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Description

Inspired by Emperor Julian’s ‘Ruins of an American Party System .’

In a world where the Great Depression started a decade earlier, and thereby coincided with general post-World War I malaise experienced in the United States and in Europe, politics in very different. Since fending off a KKK-organized insurgency in the 1920s, a Socialist President elected in 1932, and a U.S.-Soviet alliance lasting to the present day, the U.S. is, at least in economic respects, a rather leftier place; of the five major parties, three claim to be Socialist [1] [2]. When a right-wing reaction of sorts did take place, in the ‘80s, it was much less about cutting down the size of government (like Reagan-Thatcherism of our world), and more overtly about getting Black People and Hippies to conform. A genuine welfare state, complete with universal healthcare and childcare, has been the norm since the 70’s – however, continuing instances of de facto racial segregation (particularly in the South) means that the welfare state's reach is not truly 'universal'. Overall, during the first half of the 20th century this America was poorer than ours, but, as of late, it is experiencing an economic boom.

Geopolitically, the U.S. is a not quite a unipolar hegemon. In this world, the Soviet Union never went full Stalinist (more Titoist) and a ‘Social-ish’ U.S. with free enterprise was well positioned to fund and support the Soviet Union. U.S. assurances to the U.S.S.R. meant that there was never a Berlin wall, while Soviet assurances convinced the U.S. that it was unnecessary to invade Vietnam. The first moon landing, in 1978, was manned by an international crew composed of citizens of five countries, including both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. By 2020, the U.S. is the brains and funding to the Soviets’ muscle, and collectively they hold what few rogue powers exist (mainly China) in check. Despite the security that this alliance continues to provide, the fundamentally-authoritarian-and-property-rights-abusing Soviet regime has always spooked American Conservatives, and in recent decades an Anti-Soviet/Anti-Imperialist movement among American Socialists has gained steam as well.

Although the U.S. still (mostly) uses first-past-the post voting, multi-party elections here are a lot more complicated. With 50 state governments in the U.S. [3], each of the five major parties have formed a governing coalition with the other parties somewhere in the U.S. as less once. Much like Germany or Belgium, coalition talks can take months, and often lead to odd bedfellows.

[1] Although, it must be said, the Commonwealth Party’s brand of ‘National Socialism,’ which is a modern continuation of Huey Long-thought, has been described as ‘Economically Left and Culturally Right.’ National Socialism, of course, has no Nazi connotations as the Nazis were subsumed into a different Fascist group that briefly took power in Germany.

[2] The Progressive Party official follows ‘Progressive Socialism,’ which nowadays is similar to Social Democracy or Laborism in our world. Originally defined in contrast to ‘Revolutionary Socialism,’ today Progressivism also has a cultural connotation and is seen as a compromise position between socially conservative and statist ‘National Socialism’ and nearly anarchist ‘Libertarian Socialism.’

[3] Puerto Rico was made a state in the 1970s, but Alaska remains a territory.

Description

Inspired by Emperor Julian’s ‘Ruins of an American Party System .’

In a world where the Great Depression started a decade earlier, and thereby coincided with general post-World War I malaise experienced in the United States and in Europe, politics in very different. Since fending off a KKK-organized insurgency in the 1920s, a Socialist President elected in 1932, and a U.S.-Soviet alliance lasting to the present day, the U.S. is, at least in economic respects, a rather leftier place; of the five major parties, three claim to be Socialist [1] [2]. When a right-wing reaction of sorts did take place, in the ‘80s, it was much less about cutting down the size of government (like Reagan-Thatcherism of our world), and more overtly about getting Black People and Hippies to conform. A genuine welfare state, complete with universal healthcare and childcare, has been the norm since the 70’s – however, continuing instances of de facto racial segregation (particularly in the South) means that the welfare state's reach is not truly 'universal'. Overall, during the first half of the 20th century this America was poorer than ours, but, as of late, it is experiencing an economic boom.

Geopolitically, the U.S. is a not quite a unipolar hegemon. In this world, the Soviet Union never went full Stalinist (more Titoist) and a ‘Social-ish’ U.S. with free enterprise was well positioned to fund and support the Soviet Union. U.S. assurances to the U.S.S.R. meant that there was never a Berlin wall, while Soviet assurances convinced the U.S. that it was unnecessary to invade Vietnam. The first moon landing, in 1978, was manned by an international crew composed of citizens of five countries, including both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. By 2020, the U.S. is the brains and funding to the Soviets’ muscle, and collectively they hold what few rogue powers exist (mainly China) in check. Despite the security that this alliance continues to provide, the fundamentally-authoritarian-and-property-rights-abusing Soviet regime has always spooked American Conservatives, and in recent decades an Anti-Soviet/Anti-Imperialist movement among American Socialists has gained steam as well.

Although the U.S. still (mostly) uses first-past-the post voting, multi-party elections here are a lot more complicated. With 50 state governments in the U.S. [3], each of the five major parties have formed a governing coalition with the other parties somewhere in the U.S. as less once. Much like Germany or Belgium, coalition talks can take months, and often lead to odd bedfellows.

[1] Although, it must be said, the Commonwealth Party’s brand of ‘National Socialism,’ which is a modern continuation of Huey Long-thought, has been described as ‘Economically Left and Culturally Right.’ National Socialism, of course, has no Nazi connotations as the Nazis were subsumed into a different Fascist group that briefly took power in Germany.

[2] The Progressive Party official follows ‘Progressive Socialism,’ which nowadays is similar to Social Democracy or Laborism in our world. Originally defined in contrast to ‘Revolutionary Socialism,’ today Progressivism also has a cultural connotation and is seen as a compromise position between socially conservative and statist ‘National Socialism’ and nearly anarchist ‘Libertarian Socialism.’

[3] Puerto Rico was made a state in the 1970s, but Alaska remains a territory.