Tarmagon
Murphy was an optimist.
Ryan's guts had slowly turned to lead as Deicinta recounted the history of her realms government. He shouldn't really have been surprised, considering the checkered history of government on Earth, but still... As she recounted the rise of the charismatic warlord to King, and his intransigence to anything that could possibly be a challenge to his personal power, he felt his heart sink. A King with 'advisors' was a fancy name for a dictator with toadies in his mind.
"My people went through a period of similar government," he said honestly, meeting the serpentess' eyes directly. "And as we looked back on our history, we called that period the 'Dark Ages'. My planet has had kings, warlords, conquerors, dictators, presidents... the list is nigh on endless. All of them worked, at least for a time. We even had a period of theocratic rule, but that was, unsuccessful. Currently we have a form of republic. Each of our... regions, I suppose is the best way to put it, chooses a representative by general election. It is the responsibility of that representative to carry the opinions and worries of their region to the Assembly, which is made up of representatives from all the regions of our world. If the representatives cannot agree by majority upon an issue, they may request the services of an Adjudicator. The Adjudicators are law masters who have foresworn all ties to their homelands in the pursuit of equality under the law for all. Their decisions are made upon the benefits and fairness of an action to all parties concerned, and while never making everyone happy, they are respected and their words, while not law, carry the force of law. No one has ever asked for the services of an Adjudicator and not respected their decision. Generally, people try to work things out without resorting to the Assembly or Adjudicators. While we have a Speaker for the Assembly, he or she is chosen at random from all representatives, and rotates regularly. The Speaker has no power save to enforce the rules of conduct in the chamber."
Ryan knew that there was a general groundswell of opinion to bring back the post of President, albeit with limited powers, to give the planet a single person to rally behind. He wasn't certain it was a good or bad idea. Idly he wondered if he'd ever see the results of the debate that was certainly going on in the Assembly, then shook his head.
"Our system works because of our ability for everyone to communicate," he said. "There is no chance for votes to be miscounted, and should a representative go against the will of his or her region, they will be removed immediately and replaced. There were times in our past where charismatic war leaders rose to power, and a few, very few, of them actually were beneficial for the people being governed. Unfortunately, the skills and tactics that make a good general do not always translate well to being a good steward of a people. If it is not a secret, how large an area answers to your King? What amount of their labor are the people required to send to the King? Do the warriors answer to their home villages, or to the King?"
_Sargotha_ (Hmm. Not giving Ryan the warm and fuzzies here. Maybe he'll be lucky and the capital is a looong way away.)
"My people went through a period of similar government," he said honestly, meeting the serpentess' eyes directly. "And as we looked back on our history, we called that period the 'Dark Ages'. My planet has had kings, warlords, conquerors, dictators, presidents... the list is nigh on endless. All of them worked, at least for a time. We even had a period of theocratic rule, but that was, unsuccessful. Currently we have a form of republic. Each of our... regions, I suppose is the best way to put it, chooses a representative by general election. It is the responsibility of that representative to carry the opinions and worries of their region to the Assembly, which is made up of representatives from all the regions of our world. If the representatives cannot agree by majority upon an issue, they may request the services of an Adjudicator. The Adjudicators are law masters who have foresworn all ties to their homelands in the pursuit of equality under the law for all. Their decisions are made upon the benefits and fairness of an action to all parties concerned, and while never making everyone happy, they are respected and their words, while not law, carry the force of law. No one has ever asked for the services of an Adjudicator and not respected their decision. Generally, people try to work things out without resorting to the Assembly or Adjudicators. While we have a Speaker for the Assembly, he or she is chosen at random from all representatives, and rotates regularly. The Speaker has no power save to enforce the rules of conduct in the chamber."
Ryan knew that there was a general groundswell of opinion to bring back the post of President, albeit with limited powers, to give the planet a single person to rally behind. He wasn't certain it was a good or bad idea. Idly he wondered if he'd ever see the results of the debate that was certainly going on in the Assembly, then shook his head.
"Our system works because of our ability for everyone to communicate," he said. "There is no chance for votes to be miscounted, and should a representative go against the will of his or her region, they will be removed immediately and replaced. There were times in our past where charismatic war leaders rose to power, and a few, very few, of them actually were beneficial for the people being governed. Unfortunately, the skills and tactics that make a good general do not always translate well to being a good steward of a people. If it is not a secret, how large an area answers to your King? What amount of their labor are the people required to send to the King? Do the warriors answer to their home villages, or to the King?"
_Sargotha_ (Hmm. Not giving Ryan the warm and fuzzies here. Maybe he'll be lucky and the capital is a looong way away.)