(no subject)
Sep. 3rd, 2008 09:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
felis_ultharusI realized awhile back that there really needs to be a better term for those governments that are beneath a national government, but more important than county or city governments -- I mean a universal term, since they get called something different in every country.
In political circles, they get called sub-national governments or first-level administrative subdivisions, neither of which is very catchy.
In Canada, they're provinces, a term I rather like -- it's a little quaint and old-fashioned, with a slightly regal overtone, like ancien régime France or Imperial Rome. Jamaica's parishes also has a nicely old-fashioned ring to it. I also like Japan's prefectures, although they sound like they're run by the teacher's-pets of a British public all-boys school.
The US and Mexico's states, The United Kingdom's countries, and the Länder of Germany and Scandinavia would be quite nice, although they suffer from the inconvenience of also being the word for "country." This just gets confusing. The whole point is that they're not countries. It's like having your two directions "left" and "the other left."
Divisions (used all over the world) and govenorates (used in the Middle East) get to the point, but are rather boring. France's departments is the worst. It sounds like a shopping centre. As in, "Where are the croissants?" "In the Vienne department, aisle two, just to left of Poitiers."
We need a single, simple word that encompasses all these things, to make it easier to talk about in this age of international communication. Personally, I like Poland's term for its own divisions, voivodeship. It originally meant, "The territory controlled by a voivode, or warlord." Voivode was also the title translated as "count" in Count Dracula -- Voivode Vlad III, Drăculea, ruler of Wallachia.
How could you go wrong with a title like that?
Yes, I'm procrastinating on my writing. Two pages left in the most gruelling, massive part of the edit -- the next two parts will be infinitely faster. But those last two pages are always toughest.
In political circles, they get called sub-national governments or first-level administrative subdivisions, neither of which is very catchy.
In Canada, they're provinces, a term I rather like -- it's a little quaint and old-fashioned, with a slightly regal overtone, like ancien régime France or Imperial Rome. Jamaica's parishes also has a nicely old-fashioned ring to it. I also like Japan's prefectures, although they sound like they're run by the teacher's-pets of a British public all-boys school.
The US and Mexico's states, The United Kingdom's countries, and the Länder of Germany and Scandinavia would be quite nice, although they suffer from the inconvenience of also being the word for "country." This just gets confusing. The whole point is that they're not countries. It's like having your two directions "left" and "the other left."
Divisions (used all over the world) and govenorates (used in the Middle East) get to the point, but are rather boring. France's departments is the worst. It sounds like a shopping centre. As in, "Where are the croissants?" "In the Vienne department, aisle two, just to left of Poitiers."
We need a single, simple word that encompasses all these things, to make it easier to talk about in this age of international communication. Personally, I like Poland's term for its own divisions, voivodeship. It originally meant, "The territory controlled by a voivode, or warlord." Voivode was also the title translated as "count" in Count Dracula -- Voivode Vlad III, Drăculea, ruler of Wallachia.
How could you go wrong with a title like that?
Yes, I'm procrastinating on my writing. Two pages left in the most gruelling, massive part of the edit -- the next two parts will be infinitely faster. But those last two pages are always toughest.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-03 02:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 05:26 pm (UTC)I'll put it on the best list with "province," "parish," and "prefecture." It doesn't start with a "p," but we'll let it in anyway.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-03 08:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 05:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-03 09:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-03 09:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 05:31 pm (UTC)I'm talking about the post-Enlightenment states, where there's usually a precisely-defined sub-natinal level, right under the federal. Some of the things you listed are states, some are pretending to be states, some are states pretending to be sub-national.
I love the sounds of all of them, though ^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 10:00 pm (UTC)I think "ward" and "county", at least, are still used widely. Though they do tend to be closer to municipal-level govt than sub-national.