your news media highlight the American elections?

Yes they do.

Do you think American democracy is out of date?

Nope

Do you think America is a conservative nation?

Depends where in the nation you are. Different states are more conservative than others, and this can be seen by their voting patterns, e.g. states that tend to vote Democrat such as California and Massachussets (again sorry for spelling) tend to be more liberal, whereas states such as Wyoming and Texas who usually vote Republican tend to be more Conservative.

I'm sure there are a large number of Brits who couldn't answer these questions. I'm also sure there are a large number of Americans who couldn't answer the same questions, or similar questions about the UK.

Americans, the greatest nation in the world, with the greatest army in the world..

which is why the black watch have been deployed to sort there mess out, and why the british/coalition held areas of iraq are reletivly peaceful, compared to the US held areas.

It seems to me that the media is full of stories about the American Government's corruption and ineptitude or who the Americans have pissed off now.

American is not the free world, it is a realm where 50 million of it's voters are 'Evangelical Christians' (IMO more fanatical than the Islamic Extremists), denies basic human rights to anyone who it deems unworthy, starts wars it's can't fight nor finish, and generally holds the rest of the world to ransom, because it's got the most nukes.

The point being made here, is that brits don't know much about US politics... well some of us do, and some of us don't... but to be perfectly frank who gives a f**k either way??

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?
Congress functions? I thought it was an intermediary step between the courts and jail.

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?
Democrat (anti-bush), Republican (ridiculous conservatism)

Can you name any of the minor parties?
Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?
no minor parties but I know Nader leads one of the others. Rep and Demo are led by various big businesses and corrupt individuals but figureheaded by Bush and Kerry respectively.

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?
Condolezza Rice, Colin Powell, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Daddy.. sorry.. Bush Sr. (ok he's not really around any more)

Do you know how American elections work?
Sure. 47 states are predecided and it comes down which main party cheats in the most effective way to decide the remaining three. I liked the necrovoting system as implemented by the Bush campaign. What the people are led to believe however is that they have one vote for the leader they want to see in power for the next four years.

Do your news media highlight the American elections?
Yes. You can be sure that Tony's watching it with bated breath and champagne on standby.

Do you think American democracy is out of date?
No it hasn't started yet. Well it was working.. until it became a contest to see which dictator wannabe had the most money.

Do you think America is a conservative nation?
Not as a whole. The government may be seen as conservative but the immense diversity of the people negates this.

There's my tuppence, and I didn't even read the other answers. Well.. a couple.. three or four maybe. Six at an outside...

I saw a thread that was the opposite of this so I decided to be an ass.
Okay, I'm a Brit, so I'll give it a pop. Maybe I'll make an ass of myself, but hey, let’s try and see how I get on.
Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?
Think so. Congress is the parliament, the legislature. The whole "balance of powers" thing is laid out so that congress is fairly powerful, to prevent the president becoming a tyrant. The congress consists of the House of Representatives (in which each state has a number of representatives based upon its population) and the senate (each state has two senators, regardless of population). Either house can propose laws, both houses must approve a law for it to pass. They can also veto laws proposed by the president. The congress meets in the Capitol building in Washington DC.
Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?
Republicans (red, elephants) presidential candidate George W Bush, and Democrats (blue, donkey) John Kerry. Both parties dominate the political scene but do not have the same power as political parties in the UK. When the US constitution was written there was opposition to the formation of party politics, and the constitution does not account for them. In the UK party politics is written into our constitution.
Can you name any of the minor parties?
Libertarian, Green, various socialist/communist.
Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?
No, I know the presidential candidates, but guess they aren't the leaders. I could look it up on their websites. I just did, so though I didn't know the answer I know where to look:

Democrats:
* Terry McAuliffe, Chairman
* Linda Chavez-Thompson, Vice Chair
* Gloria Molina, Vice Chair
* Lottie Shackelford, Vice Chair
* Mark Brewer, Vice Chair
* Wellington Webb, Vice Chair
* Rep. Mike Honda, Deputy Chair
* Ben Johnson, Deputy Chair
* Susan Turnbull, Deputy Chair
* Andrew Tobias, Treasurer
* Alice Travis Germond, Secretary
* Maureen White, National Finance Chair

Republicans:
Ed Gillespie, Chairman
Ann L. Wagner, Co-Chairman
Maria Cino, Deputy Chairman

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?
Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney. That woman Crazynamewithzeds Rice. That's about it.
Do you know how American elections work?
Aren't they different in every state? Think they are similar to UK elections though. The presidential election uses the 'Electoral College' system, which means the states select the president, not the people. The issue is confused however because all the states have a popular vote to decide who they should support.
Do your news media highlight the American elections?
Yes, there was an article in the news just recently that Britain gets more coverage of the elections than Americans do, as most of the election material is focused on a few 'swing-states'
Do you think American democracy is out of date?
Hmm, needs a few tweaks, but no, I wouldn't say that.
Do you think America is a conservative nation?
No, I'd describe America as 'neo-conservative', which is a very different thing. A conservative is someone who wants to keep things the same. America wants either to go back to 'the good old days' or try and change the rest of the world to be like them. Neither of these involves the traditional conservative value of 'staying the same'.

So how did I do? Do I get a percentage score or something?

I watch the West Wing...

You're wrong. I just saw in person an average Briton being set in place by an average American in a confrence chat. This was followed by an average Hungarian stumbling into the same trap.

Just because you THINK you know everything doesnt mean you do. The US is a big place and you need to follow local news to understand more intricate workings.

What they basically teach us here is in the respect of history, political, and economic situations, amounts to: "Europeans are silly. Stay away from them. Stay out of their fudged politics. Dont make their mistakes."

This has been the case for about 3 centuries. Its becoming more and more obvious that the originators of this philosophy was correct.

Most of you dont understand the basic ideas underlying American politics, economics, and to some extent even the culture here. Were isolationist and commercialistic. Although currently tied up in an odd situation with this election based on non-issues and a small margin of undecideds, we would normally shrug at your shows of attention to us. It really doesnt matter to the US as a whole what Europe does. The future no longer lies there.

Europeans are silly? Considering Europeans built the world in which you stand, I would say thats a pretty outrageous (not to mention baseless) arguments.

The intircate workings of the USA government? USA democracy is like George W.Bush: mindless and simple.

Most of the Euro working classes are not ignorant: that is the result of a libertarian society, where education is given out by your merits not by your wallets. In the US, your lower classes are ignorant of the world around them. I saw a programme on the other night which showed a British reporter interiviewing Texans. Although most claimed to support the war on Terror, very few could actually point out where Iraq or Afghanistan was on a map (most pointed to North Korea). Then these people were asked to point out where the UK was: one man proudly stated that it was in the Rocky Mountains. Americans are ignorant of the world around them because their education system seeks not to breed tolerance and understanding but xenophobia.

