THE TELEGRAPH: Having spent the past two weeks immersed in American politics (spiritually, not physically), I must try to readjust my eyes for the British domestic scene.
It is not just the difference in scale that is disconcerting - this is a small island, after all, not a continental superpower. It is the sense of a wholly different conception of the relationship between government and people.
After more than 40 years as an American expatriate living in Britain, I have not got over the shock of being in a democratic country where the governing class holds the views of ordinary people in such contempt: the priorities of the public - whether they are uncontrolled immigration, lack of appropriate punishment for criminals, or the outrageous cost of the basic necessities of modern life - can be disregarded or dismissed if the governing elite decides that they are wrong-headed or benighted.
There is almost no sense at all of the principle that underpins the US Constitution: that in a democracy, the will of the majority of the people is sacred.
What prevails in Britain is the received wisdom of the professional political club. And that includes not just those elected to Parliament but their entourages, their party machines and their media hangers-on. Of course, Washington has its insider cabals and its incestuous "inside the Beltway" culture. But no member of Congress who wishes to survive can afford to become as detached and disdainful of popular opinion as members of the British political class openly (and shamelessly) declare themselves to be.
It is a positive point of pride among politicians here to say that they bravely hold out against "populist" demands - which is to say that they wilfully ignore and deride the concerns of ordinary people because they are not sufficiently enlightened to be worthy of consideration. Look across the Pond for a Lesson in Listening to the People >>> By Janet Daley September 8, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
