Congress VS Parliament | Politics! British VS American | Evan Edinger & Jazza John

[@evan]

Hey y'all! Hope ya liked the new video! :) It's meant to be a fun, surface-level look at how parliament operates vs congress. Based on previous feedback, I wanted to spend a lot of time in this video getting a lot of information from Jazza. I definitely learned a lot and had a fun time. One extra thing though, in 2011, parliament passed an act prohibiting the queen from dissolving parliament. This was unknown to Jazza and me before filming. Just wanted to add that li'l correction. :)

[@RB747domme]

Evan Edinger just wanted to correct one things Jazza said, paid political 'lobbying' is in fact, technically, illegal in the UK. Like, a company cannot lobby the government to pass a bill, by paying them money, either to debate, listen, or even explore the possibility of introducing a bill to the floor. Any attempts to do so, is seen as corrupt and illegal. Just thought I'd say. It's one of the problems in America, because of all of the gun manufacturers, and the national Rifle Association lobbying the government, which stop gun bills from being passed in the USA. They wouldn't be allowed to do that in the UK. No company can have any influence over policy whatsoever if it's seen as conniving or corrupt.

[@eligoldman9200]

Evan Edinger republicans are badshit crazy and don’t understand how a society should work.

[@jackburke2562]

@@RB747domme Watching that segment I was just thinking, "In the UK we call that bribery", which is very illegal

[@MI-cs1vt]

Actually a vote of no confidence can only occur at least a year since the last vote on no confidence

[@Goobeygirl070502]

You should check out Andrew Yang! He is running in 2020 and he looks really good. I really have no say cause Im from Canada but his ideas are really good and he is very well spoken

[@wrenjames2149]

"If the Queen went rogue..." - the way he said that, just so casually, made it so hilarious

[@needbettername8583]

Why does the American guy look British and the British guy look American?

[@spol]

Spoiler: A lot of Americans are of British decent

[@anonymous-iu4th]

Uno reverse

[@poggies7639]

Mario you are eejits, most of your issues are caused by the Tories but you put a blindfold on when that’s shown to you

[@profiterolo]

@Mario you do realise that literally nobody cares, right? so what if Jazza has differing opinions to you; he's well within his rights to discuss them.

[@Sephivoiceactor]

Right?!

[@jazzajohn]

Lessons from this video: - A written constitution doesn't mean you get stuff done. - The Queen is scarily powerful. - Pikachu presides as Speaker of the House in Evan's bedroom. - Evan's hair.

[@nefertitimontoya]

THE PIKACHU THING OMG

[@andyhartley]

The Lords do have a limit on how many times they can stop a bill going forward as it happens. If the Commons pass a bill 3 times without the Lords approving it, the Commons (actually the Speaker) can invoke the Parliament Act and pass the bill directly (subject to Royal Assent). This happened with the Hunting Act 2004 where the Lords blocked it repeatedly.

[@henrynelson1501]

The Queen isn't actually that powerful as they made out. The Queen can't dissolve parliament anymore since the Fixed Term Parliament Act.

[@VCYT]

Wrong, the queen has no real power.

[@conorneary01]

The video is largely inaccurate. The uk has an uncodified constitution. Which means Its partly unwritten and partly written. Stature law/acts of parliament are written bills which are passed and part of the constitution and have authority over unwritten precedence. We have common law which is from the courts and they are unwritten and up to the judges interpretation of the constitution. We then have royal prerogative which are laws passed down from the monarch to the PM e.g the queen is technically commander in chief of the armed forces however the law was passed down/transferred to the PM who now essentially has the power but the PM usually will allow parliament to have a say before making military based decisions. If the queen wanted to try and takeover it would be a constitutional crisis and there would be an uprising or laws would be passed by parliament to eliminate the monarchs powers. We then also have conventions as well as authoritative opinions which are also written but are only there to make the constitution run more smoothly and simply and don’t have any real power

[@hobiwheein]

A few extra points to add- 1. The U.K. does have a constitution however it is uncodified which doesn’t mean it’s unwritten but it has many sources (some written some just tradition or convention). Being uncodified is dangerous but also really useful as outdated laws can be rules out quickly. 2. The house of lords can’t block legislation but can delay it up to a year, the house is used as a check on parliament. The lords is all appointed which can be seen as undemocratic however they consist of members from a large variety of fields ~~ which could be more representative than the HoC idk 3. They are rules that regulate how much money is being donated to parties and campaigns. All money over a certain amount must be declared and no money what so ever can be donated internationally, if this happens a member can lose their seat or a campaign can be cancelled and re-done. 4. The 28 bishops that sit in the HoL are there as a moral compass, the house of lords has members from other faith backgrounds also however their aren’t seats that are specifically reserved for these other religions

[@jazzajohn]

Much clearer than how I put it. 👏👏👏

[@amritha_r03]

The bishops are also there because of tradition- they have been part of parliament since the 15th century I think

[@pollymack]

AV isn’t actually much more proportional than first past the post and is still pretty awful

[@pollymack]

The Lib Dem’s wanted a ref on PR but Cameron compromised AV instead

[@jessb5280]

Also the House of Lords can only block legislation for a certain amount of time due to the Parliament Acts, which set limits on the delaying powers of the House of Lords. Proposed legislation can also be introduced in the House of Lords before it is introduced in the House of Commons, and even if it is introduced in the House of Commons it can be introduced by the opposition, not just the Government!

[@Inucroft]

The UK has a unwritten constitution. The Manga Carta is not as infuencial as people think, rather the 1689 Bill of Rights is the basis of current British law.

