Poor Britain. What's happening there is not the Americanization of the political process but its Canadianization. It used to be that Canada was the only parliamentary democracy dominated by autocratic leaders chosen by self-selected mobs in arenas, accountable to no one, and always staying on far beyond their time. Now we see the same situation in Britain.
British Labour, it's true, has long been somewhat Canadianized in this regard. Extra-parliamentary factors have long had some influence on leadership selection... resulting in a long run of unelectable leaders (Michael Foot, Neil Kinnock, Gordon Brown) and the occasional charismatic tyrant (Tony Blair). But now it's taken over the whole system.