Ignore Europe at your peril. America are running fast short of friends - in recent Spanish and Portugeuse elections, anti war (hence anti America) candidates were elected.If Bush loses this weeks election then Blair will almost certainly lose the British election next year. And I can assure that the other parties here are no way as friendly to America as New Labour. Soon Amerrica could find itself isolated in a hostile world.

Do you know how American elections work?


LOL! The last one didn't.

Although most claimed to support the war on Terror, very few could actually point out where Iraq or Afghanistan was on a map (most pointed to North Korea). Then these people were asked to point out where the UK was: one man proudly stated that it was in the Rocky Mountains. Americans are ignorant of the world around them because their education system seeks not to breed tolerance and understanding but xenophobia.


Newsflash: Most people in the world probably couldn't point out Iraq or Afghanistan on a map. Ask any working class prol across Europe, someone who is relatively uneducated to point out Iraq or Afghanistan on the map, and they probably wouldn't be able to do. I know for a fact that a lot of people in Britain couldn't do it. Ignorance of global geography is not limited to the United States.

As an American, I can answer these questions, even though most of my countrymen would have issues trying to. For the momentt though, i'll play the ignorant(read: practical) american.
Is it my fault that, in order to know more than the fuzzy bits about european politics that I know now, I would have to look it up, rather than having it given to me over the TV? Is it my fault that Europe has more history than America, and that most of the history that is taught is unclear and disconnected?
(/praticality)
Anyways, the EU is about the size and population (roughly) of the US. I'm sure that some are just as ignorant (again read: practical) as some are here. If not, maybe they're smart enough not to show it in threads like this.

DOES your news.... not do your news. If the people in the colonies insist on free speech could they at least get the grammar right?

Spanish and Portugeuse elections, anti war (hence anti America) candidates were elected.

In Spain, shortly after a bomb on a train in Madrid killed several people
. Bowing to terrorists is not the answer, I'm bot sure if the book is as popular in England but, if you give a mouse a cookie...

Face it, us brits and the rest of Europe are nosy. Mainly because we'd like to see which ape is going to be killing our soldiers in 'friendly fire' for the next four years. Plus which leader we're going to have to bail out of impending financial difficulties. We'll get to pay the US back for Truman Doctrine etc from the 50's-60's.

We don't care about the ins and outs of the US electoral system any more than the US cares about Labour and Tory dirty tricks campaigns. I can safely say that many brit schoolkids would pull a knife on you whilst wearing a blank expression if you asked them to point out Afghanistan or Iraq on the map.

Go Hilary: 2008

>Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?

Big question, here's what I can think of:

Congress is divided into two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected on a state-by-state basis, 2 per state. Representatives are elected on the basis of constituencies of equal population (though ridiculously gerrymandered everywhere except Iowa (IIRC) which actually has an independent boundary comission).

The main traditional function of Congress is to propose laws which are then enacted (or vetoed) by the President. Today, though, most of the work is done in committees. These are great in theory but can be seriously hamstrung by the convention of choosing committee heads solely on the basis of seniority. This can result in ludicrous situations like Jesse Helms (for those who don't know, evil dinosaur-person) becoming one of the three most powerful people in foreign affairs.

Oh, and only Congress can declare war, though this has been often circumvented in recent years by a number of non-war wars (like Vietnam).

>Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?

Republicans and Democrats

>Can you name any of the minor parties?

Libertarians, Greens, Reform. Is Pat Bucanan's pet project still going?

>Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?

What do you mean by leader? Presidential candidate? Senate speaker/minority leader? Chairman? Leader of the National Congress?

Actually, after sounding like a smartarse with all that I can only name the Presidential candidates, though Trent Lott is/used to be one of the Senate leaders IIRC.

>Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?

Off the top of my head: Rice, Powell, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft. Oh, and Kenneth Lay but he's a little busy at the moment ;)

>Do you know how American elections work?

Probably badly this time round (paper trails, people, paper trails).

OK, I'll just deal with federal elections because otherwise it could get messy (plus I haven't a clue what individual states' policies are).

Representatives and Senators are elected every 4 years, with half the seats being contested every 2 years. Representatives serve for two 4 year terms (IIRC). There is no term limit for Senators.

Presidents are elected every 4 years, with a 2 term limit. They are elected on the basis of the electoral college where every state appoints representatives to vote for the president. The number of representatives is determined by the state's population. Convention dictates that representatives vote in line with the popular vote, on a winner-takes-all basis (though they're trying to change that in Colorado).

>Do your news media highlight the American elections?

God yes

>Do you think American democracy is out of date?

No, in fact IMHO the American system is probably the best out there. In theory. Unfortunately the campaign finance issue means that what would be a virtually ideal system, allowing representatives to act primarily on the basis of their own beliefs and their electorate's prefences, becomes a special interest trading floor. Why, oh why, didn't McCain win the 2000 primary instead of you-know-who? Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to do away with the seniority fetish.

>Do you think America is a conservative nation?

Yes. There's an unfortunate tendancy to believe that long-dead slave owners knew everything there is to know about modern governance. Plus there's the occasionally scary religious aspect. Certainly, on social issues the US is more conservative than any EU nation.

OK, first post and I'm sounding like a know-it-all argumentative smartarse. As they say, start as you mean to go on.

Hurrah for stripe-lovers!

Republicans (red, elephants) presidential candidate George W Bush, and Democrats (blue, donkey) John Kerry. Both parties dominate the political scene but do not have the same power as political parties in the UK. When the US constitution was written there was opposition to the formation of party politics, and the constitution does not account for them. In the UK party politics is written into our constitution.



... or would be, if we had one. ;)

....

Ignore Europe at your peril. America are running fast short of friends - in recent Spanish and Portugeuse elections, anti war (hence anti America) candidates were elected.If Bush loses this weeks election then Blair will almost certainly lose the British election next year. And I can assure that the other parties here are no way as friendly to America as New Labour. Soon Amerrica could find itself isolated in a hostile world.

Whereas I can give you no such assurance. Howard is visibly uncomfortable with Blair's cosy relationship with the American administration - he obviously sees that as the Conservative Party's role.

Is this an accurate depiction of the US voting machine?
If not it is very funny but scary at the same time:
http://s6.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=E38D133BF87D8EA876030C55997677A3

Even Australia get a hell of a lot of updates on the American elections and politics. Even during our own elections...

I think America is very selective on what it displays. How long was the Bali Terrorist Attack covered in American news (I don't know the answer, but I want to know)?

[QOUTE/] There's an unfortunate tendancy to believe that long-dead slave owners knew everything there is to know about modern governance. [/QUOTE]

*ahem* just so you know, it was the dixiCRATS who were the supposed slave-owners. Its just that many of these people came over the the republican side to retain any once of crediblity. We did not want them.