[@MrTrilbe]

and all but one law on the Magna Carta has been removed, most of them were removed withing months of it's signing, and all the laws on it only effected people over a certain social rank anyway

[@Inucroft]

You are correct, mostly. @@MrTrilbe Well, it was revoked and reinstated numerous times. Depending if it was a weak king vs strong king.

[@nicholasstanig1158]

The most influential law would be the human rights act 1998

[@mortimerbrewster3671]

If the constitution is unwritten then it doesn't exist. Only hard and fast written rules that are not easily removed or ovrturned keep a government in check.

[@Inucroft]

@@mortimerbrewster3671 We have the supreme court, House of Lords & HRH Queen Elizabeth for that. Also, our Supreme Court is 100% independent from Government, unlike that of the USA ;)

[@joshuajoseph4962]

Evan: “as an American I’m still confused about brexit” Ngl Evan as Brit’s .... so are we

[@lizardlegend42]

I'm pretty sure the MPs don't know what's going on either.

[@mlgprussian7115]

Everyone took the referendum as a joke and then it actually happened and everyone was like “Oh shit....what the fuck now”

[@peterlloyd8313]

Easy, Remainers are the Baddies and Brexiteers are the goodies. The "EVIL EMPIRE" is the EU. And the House of Lords is the other lot, who fall asleep at work most of the time. Labour is the "Can`t make up my mind party" And the conservatives are the "We know what we want, but can`t decide how to do it party" LibDems are the "We will agree with anything that gets us votes party" And the Brexit Party are the "party in waiting " or the inbetweeners party, GOT IT.

[@nelotharen8599]

brexit = good remain = bad

[@OutsideViews]

and it´s getting more confusing every day ;P

[@Writing_With_Felix]

If you want to learn more about British politics, I'd recommend Politics Unboringed by Jay Foreman

[@TheExplorerFromEarth]

Yasss! I love that man with all my heart. He's so witty))

[@danshinks5897]

Based on some of their talking points, I think Evan is a fan

[@yellowbubble7]

Also TLDR News

[@squidshave10tentacles58]

Yeah! It's a great channel!

[@BoraCM]

Jay Foreman is one of my favourite KZbinrs.

[@magpiesrcute7248]

Evan:" How many times can you change the prime minister?" *cough* Australia *cough*

[@bonnie5076]

Ayyy 6 ish prime ministers in 6 years. Functional government who

[@thelongslowgoodbye]

Meanwhile, Japan is like "Hold my sake!"

[@karenfolan56]

Lols we stopped asking patients who was PM as a cognitive assessment question as nobody could remember who was PM

[@bigginsd1]

Karen Folan I work on a Stroke Ward. I can confirm this, the PM question was removed because people just laughed at us when we were trying to test how orientated they were.

[@danielmorris8748]

It works *stab* exactly as it *stab* is meant to, parties *stab* are not just backstabbing prime ministers *stab* for personal gain it is *stab* for the good of the *dying moan* party and the country *stab*.

[@ellachetcuti232]

Literally doing UK and US comparative politics for my A-Level love this 🎉😂

[@elliedickinson113]

Ella Chetcuti me too. I think this counts as revision

[@WhateverItsAmber]

Same!!! Cant' stand the structure of the questions though lol

[@elliedickinson113]

Amber x and it’s so content heavy, way more than my other subjects

[@WhateverItsAmber]

@@elliedickinson113 Yes omg, it would be fine without ideologies but with that on top its too much

[@elliedickinson113]

Amber x even just in uk there’s more than geography. It literally doesn’t make sense

[@ChloeCatLover]

Evan 2019: “bernie is currently the front runner” me in 2020: 👁👄👁

[@mattbenz99]

He was only ever the front runner because he united the "very liberal" (the name of the wing on surveys) wing of the the Democratic party while the other wings were divided. These people make up about 30-35% of the party so when the other 65-70% of the party united, he didn't have a chance.

[@eleanor7205]

the 1911 and 1949 parliament acts mean the lords can’t interfere with the budget or hold back a law for more than a year

[@abbiewells123]

pretty certain they can delay any monetary policy for only one month

[@gabrieltaylor8971]

a level politics snapped

[@jamiengo2343]

@@abbiewells123 nope, they can’t block monetary bills at all. It’s called financial privilege

[@allenwilliams1306]

@@jamiengo2343 Anything that is a “Money Bill” cannot be delayed at all by the Lords.

[@Aima952]

For everyone wondering about the lawn signs: the UK passed a law to limit the amount of time a parties campaign materials could be on display after an election as part of the rules establishing fair campaigning. Since then - in the 80's I think but I cba to check- the parties have been subject to fines for every poster/sticker/sign found up a certain amount of time after the election - roughly a month but again cba to check. Hence, freely available campaign materials are rarely provided to individuals as each one could cause them to be fined - this can even happen maliciously!

[@adrichardson18]

This is super interesting! I’ve always wondered why it seems to only be the locals involved in campaigning that have the signs up. Kind of assumed it was just due to our ‘belief in’ the secret ballot that reduced the amount of personal declarations of party allegiance. Growing up my parents refused to tell me how they voted for this reason

[@alexwright4930]

Different councils have different rules on campaign literature on lamppost etc too. For example in the Birmingham area, Birmingham and Dudley Borough don't ever seem have posters on lampposts whilst in Sandwell Borough they're everywhere.

