As for civility, it's not an issue. There's plenty of controversy. What we don't have is 100 of Millions of Euros of private money being used to fund campaigns and lobby groups which are so influential because of their access to money/media.
Also the registration, voting and vote counting processes tend not to be controlled by partisan/commercial interests so their is more confidence in the process. So if not having an electoral system which is quite as corrupted as the US system is to be defeatist, I'm quite happy to be a regarded as a loser! "It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."
What we don't have is 100 of Millions of Euros of private money ...
I mentioned it in a Salon de News Thread, but I thought it might be appropriate to mention it here again:
Irish 'No' vote architect plans Europe-wide 'referendum' on Lisbon Treaty
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Ganley disclosed that he was starting to raise £75 million from online donations to run candidates in all 12 of Britain's European Parliament constituencies, and in seats throughout the EU.
