[HPforGrownups] Wizard government (was wizards and the queen)

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 83977

Astrofiammante wrote: 

[snipped background on legislative/executive/judicial separation and checks and balances in muggle world]

> In the magical world, we've seen plenty about the executive - the 
> Ministry of Magic is a big sprawling beast with practically unlimited 
> influence. 
> 
> We've seen a little of the judiciary in the form of the Wizengamot. 
> Doesn't it strike you how dominated it is by the executive? 

Yes.  Unlike courts of law in the US and the UK, the presiding officer is part of the executive branch.  In the pensieve trials Crouch Sr. presided as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (judge and prosecutor); here his successor Amelia Bones should have been in charge.  That in itself is a breach of our separation of powers principles.  The fact that Fudge apparently took over Harry's hearing demonstrates an appalling breach of procedural safeguards, if not a total lack of them.  Also, Fudge and his fellow presiding officers were labeled "Interrogators".  Not exactly an English common-law model.

The Wizengamot may be the technical equivalent of the judiciary, but in fact they appear to function solely as a jury substitute, as it's very clear that DMLE, and ultimately Fudge himself, controls trial proceedings.  Fudge also seems to control who serves on the Wizengamot, since he was able to demote Dumbledore from his position as Chief Warlock.

> And have we seen anything of the legislature? Could it be one of 
> the 'grand council of wizard' bodies to which Dumbledore belongs? Or 
> has anyone got any better suggestions? In any case, it hardly strikes 
> me as a dominant feature of wizard government. Who is originating the 
> laws? Fudge? In which case he's more or less a dictator, benevolent 
> or otherwise.

There's not much evidence that a legislature even exists.  There are some "Acts" which by their name should have been passed by a legislature.  But then in OOP, ch. 15,  the Daily Prophet refers to the Educational Decrees as "new laws" that were "passed" by "the Ministry of Magic".  To me, a "decree" sounds more like an edict (or regulation) issued by an executive than a piece of legislation passed by a legislature.  Sometimes I think this is an example of JKR showing how arbitrary WW government is, but it may just be sloppy usage of language by someone who is not schooled in the law.  

The Daily Prophet article announcing Umbridge's appointment as High Inquisitor is quite interesting in its phrasing:

"In a surprise move last night, the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts" 

The Decree was passed at night.  If there was a real legislature (and I don't think the International Confederation of Wizards is it because the MoM is not an international organization) how much notice was given to likely dissenters?  No more than Harry got regarding the change in time and place of his hearing, I'll bet.  

And, very telling, "Wizengamot elders Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden have resigned in protest."

Could the Wizengamot serve as the legislative as well as the judicial body?  Like a general council of wizards?  Otherwise resigning from the Wizengamot seems like an odd response to an act of the legislature.  If the Wizengamot was the legislature, I doubt Marchbanks and Ogden got notice of that late-night session.

Really, there doesn't seem to be time for any real legislative process.  Educational Decree No. 24, the one that authorized Umbridge to disband all student organizations, was apparently issued on a Sunday (the day after the meeting at the Hogs Head).  It seems to me that Fudge effectively controls the legislature -- even if it exists -- if he can call a session and arrange for selective notice in order to pass decrees to increase his own power to engage in micromanagement.  The Daily Prophet gave us a hint of that when it stated (regarding ED No. 23) that *Fudge* (not the legislature) "has used new laws to effect improvements".

There's also no indication that any legislative body (whether or not it's the Wizengamot or the International Confederation) is elected.  The MoM seems to have the power to oust people from Wizengamot and International Confederation of Wizards positions.  These scattered facts about how the MoM operates creates the flavor of a cozy little oligarchy that determines who is appointed to all positions, with the Minister having ultimate authority over everything, much like a monarch in the old days before the Muggle world and the WW split apart.  In fact, I envision a process like the papal college of cardinals, in which the pope selects the cardinals, and when the pope dies the cardinals select the new pope from among their number.  
   
It's interesting that Dumbledore never wanted the MoM job, where he would have been able to institute reform from the inside.  Perhaps JKR believes that governments are inevitably corrupt, and that true reform can only come from the outside. 

Debbie


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