Interesting Links for 16-09-2016

[andrewducker]

The Design of Parliaments Has a Major Impact on Politics (tags: politics architecture design psychology ) Man arrested for speeding in DeLorean at 88mph (tags: timetravel funny cars crime ) "How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math" (tags: mathematics learning brain ) In parts of the US it makes more sense to build a solar plant than a

Comments

[kalimac]

The shape of parliamentary halls has a lot less to do with their political culture than this theorist, or many others, think.

Over and over I've read that the UK has a two-party system because the House of Commons is built on opposing benches, whereas continental European countries have multi-party systems because their parliaments sit in semi-circles. It's a commonplace of British political science to assert this.

It's complete nonsense. The UK doesn't have a two-party system, and except for the third quarter of the 20C has never even approached one. In the 17C, Parliament was divided on two separate lines, Whigs v. Tories and court v. country. In the 18C, it consisted of numerous factions that would bump together to form governments, plus a large number of unaligned members. In the 19C, when party organizations outside Parliament began, and it finally became possible to identify all individual members with a party, there were third parties. First the Peelites, who spent their entire existence debating with each other over which side of the House to sit on. Then the Irish, who sat on the opposition side but might ally with either. Then the splintering of the inter-war period. Then the LDs, and now the SNP.

Also, the US Congress sits in a continental semi-circle, but it really is a two-party system, and those two parties have been at each other's throats for 40 years now. It's always been that way, though not always so hostile. Whenever, in the 19C, something would happen to upset the two-party system, it would quickly right itself again.

[andrewducker]

Thank you!

It seemed unlikely to me. And, if anything, more likely that the design would come from how people saw politics, rather than politics coming from the design. But having someone who knows more take it apart is very helpful.

[danieldwilliam]

Aye - I think the shape of chamber has some influence on the tone of the debate and therefore on the overall political culture.

But so do things like the design of the building, the use and orgin of revising chambers, committee structures, voting systems, history, geography and climate.

I don't think the shape of the House of Commons helps it deliver the sort of politics I want but I'd sooner change the voting system then the chamber.