[@DebatingWombat]

Denmark has a similar system of fines for not taking down the ubiquitous election posters, but also a curfew on how early they can be put up prior to an election, leading to a virtual “battle of the lamp posts” and occasional fines for candidates whose posters are put up too early. This battle for poster space is also not only between parties but can also be between candidates from the same party for the most treasured spots. As it is also illegal to remove posters that are placed according to the rules (e.g. on public lamp posts etc.), you will typically see candidates and/or their supporters literally running out with ladders, posters and plastic strips on the stroke of midnight when the “poster curfew” lifts, in order to get a particularly good spot first. Then, for a few weeks, the landscape is littered with the things, often with multiple copies same candidate’s poster alongside each other in some weird, clone like/déjà vu experience, and then, shortly after the election, they’re gone.

[@sinesurfer]

I can tell that in New Zealand the Electoral Act request campaign advertising to be remove when the polling stations open at 9:00 am so, the day before we're driving around removing all of our party advertising. Signs on private property are erected only when property owner signs an agreement that party members my enter property to remove the sign(s).

[@Anna-cs5sb]

"How many times can you vote for no confidence in a prime minister?" Me, an Australian: hahahahahahahaha

[@istvanglock7445]

You don't, strictly speaking, vote for no confidence in a Prime Minister. You (meaning members of Parliament) vote for no confidence in a government - this is very unlikely to succeed if the ruling party holds an absolute majority of seats. A Prime Minister can be replaced by a leadership review or contest within the ruling party. A sufficient number of signatures has to be gathered within the ruling party to initiate such a review. The number of times this can be done depends on the rules that the ruling party has for doing this. The UK Conservative Party currently does not allow a leadership review more than once a year. Typically this would only be done when the leader (Prime Minister) is regarded as a serious liability.

[@AshenVictor]

@@istvanglock7445 Parties can have an internal no confidence vote on their leader which would, if successful, force them to step down as Prime Minister.

[@coyotelong4349]

Australian PM’s office should literally be set up in a revolving door to save time

[@gachaelephant6841]

How many times?

[@thuranz2773]

Can we get rid of the current one too?

[@Halfbloodprincesss8]

The hair was a shock at first, but I gotta say, I don’t hate it... he’s got that Bill Weasley look going for him 😃

[@chelsey8737]

Thats always a compliment

[@lisafarrell07]

I love Harry Potter but he has long hair and I think Charlie does too. Ron or one of the twins (I don’t care if Fred is dead he’s still one of the twins) Great compliment btw

[@chickenpermission8373]

I think he looks like Percy Weasley, with the hair and glasses.

[@kelsiesagen237]

This might be my favorite British v. American! I just love politics and it’s so interesting to learn more about British politics (which I know next to nothing about)

[@emilymcnabola5972]

I'm British and I know next to nothing about politics (then again I am 15)

[@catherinerobilliard7662]

@@emilymcnabola5972 politics is usually discussed in the sixth form at British schools

[@raymondporter2094]

@@emilymcnabola5972But if you watch TV News, radio (especially Radio 4) and read broadsheet newspapers, you will soon find out about politics!

[@chiltdog1259]

All you need to know is brexit means brexit

[@stackzbeats9344]

Raymond Porter NEVER USE BRITISH MAINSTREAM MEDIA AS A CREDIBLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION

[@read.g.e]

my god, its so nice to hear such a well-spoken, witty and unbigoted guy! Who is this Jazza?

[@DevCasey]

Ordah!!!! Ordaer! ORDERRR!

[@geoffpriestley7001]

Big mc and fries please

[@ryanhuntrajput474]

@@geoffpriestley7001 that'll be the last meal of your life.

[@helenchelmicka3028]

🤣🤣🤣

[@cameronbeattie3087]

In Scotland if you take Modern Studies you literally learn about how the American system works as well as the Scottish and British one works. I feel like the Americans system is very centred on the USA alone while in Scotland we learn a lot more about the world around us (probably because our country is so small) Note : before anyone gets annoyed I only speak about Scotland rather than the U.K. because Scotland has a different education system so I can’t say much about England Wales and Northern Ireland

[@kaitlinberanek4539]

Lol. Of course we study different systems when studying societies and politics. Evan studied math, so of course he wouldn't know finer details of political systems. But sure, continue the stereotype that Americans dont know anything and everyone else are ~so cultured~

[@pavelmacek282]

@@kaitlinberanek4539 well the difference is that we (speaking for Czech Republic) have social studies mandatory for everyone, so you get the basics about other main political systems whether you want it or not... and the same goes for biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics etc.

[@sudocreme5080]

The Parliament Act 1911 allows the House of Commons to overrule the House of Lords, with a sunset clause that the bill can be delayed for a year. The last notable time this happened was the Hunting Act back in the mid-2000’s

[@lizardlegend42]

You can thank us Irish for the 1911 one, the Irish parliamentary party got the balance of power in 1910 and agreed to let the Whigs in if they added that in. Previously, the house of lords kept blocking the Irish home rule bill. The act of parliament (1911) was passed and the home rule bill got pushed in each following year. It was inevitably going to be passed in 1914 but then, WW1 happened. The bill was postponed and this was the final straw before the 1916 rising. Just thought that was interesting

[@adamdesouza6153]

@@lizardlegend42 WW1 ruined the British isles

[@Firenzell01]

John Bercow was asked how he could represent his constituents and he said he can go straight to the PM and since he decides what gets voted on and controls the house she listens to him which is better than voting for a bill.

