I hope you won't think me a meddling Canadian for what I am about to say....

[glarius]

Don't you think that possibly the main reason Obama's election promises have not been fulfilled is because of the fact that there was an election coming in two years?
No matter who is president, there is always an election coming in two years!
Perhaps the reason Canada, Great Brittain, France and other democracies have universal health care, for instance, is because the government of the day has time to enact their election promises.
Our elected governments have a reasonable amount of time to get things done. If we don't like what they do, we throw them out in the next election....But things do get done.
I hope this doesn't sound condescending, because I don't mean it that way. I live in southern Ontario, not far from Buffalo, N.Y., and we have a lot of friendly cross-border mingling. You are great people and deserve the best.

[Pab Sungenis]

1. But, conversely

if things get too hot, then the government can fall in almost no time. Here, we're stuck with people for two/four/six years.

[arthritisR_US]

28. only if it's a minority government. If it is elected with a majority it stands for the

minimum 4 years. With a minority government there is a much more working across party lines to get things done.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. In Brazil itr's like this:

Years 4n+2: President, Senate, House, Governors, state legislatures.

Years 4n: Mayors, city legislatures.

It's been working OK.

[glarius]

3. In other words....time to get things done...n/t

[NV Whino]

4. I have long been an advocate

for a single eight-year presidency for that very reason. With a four-year term, they spend two damn years campaigning to get reelected and nothing gets done.

[cyclezealot]

7. How about something more like

Elect a president for 5 years and congressional elections every 3 years.. One comparison between Canada and the US. Neither are as democratic as say. Germany with it's proportional representation.. But, with the electoral college, the US excels more than any at being undemocratic.

[Obamanaut]

12. Not to mention several months of a third year campaigning for

the mid terms for people of their party.

[Rectangle]

5. No you are not meddling at all, one main difference, (among many),

is that you have a Parliamentary system of Government instead of this
" winner take all" format we have. Another is that we do not have
Run-Off voting as (I think) you do in Canada.
Thanks for your post!!
:7

[laundry_queen]

24. I agree

that the parliamentary system seems to be more efficient for getting things done. I remember learning about our system in school and then we did a side by side comparison with the US system and I was shocked (As were many of my classmates) at just how much power is concentrated at the top in the US. And don't quote me on this, since I regrettably don't pay much attention to our Canadian system since I find the American far more entertaining, lol, but I'm pretty sure the run off voting is only done during party conventions to pick the leaders of the parties.

I do think that having set elections every 2 years though means that the election cycle is prolonged to a ridiculous degree. I know that here, hardcore campaigning only goes on for a month or so before an election. Yes, there is the disadvantage that the ruling party can call an election when they figure they are ahead in the polls, but a lot can change in a month. Just ask Paul Martin.

[WilliamPitt]

6. Imagine how much more fucked we'd be if there had been no 2006 midterm election.

No roadblock to the Bush administration.

Accountability is more important. The character Amy Gardner in the show "The West Wing" once said, "It's a hell of a thing that we get to overthrow the government every two years."

I concur.

[Bitwit1234]

8. One term of six years for representatives and senators

it must happen. That way the lobbyist and the billionaires couldn't funnel all that cash to get them re-elected. And then they would have to wait another 6 years before they could run for the senate again. AND they could service only twice.

[eppur_se_muova]

37. Senators already serve six years -- about 1/3 are elected every two years.

Term
Senators serve terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the seats are up for election every two years. This was achieved by dividing the senators of the 1st Congress into thirds (called classes), where the terms of one-third expired after two years, the terms of another third expired after four, and the terms of the last third expired after six years. This arrangement is also implemented following the admission of new states into the union. The staggering of terms has been arranged such that both seats from a given state are not contested in the same general election, except when a mid-term vacancy is being filled. Current senators whose six-year terms will expire on January 3, 2011, belong to Class III.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate#Term

The result is a regular turnover of Senate seats, but not a traumatic change of all seats at once, which might interrupt the functioning of gov't, particularly in times of national emergency.

The Senate has a number of powers not shared with the House, and vice versa, so the difference in term lengths is one more distinction between the "upper" and "lower" chambers of Congress.

[Odin2005]

9. This is exactly why we need a Parliamentary system.

[glarius]

11. As I said before...things DO get done....

...and if you don't like what they do, you vote them out in the next election. It works!

[southernyankeebelle]

10. lOVE YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RIGHT.

[xor]

22. You love the Canadian Right?

:P

[struggle4progress]

13. Wait ... you mean, Canada's not part of the US? I thought we got it in the Spanish-American war

[glarius]

14. you got that wrong...our 2nd language is French, not Spanish!

:pals: LOL!

[proteus_lives]

25. Well, according to Samantha Bee:

"Actually, it's not really French, it's a regional patois that actual French people despise."

;-)

[glarius]

26. Samantha Bee is full of shit!

She says what she thinks most Americans want to hear about Canada....She thinks you want to feel superior to Canada and she is trying to play to that. She's wrong of course! You want the truth!

[proteus_lives]

30. Simmer down.

I think she was actually poking fun at Canadians who didn't like it.

