# Why don't we have political threads for countries other than the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 18, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-have-political-threads-for-countries-other-than-the-us/453283 "2008-06-18T01:29:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-have-political-threads-for-countries-other-than-the-us/453283/61 "2008-06-19T23:46:20Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] Ok, so if there is already a law in the constitution (do you capitalize it? Is it a formal document?) to hold an election every five years, what was the purpose of the bill passed by the government? Just to look good? Also, when the vote comes, how does it work? Say today the gov’t says, Ok, we will have an election come November. Press releases are issued, etc. How do they set the formal voting date? Do you have something resembling an electoral college? Or is it all popular vote? Most fascinating thread, and I admit I should learn more about my Northern neighbor! [/QUOTE] The UK is similar to Canada and Australia, but certainly not identical. Here the constitution is not a formal document. This leads some to claim, erroneously, that the UK has no constitution at all. It does, but it is a collection of common law and statutes. Elections are always held on a Thursday, and by convention only a few Thursdays in spring and autumn are really available. In practice, the actual date of the election, once it is obvious one is imminent, tends to be pretty easy to figure. There isn’t anything like an electoral college. It’s not necessary since neither the head of state (the Queen) or the head of government (Prime Minister) is directly elected. In each constituency (around 650 in all), a member of Parliament is elected by popular vote. The leader of the party with the most seats in Parliament is asked by the Queen to form a government, and thus becomes PM. In practice, we know in advance who the PM will be, or at least, the possible PMs. In the next election, to be held before June 2010, it will likely be a choice between Gordon Brown (if he can hold on as PM until then) or the Conservative leader David Cameron. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-have-political-threads-for-countries-other-than-the-us/453283/62 "2008-06-20T02:40:21Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] Also, when the vote comes, how does it work? Say today the gov’t says, Ok, we will have an election come November. Press releases are issued, etc. How do they set the formal voting date? [/QUOTE] There has to be at least 36 days from when the election is called to the day of the vote, and that is typically the standard. I’m pretty sure election law forbids candidates from putting up public signs etc prior to the election call, but I’m not 100% sure about that. This is an interesting FAQ from the 2006 election: [http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/voterstoolkit/faqs.html#q8](http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/voterstoolkit/faqs.html#q8) You might find this interesting (Monty Python sketch? Maybe!): > [@](#): > > If a federal party wins a majority in a general election, but its leader does not win his or her seat, does the leader still become prime minister? > > The party leader could become prime minister if the Governor General agrees to that happening, but would not be allowed onto the floor of the House of Commons because he or she is not a member of Parliament. That leader would likely ask one of the victorious MPs from the party to resign and create a vacancy so that the leader could run for that seat in a byelection as soon as possible. > Interestingly, the office of prime minister was not described or created in any Canadian legislation, though it has been recognized and referred to in legislation after the fact. So what happens in this kind of case has been determined by custom, not any regulation or law. And custom has determined that the Canadian prime minister does not have to be an MP in order to assume the title. (…) ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-have-political-threads-for-countries-other-than-the-us/453283/63 "2008-06-20T05:29:04Z")
Some Canadian prime ministers actually weren’t members of the House of Commons (they were members of the Senate), but I believe the last time it happened was in the 19[sup]th[/sup] century. The Liberal Party of Quebec won the 1985 provincial elections, but their leader Robert Bourassa actually lost his seat in the riding of Bertrand. He still became premier, but had to get elected as soon as possible in a by-election in a safe riding (Saint-Laurent). ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-have-political-threads-for-countries-other-than-the-us/453283/64 "2008-06-20T07:08:03Z")
[QUOTE=PaulParkhead] Elections are always held on a Thursday, and by convention only a few Thursdays in spring and autumn are really available. In practice, the actual date of the election, once it is obvious one is imminent, tends to be pretty easy to figure. [/QUOTE] Interesting. Our elections have to be held on a Saturday. They can occur at any time of the year, although it’s more common for them to be held in the October-December period. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-have-political-threads-for-countries-other-than-the-us/453283/65 "2008-06-20T13:38:41Z")
Anaamika writes: \> Do you have something resembling an electoral college? > **[Electoral college](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_college)** > > An electoral college is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to particular offices. Often these represent different organizations, political parties or entities, with each organization, political party or entity represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way. > Early Germanic law stated that the German king led only with the support of his nobles. Thus, Pelagius needed to be elected by his Visigothic nobles before becoming king of As... It appears to me from this article that the U.S. is the only country that uses an electoral college to elect its president. (Some countries use it for other positions in their government.) This is an important point to note. This is an example of something that no other country uses, and it’s usually difficult even to explain to people from other countries how it works. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-have-political-threads-for-countries-other-than-the-us/453283/66 "2008-06-20T14:58:26Z")
[QUOTE=Hypnagogic Jerk] Some Canadian prime ministers actually weren’t members of the House of Commons (they were members of the Senate), but I believe the last time it happened was in the 19[sup]th[/sup] century. The Liberal Party of Quebec won the 1985 provincial elections, but their leader Robert Bourassa actually lost his seat in the riding of Bertrand. He still became premier, but had to get elected as soon as possible in a by-election in a safe riding (Saint-Laurent). [/QUOTE] Two of our best-knowm PM’s, Sir John A. MacDonald and William Lyon Mackenzie King, although they repeatedly led their parties to electoral victory and both served 6 terms as PM, had trouble in actually getting elected as MPs. Both lost their own seats and had to run in a by-election in a “safe” seat at least once, and both ran for election in several different ridings during their careers. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-have-political-threads-for-countries-other-than-the-us/453283/67 "2008-06-20T15:06:54Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner] Anaamika writes: \> Do you have something resembling an electoral college? > **[Electoral college](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_college)** > > An electoral college is a body of representatives empowered to formally select a candidate for a specific office, most often the head of state. Electoral colleges exist in several countries and may serve to balance regional representation or ensure indirect election mechanisms. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliamentary chamber, in a democracy. Its members, called electors, are electe... It appears to me from this article that the U.S. is the only country that uses an electoral college to elect its president. (Some countries use it for other positions in their government.) This is an important point to note. This is an example of something that no other country uses, and it’s usually difficult even to explain to people from other countries how it works. [/QUOTE] It honestly doesn’t make any sense to me anymore either, but that’s a topic for another thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-have-political-threads-for-countries-other-than-the-us/453283.md?page=3)