[@terilyte3152]

+

[@GeckoFM]

I'm Canadian and it's so interesting to see the links/differences with both the American and the British side. Learned a lot of new things from this

[@andrewnonymous4257]

One small point (because I'm a pedant and studied constitutional law in my law degree despite not wanting too) - The queen can withhold her assent (the Royal assent) from a bill thus stopping it becoming law (and act), however this would inevitably trigger various mechanisms through the various Parliament Acts which would see her removed from power.

[@rasheemwyattreid3351]

Me learning the Jamaican Political System vicariously through the UK Political System.

[@kaieden]

There's a lot of misinformation in this video regarding UK politics. Take this video as an overview - not fact.

[@sophieemilykendrick5109]

None of these issues compare with the colossal mess that is Northern Irish politics

[@gnislia]

Sophie Emily Kendrick mainly because British parliament don’t care about NI

[@gnislia]

John Jaxson because it’s still their responsibility? And ya know, to prevent people killing each other?

[@Emerald__Ace]

@John Jaxson Yeah Sinn Fein don't take their seats in Parliament because they would need to take a vow of loyalty to the current monarch which is the Queen at the moment.

[@Alucard-gt1zf]

gnislia if they wanted us to care they shouldn’t have voted for an independent parliament

[@MrTangolizard]

gnislia that’s not the reason the GFA plays a part in it

[@alonevolcanoes]

does this count as revision for my politics a level? (i study uk and usa politics)

[@sadietrent804]

that is another reason why im watching it

[@wellingtonsmith4998]

so, could the Queen just stop Brexit? ya know, with a royal decree or something?

[@sadietrent804]

There’s already been a bill rushed through to stop a no deal brexit

[@isabellamarsden7447]

Helping with my AS politics exam in 7 weeks !!!!!!!!!!

[@ameena6485]

They say if you're not writing, you're not revising! :p

[@midnightturmoil5483]

Evan in Australia no prime minister have served a full term since John Howard in 2007 All thanks to people having no confidence in the leader of the party

[@tasmanbroadway4810]

Damn. I’m disappointed in my country

[@robjenkinson1487]

Tbf the parties keep selecting fucking airheads.Rudd saved the economy, Gillard fucked the Budget, Abbott was a right wing moron, Turnbull did nothing and Morrison knows nothing.

[@thuranz2773]

It also doesn't help that Murdoch holds a cast iron grip on our media.

[@Molldance]

Evan. Politics. On a Sunday evening with a face mask. What more could I want?

[@garyb8859]

Hey I also watched this on a Sunday, we should start a new political movement, where you can only talk about politics on Sunday. It would spice up the water cooler talk Monday. Then they would get arrested for breaking the one rule we set up!

[@Molldance]

@@garyb8859 haha! Power to the people and all that! 😂

[@garyb8859]

@@Molldance had no idea it was that easy, two likes, someone other than you is in to this. Can't wait to talk about it on Sunday!

[@AndyMmusic]

The thing that really keeps the Monarch out of politics is the memory of the English civil war. The last time a British Monarch tried to overrule Parliament he was beheaded!

[@annabellej9429]

"West Brookshire" that was so close to the real place 'West Berkshire'

[@megkelly1982]

Perfect timing for my law revision haha. In the UK, bills aren't exclusively made by the government in the House of Commons, they can also be made by solo MPs or in the House of Lords. The system works in pretty much the way you said either way, except if it's created in the Lords it is debated there first, then passed to the Commons for further debate/amendments :)

[@issyjane249]

I love watching British vs. American videos because it's funny listening to Evan going "Oh that makes sense" at least twice in every one

[@neonachas]

In New Zealand we have a Westminster system that had been modified. We lost the Upper House - the Legislative Council - in the 50s. In the 1990s, we changed from FPP (first past the post) to MMP (multi-member proportional) that has both electorates (with a set number of voters) decided by FPP voting, but also list seats decided by proportional voting. To get a seat on the list, a party must get over 5% of the total vote. This is a similar system they have in Scotland for the Scottish Parliament. Our elections are every 3 years (though there is a move to extend to 4 years) and our election period is 6 weeks. Political advertising and spending is tightly controlled, but again, the internet has affected the amount of advertising around. However, no advertising may occur on election day, and prosecutions have occurred of social media holders who have allowed adverts to run in their pages on election day.

[@sem-zs3nl]

I think it's worth mentioning that proportional representation isn't flawless. In giving small parties a foothold it gives ALL small parties a foothold, even the unpleasant ones. It's how the NSDAP was able to gain a foothold in Germany.

[@VoxelLoop]

Just about everything in the UK is convention, between laws and how laws are made, there's a lot of "Well, it'd be rude to do this" versus a law stating you shouldn't do something. Somehow it seems to work though!

[@charlieyazarlou]

I’m 12 but you have inspired me to learn 2 new languages and you have opened my eyes to the world I would love to meet you and be your friend 😂

[@Mrlikeitorlumpit]

We do have a constitution in the uk, it's just not codified.

[@rose-ew4mg]

my first politics A Level exam is in 48 days (im rlly unprepared) so i used this in the form of a procrastination/revision hybrid; thanku

[@sionsmedia8249]

I know "it's just convention" but it's a pretty good one. The last time any monarch blocked a law passed by parliment, was in 1707 by Queen Anne.

