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> the effectiveness of USA institutions: legal system, courts, law enforcement, Congress, media, higher education Good governance and higher civilization aren't created overnight

Couldn't you have just copied them from Britain and France - wouldn't that have been easier ?

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To a large extent we did. US law has its roots in British law, although the two have diverged considerably since 1776.

The legal system, perhaps. Numerous former colonies have adopted British or French law for use in their own countries.

My point was that the law itself often isn't the problem. China and India have strong laws; they just aren't enforced properly. The problem is corruption and lack of cultural values and professionalism in those institutions. To use a startup analogy, the problem is not in lack of good ideas, the problem lies in the execution.

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