About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (May 14, 2021)

handle is hein.amenin/aeiaeag0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Key Points % Urlike the conrerporay [ri sh constitution, the Amen~can systern piivileges consensus buiding over efficient governmen.t n is featuri, cretes rat limitations that need to be wriuhed against the Virtues of Amer- can yonttutroaism. The reed for onmnss can lead to nefFicint ;oicv outcomes, the persistence of destructve status quos, and, in some cases, the violation of rninority rights. In -ne no16, the people of Great Britain shocked the world and pcrmanently altered tic inerna- i nal landscape oy VOig in a popular plebiscite to leave the Furopear IUion by a margin of 52 per- cent to 48 percent. (hat vote sit off a chain reac- tion that ultimately swept out twe British prie inisters----David Cameron and Theresa May----- until finally Prime Minister Boris Johnson bro- kered a deal with the European Union to secure Britain's economic and political Independence from the contineit. Such a quick turnaround could never happen in the United States. The British system as it has evolved over the past noo years is cfectively a un- cameral system, in which the people rile through the i-use of minions. Tis is wat enabled siha decisive action: Te nCmons set the plebiscite, the najority spoke through it, and thereafter, the Commons pursued Brexit until it was achieved. In our system, not only does no single institution have suct iweepin pwer, but such a narrow, 52--48 najority in a si glc election is also rarely sif- ficient to bring about decisive change. Instead, our system of govrnme t, as was described in the pre- vious report in this series, is premised on the idea of consensus, whereby the government usually takes action only when it is approved (or at least not oWjected) by a wide, large, and deliberate major- icy exprecsec consistently after mu! ipie elections. As 'he title of this series no doubt replies, our constituntonil system of government has substan- tial benefits. But there are also significant costs. To mac a onprehensive case tor e Constittitton, we must recognize and assess the costs of consen- sus.' ihat is hc sujhect of this report. Gen'erally speaking, the burden of consensus prevents the governient from acting expedi- tiously. This creates three specific problems. First, policy outcomes are often inefficient, as bargains have to be struck with factions to garner support. Second, the denands of consensus make it more difficult to address public problems quickly, even

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most