Presidential Question Time?

The video of the Prime Minister's Question Time was very interesting, and somewhat fun to watch. As to the question of whether such a process would work in the U.S. is still undecided. It appeared in class today that everyone thought the President should be accountable for his actions, but it was unclear on how exactly to make that happen. Several people expressed opinions as to why this process would not work in the U.S. - many of which I agreed with. I would like to say that with proper implementation (and changes to fit our political culture) that this process could eventually work. However, I feel that Congress and/or the President would make it too complicated with too many rules, which would cause it to be ineffective. Also, I feel that with the ever-rising smear politics and campaigns in the U.S., that that is what this process would turn out to be. It would be a good change to make, but it may never happen.

I thought the discussion on unified or divided government went well. I was surprised at how much the class agreed on the pros and cons of the different forms of government. I was also surprised to see the change from a unified government being the norm at the beginning of the 20th century to a divided government being the norm today. I realize that there are problems with both forms of government, but I think that it is important to have a divided government as another form of checks and balances.