These Fair Shores: The Commonwealth of New England

[CosmicAsh]

This is as with all of your stuff, just absurdly impressive. Really excited to see more. Does Dominic Grieve's mention of the British Army and Royal Navy in relation to New England mean that there is a shared Commonwealth military?

Thank you so much!! Yes, there is a shared obligation and burden for Commonwealth defence.

Do you have a world map in the works?

Yes, but do not expect it anytime in the near future, apologies.

Adam Sandler is fairly conservative IOTL if I remember correctly, why did he endorse Labour?
What about professional sports ITTL?
The Beaconsfield mention reminds me of the original OFC. Is the Oregon Country still Canadian ITTL? (I have a personal interest as you can see from my username.)
What happened to the Louisiana Purchase ITTL?

* I'm glad someone picked up on that. That's a little nougat of information that I don't intend on ignoring forever. I often plant many of these
* Sorry, I'm not sure I understand? I could put it on my list of things to expand upon, should you wish.
* I can say with certainty that the total landmass of Canada is larger than the Canada of Our Fair Country
* The Louisiana Purchase was purchased by the United States of America.

I was very interested in the other thread but reading through 300 pages of discussion was quite an off putting thought. This is a new idea, one that I look forward to reading. It seems as though George Washington wasn't the first president of the US?

Welcome aboard, then, I am happy to have you along.

Ah yes I remember now. Did Washington gracefully deny the presidency feeling like it would be too much for him / not the right thing to do, then?

General George Washington declined to take part in any new federal government.

Between whom are there "ongoing arms reduction talks"? Is Prussia a party of these talks?

Also, very interesting that Spain seems to consider any nation which has a monarch, even a constitutional one, to be "not free"... Is Spain (some version of) communist?

These arms reduction talks are the subject of an upcoming article.

Spain's own constitution describes itself as an "independent, Socialist Republic of the Workers guided by a President."

I imagine there was a German-Soviet war at some point during the WW2 era.

I can affirmatively say this is not the case.

Why isn't Maine its own province? Also, what of Fidel and Raul Castro?

Maine is not its own province due to the Royal Proclamation that formed Acadia did so with land that was previously owned by Massachusetts Bay and Nova Scotia. The resulting division, it was thought, would create a province too small on its own, so it remained with Massachusetts Bay, and no significant movement to form it's own province had gained traction (though there is and was a sizeable pro-province movement) and a few "Maine Provincial Party" MPPs do get elected from rural Maine to the Massachusetts Bay General Court.

Yes, I'd love to see the full-size riding map!

I am so sorry for the delay in this. I was busy with the holidays and with finishing the most recent article.

I imagine there might be some (perhaps fringe) movement wanting it to be its own province.

Oh no, it is a fairly strong movement, mostly stemming from the District of Maine being fairly (small c) conservative overall, and pretty opposed to "Government-by-Boston" which is the norm for provincial politics.

I'd like how you approach US politics with making it different than OTL one and the inclusion of Privy Council
Awesome work!

Thank you very much! There are quiet a few familiar, and unfamiliar, aspects of the United States political system...

I can’t wait to see other countries too!

All in due time.

I personally can't wait to see: the Middle East and the Louisiana Purchase.

The latter will come before the former, I believe. The former may appear in an upcoming news article (the first of These Fair Shores!)

Can we see a county map of New England?

In due time! This will likely end up being an article with a map attached.

I am particularly interested to see how Boston looks ITTL.

I remember in the original version, Boston county (or whatever it was called) was very large.

You can check the riding map above ^ and the insert that is labelled "Boston" is the Consolidated City-County of Boston. The Town of Boston remains a legal entity, and it is represented on the Boston City Council as such.

What about the Halifax Disaster? Did that happen ITTL?

I'd have to imagine no such explosion has happened. A similar event? Maybe.

I'm very curious to see any information you could provide concerning Africa @CosmicAsh

At the moment? I cannot. There will be Africa content in the future.

I don't remember the name but I do remember it was basically a consolidation of OTL Boston and virtually all of its suburbs, sort of like OTL's Greater London.

It was simply called "The City of Boston," and was a consolidated city-county.

Does hololive exist ITTL?

I can say with certainty, that it does not.

Does the UK House of Commons generally stay out of the judicial affairs of the other Commonwealth members? Or does it say "wait, hold on a second, that's just not cricket, old chap" if something controversial is passed/about to be passed?

I see that the elected portion of the Senate is indirectly elected. Is there a specific method for apportioning these seats? Is there some kind of vote threshold? Are there any independent or cross-bench elected Senators?

I want to know more about this "Rope Knot Parliament".