Whereas I can give you no such assurance. Howard is visibly uncomfortable with Blair's cosy relationship with the American administration - he obviously sees that as the Conservative Party's role.
I agree, history has shown that the Conservatives are much closer to the USA than Labour. Labour have tried (and probably failed) to balance Britains position with the USA and the EU. The Tories are pro-US anti-EU while the other parties are pro-EU anti-US. That the tories are the only party likely to oust Labour means that no matter what there will be a pro-US party in power. That is unless large numbers of voters turn to the Lib Dems in the right parts of the country to make a difference.

... or would be, if we had one. ;)
Of course we have a constitution. It's just scattered over several documents in a barely comprehensible legal jargon so as to be as inaccesible as possible to the public. We couldn't have people understanding how government works now, could we?

It is often said that Britain has an unwritten Constitution. This is not quite true. Some of the British Constitution is written and some isn't. What is meant by 'unwritten' is that it is not written down in one volume as 'The British Constitution'. You could not go into a bookshop and order a copy of our Constitution in paperback!

Our Constitution is made up of four main parts called statute law, common law, conventions and works of authority. Of these, statute law is the most important and takes precedence over the others if there is a clash. Statute laws are the laws that have actually been passed by Parliament. The British Constitution can be considered to be 'living' as it is still developing.

Bah, you knew what I meant. ;)

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jun2004/euro-j15.shtml

And that's from the World Socialist folks, too. :p

Hmm, so that's a "laughable" voter turnout for EU Parliament elections of 44.2%. Let's compare that to the mighty US turnout:

2000 Presidential/Congressional elections: 51.3%
2002 Congressional elections: 40.3%

In 1998 the figure was as low as 36.4%. Considering that that even the most devout EU zealot would concede that the US Congress has considerably more clout than the EU Parliament and it seems like the European figures aren't all that laughable after all.

Of course we have a constitution. It's just scattered over several documents in a barely comprehensible legal jargon so as to be as inaccesible as possible to the public. We couldn't have people understanding how government works now, could we?

I've always thought of it as a series of specious arguments based on precedent and a desire to overcome legitimate debate through procedural device.

Fostralia
New Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: GREAT Britain
Posts: 17 Quote:
Newsflash: Most people in the world probably couldn't point out Iraq or Afghanistan on a map. Ask any working class prol across Europe, someone who is relatively uneducated to point out Iraq or Afghanistan on the map, and they probably wouldn't be able to do. I know for a fact that a lot of people in Britain couldn't do it. Ignorance of global geography is not limited to the United States
Well this was not the original topic but I think still need to answer it. That it could be a good thing that if USA is going to atack a country it could be good both for the world, USA and american democracy that the american people had a basic knowledge about the country (and not only information from Fox news or some comic) like for example there the country is located it's history, why it is so bad and preferably the alternatives that was turndown then choosing to go to war.

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?

Nope

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?

Republicans And Democrats

Can you name any of the minor parties?

You have other parties??

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?

John Kerry and George Bush

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?

Dick Cheney, Colin Powell


Do you know how American elections work?

Its divided by states, the party with the most votes in a state wins that state, the total states for each party is calculated and the supreme court decides that the republicans win.

Do your news media highlight the American elections?

All the time

Do you think American democracy is out of date?

I think it's better than our system except the voting thing with the states, should go with most votes wins overall

Do you think America is a conservative nation?

Half of Americans are, the other half are the opposite, there doesn't seem to be a middle ground.

If the UK is irrelevant, what does that do to the Iraq war "coalition"? Bush keeps dropping Tony Blair's name to make the war seem like a world thing. If Britain is a minor power, doesn't that punch a few holes in the president's argument?

If the UK is irrelevant, what does that do to the Iraq war "coalition"? Bush keeps dropping Tony Blair's name to make the war seem like a world thing. If Britain is a minor power, doesn't that punch a few holes in the president's argument?

Britain is a minor power, and Bush is a moron. Sorted.
(I'm British, so don't start!)

If the UK is irrelevant, what does that do to the Iraq war "coalition"? Bush keeps dropping Tony Blair's name to make the war seem like a world thing. If Britain is a minor power, doesn't that punch a few holes in the president's argument?
Hmm.. punch holes... president.... hmmmm

In Spain, shortly after a bomb on a train in Madrid killed several people
. Bowing to terrorists is not the answer, I'm bot sure if the book is as popular in England but, if you give a mouse a cookie...
Great Britain has been suffering the terrorist threat since the 1850s by the hands of the IRA. Don't presume to tell British people how to deal with terrorism. Oh and by the way, a great deal of IRA funding orginates from the USA. Well done on the War on Terror.

Whereas I can give you no such assurance. Howard is visibly uncomfortable with Blair's cosy relationship with the American administration - he obviously sees that as the Conservative Party's role.

Hate to correct you, The White Hats, but as part of their foreign policy plans the Conservatives have specifically announced that they will not be engaging in a close relationship with America.

Hate to correct you, The White Hats, but as part of their foreign policy plans the Conservatives have specifically announced that they will not be engaging in a close relationship with America.

Since when have campaign promises stopped any government from anything?

Since when have campaign promises stopped any government from anything?
Indeed. Presentation is not content: the Conservative leadership is naturally USA-philic. They're just trying to leverage gain from the Iraq war backlash.

Hate to correct you, The White Hats, but as part of their foreign policy plans the Conservatives have specifically announced that they will not be engaging in a close relationship with America.

And the Tory front bencher at the Republican conference had wondered in by mistake then?

The only reason that the Conservatives don't want a close relation with America is that it will get votes, don't like the US, don't like Europe, who do the Conservatives like?

For those of you who've actually been answering those questions, I'm just pointing out two thing I've noticed to be repeated: There are other political parties aside from the Democrats and Republicans, like the Green party, which centralizes with environmental concerns...I think. I have a friend who's in the Green party, and that's how he (vaguely) explained it. There are also Independants, who vote not as part of a political party, but choose as they judge individually. Unfortunately, this means that Independants can't vote in preliminaries, which choose between party canidates.

Also, because of this misconception, people out of the US don't realize that there is a middle-ground to conservative a liberal lifestyles, and it's actually dominant. Example: I'm very liberal, as a Democrat...but at the same time I believe in the right to bear arms, supporting the NRA, and I support immigration control. These are very conservative veiws. My father goes the other way, too. He's very conservative, but supports pro-choice veiws.

People have a tendancy to say that they want things to stay as they are (with the acception of the current war and the economy) when Election Day comes in, so as to keep the status quo. This is why some politicians have been saying that they'd do a specific thing that goes against they're party's platform. Clinton said he'd be more frugal and help the economy grow, rather than raise taxes to fund social programs, and Bush said that he'd be more concerned with social programs than about the economy, while still trying to keep it up.

Great Britain has been suffering the terrorist threat since the 1850s by the hands of the IRA. Don't presume to tell British people how to deal with terrorism. Oh and by the way, a great deal of IRA funding orginates from the USA. Well done on the War on Terror.
shh! dont tell them they'll invade Ireland! Because "they dont negotiat with terrorists".

