Loony Laws of Other Lands

[yesthattom]

Finland elects its president by direct popular vote... no electoral college!

In Costa Rica, it is illegal to bring the country to war based on lies!

An Australian law makes it illegal to reveal the identity of a covert agent, even if doing so might help you politically!

wacky laws!

Comments

[freeko.livejournal.com]

Actually it is our country that is wacky.

[leatherfish.livejournal.com]

That cracked me up.

[sweh.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what the point of an electoral college is.

In England, general elections (those to elect the national government) works as follows: the country is divided into constituencies (hmm, 650 of them when I was a kid; dunno how many now!). Each constituency votes for their "local" Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons.

At the end of the election the leader of the party with the most MPs is invited by the Queen to form a government and the leader becomes the Prime Minister (assuming the leader actually one their own constituency... in the event that a party leader didn't get elected as an MP then I guess that person would have to stand down and a new party leader found. Dunno if that's ever happened, though... would really be a lame-duck government!)

[yesthattom.livejournal.com]

Foul! Serious post in reply to humorous content.

3 minutes in the penalty box.

[sweh.livejournal.com]

*grin*

However, really, I'm _not_ sure what the point of an electoral college is :-)

[barking-iguana.livejournal.com]

Hitorically, the pont is that the federal government was set up to be a union of at least partially states, and only indirectly a government directly of, by, and for the people of those states.

There are arguments made by otherwise intelligent people for its continued utility, but I think it's pretty silly.

[lilbjorn.livejournal.com]

It exists to make sure the rich have a way of retaining control if "we, the people" get out of hand and elect someone who might threaten them.

[lilbjorn.livejournal.com]

Remember, there is nothing that compels an elector to choose the same person the people voted for.

[dawn-guy.livejournal.com]

Those English visited places like Australia and Canada and they liked what they saw so much they stole it for their own.

We actually did have a president PM who didn't have a seat. He had to get permission from everybody else to speak, until someone gave up their seat for him. It probably resolved itself a lot faster than that lady on the bus down in the states.

[docstrange.livejournal.com]

Funny! Though, I wouldn't compare election systems arbitrarily across "democracies" - for example, Finland's not a federation of separate states. Despite the electoral college's elitist origins, it turns out that there can be a good reason for an electoral college system or something like it to exist in a federation where various member states of widely varying populations have deep divides. When the UN goes advising high-tension federations on how to create a working constitution, these days, some kind of dampener on pure-population-power among the member states/provinces is frequently recommended. It's also historically viewed as an obstacle to arbitrary rule by a head of state, something of concern throughout history (and now, here, considering the broad expansion of Federal power over the last 20 years).

For comparison, Germany's president is mostly ceremonial (the Chancellor is the real honcho), and is elected by a body of people remarkably like our old real Electoral College. The Chancellor is elected by the legislature, much like a PM, though through a slightly more stability-assuring mechanism than many other parliamentary systems.

For a working federal system quite different from our own, see Switzerland where the legislature elects the president (kind of like a PM) from its members; and the legislature is a proportional representation system, which lets minority parties actually get votes - and even a say - without the "wasting your vote" factor.

As to the other two, well, I think they're supposed to be illegal here. It's interesting, FDR had similar issues with point 1 in the run-up to WWII, but he was sharp enough to get trustworthy leadership members of both parties into confidence. This President seems to have just simulated that. The latter - makes you wonder if the big deal over Libby is to make the buck stop there, doesn't it?

[yesthattom.livejournal.com]

Same penalty to you. 3 minutes.

[docstrange.livejournal.com]

*WINK*

As there is much truth in humor, humor should be truthful.

[circesbed.livejournal.com]

That's just crazy!!!!!

Are you sure your sources are reliable????

[yesthattom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, what whacky countries! Heck, I hear some of them even permit same-sex people to get married!

[circesbed.livejournal.com]

Okay, now I just think you're drunk or high... maybe even both.

[gravitrue.livejournal.com]

Well, they can get married here in the People's Republic of Cambridge.