Of course, she's wrong. It's a comedy routine.

[glarius]

32. I heard her say something smarmy on the CBC not long ago

and formed my opinion of her then. That's all I want to say. :)

[applegrove]

38. It is an ancient french in Quebec at times. Like the world "char" is car. Which comes from chariot.

In some ways quebec french, settled in the 1600s, is more traditional french than french french is.

[proteus_lives]

45. That's one of the funny parts.

Quebec was cut off before the French Revolution. They were far more traditional then the European French in language and culture.

[Greyhound]

15. Proportional representation is the biggest improvement, IMO. n/t

[social_critic]

16. I like Canadian system but....

I got some misgivings about letting Queen Elizabeth II be our monarch. I´d like it if I could be King, it sounds like a pretty decent job. And you get to wear fancy outfits and read a message to Congress.

Or maybe we could draw lots to be King of the Month. If I had a month, then I would write a speech apologizing to the world because we have been torturing people and doing all sorts of bad stuff to them. I guess the rest of you would want to cut my head off, so I´d do it and then fall through a secret trap door and change from my king outfit, get dressed in a suit and tie, and then go somewhere sane, like say Canada. But if I go to Canada I would want to start a band and be known as Social Critic, formally known as America´s King.

[glarius]

23. The Queen's job is purely ceremonial....she has nothing to do with governing!

:hi:

[DailyGrind51]

17. I'll go ya one further! I think we should ask the Queen to take us back into the Commonwealth!

[raven42]

19. personally, I'd much prefere a parliamentary system to

what we have here in the U.S. I know it can lead to more instability if the government really runs into deep trouble; but at least it would seriously dilute the power of the major parties. The Democrats, for instance, would be forced to build coalitions with other more progressive parties when forming a government. I think it would lead to a much healthier democracy overall. Unfortunately, it's never going to happen here.

[DailyGrind51]

33. And, what THEY call "conservative", WE call "moderate"!

Even Thatcher would not get rid of "Public Health"!

[jonthebru]

18. Actually, how different representative govenments work is very interesting.

Even on a local level. Here in Hawaii each island is a county, Maui County has three settled islands. Our county council has residency requirements to run, but the voters all over the county can vote for each (non-partisan)candidate for a district seat. The Big Island of Hawaii has district residency and district voting for their council also non-partisan. That allowed the election several years ago of the first elected Green Party candidate in The US. Kaua'i County has a free for all, non-partisan, non-district run for office; the top seven candidates are elected to the council. Oahu is like the big island district residency and voting. I'm certain there a thousand variations to the structure of government.

Nationally, term limits are a big deal to me, I don't like seeing someone entrenched in their power at the expense of their constituents. That would take a constitutional amendment I think for the US Senate and House to have some sort of term limits.

[roamer65]

20. What we are seeing is a general, worldwide "Balkanization" trend, IMHO.

You have 4 main parties in your parliament and one is an outright secessionist party. No party can achieve an outright majority.
Australia has just had one of the most divisive elections in its history, resulting in a weak ALP coalition gov't.
Britain has a coalition government for the first time since PM Ted Heath's coalition in the 1970's.

The United States is experiencing the same divisive politics, but in a much more virulent form.

Where this goes is anyone guess. My guess is some sort of conflict (aka war).

...and you're not meddling ;) What happens down here can and will affect Canada very quickly.

[phleshdef]

21. I agree with your observation entirely. With 24/7 political entertainment and nonstop campaign mode.

...we end up with our elected officials wasting half their time trying to convince everyone they did a good job during the other half of the time they were actually working. Its like American Idol with no off season.

[Better Believe It]

27. You also have a multi-party system. We only are allowed 2 political parties in the United States.

At least it seems that way.

Until a real time of deep social and economic crisis which we may now be entering.

[aikoaiko]

29. I thought you are were a monarchy.

;)

[glarius]

31. As I said above...the queen's job is strictly ceremonial.

She has nothing to do with governing...:)

[aikoaiko]

34. I was just teasing....

[glarius]

35. Sorry....my sense of humour failed me there...hahaha.

:)

[glarius]

36. A point I meant to make....it seems like the electioneering never ends...

as soon as your people are elected, it seems as if they are already working towards the next election.
Have I got this wrong?

[applegrove]

40. That is the way it is for congresscritters. But I'm canadian. And hey...weren't the

Steven Harper conservatives going to institute set date for federal elections every 4 years...the first year supposedly was going to be 2009 (a year when the GOP political machine in the USA would be available to help the neocons in canada get elected). Thank god they didn't do that.

[glarius]

43. Stephen Harper is a right-wing bastard who got elected by pretending he was a moderate

He's trying to remake Canada in his own image. Thank God he only has a minority government.
I can't wait till he's out of a job!

[applegrove]

44. It may be a while because the left is split in Canada.

[and-justice-for-all]

39. Your spot on...nt

[EFerrari]

41. Of course. The campaigning never stops here now.

And since big donors own our elections, we're pretty much hostages to them.

But, thanks for noticing. :)

[HughMoran]

42. It's true. Same reason corporation are so sleazy as they have to report quarterly earnings

We are paying for are hyperactivity disorder here...