Johnson’s Exit shows America can Learn a Lot from Britain

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s exit from 10 Downing Street makes me envious of the British. To explain, recent events show Britain has a democratic government that works while America does not.

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The events that did not occur show how and why the United Kingdom’s government works. These events expose many of the problems with America’s dysfunctional government.

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What didn’t Happen When Johnson Left

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Party Members are Free to Remove their Leaders

First, members of Johnson’s Conservative Party were not afraid to criticize the Prime Minister or dump him.

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For example, Johnson resigned after several dozen Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) left the government. Those who quit include two of the most powerful Conservatives, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid. Javid and Sunak’s resignations began the collapse of Johnson’s government.

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The Conservatives who left face no reprisals or attacks. They still have their seats and careers and many of them will be back in the next government. Nobody is being demonized and no careers are being destroyed.

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Importantly, top Conservative leaders were not afraid to challenge or topple their leader for his corrupt and buffoonish behavior. None of the Conservative MPs are afraid of losing their seats or of reprisals from Johnson and his followers.

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In comparison, the leaders of America’s Republican Party are afraid to criticize former President Donald J. Trump (R-Florida). A man who is far more corrupt and incompetent than Johnson.

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Most prominent Republicans either back or Trump or refuse to attack him. The few Republicans who speak out against Trump, such as US Representative Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) find their careers destroyed.

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Worse, the Grand Old Party (GOP) could soon lose some elections it should win because of Trump’s lunacy. Since the Party backs him. Trump is free to spout insanity and attack the electoral process itself. For example, Trump spreads the lie that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election.

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Yet, almost no Republican speaks out against Trump’s lunacy or tries to get rid of him. Republicans are afraid to oppose Trump, even though many of them despise him, because primary voters can turn on them and end their careers. America’s politicians live in fear of the minority who vote in primary elections.

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For example, the 19.6% of registered voters, or 37 million people , who voted in the 2018 US House of Representatives primaries. Thus, a little over 10% of the nation’s population sets policy. Worldometer estimates the US population was 334.961 million on 8 July 2022 .

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In contrast, most of the Conservative MPs who oppose Johnson will keep their seats. There are no primary elections in the United Kingdom and the next general election is over two years away. Comparatively, US Representatives face a primary and a general election every two years, so they live in constant fear of the politically active minority (such as rabid Trump voters) who vote in primary elections.

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Johnson is Leaving Meekly and Quietly

Boris Johnson?is?an arrogant blowhard, yet he is leaving Downing Street meekly and quietly.

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Instead of ranting and raving about stolen elections. Johnson announced his resignation ?and plans to stay on and cooperate with his successor. In fact, Johnson could stay in office for several weeks or months until Conservatives pick a new leader.

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Johnson’s civility and good behavior are in stark contrast to Donald J. Trump Sr. For example, Trump refuses to acknowledge the election of Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Delaware). Trump did not cooperate with the transition to Biden’s administration or even attend Biden’s inauguration.

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This does not mean Johnson is a great person, and Trump is a monster. Instead, Johnson and Trump behave the way they do because of how systems reward them.

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Johnson understands he would be driven out of British politics and society if he did not resign and accept his fate with some civility. Boris would lose any hope of having a career in British politics or business if acted like Trump.

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In contrast, most polls and pundits name?Trump the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential election. Additionally, Trump has accumulated a war chest of $122 million ?and is raising millions more through speeches .

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Trump misbehaves because our society and political system reward his destructive behavior. Likewise, Johnson behaves himself because the British political system will punish him for Trump-style lunacy.

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There is no Violence or Fear of Violence in the United Kingdom

Finally, there has been threat or fears of violence in the United Kingdom because of Johnson’s exit. Nobody is afraid that a mob of pro-Johnson soccer hooligans will attack the Houses of Parliament.

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The 2020 presidential election led to death threats and fears of violence against election officials. They followed those threats by the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol in which a mob disrupted the certification of Biden’s election and threatened to lynch members of Congress and US Vice President Mike Pence (R-Indiana).

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Notice there have been no media reports of violence in the United Kingdom despite Johnson’s exit. One reason is that Johnson himself has not tried to stir up violence. The infamous Stop the Steal Rally, where Trump made an incendiary speech to supporters, preceded the Capitol Riot.

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Johnson does not stir up violence because he understands parliament can quickly remove him if he does anything illegal. In contrast, Trump is being rewarded after encouraging violence. A terrible precedent that will haunt Americans for generations to come.

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Why British Politics Works and American Politics Fails?

Americans need to ask why the British political system delivers a peaceful transition of power, even with such a cantankerous figure as a Boris Johnson system.

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It isn’t a lack of division. British society has just as many divisions as America’s. Notably, the British have a nasty history of class divisions worse than anything in America’s past.

