[allendoerfer]

You are basically describing Germany. I try to put it on first-mover disadvantage to make me feel better: Basically Germany has had a relatively functioning administration for hundreds of years (Italy even for thousands). Compared to something you would design from scratch in 2022 it looks a bit archaic. I celebrate every little step forward.

[yywwbbn]

The US administrative and political system is objectively older and more archaic than the ones in almost every European country (besides Britain, Switzerland and maybe(?) Scandinavian countries). Germany was established in 1949 and Italy is a fairly new country as well.

[kuschku]

> Germany was established in 1949

That’s a neat myth, but you’ll constantly interface with laws and bureaucratic structures from the pre-WWI empire (e.g. most of the school system, a lot of taxes, the entire healthcare system) and sometimes even Prussian laws from before the German Union.

[allendoerfer]

As other commentors pointed out: The fundamentals of German bureaucracy are way older than 1949.

Americans seem to have a special relation to their constitution, but in practice you interface with more detailed areas of the law much more often. The civil code of Germany [0] is from 1881 and even then was not written from scratch, but contains Prussian laws etc.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BCrgerliches_Gesetzbuch

[oblio]

Modern Germany and Italy are successor states to much older entities, and frequently stuff from those ages creeps in.

Well, every European country has this. France is at the Fifth Republic right now but I can bet that there's some obscure law hidden somewhere that's from the time of Philip II of France.

[Bayart]

The current Switzerland goes back to 1848. There was a massive shift n administration and statecraft throughout Europe after the French Revolution, even in Scandinavia. Britain's the only country that kept to its own.

[darkwater]

Italy is a new country but relies on older habits and in general on a more conservative mindset.