Originally Posted by
Skroe
I don't think the British are capable of it.
Brexit has laid bare a lot of what the British said about their system is BS, much like Trump has laid bare that a lot of masturbatory backpatting Americans have long done to themselves was also BS.
Consider the role of the Queen. As the Head of State, in theory the Queen's powers are vast and she would be able to act as the guardian of the nation, its institutions and the legitimacy of the political process. And yet, even on this matter, which is epochal in scope and may presage the break up of the United Kingdom in its wake (Indyref2 anyone?), the Queen refused to use her power to restrain he recklessness of three conservative Prime Ministers.
But at the same time, should an unelected monarch in her 90s have that power in the first place? Isn't calling for her to take action undemocratic? Well, she didn't ask for that power. And she inherited it. And a life time of service stretching back to World War II would certainly impart a level of moral authority - undemocratic as it may be - to any action he took. But the fact we have to think about this while zig zagging around obstructions that lead to us saying "we should defend liberal democracy by asking for a monarch to act unilaterally", shows the intrinsic nonsense of the entire arrangement. Queen Elizabeth could probably get away with it, because of who she is. Imagine if it was "King Charles" instead.
All of which means, the UK needs to become a republic and it needs an elected head of state that is rotated at regular intervals. This is a very new position for me. I have deep respect for British history and traditionalism in general. I believe in sustaining hallowed institutions. But it's quite clear, we're past the point where even a "largely ceremonial" yet elected and democratically legitimate Head of State would probably have intervened to try and halt the shit show. We can't be wedded to things like the mythology surrounding the ancient British monarchy if its modern incarnation basically blocks an actual head of state from fulfilling duties in the name of the broader interests state.
At an even deeper level, the UK needs a single written Constitution. They've been talking about that for years. The lack of transparency and predictability in the process, and the flagrant disregard for the rules shows that the current ad hoc system is extremely fragile.
There are serious democratic deficits as well. Consider how Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn were selected by their party. Consider how Rebel Tory MP's just got kicked out of it. Consider how there likely exists an anti-Brexit majority in Parliament, but that that majority can't act.
These are clear as day, and they won't fix it. The US by contrast, I think, will fix some things in the post-Trump era, which at least mercifully has an expiration date. We will not fix all things at all, but our own deficits have been laid bare, and I do believe action will be taken by them - by Democrats because they're more committed to democracy and good government, and by Republicans because once Trump is no longer in the picture and we have Democratic President, they'll be willing to Roleplay as such for a little while.