The stakes have grown high enough that, failing to address these structural flaws is no longer tenable.
Yeah the safeguards on government are very weak. A $200 fine and a sternly worded letter if you commit ethics violations.
This used to suffice because it was assumed that it would be mature, conscientious adults who could take the hint and correct themselves more or less on the honour system because that's what high-caliber professionals do.
We got by on that for 150 years, but that only works when it's mature, high-caliber professionals who are in the arena. When the day comes that a true scoundrel or just a petulant child comes to power (or worse, a petulant child with a true scoundrel holding his leash), those "safeguards" become completely moot and then you're left in serious want for actual enforcement.
There's basically no real checks on the PM's power. We've always just trusted that if a PM was caught going out of bounds, he'd correct himself when caught just because it's the right thing to do.
The stakes have grown high enough that, failing to address these structural flaws is no longer tenable.
Yeah the safeguards on government are very weak. A $200 fine and a sternly worded letter if you commit ethics violations.
This used to suffice because it was assumed that it would be mature, conscientious adults who could take the hint and correct themselves more or less on the honour system because that's what high-caliber professionals do.
We got by on that for 150 years, but that only works when it's mature, high-caliber professionals who are in the arena. When they day comes that a true scoundrel or just a petulant child comes to power (or worse, a petulant child with a true scoundrel holding his leash), those "safeguards" become completely moot and then you're left in serious want for actual enforcement.
There's basically no real checks on the PM's power. We've always just trusted that if a PM was caught going out of bounds, he'd correct himself when caught just because it's the right thing to do.
The stakes have grown high enough that, failing to address these structural flaws is no longer tenable.
Yeah the safeguards on government are very weak. A $200 fine and a sternly worded letter if you commit ethics violations.
This used to suffice because it was assumed that it would be mature, conscientious adults who could take the hint and correct themselves more or less on the honour system because that's what high-caliber professionals do.
We got by on that for 150 years, but only works when it's mature, high-caliber professionals who are in the arena. When they day comes that a true scoundrel or just a petulant child comes to power (or worse, a petulant child with a true scoundrel holding his leash), those "safeguards" become completely moot and then you're left in serious want for actual enforcement.
There's basically no real checks on the PM's power. We've always just trusted that if a PM was caught going out of bounds, he'd correct himself when caught just because it's the right thing to do.