Month: May 2010

The UK is Sort of Stuck Now

On: By: Stefan

PrimeMinisterSince it seems like the British people simply couldn’t make up their collective minds, the aftermath of the UK’s recent election results has the country n a bit of a mess.  What happened with the national elections was that no single party won a clear overall majority.  This means that forming a government is not going to be as straightforward as it usually is.  This situation has not occurred in Britain for nearly 40 years.

Understanding a Hung Parliament

When no single party has enough Members of Parliament (MPs) elected to form a majority in the House of Commons, a hung parliament ensues.  That means that whatever party ultimately ends up as the government, it will not have the power needed to pass laws without getting the backing from the other parties.  In other words, no one single party will have ultimate control.  This produces two options:  either there will be a formal coalition among the smaller parties, or the larger party will just have to hope that once in power, the smaller parties will support it to get its laws passed.  So it’s certainly going to be interesting as to what will now transpire in Britain’s parliamentary system.

History about George Washington

On: By: Stefan

As everyone knows, the first president of the United States of America was George Washington.  On April 30, 1789, George Washington took his official oath of office while standing on a balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York.

He wrote to James Madison, understanding how important his swearing in was, that “As the first of everything, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent.  It is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles.”

After the Revolutionary War, Washington actually longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon.  He realized, however, that a new Constitution was necessary in America and he worked tirelessly to see that it was ratified.  After its ratification at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, he was elected as president by a unanimous vote from the Electoral College.

The two party system developed by the end of his first term.  By the end of his second term, weary of politics and feeling old, he retired.  During his Farewell Address, he warned the people not to focus too much on geographical distinctions or on party lines.  He also warned about long-term alliances in foreign affairs.