Question

why is the british party model incompatible with our political culture and institutions?

Answer 1

It's not, and quite a lot of American party political culture is directly reflective of English party culture traditions.

There are some distinctions that are brought about by the fact that England is a parlaimentary democracy. For example, the political leader of England (the Prime Minister) always belongs to the dominant party in Parlaiment, and is always the most popular of its leaders. So the English PM never has to concern himself with not having Parlaiment behind him, because if he doesn't, he stops being PM. In the United States, the President quite often does not have Congress behind him, and he may have to deal with a Congress held by the opposition party.

For example, right now the President of the United States, Barack Obama, is a Democrat, and the US Senate is majority Democratic. However, the House of Representatives is majority Republican, so that presents some challenges to the President, or the Democratic Party generally, from getting done what they want done. After the next election, if Obama is re-elected, which seems doubtful but possible, then it may be that the Senate will also be controlled by the Republican Party. Presidents have gotten things done when both houses of Congress are controlled by the opposition -- in recent times, Bush Jr, Clinton and Reagan all did -- but it's not easy.

This kind of thing could never happen in England. If the Conservatives become the minority party in the next election for Parlaiment, Cameron will immediately lose his job, and someone from Labor will take over.

Answer 2

Thank you!