Difference between revisions of "Mystery:Why is England More Liberal than the United States?"
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m (→Dubious explanations: wikify) |
(replace "intellectuals", which is not quite precise, with "thinkers" and "editors") |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
Reasons for why [[England]] is substantially more [[liberal]] than the [[United States]] include: | Reasons for why [[England]] is substantially more [[liberal]] than the [[United States]] include: | ||
| − | *England | + | *England has fewer socially [[conservative]] thinkers and editors than in the U.S., perhaps due to England's [[atheist]]ic-controlled university system |
*[[Labor union]]s are far more powerful in England than in the United States | *[[Labor union]]s are far more powerful in England than in the United States | ||
*[[gun control|Gun control]] dominates England -- negating a healthy attitude of [[self-defense]] -- in contrast with the United States | *[[gun control|Gun control]] dominates England -- negating a healthy attitude of [[self-defense]] -- in contrast with the United States | ||
Revision as of 01:04, July 20, 2011
Reasons for why England is substantially more liberal than the United States include:
- England has fewer socially conservative thinkers and editors than in the U.S., perhaps due to England's atheistic-controlled university system
- Labor unions are far more powerful in England than in the United States
- Gun control dominates England -- negating a healthy attitude of self-defense -- in contrast with the United States
- Approximately 80% of people in the United Kingdom as a whole (which England is the dominant part) believe in the theory of evolution, around twice the percentage in the United States.[1].
- While there has been growth among evangelical churches, churches attendance a whole have been in sharp decline in England over the last fifty years and is much less when compared to the United States. This increases secular influences and reduces christian guidance.
- A state-run church that became a social bureaucracy over time
- Freedom of speech was only guaranteed as of the year 2000, nearly 300 years after the US[2]
- The United States began as a rebellion against excessive government powers both when the colonies were settled and by the American Revolution. This makes Americans less likely to accept liberal leaning governments who seek to reduce the role of the individual and increase government control and tax.
- The welfare state in England is so thoroughly entrenched and used by people dependent on the government that any attempt by a conservative to reform it is met with hostility.
- In modern times England has never been as isolationist as the US and participates more in socialist-leaning groups like the European Union where it could be influenced. The US's characteristic way of being different allows for a more conservative view point.
- Unlike the federalism and decentralized government in the United States, England has centralized government that enables a small number of liberals to exercise more influence.
Dubious explanations
- England has a population density that is nearly twelve times more dense than the United States. Voting patterns show that high population density areas tend to vote more on liberal lines while low population density ares tend to vote on conservative lines.
- Difficulty with this explanation: many rural areas in Britain and the U.S. are very liberal, such as Vermont.