Wizard politics

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 5401

Hi --

Neil Ward wrote:

> I have some related HP questions now.  Did we ever decide whether the
> Ministry of Magic is part of the Muggle government, part of an
> independent Wizard goverment or representative of the whole Wizard
> government?

For the Wizarding World -- Govt FAQ, I concluded that most of our
members believe that the Ministry is independent of the Muggle govt.
Rita in particular makes good points that surely the sensitive knowledge
about the existence of the wizarding world would not be left to changing
whim of partisan politics.  The only scenario under which I could
imagine that the Ministry is a Cabinet position or otherwise part of the
Muggle govt is if the Minister of Magic puts a memory charm on those in
the know when there's a shift in power.

For that FAQ, I also did as detailed an analysis of the various
components of the Ministry as we can based on our knowledge at this
point.  I also included Lori's vision of the organization of the Int'l
Federation of Wizards.  That FAQ is actually done at this point, unless
recent discussions bring up new theories or points that should get added
in.  <g>

> Is there a political element to the Ministry of Magic reflecting the
> Muggle parties or is it some sort of cross-party coalition related or
> unrelated to Muggle politics?

This I'm not sure about, and I don't think it's been raised before.  I
hadn't seen anything about this while doing the FAQ.  I'm not even sure
how the Minister of Magic is elected/appointed/chosen.

> I say "possibility" because I get the impression that the wizarding
> world is completely apolitical - more like a department of civil
> servants - and that there is no concept of party politics.

Hermione does note that the house elves are "shockingly
underrepresented" on  .. . . something that escapes me (one of the
Committees relating to Magical Creatures I think).  The use of the word
"underrepresented" might indicate that there's some form of
representative govt in the wizarding world, although we've not seen much
evidence of this other than that as far as I know.   Interesting thought
to contemplate.

Penny



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