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"Yet it is hard to see the Nordic model of government spreading quickly, mainly because the Nordic talent for government is sui generis. Nordic government arose
by afterburner 14y ago
"Yet it is hard to see the Nordic model of government spreading quickly, mainly because the Nordic talent for government is sui generis. Nordic government arose from a combination of difficult geography and benign history. All the Nordic countries have small populations, which means that members of the ruling elites have to get on with each other. Their monarchs lived in relatively modest places and their barons had to strike bargains with independent-minded peasants and seafarers."
Population of Norway: 5 million
Population of Sweden: 10 million
Population of Finland: 5 million
Population of USA: 315 million
That's gotta factor into it at least a little...
- NoPiece 14y agoPeople on here who have worked at both big companies and startups should really appreciate how hard it is to manage large organizations efficiently. Things that work great at small scale fall apart as they grow (both organizationally and technologically). I believe that these small Nordic governments can be effective and accountable, but that doesn't mean that it will translate to something 30-60 times as large. For comparison, Kaiser in California (one health care provider in one state) serves 8.9 million patients.
- afterburner 14y agoNot only that, but the sheer size and wealth of the US means there are some corrupting forces at work that are also much larger. After all, you still only have to wave money in front of a small number of people, but a country with larger, wealthier forces can wave a lot more of it... and the inequality is likely to get worse as a result as well, which makes good government even more challenging.