Do NOT provoke the guy with the Football. That situation does make the presidency rather anemic absent a parliamentary majority though; unless he does, in fact, retain veto power it is hard to see how it is anything more than a purely ceremonial position.


Without knowing more, my guess would be no one has enjoyed single party rule long enough for discontent with the party leader to reach that level and/or MPs lack latitude to secure re-election by opposing their party when constituents do. Honestly, if not for two party rule I am certain the party would have expelled many "Democratic" Congressmen long ago; as it is, Dems live in fear of that because nearly everyone who leaves the party does so as a preface to joining the GOP.


True, but both our approach and theirs are something of a mixed blessing. Impeachment DOES provide recourse for removing a president prior to the next election (one can only imagine how American government would have fared had Nixon been able to serve the last three years of his term after Watergate was discovered.) Unfortunately, since party tickets were only a constitutional amendment after the impeachment process was codified, its effectiveness has been diminished. Even when the president faced impeachment for covering up an attempt to rig the election AND the VP resigned amid bribery charges, Nixon just adroitly appointed Ford to succeed Agnew, resigned and received a full pardon for "all crimes he may have committed" (a blank check that went far beyond Watergate; that language from a member of the Warren Commission is very intriguing.) Even in that extreme case very little changed, and in any successful impeachment the presidents deputy would simply assume the presidency in his place.

On the other hand, perhaps that is well, since the head of state can only be removed for "high crimes and misdemeanors" rather than partisan or policy reasons. Removing Chamberlain on the eve of WWII was a necessity; removing Churchill in the middle of it would have been a disaster—but perfectly feasible under federal law.