2015 UK General Election

[Pyrrho]

Not that I am a monarchist, but as a practical matter, how does the Queen's judgement compare with, say, the typical Prime Minister?

If her judgement is better, then it might be best to leave well enough alone.  If worse, then France showed you the way long ago.

It could go one way or the other, but it's hardly the point. The fact is, people voted for politicians to make the decisions, not the Queen. It's not democratic at all if the ministers who were chosen by the people to make the decisions can get overruled by someone who wasn't voted for. At least in the American system, the person who has the power of veto (the President) is elected by the people, and even if the President does veto something, there are ways of overriding the veto itself.

On the contrary, I think it is the point.  Politics is a practical matter, or should be, and so it is a question of what works best in practice.  As a representative of a country, I do not see the Queen saying a bunch of stupid shit, unlike some American presidents.  And although I have been raised to despise monarchy, as all good Americans have , I cannot help but pause and reflect, particularly during the years of George W. Bush being president, saying all manner of imbecilic things.  The comparison with your Queen is stark.


As for a democracy, I rather like the fact that ours has limits on what imbecilic laws morons may democratically pass.  For example, the local laws must conform to the Constitution, or they can be overturned in court.  And to change the Constitution requires more than a mere popular vote, for which I am truly grateful.  The level of intelligence of the writers of the U.S. Constitution is clearly much higher than average, so it is good that morons have difficulty changing it.  I shudder to think what our current Congress would come up with if they were doing a total rewrite of the Constitution.