Also, because of this misconception, people out of the US don't realize that there is a middle-ground to conservative a liberal lifestyles, and it's actually dominant. Example: I'm very liberal, as a Democrat...but at the same time I believe in the right to bear arms, supporting the NRA, and I support immigration control. These are very conservative views. My father goes the other way, too. He's very conservative, but supports pro-choice views.
Why is having an arsenal seen as being a conservative thing to do?

Why is having an arsenal seen as being a conservative thing to do?

It's not having an arsenal, in term of the military, it's having guns in your own home that's the issue.

It's considered liberal to ban or increase restrictions on guns, so to protect the people on the street better and limit gun related deaths and accidents. Many kids are raised stupidly here and shoot themselves playing with their father's handgun and such.

Conservatives value personal ownership of arms for personal , and also because it brings in money. Also, conservatives want politics to stay out of their personal lives as much as possible, or so says my 12th grade Government teacher. Something about keeping personal arms to protect the freedom of America. Think stereotypical Deep South Confederates.


Oh, and my fellow Americans: Don't bash Europe. They have they're own way of doing things, and we were founded by Europeans in the first-place. I'd rather be in the UK, too, quite frankly.

Oh yeah, the US did partake in the IRA funding. The Gulf War, you know? It was during Bush Sr.'s term. God, I hate the Bushes...

shh! dont tell them they'll invade Ireland! Because "they dont negotiat with terrorists".
Well, neigther does Britain *nudge* *nudge* *wink* *wink*

American always say they are the best ones, they are proud of their democracy...but can we still call that a democracy? Many votes are ignored because a majority of the states are already determined to vote for one of the parties or no. A vote for democrat in Texas is lost, as well as a vote for republican in Cali is. Second, American call them intelligent. But may of them could not point one of the European country, Iraq, Afganistan or even Canada on a map!!!(by the way, Canada is just north of u :eek: !!!) Some Americans don't even know Europe or Canada or China exists; they think they are all alone in the world with the countries they are at war with. I won't call myself a Democrat, but I'm surely not for Bush

(Mea-Culpa against America, by The Bored 1)

Personally i dont think British school kids get taught enough about the way the American government ie it political parties, election systems etc work. Iv opted to do some modules at uni bout the US and theres tons of stuff i had absolutely no idea about.

People in general would probably do alot betta if they took more notice of how other countries did this kinda stuff, and not limiting it just to America either. Dont hate us Brits for being dum to American ways though, most of us dont know how our own political system works (and a good percentage dont really care).

But if it makes anybody feel any better, i'll be down the student union tomorrow night with a group of other history student coz one of the bars is broadcasting live coverage of the election.

About half of the British Politics A Level is American politics. That's a *lot*. How easy is it to study British politics in the USA? Currently we're being overwhelmed with footage of the American elections...Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?

Yes

Can you name any of the minor parties?

Yes

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?

The major parties don't have leaders...

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?

Yes

Do you know how American elections work?

Yes...and it's not a pretty sight.

Do your news media highlight the American elections?

See above...

Do you think American democracy is out of date?

...yes!

Do you think America is a conservative nation?

Even more so than the UK, by quite some way. We got over abortion aaaages ago.

I saw a thread that was the opposite of this so I decided to be an ass.

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?

Can you name any of the minor parties?

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?

Do you know how American elections work?

Do your news media highlight the American elections?

Do you think American democracy is out of date?

Do you think America is a conservative nation?

As a brit, who has never been to America, I can answer some...lets see:

1) Congress acts as a legislature and also is part of the 'division of powers' which is a hallmark of the way American political system works.
It approves the Budget, and gives the President permission to do certain things.
2) Democrat, Republican & the one Ralph Nader leads - green something?
3)Ralph Nader's party is minor I suppose
4)John Kerry = Democrats? G W Bush -Republicans?
5)Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Tom Ridge
6) People vote, votes = electoral colleges, the one with the most electoral colleges is president
7)YES! Everyday!
8)No, not really, though I think reform of the Electoral College system is needed
9)America is diverse. I wouln't say all of it was conservative. Perhaps small towns in Alabama, Louisiana etc are conservativse but a huge metropolis as New York, no way!

Suprised? Or can most ppl answer those q's?

Dont hate us Brits for being dum to American ways though, most of us dont know how our own political system works (and a good percentage dont really care).
This is true. It really annoys me that British people tend to be so apathetic towards politics - and yes, that goes for US politics (though to some extent that's understandable given the way the media have completely obsessed over it here for months - not saying it shouldn't feature, of course it should, but the sheer level of airtime given to it is colossal)! Americans may get annoyed by Brits writing here about the US election, but at least it proves that there are still some people who give a damn about politics - but then I suppose people apathetic to politics wouldn't be on NationStates!

For what it's worth, I *could* answer the questions the original poster put up, but I studied the American system as part of an A Level politics course, and also a bit when I was at uni. Some people will know the answers, whether they've specifically studied it or not, but many won't - and as Sheffield Uni Students said, many won't know the answers in relation to British politics either. But really, I very much doubt that that kind of apathy is exclusive to Britain. Maybe the majority of Americans writing here know how their system works, but I'd be surprised if the majority of Americans *overall* did. Same applies anywhere, I suspect.

I saw a thread that was the opposite of this so I decided to be an ass.And I'll be an elephant. Well, I can actually never remember which way round the mascots are, so don't take this as a confirmation of any virtual party affiliation... :)

Q: Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?
A: It's essentially a bicameral construct, with both chambers elected by popular vote (though one is done by "staggered voting" to try to emulate continuity, a bit like UK council seats are...). I used to think it was a tricameral situation with the judiciary as the third side, but I think that was a misconception.
Personally I prefer a system where one house is totally free from short-term politics (i.e. House of Lords, as originally set up) and can play a much longer game, but the way the HoL generally gets bolstered by the party-in-power, with the accompanying bias, doesn't help. I like the incoming UK system (proposed and in-progress) much less, however. Anyway, if it works for you (unsure on that point, myself) have fun...

Q: Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?
A: Democratics, Republicans. There are no other 'main' parties, but there is Nader's lot who is (to the best of my understanding) just the 'best of the rest' and hence considered a third party. Like most of the past two decades in the UK, in reality it is essentially just two parties jostling for power.

Q: Can you name any of the minor parties?
A: None that are relevant, as I can't remember Nader's party's name right now. There's a Communist and/or Socialist party though, and a Green one and a (small) number of more specialist and 'one-state' parties. Nothing like the diversity in the UK, from what I've seen, but I'm likely to be wrong. (List (http://bubl.ac.uk/uk/parties.htm))

Q: Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?
A: Mind's a blank on that one, but then it is on the UK parties (where the equivalent of the US 'party leader' is the UK 'party chairman', from what I gather). I can quote Bush, Kerry and Nader much as in the UK I can quote Blair, Kennedy and Howard, however, as the figureheads, "poll position" and "actual/aspiring head of government" representatives.

