Is the British way of government the best?
399777
You could say that the British *way* of government is the best but not necessarily that the British government itself is the best.\n\nOur parliamentary system is known as the mother of all parliaments and has been a model used for centuries throughout pretty much all the demcracies in the world.  Each country has of course, it's own rules and regulations and it's own way of doing things but the system is based on the British system.\n\nI wouldn't necessarily agree with your comments.  You say that we have low taxes, in fact, we have higher than average taxes paying 41p in every £1 earned as tax.  This compares quite well to the EU as a whole (48p) but quite poor in comparison to other countries (29p in the US for example).\n\nOur economy isn't particularly healthy and today's announcement of thousands of job losses at Peugeot is a good example.  If it weren't for the trillions of dollars worth of north sea gas and oil that's been keeping the economy afloat for 32 years then we, as a nation, would have been bankrupt a long time ago.  We used to be world leaders in textiles, ship-building, steel, electronics, engineering, railways but all these industries have long since declined.\n\nWe do have free healthcare but the NHS, which was once the envy of the world, is in crisis.  Huge sums of money have been pumped into it yet we can only staff it by draining the resources of other countries by paying their doctors and nurses to come over here.\n\nThe safety net you mention costs over £100 billion a year, that's the equivalent of £5,000 for every single household in the country.  Considering that the average household gets nowhere near this amount it demonstartes just how much is wasted on bureaucracy.  To give you one example from when my Dad worked for the government... It was decided to look into the possibility of moving one of the government departments to new offices, it cost us (the taxpayer) £94 million for them to decide to stay where they were.
331131
Great questions.  He wasn't alone in seeing that democracy isn't perfect; Plato laid out some of the best arguments for and against the various forms of government in his book, Republic.  But I don't read Churchill's quote as being negative about democracy at all, but rather stating that democracy is the best one out there   His actual quote was “Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”  It sounds like Churchill didn't see a better form, even if Plato did offer a few.  Bog, Ante
818975
I wish the British people would pay for better education. "Surly", is an interesting way to perceive this argument, but I don't think it's the right way, if you want a better country, you need to be taxed. The question is, who to tax? Big Business? The government need them in this country to provide employment. I think it shows that the British still have an aptitude to keep complaining.
99321
elcetions are the best way. Nothing makes you authority more legitimite than beeing chosen by the people. After free elections of course.
1005896
Yes it is, only private cos can make rapid progress with less interference from the bureaucrats. That way they can function smoothly and offer us world class airports which can be pride for any country. \n\nGovernment attitude is generally straight jacket and does not have any creativity and innovation.
464159
Since it's (IMO) a comparative judgement, it's the best one out there - by far.\n\nI speak of our own unique system of government, not of the characters currently occupying the Executive Branch - they come and go every four to eight years, whether they like it or not!\n\nStill, there are LOTS of problems and issues with the Federal government but, hey, without those little things, life would be awfully booorrrrriing, no?\n\nAnd besides, who in this country would opt for, say, Japanese, French, Singaporean or even British-style government?  Nothing really wrong with any those countries' systems of government but the average American, given a choice and a list of pros and cons vis-a-vis what they've come to understand and expect of our government and what they'd get from any of those countries' governments, would not wish to live under any of those countries' systems of government.
595725
Consitutional monarchies like japan and the UK seem to work.Absolute monarchies, now there`s (in my opinion) a bad idea.
14787
Depends on what viewpoint you consider "working best" to be looked at from. \n\nBy this I mean that if you look at it from a Western perspective, based on the values of liberal democracy, then India's democractic political system has "worked best." By this I mean that it has developed over the past 50 years since Indian independence to become closer and closer to the working Western definition of a vibrant, healthy liberal democracy.\n\nIn addition, it is possible one could argue that India's political system will benefit its economy in the long run in comparison to China's. Yes, China has seen explosive economic growth recently, but this growth is largely unsustainable and artificial. India's economy, on the other hand, is very open and becoming much more service-oriented - a sign of a developing nation at large. With the information revolution, this will largely benefit India more than China, where economic power is centred in the manufacturing sectors.\n\nAlso, I think one could argue that India has had much more success with the legitimacy of its system of government - that is, the lack of threats to that legitimacy. China, on the other hand, is constantly looking to solidify the government's legitimacy through forceful means, such as imprisoning dissidents or those who oppose the Communist regime. \n\nHowever, it all comes down to what approach you plan to take in terms of what "working best" means. I highly suggest you figure this out before you work the rest of the paper out, it will contribute greatly to the paper's value in terms of a linear, concise and clear set of arguments. \n\nHope this helps!
