Questions About Other Countries' Politics that You Were Too Afraid To Ask

[YL]

What's the deal with the Peak District? Why is it so undeveloped despite being next to a bunch of big cities--is it just downstream effects of topography?

Various reasons:

It is a National Park, and even in the relatively weak British sense of that designation that means it is protected from a lot of development, and has been since the middle of the 20th century.  There is a bit of upmarket suburban-style development dating from before then, especially close to some of the railway stations, but it didn't get that far.  (E.g. this, near Bamford station.  I suspect that without planning restrictions there'd be more of this.)

Much of the really empty land is remote from roads and is high, cold and windy and I'm not aware of its landowners ever being interested in attempting to develop it rather than use it for shooting a few grouse every August.  Further, it is used as a source of water (there are several big reservoirs) and that actually led to people being moved out in some areas, so some of those valleys are emptier of people now than they were 150 years ago.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

What's the deal with the Peak District? Why is it so undeveloped despite being next to a bunch of big cities--is it just downstream effects of topography?

Most of it is completely unsuitable for development, except for the slopes and the more accessible valleys, which often have been developed. Some of these were very industrial: the district has the same place in the history of the modern textiles industry that the Severn Gorge in Shropshire does for iron and steel production (i.e. the place where many critical innovations were made in the 18th century, but which proved to be sub-optimal for large-scale production, which occurred elsewhere), and it was also once (like many upland regions in England and Wales) a major centre of lead mining, likely from antiquity. And a lot of the prettier bits that are more accessible have been protected from development by its designation as a National Park in 1951.

[CumbrianLefty]

What's the deal with the Peak District? Why is it so undeveloped despite being next to a bunch of big cities--is it just downstream effects of topography?

Well yes, its mostly fairly large hills with relatively little land that can be easily built on.

(similarly, the *actual* Chilterns and Cotswolds don't have that many houses on them either)

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The big exception is South Wales, where the towns in The Valleys climb further up into the mountains than is typical (in both senses because the settlements climb up onto the hillsides themselves, as the narrow valley floors were reserved for industry), but, of course, there was a reason for that.

[YL]

What's the deal with the Peak District? Why is it so undeveloped despite being next to a bunch of big cities--is it just downstream effects of topography?

Well yes, its mostly fairly large hills with relatively little land that can be easily built on.

(similarly, the *actual* Chilterns and Cotswolds don't have that many houses on them either)

Alasdair Rae produced this chart of the population of Great Britain (approximately) by altitude:


Note how thin it starts getting above about 200m. Most of the really empty bits of the Peak District are well above that, and the general area must contribute quite a bit to the upper parts of that chart, including Flash in the Staffordshire bit of the Peak, which is the UK's highest village.  As Al says the Valleys in South Wales will contribute a lot.

(Source for plot: http://www.statsmapsnpix.com/2022/12/population-by-altitude-in-great-britain.html)

[All Along The Watchtower]

1) Is the Pakistani military/ISI/Deep State in general (and specifically at the senior levels) actually ideologically sympathetic to violent Islamists/jihadists, or is their support of said groups mostly a cynical means of maintaining the military-intelligence Deep State’s power in Pakistan?

2) Same question as above but re: the Pakistani military’s strategic obsession with India, at least in more recent years (even as India itself has become more uh, Bad in terms of politics and religious hatred—not exactly unlike Pakistan!)?

3) Is it accurate to say that Pakistani civilian leaders and political parties exist serve at the pleasure of the military?

[All Along The Watchtower]

Also:

Russia has a long tradition of autocracy: Tsars, Stalin, Putin. Is autocracy the natural result of a persistently powerful Russian elite who have changed guises—nobility, nomenklatura, oligarchs, siloviki—yet are always so powerful that they can only be matched (and dominated) by an autocrat?

[TDAS04]

What is the most libertarian region of Wales?

How fiscally conservative is northern Czechoslovakia?



Now my serious, somewhat less stupid question: Is there a viable or noteworthy separatist movement in Galicia, with the potential to be on par with the Basque and Catalan independence (or just more self-government) movements?

[Battista Minola 1616]

Now my serious, somewhat less stupid question: Is there a viable or noteworthy separatist movement in Galicia, with the potential to be on par with the Basque and Catalan independence (or just more self-government) movements?

The Galician Nationalist Bloc has had its electoral up and downs but enjoys somewhat sizable support, especially in local elections. However they seem to have changed their mind a few times on whether they are separatist, perhaps because the BNG is actually an alliance of multiple parties. I'm not aware of more radical alternatives with meaningful support. In any case the movement is definitely not on par with Basque and Catalan nationalists and I can't see it becoming such (except maybe in a world where Vox literally kills the PP - which has always done very well in the region - and runs on a platform of shutting down Televisión de Galicia?), though this is something where Spanish posters would have better insight.

[Pres Mike]

With the SNP winning most seats in Scotland, does the labour party have a realistic path to winning a working majority? Or does it need to be a landslide.

[CumbrianLefty]

Labour has won majorities in the past even if you eliminate all their Scottish MPs, so basically yes.

