I believe our constitution to be the least-bad construction of a government yet implemented in a pluralistic society, and that in general our government is at least as transparent (given it's size and scope) as there is.

That is... interesting. Is that a commonly held belief among citizens of your country, personal patriotism or something that non-Americans can be expected to agree with? As an outside observer I've been given the impression that the construction of your government is a mixture of comical, quaint and scary. It isn't terrible but 'best' is a big claim to make.