Despite periodic flare ups over the role of religion, including the one Americans are living through today, no other industrialized democracy was able to separate church and state as easily.
The American president spends more time persuading than most democratic leaders because he lacks the institutional leverage most leaders in parliamentary systems take for granted.
The lack of a strong left wing party or trade union movement helps explain why the United States has a less extensive and less integrated system of social service programs and is also one of the reasons why the distribution of income and wealth is so skewed in favor of the relatively well to do.
Nothing has divided the British more than social class. More than in most countries, you can tell people’s backgrounds by their clothing, accents, and even the sports they follow.
Very few British citizens think of themselves as European, although the percentage of self-identified “Europeans” is higher in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.