Q: Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?
A: Rice and Powell come immediately to mind, I know others, but TV saturation of the primaries and the ones mainly involved in Iraq have fuzzied my long-term storage.

Q: Do you know how American elections work?
A: *snort* Right... Voters register (if they can) usually stating who they will support in the process (sorry, that is just so wrong, IMHO, without this fraud would be so much harder), they may then try to vote (assuming their application hasn't been mislaid or misdirected) and they vote for the figurehead of the party they favour, the votes in each county are turned into a single block-vote for the state Collegiate system in line with the majority winner of that county, the county votes in each states are turned into a single block-vote (weighted by the number of collegiate seats assigned) for that state in line with the majoirity winner of the entire state, and the numbers (by now being quite possibly far-removed from the actual popular vote) are added up to find the single winner who is declared President. Unlike the old days, the Vice-President is the person who has been running alongside of the Presidential incumbant/candidate, not the opposition candidate (when did that change, again? WWII?) and seems, these days, to be selected specifically to discourage anyone (of whatever partyy affiliation) from trying to assasinate the President, for fear of who would have to take over in that event. Minor variations at the country/state-level, I'm sure, and don't forget the role of State and Supreme Courts in adjusting or not allowing the correction of votes... :)

Q: Do your news media highlight the American elections?
A: It sounds like more than the American ones do. If it weren't for Iraq, it'd be almost wall-to-wall US (most of which was Florida, last time I looked).

Q: Do you think American democracy is out of date?
A: The short answer is yes. The long answer is that I understand that the above structure of vote-transferal was designed when secure communication of voting data was a lot less reliable, necessitating dealing with things at the 'block' level (also why the two-month delay between voting and office-taking/re-affirming. I'm wondering if this is still necessary or not, though maybe it is in a Federally administered collection of States, each effectively their own country. (Of course, we may be entering into Europe on the same sort of basis, depending on the details, and I'm not too keen about that to be honest.) I think there are problems with most systems. Except for "one man, one vote" where "I'm the man, I've got the vote"... :)

Q: Do you think America is a conservative nation?
A: Right-wing, yes. Conservative, no. Not that we in the UK can say much, traditionally left-wing Labour now nestling close enough to the Conservatives to make the choices really confusing, but I think that even the mainstream Conservatives are a tad to the left of the average US opiinion.

>Do you know how American elections work?

Probably badly this time round (paper trails, people, paper trails).

OK, I'll just deal with federal elections because otherwise it could get messy (plus I haven't a clue what individual states' policies are).

Representatives and Senators are elected every 4 years, with half the seats being contested every 2 years. Representatives serve for two 4 year terms (IIRC). There is no term limit for Senators.

Presidents are elected every 4 years, with a 2 term limit. They are elected on the basis of the electoral college where every state appoints representatives to vote for the president. The number of representatives is determined by the state's population. Convention dictates that representatives vote in line with the popular vote, on a winner-takes-all basis (though they're trying to change that in Colorado).


I have to give stripe-lovers credit for being very detailed, but you are off on the respresentative/senator election cycle bit.

ALL Representatives are up for election every two years and have no terms limits. Senators serve six year terms and one-third is up for election every two years; again, no terms limits.

Presidents can serve two terms, but interestingly enough they can serve for up to 10 years.

Ex. A: Jim is Pres. Jane is VP (i can dream here...). Jim has served in office for 3 years when he dies. Jane then becomes President. She may still run for and hold the office of Pres. twice, serving for a total of 9 years as Pres.

Ex. B: Sam is Pres, Sally is VP (still dreaming of a day when a woman holds the office...run hillary run!). Sam serves in office for 5 years (one full term, one year of 2nd term.) and then dies (something about a flu epidemic...). Sally becomes president, serving for the 3 remaining years of the term. She wins re-election for another four years. She is not eligible to run for another term because she has already held the office for 7 years, and the cap is two terms OR ten years. Another term would put her at 11 years, which is over the limit allowed by law.

The only US president to ever serve more than 2 terms was FDR, who died during his fourth term in office. The ammendments to the constitution concerning presidential term limits were made after his death. Interesting that in over 150 years of no legislated presidential term limits only one ever served more than two terms...

my five cents...

if thwe conservative party get in in Britain.... it would be worse than Bush winning tomorrow... MICHAEL HOWARD, prime minister. thats akin to having Jeffrey Archer.... ugh. Fatty Soames minister of defence, Slimy letwin chancellor, Mad tebbitt lords peer.... ick.

The opposite of "socialist" is not "conservative." I would use "fascist."
Actually, Fascism has its roots in Socialism.

I saw a thread that was the opposite of this so I decided to be an ass.

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?

Can you name any of the minor parties?

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?

Do you know how American elections work?

Do your news media highlight the American elections?

Do you think American democracy is out of date?

Do you think America is a conservative nation?
aye u are a bit of an arse. i as an american find it pretty rude to ask the far superior british race such questions, but then again im a loon. srry my british friends, we americans are immature pratts!

if thwe conservative party get in in Britain.... it would be worse than Bush winning tomorrow... MICHAEL HOWARD, prime minister. thats akin to having Jeffrey Archer.... ugh. Fatty Soames minister of defence, Slimy letwin chancellor, Mad tebbitt lords peer.... ick.
cheers! the tories are psycho, long live the labor party even if blair does let himself get bullied around a bit

Great Britain has been suffering the terrorist threat since the 1850s by the hands of the IRA.

Neat trick, seeing as how the IRA didn't come into existence until 1916 with the merging of the Irish Citizens Army and the Irish Volunteers.

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?
Not really, but i figure it must be like the our Parliment or House of Lords, or a combination of the two. Do they vote on bills that the President puts forward? Or help decide things at State level? Or both?!

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?
Republicans, Democrats

Can you name any of the minor parties?
Green, Libertarian, there is a Communist Party I know, equivalent of our SWP (who I severely dislike)

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?
Bush, Kerry, Nader

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?
Rummsfeld (sp?), Rice, Cheany, Wolfawitz (sp?), Powell

Do you know how American elections work?
Popular vote, counted on a state level, Electoral Collage decides if result is close (I am probably not even close here!)

Do your news media highlight the American elections?
Yes, very much so. I guess it is because your elections affect us and the rest of the world, whereas for you, our elections dont matter to you as whatever happens Britain will be America's best friend.

Do you think American democracy is out of date?
Perhaps, it is evident that i dont know much about your election procedure, however maybe the Electoral Collage may be a little outdated as wasnt it set up to represent those that lived too far away due to the poor communications out to the frontiers etc.

Do you think America is a conservative nation?
I do think so yes, very much so. To do with religion it is self evident that there are HUGE divides in the US. And in the economy and sevices, even your "left wing" Democrats are pretty right wing over here. Also possibly to do with civil rights etc.