[@amritha_r03]

Proportional systems are a good idea in theory, but it doesn't always work because there are so many parties, especially in Britain, that it would be ridiculously difficult to pass laws... An example of it going badly is the Weimar Republic in Germany, where almost no laws were passed because there were so many parties that no party ended up getting what they wanted because there was very rarely a majority. It does work sometimes though, like in New Zealand (I think)

[@amina5782]

Germany actually amended the proportional representation system following the WW2 by introducing a 5% hurdle so a party needs to have at least 5% of the votes to be able to sit in parliament

[@chloer.h7955]

Got my USA/UK comparative politics paper today for my A-levels, this is relevant thanks Evan

[@Agent_Dangles]

So I would disagree with him where he says that the US President is similar to the UK Speaker of the House. The President never really presided over the congress, technically the vice president presides over the senate, but today that really only means he gets to vote if there is a tie. The Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader are the ones who decide what gets debated and voted on in each house, so they would probably be closer to Bercow.

[@jazzajohn]

That's a fair point, I was more thinking about the power and position they played rather than the job description.

[@Alucard-gt1zf]

Dangles the speaker also only gets to vote if there is a tie

[@ozzyfromscotland]

I started this video and the first thing I thought and said out loud was: "Oh! My mum has that mug!"

[@bonnie5076]

See, I don't know why I am watching this, because I live in Australia and Australian politics are the politics relevant to me. It is still really interesting.

[@AB-vu5sf]

Really enjoyed this - I understand Britains system a lot better now, wish we learned more about parliamentary systems in schools. Very informative and funny!

[@grumpy989]

1) Gerrymandering does exist in the UK in some forms, see how constituancies were changed in 2011-ish to ensure more consistuancies in traditional conservative areas. Failing that, look at the size of constituancies in the north of england (traditionally labour, but not always) verses the south east (excluding London, traditionally conservative, not always). 2) Fix term parliment act of 2011 means the queen can no longer dissolve parliement. However, the PM needs to visit the queen if they want to resign and its tradition for the new PM to have an audience with the queen as well 3) Although what he says about the Salisbury convention is true, the HoL can only delay a law upto 1 year 4) Although we do have a number of parties, the 'spoiler effect' basically means the major choice boils down to 2 (In England its usually Con vs Lab

[@prh47bridge]

Constituencies weren't changed in 2011-ish. The current boundaries have been in place since 2005 in Scotland and Wales, 2007 in England, 2008 in Northern Ireland. The current boundaries used to favour Labour because there are too many seats in Scotland and Wales (both traditionally Labour strongholds, although that has obviously changed) and, for a variety of reasons including population drift from urban areas to rural areas, Labour seats tend to be smaller in population terms than Conservative seats. So in the 2010 election the Labour party needed substantially fewer votes to get an MP than the Conservatives. However, the rise of the SNP in Scotland coupled with the swing away from Labour and the loss of much of Labour's northern heartlands has substantially changed things. If you think the current boundaries have been gerrymandered to favour the Conservatives, you need to blame Labour as they were in government when they were put in place!

[@prh47bridge]

Sorry - meant to say "swing away from Labour IN WALES" - should have checked before hitting reply!

[@jenniferritchie7090]

PLEASE do a video with Scottish vs British politics with Cory. That would be amazing.

[@tadhgprovan1895]

It's also important to note that Scotland has it's own parliament and legal system. Also we have different voting system's for different elections. For General elections (Members of Parliament-MPs) its First Past the Post, Scottish elections (Members of Scottish Parliament-MSPs) we use the Additional Member's System and for local elections (councillors) we use Single Transferable Vote. Lords can't interfere with the budget and can only push back bills for twelve months. Also the UK does have a Supreme Court, it's just operates differently. It's not really a political branch

[@elliecassidy9496]

The UK does have a constitution! It's just not codified like the USA's 😊

[@jazzajohn]

SOME of it is codified. But it relies on convention which is why it was never put into one doc. But yes that's right.

[@elliecassidy9496]

@@jazzajohn I'd argue some of the UK's is written but not codified, since codified implies it can be found in one document, but yeah I agree :)

[@constant91]

@@jazzajohn codefied just means bought together in one place (in a code). Rarely is anything that matters not written down somewhere- whether that's a Act of Parliament, reported case law, the Hansard transcripts. They are still written, you can still refer back to something official. In the video you made it sound like it was just word of mouth and trust. Another important point in this argument is the principle that one parliament cannot restrict a future one. Which is why we don't have a codefied unalterable (read difficult to alter) "constitution".

[@mxry_kat]

I'm surprised you didn't touch on the absolute trash system that is the electoral college

[@TwenOalley]

Look into why it was established in the first place. It has more warrant than the media who's upset about trump winning lets on

[@timpeters3039]

Maybe he isn't a complete uneducated moron like you.

[@sjgomes89]

Probably because its not trash.

[@lisaandbeans9645]

Don't get me started on that. The founders did not believe the people could make sound decisions on leadership so the electoral college was created. They vote for the president not the popular vote. It just so happens the EC rarely votes against the popular vote. Smh. Which makes our country part Democratic/ part oligarchy.

[@gachaelephant6841]

Um I’m not from the U.S so enlighten me, what’s the electoral collage

[@danielsennett2657]

The uk does have a written constitution, it’s just not written all in one document as it’s uncodified

[@Luluchichiaa]

mixing two types of videos...interesting, i like it!

[@bruh949]

For those Americans wondering about what would happen if the queen dissolved Parliament, the last monarch to do that, Charles I, ended up having his head go flying of.

