England less democratic

Strange...England is not so much of a democracy. Not only can people not vote for their Prime Minister, but also they cannot vote for over half of their "representatives," i.e., the House of Lords. Also, people and representatives pretty much must vote via party lines.

"The monarch appoints a Prime Minister as the head of Her Majesty's Government, guided by the strict convention that the Prime Minister should be the member of the House of Commons most likely to be able to form a Government with the support of the House. In practice, this means that the leader of the political party with an absolute majority of seats in the House of Commons is chosen to be the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister then selects the other Ministers which make up the Government and act as political heads of the various Government Departments. About twenty of the most senior government ministers make up the Cabinet. In total, there are approximately 100 ministers that comprise the government. In accordance with constitutional convention, all ministers within the government are either Members of Parliament or peers in the House of Lords."

Like America, England is dominated by a 2-party system where one party dominates.

It is odd to us Americans that the leader is abstracted away from the direct votes of the people and can serve as long as he "feels supported:" "There is no term of office for a prime minister. The prime minister holds office "at Her Majesty's pleasure". As however to gain supply (control of exchequer funds) that requires that the government be answerable to, and acceptable to, the House of Commons, in reality the convention "at her Majesty's pleasure" means "at the pleasure of the House of Commons". Whenever the office of Prime Minister falls vacant, the Sovereign is responsible for appointing the new incumbent; the appointment is formalised at a ceremony known as Kissing Hands. In accordance with unwritten constitutional conventions, the Sovereign must appoint the individual most likely to maintain the support of the House of Commons: usually, the leader of the party which has a majority in that House."

"As well as losing the confidence of the House of Commons, prime ministers may also in effect be forced to resign if they lose the confidence of their party. This was what led Margaret Thatcher to resign in 1990."

Not only do people not have a direct say on their leader or half of their "representation" (lords), they also only get to vote on a national scale about every five years sort of and the general elections do not actually link the number of seats won to the share of the national vote.

So voter turnout is only at 60%: "The main reasons identified for low turnout are: Decline in partisanship (many voters are no longer permanently loyal to one party) Reduction in the popularity of various Party leaderships." England is theoretically less of a democracy than America.

-A