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Wicked Blue

(8,915 posts)
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 01:54 PM 6 hrs ago

How do other democratic nations remove unfit leaders?

It seems to me that the US needs modifications to the Constitution. The 25th Amendment and impeachment aren't adequate.

13 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Ocelot II

(130,677 posts)
1. In parliamentary systems they call a new election following a vote of no confidence.
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 01:58 PM
6 hrs ago

Remember Liz Truss in the UK?

Fiendish Thingy

(23,320 posts)
4. Simple majority, no filibuster
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 02:23 PM
6 hrs ago

Of course, the UK was no longer a slaveholding/trading nation when they transitioned to a constitutional monarchy where parliament held the power, unlike the US, which continues to use an outdated system that favoured slaveholders and the moneyed landowners.

Emrys

(9,126 posts)
10. Truss was forced to resign as PM bcause of her RW craziness in office, but that didn't spark a general election
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 04:27 PM
3 hrs ago

The Tory Party elected Rishi Sunak as her replacement. It took a while longer for a general election to boot him and the Tories out.

Ocelot II

(130,677 posts)
11. True. She saw the handwriting on the wall and didn't wait
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 04:45 PM
3 hrs ago

for official proceedings, the results of which were a foregone conclusion. The head of lettuce outlasted her.

Freddie

(10,113 posts)
2. If the current nightmare ever ends
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 02:09 PM
6 hrs ago

We have to find a way to make such a thing a future possibility.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,320 posts)
3. Most other democracies have a parliamentary system
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 02:19 PM
6 hrs ago

In Canada, if a budget resolution fails, it is considered a vote of no confidence, the government falls, and an election is held immediately (within 30 days IIRC). There can also be a separate no confidence vote not connected to the budget.

I don’t know of any other democracy that has the convoluted impeachment process with such a high bar for removal.

yaesu

(9,343 posts)
5. Simple, the people take to the streets every day raising holy hell and not just once a month. nt
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 02:26 PM
5 hrs ago

LeftInTX

(34,391 posts)
8. That's what they do in Iran and Israel and Turkey....
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 03:41 PM
4 hrs ago

It's not what I see Democratic countries doing.

Most European countries have sporadic protests now and then, similar to the US.

Laurelin

(932 posts)
7. The NL is (I guess) parliamentary
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 03:37 PM
4 hrs ago

Rutte (now NATO chief) 's coalition government feel apart when one or more parties withdrew their support and he no longer had a government. The coalition and government collapsed, special elections were scheduled and the current government stayed on as caretakers until the elections. It was all quite peaceful and competent.

Nobody liked him during covid but we were all hopeful about him being at NATO because he's a consensus builder.

Emrys

(9,126 posts)
9. In the UK, the unfit leader's party usually take care of it themselves, often egged on by opinion polling
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 04:12 PM
4 hrs ago

That's what happened with Boris Johnson and Liz Truss (the best most recent examples of unfitness for high office in the UK), with the eventual general election taking out Truss's Tory successor, Rishi Sunak (who wasn't up to scratch either).

tanyev

(49,332 posts)
12. The 25th or impeachment would work just fine if the Republican party hadn't embraced authoritarian oligarchy.
Wed Apr 8, 2026, 05:17 PM
3 hrs ago

They recognized Trump as the sociopath they needed to finally achieve the wish list they've been working on for several decades and do not care that he is unfit, as long as the people he has in place continue working toward their real goals. Perhaps the real strength of a parliamentary system is multiple parties having to work together to get anything done vs the either/or dichotomy the American system has become.

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