[f_salmon]

> "[US political system] which is regarded as the best example of democracy, globally"

As far as I can tell, Switzerland has the best political system (with the most direct democracy) and it's really a shame that nobody seems to want to imitate it (which of course can be explained by the fact that it means more power goes to the People, not corporations/secret gvt agencies/etc, which are often allowed to buy politicians via "donations", accepted corruption called "lobbying", etc)

[mattlutze]

Switzerland has strong redistributive system. From a layman's perspective, it would seem this can be supported by the very high profits in the financial and high-end finished goods markets.

In an economy without such high GDP and average household income, I wonder if it would still be such an effective or model system.

[jtfrench]

It's a good point, and I wonder what is the ultimate underlying reason because I've heard many share that same opinion. Despite all the things the US political system gets "wrong" and other systems "get right" — somehow the US still calls the shots.

[lucian1900]

Except it consistently makes decisions that are bad for most of its populace, like (not) joining the EU and restricting EU immigration.