[@teresapierce9621]

Hey Evan! Have you ever considered doing an American Revolution series? I think it could be a lot of fun as many british do not know more than the surface level stuff. That's no dig at Brits, they know more than we do about them. Founding Fathers have a lot of really cool facts about them that could be fun. Or...(bear with me here) could you do a react series with some friends to an American historical show like the HBO John Adams series or Turn:Washington's Spies? Love your videos! ❤

[@Udontkno7]

I love Turn! And he should some videos about the English Civil War!

[@joannakennedy6005]

Well guess what, I am a British historian and I probably know about the American Revolution than you know!

[@teresapierce9621]

@@joannakennedy6005 :D Yes, that is exactly the type of British person I was worried about taking offense to my post. You imitated that perfectly! You should take that act on the road. :P

[@AJ-xv6bj]

Tbh I've never learned about the American revolution. Because our history is so long and vast something we lost was not relevant to us. Everything I know about the American revolution is something I learned myself.

[@simac8640]

@@joannakennedy6005 if your a 'historian' then perhaps you should? Teresa is clearly referring to the average Brit on the street who watches these videos. think before engaging brain.

[@sabagamager6253]

I've been secretly waiting for this video to happen! So fun and nice to see two of my favourite creators and people I look up to collaborate!

[@historymysteries4134]

We technically have an age limit for PM. It’s 18 like all MPs.

[@squidshave10tentacles58]

Yeah, that counts, right? Although we do also have a youth parliament every year/ few months.

[@shaunvlog]

YAYYY great to see Jazza !!!

[@Emma-rj4nd]

Evan....baby....your..your hair

[@gnislia]

Emma H. Yeahhh...he needs to sort it out

[@tobiasgoldman]

Great overview guys. Well done. One learns a lot.

[@emwatchesthings]

*meanwhile in northern ireland* no government for almost 900 days now

[@elizabethlebeau866]

Excuse me WHAT

[@monkeymox2544]

@@elizabethlebeau866 The Good Friday agreement requires power sharing between the two largest parties, however the leaders of those two parties had some major disagreements a couple of years ago, and found that they could not form a government together. They had an election after one of the to leaders resigned, and the same two parties won. Basically the election hadn't really solved anything, because the two parties still couldn't agree on anything, so they couldn't come to a satisfactory agreement under which to form a government. No agreement, no government. Some people have been saying that Westminster should step in, and even resume home rule, but the Westminster politicians REALLY don't want to do that, for obvious reasons.

[@itsnotworthit7178]

That was educational and really fun Thanks evan and jazza

[@amyrettke-grover6258]

Just to add, once a vote of no confidence is held, you have to wait 1 year before another can be voted on. Also can someone explain ‘swing states’ in the US?

[@samgold8610]

Most states in the us are reliably democratic or republican but a swing state is one where elections are very close. Candidates tend to spend a lot of time and money in swing states because they are really the only ones that change who they vote for from election to election

[@calumkamara9204]

Thats only in the conservative party isnt it?

[@samgold8610]

No it’s both. States like Florida and Ohio are hotly contested states during presidential elections between both parties

[@berlindude75]

The 1-year waiting period only pertains to the Conservative Party leadership. A vote of no confidence in the government, carried out in the House of Commons and typically triggered by the opposition, is not subject to such waiting periods.

[@thehufflepuffhermione]

A swing state is when a state votes democrat one year and republican the next and then goes back and votes for democrat the next vote.

[@mofo888]

I just found your channel, HOLY HELL! How did I not know about it? I love cross cultural talk that isn't just "we say subway and you say tube! hahaha"

[@karinac6845]

hmmmm... I think you should talk about the american dollar and how the united states plays a role in being the "risk-free" lender of the global economy! What are your thoughts on how the US dollar works as a universal currency?

[@tarab9590]

This was a great US vs British topic. Both of you were well versed about each other's political bodies which was impressive. Jazza I can't wait to check out more from you! Evan you're willingness to learn/educate is genuine and entertaining.

[@katyrobson2915]

This video is actually so helpful bc I’m doing politics A level sksksk

[@Weezle13]

As a brit what's the difference between policies between Democrat and Republican? Are they similar to labour and conservative here?

[@britishrail243]

The queen can't dissolve parliament anymore due to the fixed term parliament act.

[@josephg12345]

Alexus Bonnum read the bill she still can

[@tcroft2165]

She can't call a general election due to the FTPA.

[@tonytomato100]

Really? In Canada the Governor General can dissolve parliament if they want to, but like Britain convention means the PM really has that power

[@tcroft2165]

yeah the ftpa changed that@@tonytomato100

[@AJ-xv6bj]

The Queen can in fact dissolve parliment. But our Queen understand the importance of parliment and as a pure monarch there would not be true democracy. And she's pretty good. She has actually stopped a bill going through once I think it was 2007 where they government tried to put up the Tax rates to 80% and she literally went "NOPE" and denied the bill. Our Queen is actually quite intelligent tbh she's the first royal queen that learned things OTHER than the main stuff. She learned, maths, English, history.

[@dirkschwartz1689]

Great video, thanks mates. Small correction: The German Chancellor is in fact elected, just not by the voters but by the members of parliament during its first session after the general election. Customarily, this will be the main candidate from the party with most votes, but famously, Konrad Adenauer just narrowly won his first election to chancellor by one vote - he later said he had voted for himself.

[@WelshPaulJames]

If you want to learn something about the UK parliament , find someone that knows something about the UK parliament!

[@Isleofskye]

Enjoyed the video guys but you should have shown the UK weekly 1/2 Hour "Prime Minister's Question Time" with all it's banter to illustrate the difference...

