World's best countries and why they are great
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I looked at US News report on world’s best countries (and if this seems an inaccurate source in any capacity please call it out) and looked at their most recent list of “Best Countries”. I thought we could talk about what these countries have going for them that might put them on this list and what can we learn from each?
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Switzerland is listed as #1. In reading about the Swiss government, several things stood out.
- they are a direct democracy, the people can propose and vote directly on amendments to the constitution
- The executive branch is held by a counsel of 7.
- The judiciary branch is elected by the federal assembly
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Switzerland
Switzerland is a democratic federal republic. The federal legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Federal Assembly, the National Council and the Council of States. The Federal Council holds the executive power and is composed by seven power-sharing Federal Councillors elected by the Federal Assembly. The judiciary branch is represented by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, whose judges are elected by the Federal Assembly.
Switzerland has a tradition of direct democracy. For any change in the constitution, a referendum is mandatory (mandatory referendum); for any change in a law, a referendum can be requested (optional referendum). In addition, the people may present a constitutional popular initiative to introduce amendments to the federal constitution. The people also assumes a role similar to the constitutional court, which does not exist, and thus acts as the guardian of the rule of law.
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@approxinfinity 11 different parties with seats. . People can amend the constitution themselves. Amazing. They get choices and have a say in laws. This keeps those stupid little favors that bog down laws here in the U.S.
They have choices in not only in picking from a dozen parties, but voting directly on laws. Absolutely amazing.
One note is that with all of their immigration, the conservative party has grown a ton. I think it is natural for countries to fight immigration. It changes the way things were before. And that is a main reason you see the uptick in conservative politics. It is why Trump was able to rile up so many votes. I would bet the number one most effective campaign point Trump made was about immigration. Same is going on in Switzerland.
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To me, Switzerland and Canada are perfect examples of minding your own damn business and taking advantage of your own resources. We are too intertwined into global politics. We cause war in areas to exploit them. We meddle in other countries elections for OUR benefit (sound familiar?). And, we give our Federal Government far too much power to make decisions that effect 321 million people.
Our entire Federal Government is broken. All 3 branches. I am not particularly a Trump fan, nor do I think he can do enough damage in 4 years (or less) to really hurt the U.S. in an irreversible way. But Congress should be able to do a complete investigation into the Russia dealings. Trump basically has worked around it, but shouldn’t be able to.
The president should not be in charge of choosing the Supreme Court Nominees. And it should take the hefty majority of votes to elect that person in.
You also shouldn’t be able to executive order left and right. That’s absurd. I like the council idea, because at least you could put it to a vote that way.
And finally, having only two parties and no national vote on major legislation is complete nonsense. It takes all of the common sense out of laws and adds unnecessary items just to appease a couple of swing votes.
The US constitution was written by brilliant people with the right ideas at heart. But they couldn’t see the future and they underestimated the drunkenness created by power. Wholesale changes need to be made to the constitution, but the only way that will ever happen is if we have one brave sole essentially infiltrate one of the two major parties like a secret agent and rise to the top, not get trapped under the spell of the ring, and be strong enough to throw it into Mount Doom.
