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fandomhigh2011-04-07 12:21 pm
glasses-justice.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2011-04-07 12:21 pm
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Nation Building and the Origin of Government, Period 5, Class 13, Thursday, 4-7
"All good things must come to an end," Alex said philosophically. "This includes your reign over our fictitious country. If you've chosen to rule a democracy, there will be free, public elections. If not, you may tire of ruling when you're old and gray, and choose to step down, leaving a trusted successor at the wheel. And even if you set yourself up as an omnipotent dictator for life, your reign's going to end when your life does."
"At any rate, these all have different results," she said. "In a democratic election, you may have to peacefully surrender power to someone who stands for the exact opposite of you, who you feel is an inadequate successor, whom you dislike and distrust. If you reserve the right to groom your replacement, then you'll need to choose between your underlings and proteges. It may be hard to judge their competency, since they'll be trying hard to please you -- which means you may have a crowd of lackeys and sycophants. Placing a child as your heir is a popular decision, but one that gets complicated if Junior is a toddler when you kick off. Of course you may also be the victim of a coup d'etat, but in that case, the new regime is hardly going to care who your intended successor was, so it's a bit moot for our purposes."
She took a sip of her tea. "Regardless of how long you intend to rule, there should be a firm line of succession involved. Accidents happen, and so do assassinations. It should be crystal clear at all times who has the authority to speak for you, both if you're tragically killed -- which is possible -- or if you're incapacitated -- say, the assassination attempt left you in a coma for several months. The last thing you want is for your absence to cause chaos."
"So," she finished. "That's today's topic of discussion. How is your reign ending? Will the people pick your successor, or do you? If you do, then who is your choice? Either way, who gets to speak for you if you can't speak for yourself?"
"At any rate, these all have different results," she said. "In a democratic election, you may have to peacefully surrender power to someone who stands for the exact opposite of you, who you feel is an inadequate successor, whom you dislike and distrust. If you reserve the right to groom your replacement, then you'll need to choose between your underlings and proteges. It may be hard to judge their competency, since they'll be trying hard to please you -- which means you may have a crowd of lackeys and sycophants. Placing a child as your heir is a popular decision, but one that gets complicated if Junior is a toddler when you kick off. Of course you may also be the victim of a coup d'etat, but in that case, the new regime is hardly going to care who your intended successor was, so it's a bit moot for our purposes."
She took a sip of her tea. "Regardless of how long you intend to rule, there should be a firm line of succession involved. Accidents happen, and so do assassinations. It should be crystal clear at all times who has the authority to speak for you, both if you're tragically killed -- which is possible -- or if you're incapacitated -- say, the assassination attempt left you in a coma for several months. The last thing you want is for your absence to cause chaos."
"So," she finished. "That's today's topic of discussion. How is your reign ending? Will the people pick your successor, or do you? If you do, then who is your choice? Either way, who gets to speak for you if you can't speak for yourself?"