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Nitpick: Shouldn't it be "Franken-state", if you're talking about a patchwork government stitched into one nation? I feel like "Frankish-state" references the F
by civilian 10y ago
Nitpick: Shouldn't it be "Franken-state", if you're talking about a patchwork government stitched into one nation? I feel like "Frankish-state" references the French. :)
- wavefunction 10y agoIt's not patchwork, it's federated.
- coldpie 10y agoIt does reference the French! It's a reference to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frangokratia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frangokratia
- beat 10y agoNope, totally different reference. It's to Machiavelli, who distinguished between "Frankish kingdoms" and "Turkish kingdoms". Turkish kingdoms have strong central governments, with local administration subservient to the center. Frankish kingdoms have a much weaker central government, with much power and decision-making in the hands of local leaders. The US is a Frankish kingdom, in Machiavellian terms.
- thatcat 10y agoIt seems that the us is a hybrid of the turkish and frankish models considering the split income taxation structure with signigantly more going to federal level.
- beat 10y agoIt's not about taxation. It's about control. The big difference between the US and a Machiavellian Frankish kingdom is that we have more or less a single military, rather than each state having its own army and lending that to the central government.
- Anthony-G 10y agoI think the downvoting is uncalled for. When I hear Frankish, my associations are of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Empire and Romanesque building boom. I wasn't aware of the Machiavelli reference until civilian legitimately queried the use of the term (in a non-snarky way).