Any suggestions on creating a believable fictional political climate? I'm not so in tune with politics, but I know a little beyond the basics. I'm creating a story about new political enterprises in the United States, the near-ish future. I want the reader to believe that this could be a real world and a real political event. I've studied a lot about past America, like Federalist vs Anti-Federalist, the Constitutional Convention, all that stuff, and I'm basing a lot of what I write off of that period. I'm just not sure I'm executing it correctly, in terms of realism. So any and all help would be appreciated.
This is a rather open-ended request, but as a citizen of these United States, who tries to be politically aware, maybe I can help! The era you're talking about is a lot different from the current state of things, but there are some matching things. There is great civil unrest, and underground groups calling for revolution and redistribution of wealth. We are in an economic climate reminiscent of pre French Revolution, where there are the disgustingly rich, the devastatingly poor, and very little in between. We even have a penal system that takes away all societal opportunities and rights for criminals, not just those stuck with felony charges. I'm not sure what else to tell you, do you have any specific questions?
It's really difficult to get it into words, but what I'm trying to do is to make the story seem as political as possible, while also still keeping it fictional. I know it sort of happened like that in House of Cards but that show sort of only appeals, at least in my mind, to people who are really into politics. I don't want my story to appeal to only those people, or just be about the political nature of things. I do want it to feel realistic, as realistic as reality really, but I also want the sense of fiction in there. I just wanted to know if anyone had advice on how to go about doing that. I know it sounds complicated, it even does to me, but in my mind it's clear.
I don't believe there's an easy answer. The way I go about it is to have my storyline impacted by world-political events. I couldn't include politicis if my story would take place during a few weeks, or not without a hell of exposition. I need to take the long view. Referring current politics of the US and taking a real world example: When the US made their committment in Afghanistan, everyone was hyped up by 'victories' in the beginning and believing they'd be able to 'reform' a centuries old culture in their image. Then came the long slow war of attrition over a decade. The political climate in the US shifted. People got weary of hearing same old same old without new 'victories' or tangible developments. Along came a president who played on public opinion. Focus went to 'new' frontiers. The US involvement drew down, leaving people over there to their country and ideas of government—but with a new power structure that's been upset by their involvement. (Let's not start a discussion about it here, as it belongs in the debate room. This is supposed to be just an example.) You could include brief headlines, discussion with your MC's peers about how their business will be interrupted by new legislation, or even more directly let your MC think 'broader' and try to anticipate trends. For you personally, you could subscribe to daily news digests that get condensed headlines into your inbox. Read them, think and remember them—over more than half a year—then you'll start to recognise trends and you get an inkling where these trends might be coming from.
One advice to make a fictional political scene more believable is to not forget about "asymmetric shocks". These are unpredictable events that the political scene has to react to and adapt towards. A lot of political fiction revolves around simple character vs character plotting and nothing "external" happens. Example: During an ongoing election, one candidate is trying to screw the other through a smear-campaign. In the midst of this, a major automobile company goes bankrupt with over a thousand people losing their jobs. The smear campaign is quickly sidelined and both candidates start a dash for promising support / prevention of future bankruptcies to gain votes and media coverage.
