Why does the American political system work?

hehe

well i suppose it'd be kind of hard to predict what kind of economy we'd have if we had 10 times our population because its not v likely to happen within the very forseable future. Too much of our land is barren really.

The reasons why america is so rich and powerful today isnt mainly due to their system of government, which is really the bastard child of the westminster tradition with more powers for the executive. The reasons why America is so succesful today is the length, breadth and wealth of their land, the two world wars; which they profited from in a big way if you look at in the light of how much europe and the rest of the world lost, the idealology of how america came about; basically America was founded, and in later years developed, by group's of people looking for wealth, and that coupled with a dislike of authority, created an 'everyman for himself' society with those with the best buisness sense normally coming out on top.

The reason why countries have failed in adopting the Westminster system as America did, is normally beacause; of the traditions already in place in that country, the way in which the system was founded and the mentality of the people; even though America would argue otherwise, democracy isnt the answer for all peoples of the world. An example of the westminsterr system working is my country, Australia, however the reason why we arent as prosperous as the Americans are; our country was settled by europeans with a different agenda and at a later date, circustances havent gone in our favour the way it has the Americans and mainly because of the fact that most of Australia is very barren and dosent have the riches of mainland America.   

Simply because America is rich.

"But they have a word for people who like to look at things differently based on new information they recieve: a flip-flopper." You're acting as if this word has just been coined, or redefined. It's not, and it hasn't been; it's been used before in politics. The only reason it's such a "big" thing at the moment is because of the constant harping that that is what Kerry is. And even then, it isn't all that "big". And Kerry's only being called that because of the "conflicting decisions" that he's made in Congress.

"Theyre giving people the idea that you have to stick with what you initially think, no matter what happens after." While some may percieve it as such, I doubt that it will last past the election, and the almost inevitable court case following the results, until the next time it will be used in politics. Besides, I doubt that they're actually giving people such a new and novel idea as flip-flopping, as most of the people willing to think that have most likely already thought something similar to that idea beforehand, and thus this is just reinforcing it.

"At least thats what Bush is saying." Like I said, this is not a new idea, especially not in politics, most notably where elections are concerned. The Bush administration is just using something that's been used before. Trust me, flip-flopper won't become a sticking term, any more than it has in the past. If anything, it may turn into a keyword with which to remember this Presidential Election.

yes everyone does do it, your right.  But its even worse for Americans to do it, its a slap int eh face to Benjamin Franklin and the revolution.  People liek the Chinese or the Spanish are more used to living under dictators and dont care about personal liberty.  Americans are supposed to.

I'm also under the impression that it's heavily influenced by the French Revolution ideas.

Now let me repeat:

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