Vitalik Buterin pfp
Vitalik Buterin
@vitalik.eth
From a classical liberal perspective, Switzerland's governance seems utopian. Low taxes, good services even for low income people despite the low taxes, very decentralized government, and it really does seem true that "no one bothers to know who the president is". My big question: what's the catch?
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Vitalik Buterin pfp
Vitalik Buterin
@vitalik.eth
Like, what stops every other country from adopting a Swiss-style political system? (This is not a rhetorical question, I'm actually curious)
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Vitalik Buterin pfp
Vitalik Buterin
@vitalik.eth
Possible hypotheses I have: 1. Swiss people are very high (IQ | conscientiousness | conflict avoidance | something) and the model would not translate to a culture that doesn't have those traits
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ted (not lasso) pfp
ted (not lasso)
@ted
the population size a) makes Swiss-style politics possible, and b) makes it hard for larger countries to adopt. the population of Switzerland is 8.7M people (ranks #101). NYC, a city within a state within a country, is 8.5M. Note: Europeans are estimated to be 6% of global population in 2050 — down from 22% in 1950
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phil pfp
phil
@phil
My guess: getting there means ceding a large amount of control from the federal government. This process requires going through a saddle point / unstable configuration where individual states degenerate and temporarily provide worse services than the status quo
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Agost Biro pfp
Agost Biro
@agostbiro
Switzerland is a wonderful accident of history. All odds were stacked against current state. Sometimes you get Switzerland and sometimes you get Kosovo. Lessons and institutions are not transferable.
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Patrick Ward pfp
Patrick Ward
@pdw.eth
Vast centralized power is a strong attractor for political systems.
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William Mougayar pfp
William Mougayar
@wmougayar
It took them decades to get there. Historical evolution is a part of it. They are where they are because of where they have been.
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marivs.eth pfp
marivs.eth
@marios
Seems like an obvious statement (specially because it has been stated by people who are actually qualified to do so - unlike me) but geography - or more precisely - geopolitics of Switzerland are quite unique.
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Omar Mezenner pfp
Omar Mezenner
@omeze
political systems are very path-dependent. this might sound Machiavellian, but to a first-order, countries aren't realized intellectually. They are a military that can defend all of the good stuff in the borders + a government that can control that military. Also the US has a Switzerland, its called Massachusetts
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Manbearpigv2🧾 pfp
Manbearpigv2🧾
@manbearpig
1) homogeneous population 2) not large size wise or immigration wise to give rise to radically different cultures inside the country 3) there is size is not size - larger countries have a different set of problems. Downside is cost of living is really high, right?
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Arcade pfp
Arcade
@arcade
Can any country change a political system without massive disruption? Is it easier to try to incrementally tweak and improve systems that are already in place to avoid said brutal disruption? Courage and perseverance of the people?
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Alex pfp
Alex
@alfl
Wealth, imo. If politics is about chopping up the economic pie it helps to start with a big pie. The lack of struggle gives rise to the lack of interestingness you mention (though I do find their manufacturing industry interesting).
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Shriphani Palakodety pfp
Shriphani Palakodety
@shriphani
would people want to be US president if the power and prestige are reduced 20x ? I don't think so. Feels like once powers are obtained, they become a permanent part of the institution. Hard for an organization (and members) to self-enforce austerity once used to excess.
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