US Politics

For your enjoyment my letter to the editor of the EDP (published on Monday, 28 October)

Sir

Mark Nichols, EDP Thursday, 24 October, “US Shutdown illustrates the strength of the UK system” exhibits a fundamental misunderstanding of the American system of government.

The American republic was created as a reaction to the tyranny of the UK Parliament. As such, the system was designed to make the three parts of the government equal and separate.

The Founding Fathers were determined that the rights of the states and of individuals were to be protected from arbitrary and tyrannical governments in a Parliament with no constraints on its powers – the system we still have today in the UK – except for the encroachments of European legislation.

The US shutdown simply illustrates that the system is working well; for when one part of the government puts its collective foot down, as the Congress did, then the true genius of the American political experience comes to the fore – compromise.

The system is designed to force Congress, the President and the Supreme Court to work together within an agreed framework – the Constitution.

The shutdown, whilst inconvenient for some and potentially embarrassing for many, is a far superior position than the mindless attempts to pander to the perceived public wisdom Parliamentarians are forced into by the shortcomings of the system they work under.