fandomhigh | Nation Building and the Origin of Government, Period 5, Class 13, Thursday, 4-7

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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?"

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Like you just survived an assassination attempt zomg.

Take notes, pass them, wonder about your line of succession.

How is it that your reign will come to an end (if you're lucky enough to choose)? Will there be elections? Will you be stepping down after a few years, or do you intend to rule for the next several decades? Will there be a gradual hand-off or an abrupt one?

If you choose your replacement, who is it going to be? Whether you do or not, who has the authority to speak for you, if you're incapacitated, and who is your chosen successor in case tragedy strikes?

Remember that it can't hurt to extend the line of succession out a few places. Your heir-apparent could easily be in the same plane crash as you.

Ask who her heir is.

She's here.

This icon and the icon for the Successor thread above both feature Casey Novak, who was, in fact, Alex Cabot's replacement as the Special Victims Unit prosecutor when Alex got dumped into Witness Protection.

Many Alex fans seem to hate Casey, but I thought she was kickass and that she got a raw deal on her own send-off.

Greylek, on the other hand ... let us not discuss Greylek.

Karla

Tahiri Veila

This was kind of a tough class for Karla; it reminded her of her parents, of everything going on back home. She was just going to doodle in her notebook for awhile and try not to wince every time Alex said "assassination."

She was extra-ignoring the weird fragments of memories from this weekend that also responded poorly to the word.

Damn you, Fandom weird. Damn you.

Now this was a topic Firekeeper knew more than a little about, given her short time as a contender for Hawk Haven's throne.

"I would like to say I do things the wolf way, and fight any who challenge my rule," Firekeeper said. "But from what I know of human kingdoms, they is very complicated creatures, and being strongest fighter is not always meaning best for leading. So, I think it best I pick from those who have been studying the rules of the kingdom for a very long time and say, this person is best to lead."

"When the Territory Queen chooses to step down--or dies--the Province Queens and the strongest Warlord Princes of the Territory usually vote the next Queen to take her place," Karla said quietly. "She will usually be powerful, wearing a dark Jewel, though she might not actually be the most powerful witch in the Territory. If the retiring Queen has a preference, she gets a say as well. Everyone is looking for a Queen that they'll be able to work with, one who has a good, strong, steady Court around her, one who will take care of the Territory as it needs."

"When I no longer am strong enough, or I die, then next person can take over," Firekeeper shrugged, her definition of 'strong' encompassing not just physical but mental strength.

Faramir

Anduin Wrynn

Squall Leonhart

"The people asked me to fix their country, so I'm gonna fix it and then hand it back to them when it's fixed. I don't WANT to be in charge."

Don't ask what happened if the country never ended up being fixed. That's what got Squall's father where he was today.

"If something unexpected happens to me, one of my advisors will take over," Squall decided. "Someone I trust."

He brooded a bit. "When I step down, though, there's going to have to be an election of some kind. After that, whatever they want to do with their country is their own business."

Bruce Wayne

~~Being on fire is a minor obstacle. The fact that whatever set him on fire didn't immediately kill him means it was a failure.~~

Warren Worthington III

"Will you decide when you're not strong enough?" Alex asked. "Is there a process by which your subjects can declare you unfit?"

"How will you define 'fixed'?" Alex asked. "Are there certain benchmarks you'd set, criteria you would use to distinguish the point at which it's safe to return the country to someone else?"

"There's no saying you can't encourage the wolf process," Alex suggested. "Or make it a part of the human process. Merge the two, in some fashion. People will object, but that's generally what people do anyway."

"You raised a good point there," Alex noted. "That the best leader may not be the most powerful witch. There's a lot to be said for stability, for someone trustworthy and reliable, as opposed to a straight meritocracy."

"Any preference?" she asked. "You should specify which advisor is your heir. Otherwise, they might squabble amongst themselves in your absence, and that's not good for anybody."

Squall shrugged. "I guess? But they'd depend on what the country was like before I got it. Mostly, I'll define 'fixed' as whenever I say it's fixed."

...

Squall blinked at her.

"No, they wouldn't."

Not if they were going with the advisors he'd picked at the beginning, his friends from back home. Clearly, Quistis would be his heir until he said otherwise.

Cara

"Be careful you don't fall into your own trap," she said lightly. "If you don't know what 'fixed' looks like, then you may end up staying longer than you intend."

Alex stopped by her TA's desk before lowering her voice.

"Everything okay?"

"And if I define it ahead of time, I risk leaving when the country still needs me," Squall countered. "There's no easy answer."

Medusalith Amaquelin

Karla gave Alex a wan smile. "This class comes a little close to home, is all. Succession's kind of a touchy subject right now."

Jack McCallister

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Nation Building and the Origin of Government, Period 5, Class 13, Thursday, 4-7

Sign In - NAT13

During the Lecture - NAT13

Discussion - The End of Your Reign - NAT13

Discussion - Your Successor - NAT13

Talk to the TA - NAT13

Talk to Alex - NAT13

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