Parliaments, Democracy and the, "Do Nothing" Congress

Not all governmental bodies are created equal.  One need only compare the current Congress (15% approval rating) with the Congresses of 1986-2005 (40% or above approval rating).  For that matter, the, “Do Nothing” Congress of 1947 (Truman administration) passed 906 bills.  This year’s 113^th Congress passed 22!  Of course we set records in other ways.  We had 43 African American members, 100 women and 8 members who class themselves as LGBT.  [I will never understand why one’s sexual orientation somehow clothes one in political gravitas.  Frankly, if you could show me someone with a sound understanding of economics, a realistic foreign policy and a sense of social justice I wouldn’t care if they screwed sheep.]  Only 19% of our Congress have had active duty military service (compared to 80% in 1977).  I will leave it to you to decide if any of this data is part of a cause and effect relationship, but I do believe that people should be elected to office because of WHO they are, not WHAT they are.  That, however, is not the point of this article. 

            Not all governmental bodies are created equal.  On March 26, 2014, my husband and I toured the Australian Parliament House and watched their version of democracy in action.  The French word, “parler” is a verb that means, “to speak.”  From that word, we get the term, “Parliament” meaning a democratic governmental body.  The chief difference between a parliamentary form of government and ours is the lack of separation of powers.  We have discrete Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches.  In a parliamentary system the chief executive is directly responsible to the legislative body.  When the legislators lose faith in the Prime Minister (or his party, or party’s coalition) to govern, they hold a vote of, “no confidence” and call for new elections. 

            The world has seen many parliamentary systems that fail their people.  Since World War II, the United States has had 12 Presidents, which include the national trauma of an assassination, a resignation, an attack on our soil and the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression.  In contrast, Italy has had 62 governments in the same time, which is what happens when government sees itself as nothing more than, “our turn at the trough.”  But you can’t judge a concept by its worst iteration.  For many countries a Parliament brings out people of good will who want to perform honorable service within a common Constitutional definition and the results are admirable.

            When I found myself in Australia’s capital, Canberra, the Parliament House was a natural draw.  The building was beautiful, the tour grand, and a chance to see the Lower House in action a rare treat.  If you have ever seen coverage of the British Parliament, you know how these debates go.  One side presents its view, the opposition is derisive, loud and insulting, and the Speaker tries to restore order.  Same thing in Australia.  (Try to imagine Obama, Boehner and the rest of our bunch in that free-for-all.)

            The interesting thing is that this open questioning, which receives considerable press, is a daily occurrence, but of limited duration.  Before and after this mutual, “venting” all sides are expected to work together and get something done.  Now that is a novel idea.  Oh, and here is something else that I liked, a member can be asked to leave for inappropriate behavior.  If they miss 24 hours of work they aren’t paid!  Now that is an idea I really like. 

I happen to prefer America’s republican form of government, but what Australia has going for itself isn’t bad.   They’re keeping the faith.