[Sharlin]

I wonder if that's actually a net positive thing in practice. In parliamentary systems, found in many of the most objectively democratic countries in the world, the legislative and executive branches are more closely interlinked than in presidential systems. Because the party that gets the most seats in a parliamentary elections gets to form the executive (with other parties if necessary), and the executive parties typically control the majority of the seats, any legislation proposed by the executive usually passes.

[amyjess]

FYI, there's an article on Vox that argues that presidential systems are inherently prone to collapse and that it's a miracle America made it this far: http://www.vox.com/2015/3/2/8120063/american-democracy-doome...

One interesting point the article raises was that one of the few things saving the American political system from collapse was our ugly racial history.

[jMyles]

Parliamentary systems have other checks that the American Presidential system lacks (of course this varies somewhat widely by state, from Britain to Israel to Canada there is something of a spectrum).