alt Hacker News> Their populations are content, their governments are highly functional, their economies hum along, and nothing of note has happened in any of them since World War II.
Another reminder that boring is good.
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I would be wary of drawing big conclusions from the example of countries like these. The kind of boredom enjoyed in San Marino and Liechtenstein is probably not available to bigger countries.
I've heard that kind of description used for Switzerland as well. Accurate?
It's incredible how little respect there is for political systems that incentivize stability.
Parliamentary republics do tend to form less stable governments, but it's also true that you can really govern by compromising both with your party, allies, and opposition.
In over 50 years not a single parliamentary republic has turned authoritarian, in fact only Sri Lanka in the 70s has done so since world war 2.
Presidential and semi-presidential republics? They are all just waiting for the right person at the right time, from Turkey to Nicaragua to the Philippines to Russia, etc, etc.
I don't think any modern country should aim at anything less than boring, albeit unstable, parliamentary republics, with presidents that are not elected by popular vote (like in Germany or Italy) and have no executive power.
If your country is doing good, you likely want minor/middle steer adjustements, not radical changes at each new vote.
It's hip to be square.
"in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." (Harry Lime in the movie "The Third Man")