However Britain does seem to be becoming more and more like the USA in the attitude of the public. ie, patriotism, public outcries etc, possibly hiding the deep divisions in reality.

I saw a thread that was the opposite of this so I decided to be an ass.

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?

Can you name any of the minor parties?

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?

Do you know how American elections work?

Do your news media highlight the American elections?

Do you think American democracy is out of date?

Do you think America is a conservative nation?

This is my straight reaction to the first post only, I have not researched the questions after having seen them

Congress is divided into the House of Representatives (from each state) and the Senate. The Representatives need any suggestion, bill or complaint to have a Senators signature before it is recognized.

The Democrats and the Republicans are the two main partys.

Minor parties include the Greens, Libertarians, Socialists, Constitutionalists, Socialist Workers Party, Natural Law Party, American Party and the Prohibition Party.

I know the following party leaders-
Republican: George Bush
Democrat: John Kerry
Green: David Cobb
Libertarian: Michael Badnarik
Socialist: Walt Brown
Constitution: Michael Peroutka

I know Dick Cheney and Condoleeza Rice are senior government officials, I used to know more but my sieve-like brain has lost them

American Elections work by the Electoral College System. The majority vote in a state becomes one electoral college vote. These votes detemine who comes into power. This isn't really very representative, but neither is our similar First Past the Post system.

Our media DOES highlight the American elections, to the extent of news reporters going into the Playboy mansion to find out their political views, and they're mostly pretty liberal I have to say!

As to US Democracy being out of date I don't think it is. I don't believe the EC system is good for any era.

America isn't a conservative nation. Pieces of land don't have political views. A lot of people in America are more Conservative than a lot of people in Britain, moving the general standard towards the right, but there are always exceptions. Ralph Nader, for instance, is a lot less Conservative than Margeret Thatcher.

So hopefully I've proved myself to be not quite a US political ignoramus.

Mikorlias of Imardeavia

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?
Similar to a senate?


Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?
GOP, DNC

Can you name any of the minor parties?
Libertarian Party, Green Party, Constitution Party,

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?

DNC: Tom Daschle? LP: Michael Badnarik

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?
Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Rove, Wolfowitz, Ashcroft, Jesus.

Do you know how American elections work?
A number of men have to vote, a certain number per population of the state, winner needs 270 of their votes.


Do your news media highlight the American elections?
All the time.

Do you think American democracy is out of date?
Hell yes.


Do you think America is a conservative nation?
Did Hitler hate the jews?




So, what's my score?

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?
Democrats and Republicans?

Can you name any of the minor parties?
Green, Socialist?

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?
Bush and im not sure if Kerry can be counted as Democratic leader if he doesnt win


Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?
Congress or his Cabinet? Cant remember much about Congress past the time of Newt Gingridge. His cabinet has colin, Donny, Dick, Condoleza, Wolfowitz

Do you know how American elections work?
Which ones? You have the Electoral college system and the other federal elections

Do your news media highlight the American elections?
Damn straight it does

Do you think American democracy is out of date?
No, i think its a very good system which has been misguided over recent years

Do you think America is a conservative nation?
Is the pope Catholic?

Hmm, why are you even asking these questions? Does it matter who the minor parties are? america isn't a democracy, its a nation run by fundamentalists who try and force their religion on the population. because of the odd way (and I guess you would have to be american to understand how it works) you indirectly elect your dictator....um President removes the citizens so far from the democratic process its not even funny. Asking British people, or anyone for that matter (myself being Canadian) about the workings of American Politics and government is pointless. For one thing American Politics is an oxymoron. Whoever has the most money and is a bigger bible thumper wins. I feel bad for the Americans tomorrow, they basically have a choice between Kerry and Bush (third parties don't have enough money to bribe the right people) and its really a choice between the lesser of Two Evils.

Unfortunately, this means that Independants can't vote in preliminaries, which choose between party canidates.

Actually, this has varied over time from state to state, although generally the Republican and Democratic parties have fought against "open" primaries.

Anyone who says the Usa is always going to be the centre of the free/economic/whatever world is just as wrong as the old europeans were about britain and france. And portugal and spain before that. and rome b4 that. the far east is where its gonna be at. and im british :( oh dear.

Man I feel sorry for americans, and pretty much the rest of the world.

Why are the majority of young American troops So Gun Ho?
Cousin had an incident when a troop almost shot his head off, he came so close to beathing him sh!tless.

And? You're saying other nations don't value being able to defend themselves? Just because we're the only nation capable of striking any other, anyplace on Earth, doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to, just because doing so wouldn't be peaceful.. :rolleyes:

If world peace means appeasement, you're right, we're a threat. :D

Please tell me ... apart from a few idiot terrorists, who you have now used to invade 2 countries, even though they have had nothing to do with the september 11th attacks, ... who in their right minds would want to attack america????

Hey, I'm just going to butt in (American here), and clear up some confusion about the Electoral College.

Each state is allocated a number of Electors equal to the number of its U.S. Senators (always 2) plus the number of its U.S. Representatives (which may change each decade according to the size of each State's population as determined in the Census). My state, for example, has seven: two for the senators and five for the representatives. The political parties in each state submit to the state's chief election official a list of individuals pledged to their candidate for president and equal in number to the state's electoral vote. The people in each state cast their ballots for the party slate of Electors representing their choice for President and Vice President. Whichever party slate wins the most popular votes in the state becomes that state's Electors - so that, in effect, whichever presidential ticket gets the most popular votes in a state wins all the Electors of that state. It is possible (i.e. legal) that the Electors may not vote with the popular vote. In West Virginia, for example, one of the state's five Republican Electors has said he might not vote for Bush. Suffice it to say, he probably will not be an Elector for the next election. Hurrah for indirect representation. :headbang:

1. It functions much in the same way as the House of Commons doesn't it? A system of voting on government proposed laws and enactments plus a debating house for government policy.

2. Democrats and Republicans

3. Isn't it just a two party system?

4.Conda Lisa Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney

5. Electoral college system, like in the UK. Each state elects a representative (or set of representatives) and who ever gets the most representatives elected gains the majority therefore the control of the government.

6. Unfortunately yes, although many of us don't want to hear about it. Usually it is about the fifth item on the national news and usually is the first thing in the international section of broadsheet newspapers. We also have TV documentaries about how corrupt and maligned your system is. I think this difference shows the the difference between the UK and the US: most British people do actually know the answer to these questions whereas most Americans can't even point the UK out on a map.

7. I have no opinion here. While inferior to the British system (which of course started it all), it seems to function in much the same way. I have noted there is heavy debate over what should win: electoral vote or popular vote. In the UK that is much less of an issue due to population/voting differences.

8. God yes. It is capitalist through and through without a singular trace of socialism. But this just shows how socially irresponisble you are as a nation.
You were doing great until you fudged on #3 and got #8 wrong. There are some minor parties and there are the independents which run individually some manage a seat but generally the Dem & Reps hold sway.

