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Sharni,

I may be incorrect, but a response to Bilbo’s response seemed to be in order. It follows the pattern of the thread, I thought.

I had posted what I thought accurately described the process of forming an Australian national government. His post, indicating that he was unpersuaded by my line of thought, justified my presenting the source document which I used to develop my idea.

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Eudaimonia

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Pantyfanatic,

While it is true that my post could not be characterized as a “one liner”, or “sound bite”, there are, I’m sure you’ll agree, issues which are not satisfactorily served by such brevity. A filibuster is a tool used to obstruct or delay a debate. Judging from the responses my post has elicited, I’d say that it has had the opposite result.

I do agree with you in regards the anachronism of the Electoral College, although we tend to express our opinions differently. As this process is written into the federal constitution, it is as close to having been carved in stone as a process here can be. Only by an amendment to the Constitution or a Constitutional Convention can the Electoral College be replaced, both of which are most unlikely, so I’ll bet you’re right about that also. It is a piece of rococo eighteenth century democracy which will outlast both of us.

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Eudaimonia

Jseal,

I must commend you, you know more about the Australian Constitution than most Australians.

You are correct in that the Queen has the power to disallow laws and this is there to prevent a dictatorship or unconstitutional laws.

It has never been used and it is a precendent that the Governor General and the Queen accepts the advice of the Prime Minister of the day.

I do not know the actual words used when a successful Prime minister approaches the Governor General and presents his credentials.

Messrs. Howard and Blair then presented their credentials to their respective heads of state, who prudently entrusted the governance of the countries to the parties whose policies most closely matched those of the citizens.

I would think that Bilbo disagrees with "parties whose policies most closely matched those of the citizens"

I believe that the incoming Prime Minister informs the GG that he is able to form a government. (This would mean that the Goverment would command control of the parliament because they had the numbers to do so)

The constitution is not as simple as it seems and disputes on it are settled by the full bench of the High Court of Australia.

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As you can see Aussies are good with politics and we are tanned and sexy. What catch! We can even eat meals without putting our elbows on the table!

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Half of a set :halo:

Catch22,

May I retain your services? Both of my children delight in raising my blood pressure by doing so. Perhaps if someone else explained the principles to them, they would listen.

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Eudaimonia

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Grumble,

There is no doubt that there are major structural differences between the democracies of Australia and America. I expose my Anglophile tendencies when I say that I envy the discrimination between head of state and head of government. What I was attempting to describe were the great similarities in getting the PM or President into office.

Based upon Sharni’s two comments, your suggestion that Bilbo was criticizing the results of the election rather than the subsequent process makes sense. Perhaps any misinterpretation should be viewed in the light of the terseness of his comment. If he is indeed criticizing the results of the election, then he stands in good, if disappointed, democratic company. I can think of American Pixies who have had difficulties coming to grips with the result of the 2000 election, and others who remain dissatisfied with the two prior to that.

In re the Australian constitution and amendment count: yes, you seem to have done a rather good job of it. Australia must have called upon some penetrating thinkers and sensitive historians when it was being drafted.

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Eudaimonia

And that is the good thing about democracies. We have the right to be unhappy. When it came out in the war trials after ww2. Was there any oppositon by the German people to the Govt. The reply from Hermann Goering was: Not from anyone living.

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Half of a set :halo:

I believe it was Mr. Churchill who said, "Democracy is the worst form of government...except for all the others"

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Plug me into somethin'

If the theory does not conform to the facts, then the facts must be discarded.

No good deed ever goes unpunished

Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level, & beat you with experience.

scotzoidman,

I did some checking, and it turns out that when the Electoral College received its current form in the 12th Amendment, the idea of electing the president by direct popular vote was not widely promoted as an alternative to redesigning the Electoral College. This may be because the excesses of the recent French revolution (and its fairly rapid degeneration into dictatorship) had given the populists some pause to reflect on the wisdom of too direct a democracy.

The Electoral College system imposes two requirements on candidates for the presidency:

1. that the victor obtain a sufficient popular vote to enable the winner to govern (although this may not be the absolute majority), and
2. that such a popular vote be sufficiently distributed across the country to enable the winner to govern.

Such an arrangement ensures a regional balance of support which is a vital consideration in governing a large and diverse nation. At the same time I also discovered that the Electors are not bound to vote for the candidate to whom they had been pledged! I have this vision that following a large infusion of money, following the election – Al Sharpton emerges as the President Elect!

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Eudaimonia

I know that Tawana Brawley(sp?)will vote for him! Irish

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Irish---Better to be dead & cool,then alive & uncool!
(Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man)

Irish,

OK, I'll bite. Who's Tawana Brawley?

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Eudaimonia