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First mover disadvantage. The US was among the pioneers of modern democratic system, and arguably the most successful one, which paradoxically trapped its desc

First mover disadvantage. The US was among the pioneers of modern democratic system, and arguably the most successful one, which paradoxically trapped its descendants into thinking there must have been something magical about how it was initially set up and it should never get updated. Many other latecomer nations didn't enjoy that kind of success - in fact many of them started with their first few presidents being brutal dictators, so they're under no illusion that their own "founding fathers" were infallible angels.

cjs_ac 1y ago
All of the ideas the founding fathers discussed arose in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the 1600s. If you're familiar with that conflict, particularly that between the Parliament of England and Charles I, a lot of the US founding fathers' particular obsessions (the word tyranny, for instance) make more sense. The real magic in the American Revolution was how spectacularly unambitious it was; all of the most important parts were already in place in Britain, and only denied to the colonies through sheer bloody-mindedness. The US is not the first modern democracy; it's just the best at self-aggrandisement.
- throw0101d 1y ago
  > The real magic in the American Revolution was how spectacularly unambitious it was; all of the most important parts were already in place in Britain, and only denied to the colonies through sheer bloody-mindedness. I think the main 'innovation' was the splitting up of the Crown / Executive. One failing was not taking political parties into account. It's not like they were unknown at the time: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party#18th_century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party#18th_century