Interstellar Relations, Monday, 4th Period

[hera-rises.livejournal.com]

Laura was seated at the front of the classroom, glasses perched across
the bridge of her nose, attention focused on a stack of blue index
cards in front of her. As she finished reading each one, she ripped it
in half and added it to a growing stack just to her right. She decided
it was easier to clean up that way...and there wasn't an admiral to
annoy, anyway.

She looked up as students entered. A smile crossed her lips, her eyes
unreadable behind her lenses. After a few moments, she glanced up at
the clock. She then moved to the front of the classroom just as class
was scheduled to begin, a stack of papers in her arms.

"We're back to the boring lecture portion of the class," she began,
addressing the students. "I hope you enjoyed the Quorum session last
week, and got something out of your discussions with your fellow
colonials. I wish we'd had more time, but there's something to be said
for a short Quorum meeting." She gave a wry smile.

"Today, we're moving on to the constitutional monarchy."
Pacing through the room, she passed a stack of paper to each student. "Because we've only got an
hour, we're going to hit the highlights; the packet I've provided you
should give you some more background reading. You'll need to review
this before class next week.

"We're also having a guest speaker next week, so please be sure to
make it a minute or two early."

Moving back to her desk as the papers were handed out, Roslin placed
the spares back onto her desk. She gave a taut smile, readjusted her
glasses and began the lecture. "Constitutional monarchy is a form of
government that provides a monarch as the head of state, an elected or
appointed head of government, and, in the cases we'll be studying, a
bicameral legislature or parliament; rules and guidelines for the
system are established by a constitution - sometimes in writing,
sometimes only in tradition." She paused, tucking her hair behind her
ear. "Those of you from Earth are probably thinking about the United
Kingdom, the United Kingdom, or Japan...at least those of you from
the, ah, current timeline. Since this is an interstellar
relations class, however, we're going to discuss the Star Kingdom of
Manticore."

Laura pointed a remote at the screen, and the SmartBoard came to life.
On it was a map, showing Manticore and the surrounding
system-states. "This in the center, in green, is Manticore; the red is
the Solarian League, a rough equivalent to the United Nations; blue
shows the People's Republic of Haven; and purple are the planets
allied with Manticore in the ongoing war with Haven. The very tiny
speck marked '30' is the Yeltsin system, where Grayson is located.
Remember this, as you'll need that information later this term.

"Currently, Queen Elizabeth III rules as monarch. While her role is
restricted by the Manticoran constitution, she has retained some
executive power. Most of the executive power, however, is exercised
through the Cabinet, lead by the head of government, the prime
minister. As with the British system, the prime minister is selected
from the majority party in Parliament. On Manticore, however, he - or
she - is selected from the House of Lords, rather than the House of
Commons." Clicking the remote, the map vanished, replaced by images of
Queen Elizabeth III and her prime minister. The image of the queen was
an official state photo, while the image of the PM had been taken in a
more casual setting, likely his home. "This is Her Majesty, Queen
Elizabeth, and the Prime Minister, William Alexander, Baron
Grantville.

"There are six major parties vying for power within the Manticoran
system: the Centrist Party, the Crown Loyalists; the Liberal Party;
the Conservative Association; the Progressive Party; and the 'New Man'
Party. I won't go into the details of each party, but please pay close
attention to the explanations in your handouts."

The image on the screen blinked, replaced by a graphic, showing the
breakdown of Parliament by party, each with a corresponding color.
"We've talked a little in the past about having more than two
political parties. How do you think having six parties in power at any
given time affects governing on Manticore?"

Roslin wove her way through the room as the discussion progressed.
Eventually, she used her remote to change the graphic back to the
inter-system map. "Taking what we've discussed, now consider this: the
Star Kingdom has been at war with the Republic of Haven, as Professor
Harrington explained it to me, for about twenty years. How do you
think a long war like this affects governing? Or how do you think it
might affect alliances with the other systems?"

Turning her wrist slightly, Laura glanced at the time. She allowed the
discussion to continue for a few minutes longer, then reined things
back in. "I think that's about all we have time for today. For
homework, make sure you read the packets and brush up on your
parliamentary procedure."



She dismissed the class and turned her attention to cleaning up the
index cards on the desk.

[Okay...Posting by e-mail and getting a little help with the
threads. Please wait for the OOC thread to show up, and then have at.
They may take a few minutes to show, so I appreciate your patience.
I'll be available to participate this evening, EST.]

Comments

Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[hera-rises.livejournal.com]

...

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

"Wouldn't a long war strengthen the power of the government?" Teddy asked.