[@amberfisher4017]

I urge you to look into Pete Buttigieg. He was fairly unknown until recently but a lot of people (including me) really like his politics and personality. I really think he could actually stand a really good chance in 2020

[@thehufflepuffhermione]

I wish we had picked him. However, Iowa did it in for him. He didn't get his glory day after winning the state and everyone forgot about him.

[@hayleycarroll2149]

This video is super interesting as a Canadian who knows nothing about either systems but I just wanted to put it out there that Canada's longest-serving Prime Minister (Mackenzie King) was in office for over 21 years. The closest the U.K. has come to that was back in the 1700s and that was only 20 years.

[@MGustave]

Canada's system is a really interesting meld of UK/US systems

[@dylan2822]

The queen cant dissolve parliament a bill was passed in 2011 to stop this

[@DerrickSylvesterJamesJr]

That isnt true either. The Queen can "dissolve" parliament anytime she wishes. What the Fixed-Term Parliament Act states is that the queen cannot call for new elections when ever she wants. Its fixed at 5 years. So the queen can actually get rid of the government anytime she likes, She just cant reconstitute it until whenever that 5 years is over, or never if she wants.

[@dylan2822]

@@DerrickSylvesterJamesJr this is true. However, the government dissolved only dissolves on the 17th workday before polling for the next government, this also means the queen cannot permanently dissolve parliament. It also means that dissolving parliament means in colloquial to start from scratch if you will

[@Spc1904]

@@DerrickSylvesterJamesJr The Fixed-Parliaments Act restricts the Royal Prerogative to the prorogation of Parliament, not the dissolution.

[@Alucard-gt1zf]

De_Wolf De_Wolf I’m pretty sure that was only for the British parliament because I think she can still dissolve commonwealth parliaments with ease like she did with Australia

[@TimeTraveller2054]

The MP of my constituency is Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Deputy Speaker of the House (Bercow's right-hand man) and I have definitely felt underrepresented in the last few months. I'll continue to vote for him because the First Past the Post system means that not voting for Labour is essentially a vote to keep the Tories in - if only the Greens had more of a presence in my area! That being said, he does do a lot for the local community and we always see him supporting local businesses and running advice drop-ins.

[@ashbucket99]

You should also talk about the shitshow that is Northern Irish politics

[@heathilea]

This was so interesting. I'm a New Zealander and last year I went on a tour of our Parliament in Wellington. I was on the tour with an American couple and their jaws dropped when they found out that our Prime minister actually doesn't have anymore power than any other MP, and can be chucked out at anytime by their own party. We don't even have an Upper house. Bills go through a select committee phase, where a committee made up of MPs from all parties is formed. A Bill gets presented to Parliament, it goes through a reading with the committee where they make amendments and hear from the public who make submissions on the bill. Bill gets presented again, voted on, more amendments made, voted on again. Once it passes it goes to the Governor general (the queens representative) to sign into law. If it fails after three readings it is let go. Our system is identical to Germany's system. That means that we can have our current situation where the party that had the most votes in the last election (National) is in opposition because they didn't have enough seats to form a majority and none of their previous coalition partners made it past the 5% threshold. Our current government is a coalition between Labour and NZFirst, with a confidence and supply agreement with the Green party.

[@LadyLocket]

Could you imagine Trump having to do PM questions time, he would walk out after the first question!

[@helenchelmicka3028]

Omg that would be genius!! Would loooove to see trump with Bercow too! 🤣🤣🤣

[@helenchelmicka3028]

Def! 🤣 Or trump being questioned by Laura kuenssberg lol

[@B4brenda]

Interesting and compelling information. All is good to know. Thank you for this! 👍🏼

[@zeinabghalib4836]

I'm british and literally had no idea what Evan was saying most of the time😂😂

[@amayapapaya5146]

im american and i had no idea what evan was talking about

[@romz1]

The concept of UK parliament was formed from 1066 and evolved in the early 13th century as powerful barons took matters in to their own hands. It's not a simple topic !

[@bowzally1281]

9:19 well yes but actually no

[@AndyMmusic]

British citizens are free. They have the freedom of speech, freedom of association, etc. But there is no constitutional guarantee of these freedoms. It is only the restraint of Parliament that keeps British citizens free.

[@wife_in_the_white_house3084]

I’m 99% sure you can only have a vote of no confidence in the prime minster every 12 months so may just had one and won so they can’t call for another for at least 12 months!! 😁👍🏻

[@jazzajohn]

Those are just internal conservative party rules I believe.

[@alexwright4930]

Yes they're two different things. A vote of no confidence in the House of Commons can happen whenever but would usually fail since governments usually have majorities and in normal times ruling party MPs wouldn't potentially vote themselves out of job. There can only be one Tory Party MPs' vote of no confidence in the party leader a year though under their internal law.

[@janswiss8731]

watching this for universitiy (comparative politics) makes studying really feel great^^

[@VNavale]

Proportional representation will also mean lot of undesirables from the extremes will come into power and we will perpetually bea hung parliament. UK politicians are still not as bad as US politicians.

[@trevorstephens9874]

Vote Evan Edinger 2028 !! He can guaranteed PUNS in every daily news conference.

[@lilliannag]

I love all your opinions of the world :)

[@zero0oblivion]

The Queen, as of 2011, can no longer dissolve Parliament (Fixed Terms Parliament Act 2011), but she still can form a new parliament. And bizarrely as the Head of State of Australia can through the Governor General fire Australian government. Edit: correction of 'all Australian MPs' to Australian government

[@LordDim1]

And in the 1970s, the Governor-General of Australia, though without passing it by the queen herself, did dismiss the Australian government without them losing the confidence of parliament after a prolonged government shutdown

[@breadsanta6414]

there's so much wrong with this video but i don't have the time to correct it.