358508
vote. What a pointless waste of time, get rid of this Head Of State rubbish, you need one democratically elected leader and that's that.  The Yanks do it, and it seems to work for them.  I guess you can tell I'm a Brit who wants a republic, but I wouldn't replace the queen with a president, just keep the role of PM
619656
A parliamentary system appeals to me because of the quick manner in which a government is elected and created.  The Brits do it in about a month - a lot quicker than we Americans, with our evenly-spaced two-year election cycles that seem endless.\n\nThat said, I prefer the presidential system.  I like the fact that in a presidential system, the executive does not derive its power and authority from the legislature, as with a parliamentary system.  In parliamentary systems, the executive / prime minister must maintain the approval of the legislature and is therefore unlikely to do anything that will be unpopular with his party; a president, since his authority does not rest with the legislature, has more freedom to act on principle and take an unpopular stand if he feels it is right.
1090407
Government knows best whats good FOR GOVERNMENT, namely keeping us "teaming masses" in check.  Since government not gonna voluntarily give up its power, YOU must choose your areas of freedom. The man can't be everywhere, all the time.
780361
which parliment? there are many countries that have a governing section known as the parliment.i suppose you mean GREAT BRITAIN.. the prime minister is like the speaker of the house as in america and all member are the same. there are no congressmen or senators but just members who vote and talk about laws and what is right and what isnt. much talk is done in parliment although im not sure if anything ever gets done.much like the house and the senate here in the united states.Tony BLAIR is as good a PM as margaret thatcher was.TB is a good friend of the united states and i hope he will continue to keep on as a good friend when a new president is elected in 2 more long years
112678
Both are based on a bilateral system of government,Britain has the crown as the head of state,its powers restricted by \nconventions,you have the president whose powers are wider,therefore he can be more dangerous(vide Bush).
873006
Utopia, third right past the end of the rainbow.\n\nYou've missed out why we pay taxes. Apart from keeping some idle people wealthy they pay for education, health, housing roads, et al.\n\nThe weather, we can do nothing about, Politics can be changed by voting, yes actually voting.\n\nI'm not bothered whether a person is blue, green or pink and purple stripe, I don't care if a person worships a gold bar or a house brick. He will seek the correct direction at some time.\n\nI think that we British are probably not very happy because we are a constant target with criticism by insiders and outsides. We have a Press that can only print bad news.\n\nWe have a Civil Service (centrally), that is at best inept, and at its worst criminally negligent.\n\nHowever elsewhere it is probably crooked.\n\nI think that if we adopted the policy of 'if you don't like us GO!' Even if a persons lineage goes back generations to Dick Turpin, still GO and the sooner the better, because that person will find that they are carrying bad baggage with them.\n\nTake another look at Britain, walk around it, talk to strangers in other areas.\n\nYou will find that it is the best place on Earth.
308185
A representative government has proven itself to be the best form of government.  No arguing that.  The US also has capitalism going for it.
1161656
It is Britain\n\nThere is no written constitution or comprehensive Bill of Rights; Britain's constitution is to be found partly in conventions and customs and partly in statute. The Act known as the Bill of Rights 1689 deals with the exercise of the royal prerogative and succession to the Crown.\nThe British legal system provides some remedies to deal with human rights abuses. For instance, the remedy of 'habeas corpus' secures the individual's right to freedom from any unlawful or arbitrary detention.\nParliament, however, has power to enact any law and change any previous law.\nThere is no fundamental distinction between 'public law' and 'private law'. Any person can take proceedings against the Government or a local government authority to protect his or her legal rights and to obtain a remedy for any injury suffered.\nBritain has not generally codified its law and courts adopt a relatively strict and literal approach to the interpretation of statutes. The ratification of a treaty or international convention does not make it automatically part of the domestic law. Where necessary, the Government amends domestic law to bring it in line with the convention. Because of Britain's membership of the European Community, Community law is part of British law and takes precedence in the event of conflict between the two.
988441
Todays social system is running on the base of power & threat.  People remain civilised so long they have the fear of being penalised for their wrongs.  But a best and ideal society will be where people will do the right thing without the fear of any penalties.\n         Yes governance is necessary, but a good governance is what gives it's citizens trust and responsibility which they can perform voluntarily and not by compulsion.\n................the story can be an unending one.