The UK House of Commons leaves well enough alone and doesn't attempt to intervene with other Commonwealth members. As the article noted, they haven't stepped into New England's affairs for ~80 years. They would only intervene in an extraordinary event such as say, a Unilateral Declaration of a Republic.

While it has been refined over the years, the present method of the election-bound Senators is based on the performance of a political party (or coalition) in that specific province. For example, if there is a "Coalition of the Minor Left" that consists of the Republicans, Socialists, True Socialist-Marxists and some independents, if that coalition, in total, gets over 1% of the vote in the province they are automatically in the running for a seat. This essentially means cross-endorsements are controlled by the political party. Because each Province only ends up with 2 or 3 senators to allocate, it is a very bizarre almost STV pseudo-election based on the preference flows for a given seat. It basically guarantees if a province has 3 Senators, then it will be Labour, Conservative, and a third party who takes those seats.

The Rope Knot Parliament is another planned article!

 

[aaa]

Spain looks pretty interesting from what you've mentioned. I wonder if the Duke of Parma had anything to do with it.

With the NE Senate, is it like the Canadian Senate in that it's made up of senior figures who've had "nonpolitical" careers? Or is it more political like the American Senate?

 

[Analytical Engine]

* I can say with certainty that the total landmass of Canada is larger than the Canada of Our Fair Country

Considering how big Canada was in the original version, I can't wait to see this version.

Spain's own constitution describes itself as an "independent, Socialist Republic of the Workers guided by a President."

I'm assuming they are of the "if their government isn't like ours, then they are not free" school of thought.

Or at least they are of the "no monarchy can be free. Never mind the fact that plenty of them are absolutely free. La la la I can't hear you" school.

Thank you very much! There are quiet a few familiar, and unfamiliar, aspects of the United States political system...

The Rope Knot Parliament is another planned article!

I look forwards to reading about them.

 

[CosmicAsh]

Spain looks pretty interesting from what you've mentioned. I wonder if the Duke of Parma had anything to do with it.

With the NE Senate, is it like the Canadian Senate in that it's made up of senior figures who've had "nonpolitical" careers? Or is it more political like the American Senate?

I am very excited to get to talk about Spain!! It may be part of that first new article

The New England Senate is... mixed so to speak. The election-based Senators are more likely to carry some partisanship with them, however, they are partisan in the sense that they are partisan as the House of Lords is. The non-elected, appointed, Senators are all primarily nonpartisan, and most are judges, lawyers, ect, as the Senate's duty is to ensure the constitutionality of a bill (and the conduct of the government) to remove the burden (or embarrassment) on the Supreme Court.

I'm assuming they are of the "if their government isn't like ours, then they are not free" school of thought.

Or at least they are of the "no monarchy can be free. Never mind the fact that plenty of them are absolutely free. La la la I can't hear you" school.

Little from Column A, little from Column B

 

[Pragmatic Progressive]

Yes, but do not expect it anytime in the near future, apologies

Really? What would you describe as "far future", then?

 

[CosmicAsh]

Really? What would you describe as "far future", then?

By the end of 2021.

 

[Pragmatic Progressive]

Does a nation of Germany even exist, or is it Prussia and several other separate nations (e.g. Bavaria, Württemberg,...)

By the end of 2021.

Thats a long time off... I hope nothing serious has happened (e.g. that an attempt at such a map was destroyed)?

 

[msmp]

I am very excited to get to talk about Spain!! It may be part of that first new article

The New England Senate is... mixed so to speak. The election-based Senators are more likely to carry some partisanship with them, however, they are partisan in the sense that they are partisan as the House of Lords is. The non-elected, appointed, Senators are all primarily nonpartisan, and most are judges, lawyers, ect, as the Senate's duty is to ensure the constitutionality of a bill (and the conduct of the government) to remove the burden (or embarrassment) on the Supreme Court.



Little from Column A, little from Column B

So does this mean the Supreme Court doesn't have the power to strike unconstitutional laws, or does it just mean that the Senate is supposed to do so first, and the Court can later act as a check if it disagrees?

 

[Mechadogzilla]

Watched! I read some of the previous timeline, but by the time I discovered it you were several hundred pages deep and it was a bit intimidating to catch up. With a fresh start I'll be sure to follow. As a New Englander these are always some of my favorite timelines to read about.

If I may ask, who is the MP for Lowell, if it exists at all?

 

[HorizonFalling]

gah! The links! I want to click on all the links! I could explore this world's history for hours, it's that good. You even detail the References of all things.
Of course though, I have to ask: seeing as the House of Commons is (I think?) elected by single-member district plurality and the Senate is... a rather peculiar institution, what are the positions of the various political parties on electoral reform? I would assume the Liberals and Greens are all for it with how underrepresented they are in the Commons, but I'm not the writer here.

