Compared with Britain or New Zealand, Australia and America both have systems in which it is hard for the executive to enact clear and decisive laws.
The presence of three smaller parties or groupings in parliament might make for some political horse-trading over the next few weeks but will not weaken the decisive swing towards Law and Justice's brand of social conservatism mixed with left-leaning economics.
Pakistan's decision makers need to be more decisive on issues of law and order, the economy and foreign policy to give people hope that a democratic form of government will prevail.
One of the sharpest appointments yet made by the incoming president may support decisive action: Dawn Johnsen, a law professor and former Clinton administration official who last week was chosen to run the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice.
"Here, the difference between O'Connor and Alito, is widely expected to be decisive," said Erwin Chemerinsky, a law professor at Duke University.
The court began by pointing out that Congress did not intend the mere validity of a marriage under state law to be decisive in the context of immigration policy (a point reaffirmed in last month's Supreme Court decision).
In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that instead of having to prove age was a substantial factor in a demotion or firing, plaintiffs in age discrimination lawsuits must provide direct evidence that their age was the decisive factor -- something labor law experts say is extraordinarily difficult to do.
The law marks a decisive victory for American consumers and a firm rejection of attempts to use the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to achieve market control that copyright law was never meant to protect.
The decisive step back from punitive law enforcement actions reflects growing research that handling minor offenses with police actions does not necessarily make campuses safer, but often push struggling students to drop out and get in more serious trouble with the law.
Furthermore, understanding the thicket of political and legal issues we will face in acting legislatively, even in such modest ways as reinstating the ban on assault weapons, I will also move immediately to invoke any and all powers that reside in the executive branch and within the law to take decisive action.
