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fandomhigh2012-11-05 09:31 am
halfman-lion.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2012-11-05 09:31 am
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A Tale of Two Lions, Monday, Period 2
"Professor Atreides has been called away on personal business," Tyrion began, looking rather more cheerful than he had after a similar weekend the year before. (He'd thought he was an assassin, yes, but at least he hadn't actually killed anyone. And the sight of Jaime in a priest's collar was one he could tease his brother about for ages.) "Which means you'll be listening to me again this week. In a nod to current events, we are discussing power through democracy."
"In theory, democracy means all citizens have the right to vote on the issues that affect their lives and the majority rules. In practice in groups larger than a hundred or so, it generally means you vote for someone who you hope will represent your interests. That's technically known as representative democracy."
"To get power within a democracy, you need to convince as many people as you can to support you. A cynic would say this is done through 'bread and circuses' -- feed the people and entertain them, and they won't care what else you do. However, some of the populace will pay attention no matter how many dancing bears you set before them. To get them to back you, you'll need to convince them you alone understand their needs. In short, you need to learn empathy -- or at least how to fake it."
He went on for a bit, describing various electoral strategies used in modern and historic campaigns.
"As a brief taste in democracy," he concluded, "you'll finish class by voting on what we will discuss next week. The choices are power through celebrity, power through age and wisdom, or power through bureaucracy. If any of those moves you, you may stand up and make a brief statement on its behalf. (And I know you'll all be fighting to sing the praises of beureaucracy.) Once that's done, we will vote on our way out via secret ballot." He nodded to someone sitting near the front of the room. "Make the case for your preference."
"In theory, democracy means all citizens have the right to vote on the issues that affect their lives and the majority rules. In practice in groups larger than a hundred or so, it generally means you vote for someone who you hope will represent your interests. That's technically known as representative democracy."
"To get power within a democracy, you need to convince as many people as you can to support you. A cynic would say this is done through 'bread and circuses' -- feed the people and entertain them, and they won't care what else you do. However, some of the populace will pay attention no matter how many dancing bears you set before them. To get them to back you, you'll need to convince them you alone understand their needs. In short, you need to learn empathy -- or at least how to fake it."
He went on for a bit, describing various electoral strategies used in modern and historic campaigns.
"As a brief taste in democracy," he concluded, "you'll finish class by voting on what we will discuss next week. The choices are power through celebrity, power through age and wisdom, or power through bureaucracy. If any of those moves you, you may stand up and make a brief statement on its behalf. (And I know you'll all be fighting to sing the praises of beureaucracy.) Once that's done, we will vote on our way out via secret ballot." He nodded to someone sitting near the front of the room. "Make the case for your preference."
Sign In [11/05]
General Class Stuff [11/5]
Activity: Campaign [11/05]
Activity: Voting [11/05]
Talk to the Teacher + TA [11/05]
OOC [11/05]
Re: Talk to the Teacher + TA [11/05]
Re: Sign In [11/05]
Re: Sign In [11/05]
Re: Talk to the Teacher + TA [11/05]
Re: General Class Stuff [11/5]
Re: Sign In [11/05]
Re: Activity: Campaign [11/05]
Re: Sign In [11/05]
Re: Sign In [11/05]
Re: Sign In [11/05]
Re: Sign In [11/05]
Re: Activity: Voting [11/05]
Re: Sign In [11/05]
Re: Sign In [11/05]
Re: Sign In [11/05]
Re: Activity: Campaign [11/05]
"Bureaucracy has its drawbacks," Karla admitted, "not in the least that it can take time for things to get done. But all of these options are flawed: celebrity is no guarantee of capability, while age and wisdom are subjective and mutable. With bureaucracy, you have more people involved in government, which can mean more voices and more minds working towards decisions. It also means more rules that even the bureaucrats themselves must follow, which may prevent the governance from devolving into an autocracy. And with bureaucracy, it's not the person but the job that is important. That's the kind of focus I want from my leaders."
Re: Activity: Voting [11/05]
Re: Sign In [11/05]