While we may not have the level of socialism Europe & the UK consider acceptable we have food stamps, section 8 housing, disability payments, Social Security, medicare, medicaid and myraid other social programs.

I'll give you a high C as your grade.

Americans, the greatest nation in the world, with the greatest army in the world..

which is why the black watch have been deployed to sort there mess out, and why the british/coalition held areas of iraq are reletivly peaceful, compared to the US held areas.

It seems to me that the media is full of stories about the American Government's corruption and ineptitude or who the Americans have pissed off now.

American is not the free world, it is a realm where 50 million of it's voters are 'Evangelical Christians' (IMO more fanatical than the Islamic Extremists), denies basic human rights to anyone who it deems unworthy, starts wars it's can't fight nor finish, and generally holds the rest of the world to ransom, because it's got the most nukes.

The point being made here, is that brits don't know much about US politics... well some of us do, and some of us don't... but to be perfectly frank who gives a f**k either way??

Ahhh, the UK's answer to America's rednecks. :rolleyes:

Okay, I'm a Brit, so I'll give it a pop. Maybe I'll make an ass of myself, but hey, let’s try and see how I get on.

Think so. Congress is the parliament, the legislature. The whole "balance of powers" thing is laid out so that congress is fairly powerful, to prevent the president becoming a tyrant. The congress consists of the House of Representatives (in which each state has a number of representatives based upon its population) and the senate (each state has two senators, regardless of population). Either house can propose laws, both houses must approve a law for it to pass. They can also veto laws proposed by the president. The congress meets in the Capitol building in Washington DC.
very good but a few points need clarification. The president can veto bills passed by congress but congress can later negate the veto if 2/3 of both vote to pass it. At that point it becomes law. The president may ask for legislation but does not offer the particulars of the bill per se. That is done in committee which then may pass it's recommendations on to Congress. It then gets hashed out between the Senate & the House. There are often Senate versions and House versions which must be reconcilled before the bill is ready for final vote.

On the matter of balance of power you must include the courts. So the you have the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary. A bill passed by the Legislative and signed into law by the Executive can be found Constitutionally defective and tossed or modified by the Judiciary.
Republicans (red, elephants) presidential candidate George W Bush, and Democrats (blue, donkey) John Kerry. Both parties dominate the political scene but do not have the same power as political parties in the UK. When the US constitution was written there was opposition to the formation of party politics, and the constitution does not account for them. In the UK party politics is written into our constitution.

Libertarian, Green, various socialist/communist.

No, I know the presidential candidates, but guess they aren't the leaders. I could look it up on their websites. I just did, so though I didn't know the answer I know where to look:

Democrats:
* Terry McAuliffe, Chairman
* Linda Chavez-Thompson, Vice Chair
* Gloria Molina, Vice Chair
* Lottie Shackelford, Vice Chair
* Mark Brewer, Vice Chair
* Wellington Webb, Vice Chair
* Rep. Mike Honda, Deputy Chair
* Ben Johnson, Deputy Chair
* Susan Turnbull, Deputy Chair
* Andrew Tobias, Treasurer
* Alice Travis Germond, Secretary
* Maureen White, National Finance Chair

Republicans:
Ed Gillespie, Chairman
Ann L. Wagner, Co-Chairman
Maria Cino, Deputy Chairman


Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney. That woman Crazynamewithzeds Rice. That's about it.

Aren't they different in every state? Think they are similar to UK elections though. The presidential election uses the 'Electoral College' system, which means the states select the president, not the people. The issue is confused however because all the states have a popular vote to decide who they should support. Well done. Each state sets it's own election laws. Some states have chosen to have their electors split to reflect the popular vote. Most however do not split the vote. It is usually a winner takes all situation.

Yes, there was an article in the news just recently that Britain gets more coverage of the elections than Americans do, as most of the election material is focused on a few 'swing-states'

Hmm, needs a few tweaks, but no, I wouldn't say that. I personally consider this a trick question because it is not a democracy but a republican form of government.

No, I'd describe America as 'neo-conservative', which is a very different thing. A conservative is someone who wants to keep things the same. America wants either to go back to 'the good old days' or try and change the rest of the world to be like them. Neither of these involves the traditional conservative value of 'staying the same'.Hmm . . . if by America you mean the present government then fine. If you mean the populace then we'll have to start a new thread.

So how did I do? Do I get a percentage score or something?
I'd rate it between a high 80's low 90's score. Not bad at all!

And the Tory front bencher at the Republican conference had wondered in by mistake then?

The only reason that the Conservatives don't want a close relation with America is that it will get votes, don't like the US, don't like Europe, who do the Conservatives like?

Micheal Howard was banned from meeting President Bush. It was quite a big news item.

Neat trick, seeing as how the IRA didn't come into existence until 1916 with the merging of the Irish Citizens Army and the Irish Volunteers.

I can inform you that Irish terrorist incidents have been occruing on and off since 1850. I am an A-Level History student and my first module was The Irish Question in the Age of Parnell. I got 100% on my exam (120/120) and have the neccessary documentation to prove it.

You're wrong. I just saw in person an average Briton being set in place by an average American in a confrence chat. This was followed by an average Hungarian stumbling into the same trap.

Just because you THINK you know everything doesnt mean you do. The US is a big place and you need to follow local news to understand more intricate workings.

What they basically teach us here is in the respect of history, political, and economic situations, amounts to: "Europeans are silly. Stay away from them. Stay out of their fudged politics. Dont make their mistakes."

This has been the case for about 3 centuries. Its becoming more and more obvious that the originators of this philosophy was correct.

Most of you dont understand the basic ideas underlying American politics, economics, and to some extent even the culture here. Were isolationist and commercialistic. Although currently tied up in an odd situation with this election based on non-issues and a small margin of undecideds, we would normally shrug at your shows of attention to us. It really doesnt matter to the US as a whole what Europe does. The future no longer lies there.
How does your commercialism work in an isolationist idyll

How does your commercialism work in an isolationist idyll

Best post on this server, well done.

Ahhh, the UK's answer to America's rednecks. :rolleyes:

Ditto. Though, as I've previously stated, I'd personally like to move to the UK and away from the rednecks. I have better recognition religiously (and it is my religion's terra firma, too), and there are flu shots. Maybe I will move there...after voting "Not Bush".

This is my straight reaction to the first post only, I have not researched the questions after having seen them

Congress is divided into the House of Representatives (from each state) and the Senate. The Representatives need any suggestion, bill or complaint to have a Senators signature before it is recognized.

The Democrats and the Republicans are the two main partys.

Minor parties include the Greens, Libertarians, Socialists, Constitutionalists, Socialist Workers Party, Natural Law Party, American Party and the Prohibition Party.

