Talk:Parochialism

This article is obtuse, confusing, and to someone who is not familiar with the idea, it is hard to tell if it even deals with the subject! I'm not qualified to do it, but someone should. --Seldumonde 17:44, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Issue of Neutrality
This article speaks in terms of almost moral values (e.g. victims, harmful, problem) and makes claims regarding the consequences of this system that are sufficiently unsupported by the rest of the article that they can seem wildly disconnected (e.g. "This [Parochialism] supports and/or leads to governmental corruption and deters real economic health ...").

This article should be labeled as not be in conformance with Wikipedia's neutraility standards to solicit the assistance of qualified parties to flesh out and/or balance its content. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.69.159.113 (talk) 22:01, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

VERY ambiguous
I agree with Seldumonde... I tried to use this article for reference but could not even come up with a definition for Parochialism. After having read it, I am no more better off than I was previously. Someone with at least decent familiarity needs to at least define it!--208.102.26.84 00:32, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Be Gone
This article needs to be deleted, please. Besides the obvious neutrality issue, it's just poorly written. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.141.254.254 (talk) 05:06, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Not deleted, but seriously rewritten. I also agree with the NPOV check. -- Forridean 31 July 2008

The word "parochialism" was used in a New York Times article March 5, 2009 by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr in reference to the Supreme Court's decision to allow states to file lawsuits against drug companies even though they were FDA approved. His use of the word gives the impression that "parochial" decisions are those made by considering immediate local conditions:

...Juries see only the “tragic accident” before them and “are ill-equipped to perform the F.D.A.’s cost-benefit-balancing function.” The agency, by contrast, he [Justice Alito] wrote, “has the benefit of the long view” and “conveys its warnings with one voice.”

“After today’s ruling,” he said, “parochialism may prevail.” --212.20.232.220 (talk) 10:34, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

Ireland
I have completely removed the following section:
 * Since the foundation of the state in 1922 and prior to independence, Ireland has had a highly parochial political system. The nature of the electoral system in Ireland and the weak powers of Local government reinforce parochial voting patterns and politics. The fact that to be elected to Dáil Éireann one can do so on a small number of votes per head of population compared to most other developed states turns the politics of General elections into an aggregate of parochial issues.


 * Fianna Fáil have benefited greatly by playing parochial politics and are the 2nd longest serving party in government in a European country.

Questions: I hope these questions can help concentrating on improving this article and possibly articles on the Irish political system. Johan Lont (talk) 12:26, 24 June 2008 (UTC) Johan Lont (talk) 12:26, 24 June 2008 (UTC)
 * 1) When was independence? Was that 1922? That write "prior to independence, in 1922," instead of "prior to independence", or add a link to the article on Ireland's start of independence.
 * 2) In what year or period started Ireland to get a highly parochial political system? It must have been "prior to independence". Was it 10 years prior to independence? 50 years? 100 years?
 * 3) It what sense is Ireland's political system highly parochial?
 * 4) What is special about the electoral system of Ireland? How does that system operate?
 * 5) I fail to see why a weak local government leads to parochial voting patterns. In the Netherlands, local government has rather weak powers, because the financing of local government is largely controlled by central government. However, I have never heard complaints that that political system was parochial. Please explain why the Irish system reinforces parochial voting patterns and politics.
 * 6) How many votes per head of population does one need to be elected to Dáil Éireann?
 * 7) How many votes is one member of the population allowed to cast?
 * 8) What are typical numbers of votes per head of population typically required to get elected to parliament in some other countries?
 * 9) Why does the fact that one can get elected with relatively few votes lead to parliamentary politics to be an aggregate of parochial issues?
 * 10) What is meant by "playing parochial politics"?
 * 11) How have Fianna Fáil benefited from playing parochial politics?
 * 12) Have other political parties played parochial politics? If so, why? If not, why not?

looks good to me
the definition is quite clear and concise at the top of the page. This contributers brief explanation of the meaning is quite sufficient, dictionaries are not written for people with zero grasp of the language, which is the point of view most of you seem to be objecting from. To suggest that this article is not neutral in a negative standpoint is myopic (OMG a synonym for the currently debated word....better reference it with at least 3 pages worth of mindless drek to satisfy your need for unnecessary amounts of explanation), the word itself is used only to point out a negative aspect of culture, politics and indeed religion. To demand neutrality from any definition of a word like this is as the first objector says "obtuse". Also how can you object to a definition of something and simultaneously NOT be qualified to correct it? (Does not the act of objection in and of itself suggest that you know better?) Seriously, how much information do you need to grasp the meaning of one little word? Granted it's 6 syllables and that might sound intimidating but FFS people, dictionaries have been adequately enlightening people about seldom used words with far less attention to detail for centuries....this guy devoted an entire page to it! Calm down —Preceding unsigned comment added by Radtech875 (talk • contribs) 12:56, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

Worked for me (sort of)
Unless recent edits have invalidated previous comments, I think the page is fine. I was looking for the word insular by trying to look up synonyms for inward, however all sites have rubbish synonyms sections and a user-content synonym dictionary doesn't exist! Wiktionary entries don't appear to have a Synonyms section. I eventually got my word but only after I remembered insular, I'd love to see a way to mentally map terms that aren't synonyms in the strictest sense. -- hope I've added my comment in the write way (these discussion pages are horrible to use). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lukepuplett (talk • contribs) 09:14, 21 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Much of Wikipedia is easier to read than write, but with a little help from the signature bot you wrote it right, and are you looking for a "Thesaurus"? Perhaps yes, Wiktionary should also be a thesaurus.  Jim.henderson (talk) 04:26, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Definitional problem as I see it
This article seems to muddle Parochialism as it refers to a region of government and as it refers to narrow-minded thinking. As I understand it, they are homonyms. Hackwrench (talk) 20:11, 16 January 2016 (UTC) After reading more of the article, my head hurts. Under "Politics" it has a statement by Harvard and even gets the reasoning behind it wrong. Harvard said American parochialism in a sense that it had to help students to look at the world for what it is and not with a bias common among Americans. Hackwrench (talk) 20:26, 16 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Usage continues even as its church association detracts from perpetuation. The potency of the term may draw on bell tower in the sense of campanile and the associated campanilismo in Italy. Parochialism may be chosen as descriptive instead of provincialism in some cases. Most uses of this term connote limited information. — Rgdboer (talk) 22:25, 20 August 2019 (UTC)