 

[CosmicAsh]

So does this mean the Supreme Court doesn't have the power to strike unconstitutional laws, or does it just mean that the Senate is supposed to do so first, and the Court can later act as a check if it disagrees?

The Supreme Court does have this power, but if the House of Commons and the Senate have passed it, it is a mark against the Senate for either being partisan as hell, or it let an unconstitutional law slip past. Note, the Senate functioning like this is not build into the British North America Act 1841 (this is the long-form name of the Constitution), it is just a power that customs have afforded the Senate.

Watched! I read some of the previous timeline, but by the time I discovered it you were several hundred pages deep and it was a bit intimidating to catch up. With a fresh start I'll be sure to follow. As a New Englander these are always some of my favorite timelines to read about.

If I may ask, who is the MP for Lowell, if it exists at all?

Awesome!! Welcome aboard, and I'm glad to have you as a follower! The City of Queensbury is represented in the House of Commons by Marty Meehan. Meehan has represented the Riding of Queensbury since the 1997 Queensbury by-election to replace the deceased Paul Tsongas.

gah! The links! I want to click on all the links! I could explore this world's history for hours, it's that good. You even detail the References of all things.
Of course though, I have to ask: seeing as the House of Commons is (I think?) elected by single-member district plurality and the Senate is... a rather peculiar institution, what are the positions of the various political parties on electoral reform? I would assume the Liberals and Greens are all for it with how underrepresented they are in the Commons, but I'm not the writer here.

Yes, I hope to convey the same nougats of information that I had previously put into news articles into the wikipedia articles this time around. The references are absolutely full of lore, and I highly encourage everyone to check them out.

You would be correct that the Liberals and the Greens are very much for electoral reform, however, not in the way you might think. The actual election of MPs is not the most pressing issue, instead the long-standing requirement that counties do not be split when allocating MPs has led to a very unbalanced and unfair distribution of population among each riding. The Riding of Manchester has a population of 172,554, while the rural Riding of County Nord has 6,281. The average riding has 89,229 people. Both the Liberals and the Greens have signed on to a compact to ban deviations above or below 10% of the national average. Labour, however, supports a more moderate reform of only allowing ridings to be drawn across two counties, not just one.

 

[Starforce]

How did the world wars go here?

 

[Mechadogzilla]

Awesome!! Welcome aboard, and I'm glad to have you as a follower! The City of Queensbury is represented in the House of Commons by Marty Meehan. Meehan has represented the Riding of Queensbury since the 1997 Queensbury by-election to replace the deceased Paul Tsongas.

Cool!

 

[msmp]

You would be correct that the Liberals and the Greens are very much for electoral reform, however, not in the way you might think. The actual election of MPs is not the most pressing issue, instead the long-standing requirement that counties do not be split when allocating MPs has led to a very unbalanced and unfair distribution of population among each riding. The Riding of Manchester has a population of 172,554, while the rural Riding of County Nord has 6,281. The average riding has 89,229 people. Both the Liberals and the Greens have signed on to a compact to ban deviations above or below 10% of the national average. Labour, however, supports a more moderate reform of only allowing ridings to be drawn across two counties, not just one.

Whoa, that's a huge disparity! I've seen people think an electoral system is out of whack when there's deviations of more than, say, 10-15% between two seats (I seem to recall the relative overrepresentation of Scotland in the British Commons was a major issue pre-devolution). Have any of the provinces tried to fix this on their own by redrawing counties, or are boundaries set by Parliament itself/at the federal level?

 

[Amateur Psephologist]

I'm curious, in real life there is a large Orthodox Jewish community in South Brooklyn, which tends to vote heavily Republican, so what occurred differently that resulted in the area voting for Labor?

 

[Imperolo]

I just finished a biography on John Adams and what is his legacy in the TL? Did he do much in New England history?

 

[Gabingston]

I just finished a biography on John Adams and what is his legacy in the TL? Did he do much in New England history?

I know this has nothing to do with TTL, but I have a coworker who says that he's a descendant of John Adams.

 

[erictom333]

* I can say with certainty that the total landmass of Canada is larger than the Canada of Our Fair Country

Beeg Canada
Exactly how beeg? Greenland? Iceland? Faroes? Alaska? Far Eastern Russia? Caribbean?

 

[Kibbutznik]

Beeg Canada
Exactly how beeg? Greenland? Iceland? Faroes? Alaska? Far Eastern Russia? Caribbean?

Michigan?

 

[TheKutKu]

Michigan?

Well about that....