Over the past eighteen weeks we have discussed four European Countries that are all Democratic. All four of these countries, Britain, France, Germany and Italy, are considered to be successful, and have all been newly united under the European Union. Although all four of the countries are considered successful, they all have their individual strengths and weaknesses, proving that each Democracy as individualistic.

In the following pages I will discuss the differences in each of our four countries focusing on how they compare to one another on the basis of accountability, efficiency, effectiveness, and their individual democracies as a whole.

#4 Democracy France is the last country that I put on my list. The main reason that I have place France last on Democracy is because of the fact that there is a concern for France in the near future, and it is already beginning to take place. As stated in class, you know that there are problems in France when the French people stop drinking wine. Although that statement sounds taboo, there is a lot of truth to it. The French consumption of wine has decreased significantly over the past few years. Despite the troubles that the French government might have, this democracy is very strong. Our book did not really cover what you would call a weak government. I hope that the EU will help the French government just as much as I think it will help the Italians.

Our text made many valid and interesting statements about all four of these countries. I think that the European Union is an excellent idea, and that it will make all of the countries just a little bit stronger. As far as these countries are concerned, I think the world would be a much happier place if all of the countries in the world were like that of France, Italy, German, Britain, and of course the United States!

#2 Accountability Out of these four countries, I would also place Britain near the top of the list for accountability. As a whole Britain's government is very accountable for its' citizens. One example of the accountability for Britain's citizens is the fact that from birth to death each citizen is covered by the nation's welfare state. Known as their "cradle to coffin" welfare state, everyone is somehow covered by these programs. For nearly five decades, the people of England have put a lot of effort and heart into their powerful welfare state. Even when Margaret Thatcher tried to reduce welfare in Britain, the people spoke their mind, and basically told the government that they had to care for they're citizens. Similar to Germany, England also has strong civil rights for the individual citizens. The only thing that I would say sets them aside is the lack of documentation. As we have learned, Britain abides by an unwritten constitution in which contains an unwritten !

bill of rights. This system seems to work well in Britain, but I think that they are bound to run into some troubles. There is already controversy circling this matter about whether a document should be formed. The citizens of the UK find their government very accountable, but I have my doubts when it comes to not having a specific set of rules to abide by. That is why I placed Britain at number 2.

#3 Accountability Coming in at number three for accountability is Italy. Italy like the others has a very strong welfare state. Where they come into problems with theirs is with cost. Individual citizens are provided with government pensions, health insurance, housing, unemployment and disability insurance, and direct cash to families in regard to how many children they have. Although Italy's welfare state is accountable for a lot of the citizen's affairs, they simply cannot afford it. Although I am putting Italy so far down on my list, they are by no means an unaccountable government. They have had a very good record with human rights. They are even making advancements on this by bringing the court into helping to defend individual rights of citizens. Italy is my third most accountable nation, but if I could, I would have tied them at second place with Britain.

#3 Effective On the scale of effectiveness I placed Britain as number three. The only reason I placed Britain so low on this was because of the fact that the voter turnout in main elections is slightly lower than the two countries preceding this one. Also, voting seems to be the only outward political act displayed by most Britons, and compared to the United States, far fewer Britons are involved in politics. Although I placed Britain so low on effectiveness, they are obviously doi

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Approximate Word count = 2655
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)