[ZenGum]

Innnnteresting.

Dana, your "bring on PR": is that proportional representation, or preferential voting?
Do you have either there?
If you're interested, check out the Australian constitution. It is basically the brainchild of the latter English Enlightenment. Locke and esp Mill would approve.
The keys are the two house system: the lower house on a single-member electorate, with preferential voting, the upper house state-by-state multi-member with preferential voting, the PM elected by the dominant party in the lower house (British style) and a Governor General who is very nearly redundant.
The lower house generally falls to the two-party system, and that decides who gets to be PM, so we always get a government. The upper house is mostly the two main parties, but smaller parties and a few independents get in and usually end up holding the balance of power. Thus there is direction from a definite government/cabinet/PM, but sometimes negotiated compromise in the upper house. The PM gets most, but not all, of what (s)he wants.
Oh yeah, secular govt, independent judiciary, checks and balances, etc etc.
What we have isn't perfect, but it is pretty good, I reckon.