Frustrating Change & Ignoring Public Opinion: That’s A Bad Thing?

Matt Yglesias laments that American political institutions aren’t more like, well, ours:

The American legislative system, however, is not a good venue in which to attempt to rip off a band-aid. Nobody wants to propose such a thing, provoke an outcry, and then have it not happen. And the odds of getting 60 votes in the Senate for anything more controversial than a vote in favor of mom and apple pie are pretty thin. Consequently, bad policy can just sit there on the books with everyone afraid to peek their head over the ramparts lest it get shot off.

Matt is specifically addressing the failure to eliminate mortgage-interest tax relief and, in this instance as in many others, he’s right that the US Congress frustrates efforts at rectifying past mistakes. It’s also true that Congress makes new mistakes almost every time it passes a bill. But the notion that a parliamentary system is a cure-all is not, alas, borne out by the British experience.