Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84; site hao.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!trwrba!cepu!hao!ward From: ward@hao.UUCP (Mike Ward) Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: A vote for "nobody" this November Message-ID: <1192@hao.UUCP> Date: Sat, 6-Oct-84 13:12:59 EDT Article-I.D.: hao.1192 Posted: Sat Oct 6 13:12:59 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 7-Oct-84 21:56:27 EDT References: <4297@fortune.UUCP> <583@erix.UUCP> Organization: High Altitude Obs./NCAR, Boulder CO Lines: 27 > One > thing that I don't understand about the American presidential elections, is why > must the president be elected by all the people in the country? Why couldn't > he (she?) be elected by congress or the senate? One of the greatest things we've got going for us in the US is the principle of separation of powers. It's kind of a "balance of greed". This principle states that, if the different entities of the government are granted separate and independent powers, they will spend most of their time and energy squabbling over who is able to what, and leave the rest of us alone. When this works, we in the US do very well. But when the various units of government lose their political health, and have an attack of cooperation, then we tend to suffer. The very worst thing that could happen to us is the adoption of the Parliamentary system. The two party system is not written in our Constitution, but in our character, and even with our fragmented form of government, concentrations of power erupt all too frequently. -- Michael Ward, NCAR/SCD UUCP: {hplabs,nbires,brl-bmd,seismo,menlo70,stcvax}!hao!ward ARPA: hplabs!hao!sa!ward@Berkeley BELL: 303-497-1252 USPS: POB 3000, Boulder, CO 80307