A United States of Europe
aeon.co
A United States of Europe
1–10 of 26 posts
Re: A United States of Europe
#2> In reality, the EU remains at the crossroads between the ‘Europe of the people’ and the ‘Europe of the governments’.
The trajectory of the USA might be instructive, in either a positive or cautionary sense: It began primarily as a group of governments, and then over time more popularly-democratic aspects crept in along with increasing federal power. (For example, disintermediating state legislatures from the selection of federal representatives.)
Re: A United States of Europe
#3> In reality, the EU remains at the crossroads between the ‘Europe of the people’ and the ‘Europe of the governments’. The trajectory of the USA might be instructive, in either a positive or cautionary sense: It began primarily as a group of governments, and then over time more popularly-democratic aspects crept in along with increasing federal power. (For example, disintermediating state legislatures from the select…
The constitution and organization of Switzerland was largely inspired by the philosophy behind the USA. Thus they are very similar in terms of the organization of the state.
From this point of view, I think the fundamental flaw of the USA is the majoritarian electoral system. Majoritarian representation tends to degenerate in the long run into a gridlocked two-party system, a prime example is the USA.
Thus most of the ideas behind the USA are great, but the electoral system is fatal.
Re: A United States of Europe
#4> In reality, the EU remains at the crossroads between the ‘Europe of the people’ and the ‘Europe of the governments’. The trajectory of the USA might be instructive, in either a positive or cautionary sense: It began primarily as a group of governments, and then over time more popularly-democratic aspects crept in along with increasing federal power. (For example, disintermediating state legislatures from the select…
The constitution and organization of Switzerland was largely inspired by the philosophy behind the USA. Thus they are very similar in terms of the organization of the state. From this point of view, I think the fundamental flaw of the USA is the majoritarian electoral system. Majoritarian representation tends to degenerate in the long run into a gridlocked two-party system, a prime example is the USA. Thus most of th…
Agreed with this analysis. From a European who lived in the us my strong believe is that the US needs an electoral system that leads to coalitions. While far from perfect this is way better than the two party system that incentivizes the division in the public.
Re: A United States of Europe
#5> In reality, the EU remains at the crossroads between the ‘Europe of the people’ and the ‘Europe of the governments’. The trajectory of the USA might be instructive, in either a positive or cautionary sense: It began primarily as a group of governments, and then over time more popularly-democratic aspects crept in along with increasing federal power. (For example, disintermediating state legislatures from the select…
The constitution and organization of Switzerland was largely inspired by the philosophy behind the USA. Thus they are very similar in terms of the organization of the state. From this point of view, I think the fundamental flaw of the USA is the majoritarian electoral system. Majoritarian representation tends to degenerate in the long run into a gridlocked two-party system, a prime example is the USA. Thus most of th…
The gridlock is a feature, not a bug. The system is deliberately rich in checks and balances so as to make it difficult for a slim majority or a determined plurality to hijack the state. You basically require a supermajority for any radical change.
I think a gridlocked majoritarian system is probably preferable to a proportional one that requires governments to get in bed with far right/left 'kingmakers' who hold the balance of power - e.g. Sweden, Netherlands, etc.
Re: A United States of Europe
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
The constitution and organization of Switzerland was largely inspired by the philosophy behind the USA. Thus they are very similar in terms of the organization of the state. From this point of view, I think the fundamental flaw of the USA is the majoritarian electoral system. Majoritarian representation tends to degenerate in the long run into a gridlocked two-party system, a prime example is the USA. Thus most of th…
The gridlock is a feature, not a bug. The system is deliberately rich in checks and balances so as to make it difficult for a slim majority or a determined plurality to hijack the state. You basically require a supermajority for any radical change. I think a gridlocked majoritarian system is probably preferable to a proportional one that requires governments to get in bed with far right/left 'kingmakers' who hold the…
The system is designed to change slowly but it absolutely was not intentionally designed to be a two party system. That is an unintentional emergent property of the voting mechanism.
Re: A United States of Europe
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
The constitution and organization of Switzerland was largely inspired by the philosophy behind the USA. Thus they are very similar in terms of the organization of the state. From this point of view, I think the fundamental flaw of the USA is the majoritarian electoral system. Majoritarian representation tends to degenerate in the long run into a gridlocked two-party system, a prime example is the USA. Thus most of th…
The gridlock is a feature, not a bug. The system is deliberately rich in checks and balances so as to make it difficult for a slim majority or a determined plurality to hijack the state. You basically require a supermajority for any radical change. I think a gridlocked majoritarian system is probably preferable to a proportional one that requires governments to get in bed with far right/left 'kingmakers' who hold the…
" hink a gridlocked majoritarian system is probably preferable to a proportional one that requires governments to get in bed with far right/left 'kingmakers' " Except this is the case in the US
Re: A United States of Europe
#8As of now, you could probably only build a USE behind the backs of the nations involved. If referenda were held, the idea would crash and burn across most of the member states.
Given that the right is poised to increase their share of power in the EP this year, it is unlikely that even a back-stage attempt is going to take place anytime soon.
It was easier to build the USA on a shared platform of the same language and the same (shallow) history. European nations are ancient, speak their own languages and have very different histories. Portugal and Finland have basically nothing in common, same as Cyprus and Ireland, or Czechia and Malta.
Re: A United States of Europe
#9> In reality, the EU remains at the crossroads between the ‘Europe of the people’ and the ‘Europe of the governments’. The trajectory of the USA might be instructive, in either a positive or cautionary sense: It began primarily as a group of governments, and then over time more popularly-democratic aspects crept in along with increasing federal power. (For example, disintermediating state legislatures from the select…
The US system is impossible to disentangle from its origins in the three-fifths compromise. The "anti populism" has ended up as a set of mechanisms such as gerrymandering that allow narrow majoritarianism which can be extremely repressive to minorities.
Re: A United States of Europe
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
The constitution and organization of Switzerland was largely inspired by the philosophy behind the USA. Thus they are very similar in terms of the organization of the state. From this point of view, I think the fundamental flaw of the USA is the majoritarian electoral system. Majoritarian representation tends to degenerate in the long run into a gridlocked two-party system, a prime example is the USA. Thus most of th…
The gridlock is a feature, not a bug. The system is deliberately rich in checks and balances so as to make it difficult for a slim majority or a determined plurality to hijack the state. You basically require a supermajority for any radical change. I think a gridlocked majoritarian system is probably preferable to a proportional one that requires governments to get in bed with far right/left 'kingmakers' who hold the…
The US "kingmakers" are instead inside the parties. A system where one person can hold vital bills hostage through filibuster or even just the very narrow vote margins is a system which encourages extremism.