Most interesting political process/history/system - in your opinion

Dave!

Hey folks,

It's kind of hard to explain what I'm talking about in one succinct phrase, but I tried in the subject/title!

Basically I'm just wondering which country, time period, etc., people find most interesting when discussing politics. Not everyone (and I'd say most on this forum) is "thrust" into say Middle Eastern politics, because they live in the Gaza Strip, yet it's still compelling and interesting to learn about the history of the situation and how it got to be the current state*.

* I know not all Palestinians are involved in the political situation over there, but that they just try to lead a normal life like everyone else

Similarly we're not currently directly affected by Hitler's rise to power, but none the less it's intriguing to learn about the climate in, and manner by, which he rose to power.

Northern Ireland is obviously a more relevent political situation for Irish people. I find it particularly interesting and surprising to see a coalition government succeeding so far, and the taming of Ian Paisley!

In college at the moment I'm learning a bit about early modern Ireland, and the attempts by the British to bring some sort of stability to the island. At the moment it's still fragmented and full of constantly fighting warlords, but I'm curious about the transition from that to a united political unit existing relatively peacefully within the British Empire Should be good

Another subject I'm studying is American history from the establishment of the 13 colonies up to the late 19th century. I hadn't realised that isolationism/non-interventionism was the policy of the US all the way back to the 18th century... How that has changed! What I find particularly interesting at the moment is the negotiations and compromises necessary to get the states to ratify the constitution. The Congress was created in order for the colonies to co-ordinate their efforts against Britain, and once the war ends, the whole debate starts about the role, power, etc., of the central government, and the balance between resilient federal government and freedom for the individual states.

I'm sure I don't understand it all but it's cool to learn about none the less!

So what interests you most and why?

stepbar

The Haughey Years - 70/80's. There was lots of fcuked up goings ons.

walrusgumble

stepbar wrote: »

The Haughey Years - 70/80's. There was lots of fcuked up goings ons.

a minister gets beaten up half to death outside dail eireann, the arms trial, o'dailigh (sp) throws a wobbler after a bit of abuse and resigns as president, p flynn (they way he went on in that haughey doc lol), inspiration for dermot morgan's scrap saturday, the phone tapping, condems and family planning, mcarthur affair,

"you can have boland, but you'll never take fianna fail"

ay we will never see the likes again - god politics was interesting them (of course in a bad way)

what a whacky little island we live in.

djpbarry

DaveMcG wrote: »

I find it particularly interesting and surprising to see a coalition government succeeding so far, and the taming of Ian Paisley!

Personally, I would consider this to be one of the most extraordinary political developments of modern times.

El Stuntman

walrusgumble wrote: »

ay we will never see the likes again - god politics was interesting them (of course in a bad way)

are we not currently seeing the likes of this paddywhackery again irt Mahon?

just with modern spin doctoring methods?

walrusgumble

El Stuntman wrote: »

are we not currently seeing the likes of this paddywhackery again irt Mahon?

just with modern spin doctoring methods?

ay ye i know. that moment i made, it referred to a speech/warm up by marie geoghegan quinn at a fianna fail ard fheis. you can notice it in the charlie haughey documentary.

Athenian democracy. So much right, so much wrong, so different.

N8

The European Union and the story of how democracy was removed from European wide politics

brianthebard

Since you mentioned Hitler, I wrote an final year essay on the working class involvement in his rise to power and the concept of Volksgemeinschaft, a strong semi mythic nationalistic ideal.

Also, the shift by voters in America in the 60s/70s. Basically the two parties swapped voters (the demos were the conservative party til then.) Manifest destiny is also interesting.

cavedave

The most interesting political idea at the moment for me is the use of prediction markets.

http://blog.longnow.org/2007/01/27/philip-tetlock-ignore-confident-forecasters/

http://hanson.gmu.edu/futarchy.html

I am not saying this is a good idea or system but it is interesting and is gaining popularity.

cavedave

Sorry I want to change my vote to Dominant Assurance Contracts.

The idea is to get private provision of public goods (roads, dams etc) through the use of a donations off the people who will benefit. The twist is the provider offers to give people money if the good is not built. This means more people sign up and the free rider problem is reduced (in theory)

http://mason.gmu.edu/~atabarro/PrivateProvision.pdf

silverharp

the rise of communism has to interesting, given the lunacy it generated.