Which show is a more accurate representation of the US political system?

[Antonio the Sixth]

The West Wing obviously. Sure it has its flaws, but most of the time it tries to keep some semblance of plausibility. HoC is set in a parallel universe where every single person is either a sociopath or a complete moron who constantly gets fooled.

[morgieb]

I doubt even the producers of HoC would vote for it. It's obviously as retarded as possible for shock effect.

[Türkisblau]

House of Cards. West Wing is way too idealistic imo.

[Mr. Smith]

House of Cards. West Wing is way too idealistic imo.

But still better about the grounding than the complete cynicism of HoC.

[Türkisblau]

House of Cards. West Wing is way too idealistic imo.

But still better about the grounding than the complete cynicism of HoC.

I'm a cynic when it comes to politics so perhaps that's why I said HoC.

[Kushahontas]

where every single person is either a sociopath or a complete moron who constantly gets fooled.

so Washington, basically.

[Sol]

RuPaul's Drag Race.

[Oakvale]

They're both equally laughable in the opposite directions.

[Lurker]

For all the flaws of the idealized politics in the West Wing, it wins easily. At least it has some semblance to reality, and is not just a cartoonish parody ( don't know whether HoC intends to be the latter, but it certainly seems so at times).

Though House of Cards is not really a political show - every time their is any actual discussion of policy it feels boring, forced, or unrealistic (sometimes all three - at least that's my impression of the first two seasons). The politics of the West Wing is at least interesting at times, if somewhat hackish.

[Lief 🗽]

Veep is the correct answer.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

They're both equally laughable in the opposite directions.

^This^

The nauseating idealism and hackishness of the West Wing and the dark cynicism of House of Cards are equally unrealistic. The best tv-series to get a real sense of politics is Borgen, which doesn't really apply to the American political system.

Veep is the correct answer.

Yeah it's certainly a better representation than both WW and HoC

 

[Murica!]

I haven't watched either, so I have no clue.

[Donerail]

I'll nominate The Thick of It.

[Antonio the Sixth]

They're both equally laughable in the opposite directions.

^This^

The nauseating idealism and hackishness of the West Wing and the dark cynicism of House of Cards are equally unrealistic. The best tv-series to get a real sense of politics is Borgen, which doesn't really apply to the American political system.

How exactly is Borgen any less idealistic than West Wing?

[The Other Castro]

Obviously Cory in the House

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

They're both equally laughable in the opposite directions.

^This^

The nauseating idealism and hackishness of the West Wing and the dark cynicism of House of Cards are equally unrealistic. The best tv-series to get a real sense of politics is Borgen, which doesn't really apply to the American political system.

How exactly is Borgen any less idealistic than West Wing?

I could make a long list, but to name a few examples, Nyborg is constantly struggling with her popularity numbers (which for most of the series are implied to be bad), often has to compromise with her principles and ideals, alienate several friends and her husbands because of her job and ultimately, in the end, looses reelection and only gets to come back as a junior partner in the least worst of two bad coalition alternatives. She also has to be manipulating and conniving at times to outsmart people like Laugusen who belong more in House of Cards than anywhere else. 

[Antonio the Sixth]

They're both equally laughable in the opposite directions.

^This^

The nauseating idealism and hackishness of the West Wing and the dark cynicism of House of Cards are equally unrealistic. The best tv-series to get a real sense of politics is Borgen, which doesn't really apply to the American political system.

How exactly is Borgen any less idealistic than West Wing?

I could make a long list, but to name a few examples, Nyborg is constantly struggling with her popularity numbers (which for most of the series are implied to be bad), often has to compromise with her principles and ideals, alienate several friends and her husbands because of her job and ultimately, in the end, looses reelection and only gets to come back as a junior partner in the least worst of two bad coalition alternatives. She also has to be manipulating and conniving at times to outsmart people like Laugusen who belong more in House of Cards than anywhere else. 

The West Wing also has plenty of backroom dealing and dirty tricks, and the US lawmaking process certainly isn't shown as something clean and smooth. The WW characters aren't exactly pure innocent wide-eyed idealistic heroes, they all have huge character flaws and act like assholes at one time ore another. While Bartlett ends up getting his way in terms of legislative outcomes far more often than would be realistic, so does Nyborg (come on, how many time in the show does a bill she supports actually end up failing?). And while WW got a bit silly when it comes to elections, the original script did have the Republican winning in 2006, and they only changed it to honor John Spencer's memory. I've watched both shows and, while they differ in many respects, the idealism/cynicism scale isn't one of them.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I'll nominate The Thick of It.

Um, we're not technically American

[Donerail]

I'll nominate The Thick of It.

Um, we're not technically American

Neither is Denmark. Caveats about a different political system apply, obviously, but not hard to be more accurate than HoC or WW.

[The Mikado]

Write in:Alpha House

[Njall]

The West Wing

[Brewer]

Write in:Alpha House