Wizard government - a bit long

[Pam at barkingdog.demon.co.uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 14456

> It seems like 'Ministry of Magic'
> is being used here as a generic term, more or less equivalent 
to 'wizard
> government'?  I can't see there being in the States, for example, a 
MoM,
> though there could easily be a Department of Magic.  Perhaps it's 
just
> one of those language differences.

Until recently Scotland did not have its own parliament although its 
legal and educational systems have always been entirely separate (and 
often very different) from those of the rest of the UK.   There was 
(and still is) a Secretary of State for Scotland whose 
responsibilities were to run a government department overseeing 
Scottish affairs with subdepartments for education, home affairs, 
local government etc. etc. reflecting a separate entity within the 
UK.  The Ministry of Magic sounds a bit like the way the ministry for 
Scotland worked except that it runs parallel to the Muggle government 
rather than being a subordinate part of it (or is it - who sets 
foreign policy, I wonder?)
 
> And as for the extent of the MoM (the one we're familiar with) -- 
is it
> not responsible for all of Britain?  

<snip>

> so there must be some sort of governing
> body peculiar to Scotland to represent it to the International
> Confederation of Wizards -- would this be a subgroup of the MoM, or
> something else entirely?  

An interesting question.  The make-up of the United Kingdom is full 
of anomalies but we seem to manage OK apart from 'the Irish 
Question'.  Scotland and Wales have their own representative 
assemblies but British Government (many people mistake it for 
an 'English' government) has overall responsibility for all parts of 
the UK - e.g. for foreign policy, customs and excise, income tax 
etc.  In Scotland we elect members to Parliament in London (MPs) and 
to Parliament in Edinburgh (MSPs) and to the European Parliament 
(MEPs).  In the Wizarding world there must be some things that are 
handled at local level - the Scots may be responsible for the care of 
the Loch Ness Monster for example.  Other things will be the 
responsiblity at UK or even "UK and Ireland" level - such as, 
perhaps, education  - JKR said Hogwarts was the only magical school 
in the UK and Irish wizarding children also attend it.  

In most Muggle sports, for example, there are separate national teams 
for Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland - but for some 
sports there is an Irish team drawn from both sides of the border and 
in the Olympic Games the UK fields a single team.  The situation 
regarding cricket is too complicated to explain (as often is the 
game).
 
I reckon that wizarding folk are probably too small a population to 
take national boundaries too seriously (except in Quidditch of 
course) and therefore will adopt a much more pragmatic approach to 
local and national affairs than Muggles and go with what works! 

Cheers for now
Pam