Similarly, regional, religious, and ethnic divisions in the UK, particularly in Northern Ireland, are deeper and more vicious than anything in the USA. In fact, the British had a shooting civil war on their soil less than 30 years ago.

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Yet the British can pull off a smooth transition of power, even if the most chaotic of times. Why?

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How Britain’s Political System Guarantees a Smooth Transition of Power

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I think the structure of Britain’s government and electoral system make smooth transitions more probable. In particular, a few features of the British political system reduce conflict and encourage cooperation. Those features are:

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1. Separation of Head of Government and Head of State

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Britain’s Constitutional Monarchy separates the head of state (the Queen) and head of government (the Prime Minister). The Prime Minister is simply the most successful politician in the country, not the living embodiment of the nation.

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The Prime Minister has no glamour. For example, the PM sits on a bench in parliament just like any other MP and often has to suffer jibes and insults from the backbench. Similarly, the Prime Minister lives in a townhouse (10 Downing Street) with a couple of police officers out front instead of the palace.

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One result of this is that no Britons view the Prime Minister as their savior or absolute leader. The Trump cult would be impossible in British politics, as would the Democrats’ FDR cult.

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Americans love it when presidents take on royal trappings. The British became incensed when Johnson spent too much money redecorating 10 Downing Street.

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I think Americans?need to consider separating the presidency’s political and ceremonial roles into two offices. There are many countries (such as India and Ireland) with ceremonial presidents as heads?of?state, and prime ministers as heads of government.

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2. It is easy to remove the head of government in Britain

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In Britain, you can remove the prime minister with a simple 51% vote of the House of Commons. Even if most Conservatives side with Johnson, enough renegade Tories can join with other parties to vote him out. Hence, Johnson understands he must behave or get voted out.

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In the United States, it takes a vote of the US House of Representatives and a vote of two-thirds of the US Senate to remove a president. Consequently, it is impossible to remove the president even for the worst behavior.

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A large majority of US Senators (57 voted) ?to impeach Trump on 13 February 2021. Yet, Trump still avoided impeachment because 43 Senators opposed the move.

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Hence, amending the US Constitution to require a simple 51% vote of both houses of Congress, to remove the President could make people like Trump behave. If Trump thought, he could have been impeached and prevented from running again. The Donald might have thought twice about his actions on 6 January 2021.

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Unfortunately, Trump now thinks he can get away with anything because he avoided impeachment twice. Instead of holding Trump accountable, impeachment made his behavior worse.

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Just imagine how Boris Johnson could act if parliament had no means of removing him from office.

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3. There are no primary elections in the United Kingdom

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One unique, and destructive feature, of American politics is party-only elections (primaries) when only Republicans or Democrats vote for a candidate who competes in the general elections.

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Primaries are bad because the most extreme elements of the party dominate them. For example, rabid Trump followers, the Far Left, and Christian nationalists.

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One result of the primary system is that we have a Republican Party dedicated to criminalizing abortion, even though 61% of Americans ?and around 60% of Republicans want legal abortion. Republicans are antiabortion because a minority of fanatical antiabortion religious voters are more likely to vote in primaries.

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In Britain, there are no primaries. Instead, in Britain, like most countries, the parties themselves chose parliamentary candidates.

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With no primaries, the major parties can ignore extremist minorities because they cannot block politicians from office. Notably, abortion is not a political issue in the UK. Even though the country has a significant Roman Catholic population (around 5% ?to 13% ?depending on which poll you believe) is that presumably antiabortion.

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With no primaries, British extremists get locked out of the major parties. Instead, British extremists have to join organizations such as UKIP (the United Kingdom Independence Party).

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4. They limit the number of elections in Britain

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Strangely, one of the best features of Britain’s political system is the way it limits elections and campaigning. Most MPS only face voters in General Elections which usually occur every five years. Moreover, the General Election campaigning period can only be 25 days. The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act mandates polling take place 25 days after the monarch dissolves parliament.

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The advantage of this system is that MPs spend far less time campaigning than US Representatives. US Representatives face reelection every two years.

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Since most US states have primaries, the average US Representative runs in two elections every two years. Even in supposedly safe gerrymandered districts.

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US Senators serve a six-year term. Unfortunately, many US Senators run in midterm elections. One result of this system is to give the minority of Americans who vote in midterm (non-presidential year) elections an effective veto over the popular will.

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All the electioneering becomes frustrating and expensive and drives many people out of politics.

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There are many problems with Britain’s political system. For example, they elect the House of Commons with a winner-take-all, or first-past-the-post , voting system that disenfranchises many voters.

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Yet, in the final analysis, many aspects of the British political system are worth emulating. Unfortunately, few Americans will study the British political system or ask why it works. Instead, Americans will keep complaining about their broken political system until it fails completely and spawns violence.