A lot of people outside the UK often don't fully appreciate how much England dwarfs everywhere else electorally speaking, Scotland is roughly the same size but has *many* fewer people.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

What is the most libertarian region of Wales?

Nowhere as the Welsh are a people ever prone to taking The Rules extremely seriously (and to the point of pedantry, really), no matter what The Rules might be at any given moment.

[Battista Minola 1616]

What is the most libertarian region of Wales?

Nowhere as the Welsh are a people ever prone to taking The Rules extremely seriously (and to the point of pedantry, really), no matter what The Rules might be at any given moment.

I am reliably informed that Ceredigion in particular used to be a fiscally conservative but socially liberal stronghold, even in the very populist 2015 federal election (although now it's realigned to left-wing nationalism, like northwestern Slovakia). Maybe that's what he meant?

[Bacon King]

if the United States had Canada's federal party system (i.e. Conservatives, Liberals, and NDP), what in general would our congressional elections look like?

What sorts of places would vote NDP and where would vote Liberal? Which states (or districts) would support one over the other by the largest margins?

How closely would the Conservative vote match the irl Republican vote? Where (if anywhere) would Conservatives significantly overperform and underperform relative to the GOP?

[Kamala's side hoe]

1) Is the Pakistani military/ISI/Deep State in general (and specifically at the senior levels) actually ideologically sympathetic to violent Islamists/jihadists, or is their support of said groups mostly a cynical means of maintaining the military-intelligence Deep State’s power in Pakistan?

2) Same question as above but re: the Pakistani military’s strategic obsession with India, at least in more recent years (even as India itself has become more uh, Bad in terms of politics and religious hatred—not exactly unlike Pakistan!)?

3) Is it accurate to say that Pakistani civilian leaders and political parties exist serve at the pleasure of the military?

Curious when this will be answered, if it is at all. I don't think this is something any of the Subcontinental AAPI diaspora posters are equipped to answer, nor would their counterparts in other countries.

if the United States had Canada's federal party system (i.e. Conservatives, Liberals, and NDP), what in general would our congressional elections look like?

What sorts of places would vote NDP and where would vote Liberal? Which states (or districts) would support one over the other by the largest margins?

How closely would the Conservative vote match the irl Republican vote? Where (if anywhere) would Conservatives significantly overperform and underperform relative to the GOP?

Participated in the UK with US-style parties and vice versa thread some time ago so I feel qualified to answer.

The one demographic I have any confidence a CA Conservatives-type right-of-center party would overperform against the US Republicans would be ethnic Chinese. (This isn't to say that Chinese Americans would actually favor the hypothetical Conservative party over the Liberals or the NDP.) Canada has a higher proportion of non-indigenous visible minority groups than the US does and the CA Tories probably need to pander to those ambiguously brown people with funny accents and weird food more than the US GOP does. But I do actually think there are cultural factors inherent to Chinese culture- and the areas of greater China that are overrepresented among the Anglosphere diaspora- that would make Overseas Chinese more receptive to right-of-center political parties than the other Confucianist East Asian groups, let alone non-Confucianist East Asians or South Asians. Recent shifts and trends within local NYC politics seem to suggest this, as do pre-pandemic voting patterns among Chinese Canadians.

(Re: "the rest of Confucianist East Asia"- I'm tempted to argue that Vietnamese Americans might be more supportive of a Liberal-type party than most would expect, but that's partly based on how Vietnamese Australians seem relatively supportive of the ALP, and the Canadian Liberals allegedly being the party of Canadian nationalism/federalism).

[LabourJersey]

Labour has won majorities in the past even if you eliminate all their Scottish MPs, so basically yes.

A lot of people outside the UK often don't fully appreciate how much England dwarfs everywhere else electorally speaking, Scotland is roughly the same size but has *many* fewer people.

Population of Scotland: 5.5 million
Population of England: 56 million
Population of England not including Greater London: 47 million

[Sol]

Working on place names for Sylvania. What U.K. and Dutch town names would be most ironic if applied to extremely affluent American suburbia and exurbia?

[Torrain]

Working on place names for Sylvania. What U.K. and Dutch town names would be most ironic if applied to extremely affluent American suburbia and exurbia?

Sc**nthorpe, Methil, Grimsby, Cumbernauld, Clackmannan?

Edit: there seems to be an automated feature that's censored the name of a certain town - which is a longstanding feature of attempts to discuss it online. Related Tom Scott video about the phenomenon here.

[mileslunn]

Europe is always portrayed as more left wing than Canada, yet how come right gets much larger share of popular vote (in Canada, low to mid 30s is normal and occasionally rise to low 40s like now but that is exception not norm) while in Europe almost always get over 40% and often above 50%, sometimes even 60%.  Only in Prairies of Canada does right routinely get such numbers.  Likewise pretty much every European country has more right wing governments than Canada has in last 40 years so is that more just a stereotype due to fact Canada is next to US which is quite right wing?  Or are parties sufficiently different enough that right can win more in spite of being less right wing?

[mileslunn]

What kind of people usually vote for the Lib Dems in the UK ?

Varies and they are sort of for those who dislike Tories and Labour.  Used to have base in Southwest and Scottish Highlands but much less so.

