Democracy and Prejudice in the WW ( with slight tinge of FF)

[Ali <Ali@zymurgy.org>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50662

Ebony wrote:

<<<--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Ali <Ali at z...>" <Ali at z...> 
wrote:
 
> This is an interesting point. I don't think politics (in the sense 
> we would understand it) happens. I think that the wizarding 
community is too small to have true democracy, and as all the major 
players seem to know one another, I suspect that the MoM just gets 
chosen according to who the great and good feel would be best at 
> representing them with Muggle leaders. Which would explain why he 
> would go and visit Hagrid personally.>>> 

Err, no I didn't..  Sorry, that must have been my bad snipping, it 
was actually Michelle.

Ebony asked:
 
<<<The Minister of Magic wouldn't really be the equivalent to the 
Prime Minister, is he? I mean, Britain has lots of other ministers 
and ministries... <Snip>

Rather, I've always seen the Ministry as a "hidden" branch of the 
UK's Muggle government that has an unusual degree of autonomy, but 
that *someone* in the Muggle government secretly knows about them. I 
can't remember if I've got canon evidence for this, or if it's just a 
gut feeling, but I think that wizards and witches are still subjects 
of the Queen. *Especially* since there doesn't seem to be a 
completely parallel wizarding world that is autonomous, but just ind. 
separate institutions.>>>

In terms of being subjects of the Queen, I think that the answer is 
yes. When under the Imperius curse, Dean Thomas hops around singing 
the National Anthem. Not the WW National Anthem, just the National 
Anthem. I believe that Harry would note if it was different to the 
one he would have been brought up with – although Dean was also 
Muggle-born, so the evidence isn't conclusive.

Fudge speaks to the Prime Minister about Sirius Black, which could 
imply that they are an equal footing, or he is somehow answerable to 
the PM. IIRC, Harry is told that the main purpose of the MoM is to 
keep the magical community secret from the rest of the population 
which could then imply that that they are governed by the ordinary 
British Government for everything else. However, the WW appear to 
have little respect or understanding for their Muggle counterparts, 
and I cannot believe that they feel themselves governed by them.

Perhaps the true answer is somewhat different; that the WW don't need 
to be governed as they are largely autonomous. They need only rules 
to protect them from Muggle discovery. I am not happy with this idea, 
although I've struggled to verbalise exactly why. It seems to me that 
it would make the WW either a kind of Utopia or very primitive, 
neither of which do I detect when reading the books.

The Minister of Magic seems to be a very bureaucratic position, 
somehow answerable to, but not exactly part of the British 
Government. The WW do have many Laws and Regulations. They have a 
different monetary system, a different criminal justice system, a 
different education system. In many ways, the WW and the Muggle World 
are paralleled. They run both with and alongside each other.

I think I need to believe that the WW is somehow democratic. It would 
need to be from the WW for the WW. The Mom simply being there, and 
being responsible for the WW isn't quite enough (for me).

I was interested in Michelle's idea about the Minister of Magic 
sitting in the House of Lords. In reality though, what kind of 
influence (other than magical) would an apolitical Peer have?

It is possible that the Laws of the MoM stem from our Parliament. An 
Act of Parliament, perhaps dating back centuries could have been 
passed authorising any rules of a magical nature to become Law in the 
form of a directive, rather than having to back through Parliament 
each time. This would have the unfortunate consequence that the MoM 
Laws would look anything but democratic, and Arthur would talk 
about "Directives" rather than "Acts".


Ebony again:

<< I cannot see Tom Riddle's ambitions stopping at the Channel, or 
the Bosporus, myself.>>

No indeed. I'm sure JKR said that Voldemort's aim was control of 
Europe, and then World Domination. 


Ali