You can’t repeatedly dissolve the chamber. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
The real problem isn’t with the constitution. It’s with the fact that the French are no longer able to create coalitions around a project. The whole political system is built around the idea that one group has a majority and does as it pleases until the next election. Talking to others is completely alien to them. And that is a real problem.
Most of the other European countries work with coalitions. It makes much more sense (I understand that this is alien to US people).
Most of the other European countries work with coalitions. It makes much more sense
Eh. Post WW2 European “coalitions” are largely just iterations of the modern Democratic Party subdivided by region and cultural touchstone. There isn’t a huge ideological gap between German Christian Democrats, Christian Socialists, Free Democrats, and Greens, for instance. The real divide is between East and West, and that’s where you get a rump AfD that grew out of the corpse of GDR Communists.
Similarly, Macron’s En Marche party is itself this coalition of French business interests that are terrified of Melanchon and conservative nationalists who don’t sit well with LePen’s National Front. He’s synthesized a position between his old boss Hollande’s champagne socialism and Sarkozy’s moderate business friendly white nationalism. But now all the half measures have dried up his base of support.
Spain’s government is similarly bifricated along lines that go back to the civil war of the 1930s. Italy’s is a hogpodge of parties that are still strictly aligned with the industrial north or rural south. You can repeat this pattern across the entire continent. Yeah, a multi-party system exists, but the coalitions are ultimately all defined by their relationships to international business. Are you the finance friendly international markets party or are you the angry proletarian outsiders?
The social policies of the parties might vary based on whether the base is liberally cosmopolitan or conservatively rural. But the root of the divide always comes down to questions of profit.
As a Dutch voter (who voted left) I’m happy with the coalition in the Netherlands if compared to a theoretical where the far-right party PVV rules alone shudder
You can’t repeatedly dissolve the chamber. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
The real problem isn’t with the constitution. It’s with the fact that the French are no longer able to create coalitions around a project. The whole political system is built around the idea that one group has a majority and does as it pleases until the next election. Talking to others is completely alien to them. And that is a real problem.
Most of the other European countries work with coalitions. It makes much more sense (I understand that this is alien to US people).
Eh. Post WW2 European “coalitions” are largely just iterations of the modern Democratic Party subdivided by region and cultural touchstone. There isn’t a huge ideological gap between German Christian Democrats, Christian Socialists, Free Democrats, and Greens, for instance. The real divide is between East and West, and that’s where you get a rump AfD that grew out of the corpse of GDR Communists.
Similarly, Macron’s En Marche party is itself this coalition of French business interests that are terrified of Melanchon and conservative nationalists who don’t sit well with LePen’s National Front. He’s synthesized a position between his old boss Hollande’s champagne socialism and Sarkozy’s moderate business friendly white nationalism. But now all the half measures have dried up his base of support.
Spain’s government is similarly bifricated along lines that go back to the civil war of the 1930s. Italy’s is a hogpodge of parties that are still strictly aligned with the industrial north or rural south. You can repeat this pattern across the entire continent. Yeah, a multi-party system exists, but the coalitions are ultimately all defined by their relationships to international business. Are you the finance friendly international markets party or are you the angry proletarian outsiders?
The social policies of the parties might vary based on whether the base is liberally cosmopolitan or conservatively rural. But the root of the divide always comes down to questions of profit.
As a Dutch voter (who voted left) I’m happy with the coalition in the Netherlands if compared to a theoretical where the far-right party PVV rules alone shudder