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke nodded. "It has at home," he said. "The threat of rebellion has allowed the government to increase its war machine and crack down on any form of activity it views as wrong."

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

"Which would only cause more rebellion," Teddy said.

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"And harsher retaliation from the government," Luke added. "It'a vicious cycle."

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

"But a cycle that can be broken," Peter replied. "It's not inevitable that it continues forever."

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[sogothcally.livejournal.com]

"Eh, sorta," Cally said. "Long wars also have a tendency to, you know, drain resources and kill off a lot of good people, too. Which isn't exactly good for morale."

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but wouldn't those things cause a government to step in and take a more active role in people's lives?" Teddy replied. "Like in rationing supplies and propaganda. Or like Luke said, cracking down on dissent?"

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[sogothcally.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't underestimate the power of angry workers," Cally said. "They can literally throw wrenches into the machines that give governments their power, and it's neccessary to appease them, not crack down and control them."

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke snorted. "Could you go tell Vader that?"

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"But war can strengthen the economy as well," Rory pointed out. "Here on Earth, we got out of the Great Depression because of World War II. They might deplete resources, but they create a lot of jobs and change the entire economy."

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[sogothcally.livejournal.com]

"But you have to admit that World War Two didn't exactly hit home," Cally said. "It was a war fought elsewhere, so the detrimental effects were lessened. A lot."

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Unfortunately that was then. I don't think you can say the same thing today," Isabel said.

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[ktarian-wildman.livejournal.com]

"In my time, while wars are scarely fought the few instances where they are the governments of both sides strengthen in order to claim ultimate superiority - there was a highly profiled instance in the last century where peace was refused unless particular demands were met," Naomi paused, "it was complicated,"

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

"What demands were they?" Teddy asked, interested in hearing more about one possible future.

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[ktarian-wildman.livejournal.com]

"Their main demand was that there was no peace while Kirk lived, Admiral Kirk was a Captain on the Enterprise and it had been over taken by a species called Klingons, Kirk self destructed the Enterprise before abandoning ship and thus killed the Klingons onboard and they wanted him to face criminal charges according to their own laws, the Federation was going to try him under Federation Law and that didn't go down well with them, the Federation-Klingon conflict had been drawn out for years and that incident among others was near breaking point,"

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Alliances with other systems would probably center around the war, and who didn't want to be drawn into it, or who supported it. Other considerations, like trade or human rights, might begin to take a backseat to what is usually regarded as the overriding concern." Parker looked up for a moment, then added, "Industry and research of a certain kind might flourish. But the depletion of resources can undermine any progress. At the end of the Hundred Years' War in Europe, central Europe was facing famine, plague, and unrest across the board."

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[cat-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

"Define 'long'," Schrodinger said, leaning back in his chair.

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[hera-rises.livejournal.com]

Laura folded her arms across her chest, regarding Schrodinger. "As I mentioned in the lecture, twenty years...or more."

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[cat-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

"Long enough that a child could be born at the beginning of the war and be old enough to fight while the war was still going on, then," Schrodinger said. "I would think that at some point, if a war goes on long enough, it might almost cease to matter who wins. Because whoever wins will be in no state to continue business as usual. All they'll be ready is to fight more. And maybe not even that. Then there's the idea that people might even forget what they're fighting about."

He shrugged. "War is good for the economy. It's good for union, but if somebody doesn't win, what's the point? Every good journey has an end.

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[hera-rises.livejournal.com]

"After a time, it seems there would reach a point where something has to give -- people, weapons, food, supplies. War has to end somehow, even in a draw, when there's nothing left to fight over."

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[grenfelzer.livejournal.com]

"Isn't it possible that both sides in a war, if they've been fighting *that* long, might even forget what they're fighting *for*?" Carmela says thoughtfully, thinking about Rashah. "Wouldn't that have an effect on the government, because they'd have to come up with reasons to explain to the people why they're fighting this war that for many of them, has no purpose?"

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[hera-rises.livejournal.com]

"It's entirely possible, though there was probably some root cause. In the end, the war could simply be fueled by conflicting world views or cultures." She's over simplifying, but she doesn't want to go down that path again in her own mind... the one where she begins to wonder if, maybe, that defines the war between humanity and the Cylons -- a clash of world views, of cultures. But admitting the Cylons have a culture is beginning down a slippery slope, she thought. And she wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[the-right-ray.livejournal.com]

"Long wars might strengthen government but it's gonna kill morale if there seems to be no progress," Ray said. "And if people are waking up to soldiers dying on their television screens."

Re: Discussion: Long Wars and Interstellar Politics

[hera-rises.livejournal.com]

"So how does a government combat that? And how does failing public support affect how that government might interact with the other systems?"