Which country has the most interesting political life?

[Hash]

They were asking Bob Woodward on French tv which of the US or France had the most interesting politics/political life. So, changing it around, outside the US, which foreign country(ies) have the most interesting politics/political life?

[tpfkaw]

The UK.  It's pretty much the only first-world country where candidates can go around knocking on doors and receive multiple in-person death threats.

[2952-0-0]

The UK.  It's pretty the only first-world country where candidates can go around knocking on doors and receive multiple in-person death threats.

Nothing compared to Taiwan. Each election season is almost guaranteed to feature at least one assassination attempt along with the obligatory conspiracy theorists.

[phk]

Israel

[Middle-aged Europe]

Italy?

[Antonio the Sixth]

The US have a very interesting political life, even though depressing on some aspects. French one is rendered silly by personalization of politics and by the fact the Presidential eleciton is the only one anybody cares about. The italian one is like a bad joke, mildly funny for the first 1.5 seconds and then makes you want to shoot at people. German politics seem interesting, but I'd need to know more about them.

[You kip if you want to...]

I like the UK, France, Canada and Australia

[Boris]

UK, Switzerland, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Israel, Ireland

Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Qatar, Afghanistan, Somalia

[Associate Justice PiT]

The US have a very interesting political life, even though depressing on some aspects. French one is rendered silly by personalization of politics and by the fact the Presidential eleciton is the only one anybody cares about. The italian one is like a bad joke, mildly funny for the first 1.5 seconds and then makes you want to shoot at people. German politics seem interesting, but I'd need to know more about them.

     I always thought that France had rather interesting politics, since the two-round system makes elections rather unpredictable by bolstering minor parties. If they had any other system, Chirac vs. Le Pen would almost certainly not have happened.

[ag]

India, of course. That's the democratic World Series.

[opebo]

Thailand of course.  Pretty much everywhere else is best written off.

[Kushahontas]

India, of course. That's the democratic World Series.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

I personally find British and German politics the most intresting after US and Swedish.

[ag]

Thailand of course.  Pretty much everywhere else is best written off.

Oh, yeah. Military coups, His Majesty and the palace intrigue, glitzy operette-style uniforms - so much 18th century fun. Unfortunately, it's all a bit archaic - but Your Lordship loves archaic, doesn't it?

[Foucaulf]

What's with the assumption that democratic nations have the most interesting politics? Anyone with an interest in Medieval History would know political intrigue has a long and storied history.

If I were to make a judgement based on common perceptions, it would be Turkey. Typical politician has to deal with the Kurds, Islam, NATO, the EU, Israel, the deep state, and a military that has led the way in innovative coups. And the IMF-jacked economy, of course.

On subjective judgement, China. There is no concrete info, but how easy do you think it would be to keep 1.3 billion people under a centralized executive? Faction disputes would get very ugly and end with heads rolling, not to mention the people with whom the local party cadre makes deals.

[opebo]

Thailand of course.  Pretty much everywhere else is best written off.

Oh, yeah. Military coups, His Majesty and the palace intrigue, glitzy operette-style uniforms - so much 18th century fun. Unfortunately, it's all a bit archaic - but Your Lordship loves archaic, doesn't it?

Certainly.  Older is always better, and innovation equals decline.  I live in the Ancien Régime in 2011!  I can't tell you how fortunate I feel to have experienced it before it is gone.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The US have a very interesting political life, even though depressing on some aspects. French one is rendered silly by personalization of politics and by the fact the Presidential eleciton is the only one anybody cares about. The italian one is like a bad joke, mildly funny for the first 1.5 seconds and then makes you want to shoot at people. German politics seem interesting, but I'd need to know more about them.

     I always thought that France had rather interesting politics, since the two-round system makes elections rather unpredictable by bolstering minor parties. If they had any other system, Chirac vs. Le Pen would almost certainly not have happened.

Oh, the Presidential election is quite fun (besides ridiculously predictable and dull ones like 2007). The problem is that's we spend 5 years talking about it, and as a consequence the Parliament and local entities get systematically ignored and considered useless. And in politics, what is considered useless eventually becomes useless.

[Associate Justice PiT]

The US have a very interesting political life, even though depressing on some aspects. French one is rendered silly by personalization of politics and by the fact the Presidential eleciton is the only one anybody cares about. The italian one is like a bad joke, mildly funny for the first 1.5 seconds and then makes you want to shoot at people. German politics seem interesting, but I'd need to know more about them.

     I always thought that France had rather interesting politics, since the two-round system makes elections rather unpredictable by bolstering minor parties. If they had any other system, Chirac vs. Le Pen would almost certainly not have happened.