I know the following party leaders-
Republican: George Bush
Democrat: John Kerry
Green: David Cobb
Libertarian: Michael Badnarik
Socialist: Walt Brown
Constitution: Michael Peroutka

I know Dick Cheney and Condoleeza Rice are senior government officials, I used to know more but my sieve-like brain has lost them

American Elections work by the Electoral College System. The majority vote in a state becomes one electoral college vote. These votes detemine who comes into power. This isn't really very representative, but neither is our similar First Past the Post system.

Our media DOES highlight the American elections, to the extent of news reporters going into the Playboy mansion to find out their political views, and they're mostly pretty liberal I have to say!

As to US Democracy being out of date I don't think it is. I don't believe the EC system is good for any era.

America isn't a conservative nation. Pieces of land don't have political views. A lot of people in America are more Conservative than a lot of people in Britain, moving the general standard towards the right, but there are always exceptions. Ralph Nader, for instance, is a lot less Conservative than Margeret Thatcher.

So hopefully I've proved myself to be not quite a US political ignoramus.

Mikorlias of Imardeavia


The Electoral College doesnt work quite the way you mention.
The Electoral votes in a state are indeed decided by the popular vote.
However, the amount of votes is usually more than one.
A state has a number of Electoral Votes, depending on its population.
For instance, California, would recieve more Electoral votes than Rhode Island, wich only has three.

I forget the ratio of population to e.c votes however.

The problem with the E.C, is that it disenfranchises half of the voters in a state.
Take my home state, Michigan.
Kerry will win Michigan, the democrats ALWAYS win Michigan.
So that means my vote for Kerry, counts.

However, an estimated 46% percent of people in Michigan, who wil likely be voting for Bush, will see thier votes wasted.

Bush wont win Michigan, so all the republican voters...are SOL.

That isnt fair.

The only way to make an election truly representative of the people, is to make it so the winner of the election, is the winner of the popular vote.

He who gets the most votes....should win.

Thats it.

Ditto. Though, as I've previously stated, I'd personally like to move to the UK and away from the rednecks. I have better recognition religiously (and it is my religion's terra firma, too), and there are flu shots. Maybe I will move there...after voting "Not Bush".
Hopefully the UK's lab standards will have improved by the time you re/ex patriate and you'll find that redneck vaccine.

Cheers!

I am from England and I will try to answer your questions:

Do you know what Congress is or how it functions?
No, it's corrupt probably

Do you know what the main political parties are in the US?
democrats and republicans

Can you name any of the minor parties?
No

Can you name the leaders of any of the parties?
Bush and Kerry - if I was American I wouldn't vote for either - Arnold Schwarzenegger for president!

Can you name any senior members of the Government other than George Bush?
Dick something

Do you know how American elections work?
No

Do your news media highlight the American elections?
Unfortuanately

Do you think American democracy is out of date?
Yep

Do you think America is a conservative nation?
No, should be communist really, bring back the red farther

how far is this red thing :headbang:

how far is this red thing :headbang:
Cheers. My exact thoughts.

I can inform you that Irish terrorist incidents have been occruing on and off since 1850.

This I do not dispute.

I am an A-Level History student and my first module was The Irish Question in the Age of Parnell. I got 100% on my exam (120/120) and have the neccessary documentation to prove it.

Bully for you, but as this is the case you should realise that the statement you made earlier -

Great Britain has been suffering the terrorist threat since the 1850s by the hands of the IRA.

- is factually incorrect: it is like claiming that the CIA were active during WWII.

Bully for you, but as this is the case you should realise that the statement you made earlier - is factually incorrect: it is like claiming that the CIA were active during WWII.
They were in the sense that there was a group of Americans gathering intel and trying to put it to use. There were irish republican terrorists around for ages. They just hadn't had meetings and put a formal name to themselves then.

Bush will win the election. Prepare for more war!

In response to:
Great Britain has been suffering the terrorist threat since the 1850s by the hands of the IRA.we had...

Neat trick, seeing as how the IRA didn't come into existence until 1916 with the merging of the Irish Citizens Army and the Irish Volunteers.
I can inform you that Irish terrorist incidents have been occruing on and off since 1850. I am an A-Level History student and my first module was The Irish Question in the Age of Parnell. I got 100% on my exam (120/120) and have the neccessary documentation to prove it.I think that was supposed to just be a pedantic response. There's no doubt that someone has been a terrorist since the 1850s, but BWO was pointing out that it wasn't the (what we know of as) IRA.

Wasn't it the Irish Republican Brotherhood/'Fenians', the Land League, gangs such as 'The Invincibles', etc? My own history classes are way in the past, and apart from getting 102% in a Chemistry test (the reason is... complicated...:)) I can't compete regarding pieces of paper.

I have to give stripe-lovers credit for being very detailed, but you are off on the respresentative/senator election cycle bit.

ALL Representatives are up for election every two years and have no terms limits. Senators serve six year terms and one-third is up for election every two years; again, no terms limits.

Yeah, I had a bit of a d'oh moment upon looking at CNN's coverage and realising all the House seats were up for grabs. Oh well, at least I remembered the rules are different for the two houses. I give myself 2/10 on this one.

Presidents can serve two terms, but interestingly enough they can serve for up to 10 years.

Ex. A: Jim is Pres. Jane is VP (i can dream here...). Jim has served in office for 3 years when he dies. Jane then becomes President. She may still run for and hold the office of Pres. twice, serving for a total of 9 years as Pres.

Ex. B: Sam is Pres, Sally is VP (still dreaming of a day when a woman holds the office...run hillary run!). Sam serves in office for 5 years (one full term, one year of 2nd term.) and then dies (something about a flu epidemic...). Sally becomes president, serving for the 3 remaining years of the term. She wins re-election for another four years. She is not eligible to run for another term because she has already held the office for 7 years, and the cap is two terms OR ten years. Another term would put her at 11 years, which is over the limit allowed by law.

Can't a former President also serve as Vice-President, thus allowing for the possibility of him/her becoming President should the worst happen?

The only US president to ever serve more than 2 terms was FDR, who died during his fourth term in office. The ammendments to the constitution concerning presidential term limits were made after his death. Interesting that in over 150 years of no legislated presidential term limits only one ever served more than two terms...

my five cents...

TBH term-limits have always struck me as both undemocratic and impractical. It means the greatest Presidents end up with the same amount of time in office as a mediocre one with a rubbish opponent in his re-election bid. I understand the desire to limit the scope of professional politicians to stay in office perpetually but it seems like a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Surely a more refined way to deal with it would be by campaign finance limits or stricter rules on the conduct of campaigns.

Thanks England for all your support durring these past few years

Can't a former President also serve as Vice-President, thus allowing for the possibility of him/her becoming President should the worst happen?

i don't think thats allowed, it would pass onto the the Leader of the House of Representatives, but they would have to resign their position to take up the post, then it goes onto the Head of the Senate i think...after that who knows....

the link gives an example, right down the bottom of the page

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3955757.stm