In 1992, 1997 and 2001 mostly people who were tired of Tories but felt Labour was a bridge too far.

In 2005 a mix of students who liked their promise of free tuition and many who opposed Iraq war (Liberal Democrats only major party to oppose it).

2010 mostly people in centre to centre-right tired of Labour but still not sold on Tories.

2017 mostly strategic left wing voters who wanted to defeat Tories and happened to live in few constituencies Liberal Democrats had better odds.

2019 a mix of wealthy remainers who were against Brexit, but found Corbyn's economic policies too extreme.

Fact it is not a cohesive consistent group unlike Labour & Tories is big reason they struggle as they lack a solid base main two do.

[King of Kensington]

Europe is always portrayed as more left wing than Canada, yet how come right gets much larger share of popular vote (in Canada, low to mid 30s is normal and occasionally rise to low 40s like now but that is exception not norm) while in Europe almost always get over 40% and often above 50%, sometimes even 60%.  Only in Prairies of Canada does right routinely get such numbers.  Likewise pretty much every European country has more right wing governments than Canada has in last 40 years so is that more just a stereotype due to fact Canada is next to US which is quite right wing?  Or are parties sufficiently different enough that right can win more in spite of being less right wing?

Stronger labor/social democratic parties and more extensive welfare states.

In terms of traditional welfare/labor politics, Canada is on the market liberal side.

But through post-materialist lens, Canada can be viewed as more progressive. 

[mileslunn]

Apparently Italy doesn't have a minimum wage? Is this common in southern Europe?

Not common but not alone.  Germany didn't until as recently as last decade and UK didn't until Tony Blair won.  Austria and Nordic Countries don't either.  Countries without them usually have one of two things.

1.  Unionization rates so high not needed as any that doesn't pay well would be unionized and thus get higher (Nordic Countries).  When more than half the population is unionized, minimum wage becomes redundant.  

2.  Have sectoral bargaining so no national minimum wage but bargaining between labour and business owners in given sector determine minimum wage.  Germany & Austria do this and I believe Italy does too.

[mileslunn]

Not a specific question, but how much name rec do politicians have in other countries? E.g. in the UK, what politicians would >50% of the public be able to recognize? Hard to get a sense of this sort of thing just from the internet.

US is really only country president always well known.  UK and France usually is, Germany depends.  Merkel well known globally Scholz much less.  In other countries it is more limited to if you have a controversial, charismatic or eccentric leader. 

Orban, Mugabe, Kim Jong un household names as controversial.

Charismatic would Justin Trudeau and Jacinda Ardern as both were household names but few could name any other Canadian or Kiwi PM in past 40 years.

[mileslunn]

What is the most libertarian region of Wales?

How fiscally conservative is northern Czechoslovakia?



Now my serious, somewhat less stupid question: Is there a viable or noteworthy separatist movement in Galicia, with the potential to be on par with the Basque and Catalan independence (or just more self-government) movements?

Nowhere although most conservative is the English speaking central parts but libertarianism has few strongholds anywhere in Europe.

Czech Republic has more an East/West split.  Prague is most fiscally conservative where more industrial eastern towns are most socialistic although that is changing.

[mileslunn]

if the United States had Canada's federal party system (i.e. Conservatives, Liberals, and NDP), what in general would our congressional elections look like?

What sorts of places would vote NDP and where would vote Liberal? Which states (or districts) would support one over the other by the largest margins?

How closely would the Conservative vote match the irl Republican vote? Where (if anywhere) would Conservatives significantly overperform and underperform relative to the GOP?

NDP would have been in past your heavily unionized blue collar towns, but those would be Conservative today.  Nowadays NDP would largely be confined to college towns and maybe some central parts of super liberal cities with large renter population like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and again only certain parts not all of city. 

Conservatives would probably do better in suburbs than GOP has as Canada's conservatives are somewhat more moderate and also usually about a decade or so behind GOP in trends so map would look more like 2008 or 2012 not 2016 or 2020 at least in suburbs.  Essentially 2020 map for rural areas and 2012 for suburbs would be areas Conservatives would win in thus would win nationally.

Likewise platforms would be different as Conservatives in Canada support universal health care as opposing it is political suicide so support it for same reason British Tories support NHS.  By contrast in US they would likely oppose it as huge cohort against idea unlike Canada where debate is more should private options be banned outright or allowed in addition to public universal system.  Almost no one talks about getting rid of universal health care in Canada.

On guns also would be different.  Yes both GOP and Conservatives are pro-gun and on whether assault weapons should be allowed or not you see similar split in Canada and US.  But on things like concealed carry and handgun ownership huge divergence.  No party in Canada favors concealed carry while in US no party favors an outright handgun ban which many in NDP and Liberals do.  While both on right pro-gun and left more anti-gun huge differences.  GOP see gun ownership as a fundamental right, Conservatives in Canada simply believe law abiding citizens are not the problem and focus should be on criminals not legal gun owners.  Democrats may favor some restrictions but still favor 2nd amendment while NDP and Liberals believe guns should only be allowed for hunting and banned for everything else.