DIANE FRANCIS
U.S. democracy needs repair
What organization would fire a CEO, then let him do virtually anything he wants for 72 days? The United States federal government does.
Its lame-duck provision is only one of many structural flaws that bog down the country no matter who's in charge.
That is why reforming American democracy should top the agenda from now on.
Luckily, a better template already exists. The parliamentary system, as is used by most mature democracies, is more efficient, transparent, accountable and resistant to corruption. Studies show that it begets better economic outcomes, too.
For starters, a prime minister controls the majority of seats in Parliament and can therefore get things done. If not, Parliament can hold a vote of no confidence and force a snap election.
In contrast, the United States is bogged down with fixed terms and tangled checks and balances, which leads to perpetual gridlock. For instance, a mere memo written by the Department of Justice, which stated that a sitting president had legal immunity, was allowed to remain unchallenged and was used by President Donald Trump to stiffarm subpoenas, congressional oversight, courts and regulations.
When a legal challenge was finally launched, it took years to wind its way to the Supreme Court, which ruled last summer that no person is above the law. I thought that was a given, but the American system, like its economy, is clogged with lawyers who specialize in loophole-ism.
This quagmire makes impeachment virtually impossible. Proceedings drag on for years, paralyzing the president, polarizing the public, immobilizing legislation and allowing misdeeds to continue. In the land of excessive legalities, the irony is that justice delayed is justice denied.
By contrast, parliamentary systems can quickly purge problematic leaders. They are also less prone to corruption and voter suppression. Elections last a few weeks, and strict limits on donations eliminate influence-peddling. In many countries, governments provide political parties with a per-vote subsidy ( based on the previous election results), which reimburses more than half of their election expenses. There are also advertising restrictions and all eligible voters can easily cast a ballot.
Parliamentary systems are transparent and accountable. In most, a ritual known as question period or question time takes place every day that the House of Commons sits. During this time, the prime minister and cabinet must answer questions from opposition members. These exchanges are televised and reproduced in transcripts for public consumption, along with the proceedings of parliamentary committees.
In the United States, presidents are never compelled to debate their opponents and Congress's 200 committees are mostly held in secret.
Of course, parliamentary systems aren't perfect. In Canada, for instance, the Senate should be abolished and issues with seat allocation in the House of Commons should be addressed to avoid the gerrymandering that gave Quebec and Atlantic Canada 14 more seats than they deserve.
On balance, however, the parliamentary system provides a playbook for reforms south of the border. Some tweaks would make a difference: amputate voter suppression laws; limit campaigning to a matter of weeks; limit advertising and campaign contributions; prohibit dark money; scrap lame-duck rules; revamp the Electoral College; mandate daily question periods; and require full disclosure of assets and tax returns.
Americans must come to realize that their chronic problems are systemic, rooted in a 233-year-old set of laws that propagate racism, nepotism, corrosion and strife. Interestingly, the only American president who was a historian, Woodrow Wilson, wrote extensively about the superiority of the parliamentary system. After his election, he proposed reforms, but became sidetracked by a war, corruption and a pandemic.
This may not be the best time to fix what's broken either, but a good start would be to acknowledge that reforms are essential going forward.
(Canada's) system is more efficient, transparent, accountable ...