Oh, the Presidential election is quite fun (besides ridiculously predictable and dull ones like 2007). The problem is that's we spend 5 years talking about it, and as a consequence the Parliament and local entities get systematically ignored and considered useless. And in politics, what is considered useless eventually becomes useless.

     The legislative & regional elections also seem interesting to me, though. At the very least, you guys have more than two parties of note.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The US have a very interesting political life, even though depressing on some aspects. French one is rendered silly by personalization of politics and by the fact the Presidential eleciton is the only one anybody cares about. The italian one is like a bad joke, mildly funny for the first 1.5 seconds and then makes you want to shoot at people. German politics seem interesting, but I'd need to know more about them.

     I always thought that France had rather interesting politics, since the two-round system makes elections rather unpredictable by bolstering minor parties. If they had any other system, Chirac vs. Le Pen would almost certainly not have happened.

Oh, the Presidential election is quite fun (besides ridiculously predictable and dull ones like 2007). The problem is that's we spend 5 years talking about it, and as a consequence the Parliament and local entities get systematically ignored and considered useless. And in politics, what is considered useless eventually becomes useless.

     The legislative & regional elections also seem interesting to me, though. At the very least, you guys have more than two parties of note.

Well, that's the case in most European countries. And at least in Germany or in Sweden they don't get ridiculously underrepresented like in France...

The legislative elections would be far more interesting if the parliament were a true parliament and not a spineless government's tool (interestingly, the unelected Senate is by far the most independent of the two houses). Regional elections would be more interesting if regions actually had some power, like in Germany or in Spain. And following these two elections would also be far more interesting if the voters didn't always use them to express approval/disapproval of the President.

[Associate Justice PiT]

The US have a very interesting political life, even though depressing on some aspects. French one is rendered silly by personalization of politics and by the fact the Presidential eleciton is the only one anybody cares about. The italian one is like a bad joke, mildly funny for the first 1.5 seconds and then makes you want to shoot at people. German politics seem interesting, but I'd need to know more about them.

     I always thought that France had rather interesting politics, since the two-round system makes elections rather unpredictable by bolstering minor parties. If they had any other system, Chirac vs. Le Pen would almost certainly not have happened.

Oh, the Presidential election is quite fun (besides ridiculously predictable and dull ones like 2007). The problem is that's we spend 5 years talking about it, and as a consequence the Parliament and local entities get systematically ignored and considered useless. And in politics, what is considered useless eventually becomes useless.

     The legislative & regional elections also seem interesting to me, though. At the very least, you guys have more than two parties of note.

Well, that's the case in most European countries. And at least in Germany or in Sweden they don't get ridiculously underrepresented like in France...

The legislative elections would be far more interesting if the parliament were a true parliament and not a spineless government's tool (interestingly, the unelected Senate is by far the most independent of the two houses). Regional elections would be more interesting if regions actually had some power, like in Germany or in Spain. And following these two elections would also be far more interesting if the voters didn't always use them to express approval/disapproval of the President.

     Most countries do have a multiplicity of competitive parties, but the United States does not. Not to mention that with an increasingly polarized electorate, elections are becoming more & more "paint by the numbers". There's about a dozen states now that would never elect a Republican Senator except under the most extreme circumstances & another dozen that would likewise never elect a Democrat. As bad as that is, the situation is much worse in the House of Representatives. I would doubt that France has so many elections that are just altogether foregone conclusions.

     With that said, I suppose that it's probably a case of the grass looking greener on the other side of the fence. When it comes to looking at problems with politics in various countries, you can see the problems with your own most keenly.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Of course bipartism is the big problem of US politics, and a multi-party USA would be far better. What I like a lot in the USA is the evolution of its political geography, but also the fact there are a lot of very different elections (senatorial, gubernatorial, etc...), all with their particular dynamics and influence. I like the fact there are complicated and codified relations between all these institutions, the fact the passage of a bill is almost never taken for granted. And the presence of DINOs and RINOs (even though they seem to be fading away) also creates interesting situations.

[ag]

Thailand of course.  Pretty much everywhere else is best written off.

Oh, yeah. Military coups, His Majesty and the palace intrigue, glitzy operette-style uniforms - so much 18th century fun. Unfortunately, it's all a bit archaic - but Your Lordship loves archaic, doesn't it?

Certainly.  Older is always better, and innovation equals decline.  I live in the Ancien Régime in 2011!  I can't tell you how fortunate I feel to have experienced it before it is gone.

Your Lordship is consistent, but not consistent enough. I think, having slavery around would suit you even better. Imagine having a whole village to your name. You could impregnate those darky maidens.

[Niemeyerite]

the USA, Brasil, Spain, Germany, UK, France and Chile