[@Rogue136]

The Canadian system is basically the same as the UK. We do call our upper house the Senate but it is the UK system. Our Provinces are the same but with only one house. We have a Governer General and Lieutenant Governor in the province representing the crown. Currently the Senate is partisan but the liberals have been appointing independants and are trying to pass a bill to make independent the new norm. It's still going to have partisan influence for appointments but Senators would no longer feel any pressure from their party leader (Prime Minister or the leader of the opposition)

[@emjenkins464]

Wales is devolved so we have our own single house. It only deals with Welsh national issues, but it functions the same with elected representatives to the Senedd.

[@jam1e-527]

The labour party is bad and im losing faith in the conservatives so next election lets all vote green party cuz why not

[@anya1012]

Nah, we should all move and vote for the monster raven looney party, they want great things like let anyone able to hold a crayon vote and they want to breed the Welsh Dragon, on the flag🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 I'm Scottish btw

[@anya1012]

That was a joke btw^^

[@SuperCatman]

No, its Labour or Lib Dems for me (or SNP up here in Scotland)

[@Rogue136]

Basically the same in Canada. I know many people who are hoping for a minority government just so the parties are forced to learn to work together again

[@lil_starxox]

Please do 😂

[@tylerbsowers]

There are 3 Independents in the entire Congress (total people in Congress, including non-voting delegates, is 541). The Independents are: Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI-3) Sen. Angus King (I-ME) Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT)

[@dragonsisterdesigns6180]

Why am I so amused by Bernard Sanders! 😂

[@Devkel15]

Trump 2020 would prefer Shapiro, but Trump will get the nomination.

[@devilmanscott]

@Matthew Jamison But Ben doesn't believe in collectivism in any form so it makes sense from that standpoint, he doesn't believe that the "people" have an innate right over other people goods and labour, which again is a logical standpoint, whether you agree or disagree is another matter. Also don't use sensationalist language - "enemy of the people", last time those words were used genocides and mass killings happened. Also a slight edit, I am fine with either, I just want to be fair to both sides.

[@devilmanscott]

@Matthew Jamison Firstly, he's Jewish and they don't make such grandiose claims as Christians, also it wouldn't matter if he was, it's a lazy argument I see people use, how is it caring for people when being forced to do it against your will, I am pretty sure that's not what the bible implies. But no, I don't agree with that characterisation of them being slaves, they could easily keep working in the private sector if America went with a different model, as they do in my country. America has always been about individual freedom, how can you be free if you're forced to pay for other people, again it's makes logical sense to have Ben's position on it. Whether you emotionally or morally agree is a different matter. And if we do enter a post-nation era, people will have even less of a reason to help other people because you've lost even that small connection of being in a nation.

[@devilmanscott]

@Matthew Jamison Lies, I am British, and I know too well about the Irish(biggest destination of ex-pats, well modern times anyway), you not all Socialists, there's plenty of Liberals & Conservatives in Ireland who don't believe in collectivism, and actually Ireland has very low taxes and is very business friendly, not very Socialist, you mostly have a free market to hammer the point home, wonder where all those large mega-corporations HQs are. Are you forgetting that America unlike our countries is a secular country, our countries are partly theocracies, you still have old Catholic laws floating around, so while America can drone on about religion their government does its best to separate the two hence all the checks and balances, and many religious people would argue that their government is moving away from religion. Also most European countries, minus Northern(with a few exceptions, Ireland being one) ones are highly Catholic or Christian. But you're right, Liberals believe in the sovereignty of the individual, you'd be willing to sacrifice the individual for the group, we wouldn't.

[@melododie]

Just wanted to point out that your hair looks so good Evan!

[@HuyLy94]

3:10 to answer that question, in Australia (which uses the Westminster System) we've had 7 Prime Ministers in 10 years, all of these were the result of a leadership spill where the Prime Minister's own party knifed him/her in the back and replaced them. 12:26 Also Australia does have the alternate vote/proportional representation. So for the lower house we rank our local members of parliament in terms of preference and our vote gets transferred along our preferences until one of them gets an absolute majority and wins that seat. And the upper house just uses a proportional system.

[@haiironezumi]

The Australian electoral and parliamentary systems is a bit of a mish-mash of the US and British systems. It derives from the Westminster (UK) system of government, but with a few attributes which are more characteristic of the US system. We have the House of Representatives (each MP represents the same number of people) and the Senate (12 Senators per state, and 2 each for the mainland territories). Government is formed in the House of Representatives, the same as the House of Commons in the UK. OUr vote counting method is different too - Single Transferable Vote. This means that you can vote for the candidate you *want* to see elected, but who you know won't make it, and then nominate your next best choice and so forth. The votes are counted, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and those ballot papers are then looked at again for who the next selection is. Another count is held and so forth until one person has more than 50% of the vote. This system ensure that people can express their preference for a particular fringe party's policies without "throwing away" their vote, as happens in the US/UK. We also don't vote for law enforcement or judges, or local laws, as the US does.

[@hsimpson6581]

Jazza John is so cool ! never saw him before this but is so fun !!

[@TriggerTrue]

Thank you for this. Very interesting. I hope the comments aren’t too polarizing that they become negative. Great job explaining the differences.

[@helenchelmicka3028]

The comments won't become negative you idiot! 🤣🤣🤣