Graham Allen on the USA

Graham Allen

In this new series specially for The Westminster Hour's website, we have challenged politicians to say what inspires them about the political systems in other countries.

Each week there is a different contributor and at the end of this series the best ideas will be featured in a special report to be broadcast on The Westminster Hour.

To start the series, cabinet minister Tessa Jowell looked to Germany and Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker to Sweden.

This week Labour MP Graham Allen, a former government whip turned Iraq rebel, casts his eye across the Atlantic to draw inspiration from the way they practise politics in Washington.

The US Capitol, home to the Senate and House of Representatives

Britain could learn from most other democratic political systems - for example, that of the United States, where there is a clear separation of the legislature, executive and judiciary.

Although powerful, the US President has defined responsibilities in relation to Congress. For example, he cannot commit troops to actual or potential combat circumstances without consultation, either before or after the fact. In Britain, on the other hand, the three branches of state are fused, with the executive in a position of dominance.

President Bush at a press conference in the White House

To illustrate this, the Lord Chancellor is the head of the judiciary, the Speaker of the upper chamber and a cabinet member. In the United Kingdom, government members, selected by the Prime Minister, are drawn from a parliamentary reservoir.

This fact concentrates considerable powers of patronage in the hands of the premier, who, partly for this reason, has taken on the role of a de facto President. However, unlike his US equivalent, our President has only been directly endorsed by voters in Sedgefield, not the electorate as a whole.

Spectators entering the US Supreme Court building in Washington

Britain would do well to follow the example of the US Constitution-makers, who established a presidency, but ensured that it was properly balanced by an independent legislature. Leadership at the centre is a necessity; this does not preclude and could indeed be enhanced by greater strength elsewhere.