Which countries specifically do you think/feel/know to be better governed than the UK?

[EffortlessDesmond]

Lots of posters pile on to threads to condemn the UK, and apart from Scandinavian countries with generally much smaller populations and larger land masses, dont actually make constructive comments. I already know that Brexit has not improved anything. So please, can someone tell me where public policy is actively improving the quality of life for the population?

Went to Vienna recently. Was amazing.

France
Belgium (probably, even with a ridiculously complicated political system)
Germany

To live? Or as a tourist?

The Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, probably Germany and Austria :)

Why do you think large landmass & small population automatically means better governance? Because it also means that public services like schools, hospitals, and roads need to be built in distant rural places with small populations = not very cost effective.

So what are they getting right that we are getting so wrong?

Honestly? Most places in Western Europe these days. It's a really, really low bar.

I live 4 months of the year in France, have done for many years, i'd say France is better run than the UK - overall.

France has a great health service, inc Dentistry, cheap public transport, brilliant roads, leisure facilities.

Downside is its very bureaucratic, it can a long time to get things done and they are very hot on trades having the correct paper work, which can ensure a high standard of work but can mean it takes a long time to start work.

Why don't you look at the global quality of life index? That will answer your question.

https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp

I would say that France uses public money to improve the life of the many people, quite well. The quality of life of ‘the many’ is high I would say.

Interesting @Alaimo . It's obviously 'efficient' to cram people tightly, but lots of them don't like it or want it.

They have electoral systems where every vote really counts.
This leads to higher turnout and a more engaged electorate.
They tend to have coalition governments, which brings about a more collaborative politics rather than the stupid adversarial system the UK has.
They don't have the extreme legacy of a class system that brings with it career politicians who haven't a clue about the real world.
They have an elected upper chamber.
They have far less polarised news media.
They have less corruption and lobbying.
They pursue policies which mitigate against social and economic inequality.

I'm sure there's lots more. The UK is very badly governed right now.

Not quite. Gentle density, like in Paris, works well. The architecture is sympathethic and buildings are usually limited in height (7 storeys or so).

What doesn't work so well are awful cheap high rises and acres of cheap shoddily built new build rabbit hutches with no redeeming architectural beauty. This is what the UK favours.

Lived in Denmark- not a large landmass - split over 3 islands too- definitely better governed mainly because they have proper PR, so it's rare anything truly looney gets through. It's high tax, high services, most couples can both work easily as childcare is reasonable and well provided for - therefore a lot of dual income households and a lot of 4pm finishes too. There is simply a different mentality towards society . There are some things though that many Brits wouldn't like- it's very keep yourself to yourself, not particularly neighbourly, people will stop you if anyone drops anything in the street and it's all pretty orderly and that behaviour is expected. Someone told me to think 'giant Waitrose' and indeed that's how I found it. It's expensive to eat out and drink , so we found you had to inhibit that and there is no Amazon or Uber

There are far far far fewer chains in France - chain restaurants, shops, hotels, cafes etc. You don’t see massive ad-agency advertisements hitting you in the face in Paris like you do in London. Local people own and run their own businesses. Hands-off corporations don’t monetise cheap labour. Wide-boy agents don’t act as the middleman between the remote millionaire owners and the cheaply-paid workers. It makes an enormous difference.

I’m not a communist by the way. As I said, in France, local people own their own businesses. They run them, live near them, work in them. They take pride in them and in their wider communities. It really shows.

large rural areas make services harder to deliver this is why it costs more to deliver services in Scotland compared to England 5.5 million people spread over an area about 60% of that of england , so on average everyone is 6 x further apart.
I think in terms of Government, there are huge problems in France complaining about Government not being in touch with folks outside Paris, the poor languishing in slum type bad estates. Germany still has problesm with former East Germany feeling left out. I think Scandinavia is generally better but there is a big culture of fitting in and conforming and an openess many would not like, like looking up your neighbours tax return online perfectly legally
the UK is not perfect but the grass is not always greener elsewhere Politicians all over the world seem to have their noses in the trough and seem oblivious to real life concerns within a short time of going into politics maybe with the best of intentions,

It is my understanding that the perimeter of the banlieue estates surrounding old Paris are as cramped, crime-ridden and unpleasant to occupy as anything in the UK's cities. I am all for gentle density as a policy.

@Famzonhol same applies in Denmark- I missed that aspect off my post

Last time I was in Paris there were lots of beggars including ones with children asking for money. Didn’t seem to be any police questioning why children were begging. Poor things.
Britain is a lot less racist and has a better attitude to disability than many European countries.

I agree the areas in Paris and Marseilles where the poor live are pretty awful with high crime police no go areas etc just like what are termed "sink estates" in the UK, it is easy to romanticise France I don't know enough about Germany to comment about the equiavalent
Career politicians are a problem whether it is Tories doing PPE at Oxbridge then politics or Labour going from University into trade union positions then politics it is still a journey where poltics is the reason d'etre when in reality most people are too busy with real life, no one in real life cares who wins the debate in PMQ it is irrelevant who has the best rhetoric and putdowns

Is some of the local-ness of business and lack of chain companies down to the language? English is a world language now; most people have a smattering. I speak French quite well, a little German and can follow Spanish and Italian slowly, but not a word of Danish. But if I went for a weekend in Copenhagen, most Danish people working in hotels would speak fairly fluent English.

Every city and country has its fair share of sink estates and corrupt politicians, I think that the ways in which they are corrupt vary from country to country but nowhere is perfect

The UK lags so far behind in terms of investment - I think France invests double what we do… and it really shows.

thrre was a fascinating In Business about this on R4 about 6 weeks ago which I really recommmwnd. Thought provoking

I don't think so either @AmadeustheAlpaca , but I was hoping for a more constructive conversation about what some places do better than the UK and what we could learn from them to improve, as an antidote to the grim misery that seems to prevail on MN UK politics threads.

Whereas corrupt politicians in the UK use public money to spend on vanity projects and weird schemes that are run by their friends that never materialise (basically a financial black hole).