When I used to teach comparative government, we picked five countries whose governmental structure were so radically different from each other, that the students had to figure out, “How on Earth does that work?” So when I was considering, “How would a bunch of American wizards decide who was their leader,” the possibilities are endless.
In my current novel in what I’m calling the “Crane-verse,” I had to face the question, “How do you get a bunch of wizards who can cast fireballs to work together?” Answer: they were going to work for balance. Now add in the (limited) Potter-verse MACUSA canon: there’s a president, a unicameral legislature, and it was established in 1693, predating the Continental Congress by eighty years. Their government wasn’t going to be pure democracy, certainly not one person one vote, and they would go out of their way to keep all the major factions in the country, if not happy, at least accepting the result.
So I started with Congress. Assuming 18,000 wizards in the United States (using 0.02% of population rule taken from the Potter-verse), you don’t want to have too big a legislature, but enough for it to handle all the duties that a small city requires. My answer: 50 representatives, 30 elected from single-member districts and 20 “reserved” seats. Reserved for whom? Founding families, powerful groups, two for goblins (they run the money supply), other non-humans, hedge mages, et al. Since a lot of these reserved seats have developed over time, the Wizarding Society of Friends (Quakers) have a seat, but haven’t been a power since 1800… yet no one will expel them either. Even seven of the reserved seats aren’t fill because the centaurs can’t agree with the sasquatches who should represent them. It’s a balance of representatives that seems ridiculously believable.
That leaves the President. In my story, he’s barely there… because I’ve only added Congress in for flavor. However, as the stakes get higher, they’ll have to be involved, so I need to know how they’re elected. We use the electoral college for the muggle US President, because of the belief that the mob is too dangerous/fickle to elect our leader on their own; so our founders put in oversight. The wizards in 1693 were unifying out of the Salem Witch Trials. They needed one leader to help them face the danger, but they needed someone who wouldn’t turn around and make themselves king, since that’s why they left Britain in the first place.
So how do we achieve security, balance, and trust among all factions? You can’t, so you compromise. Here’s the solution that I like:
- Congress shall nominate any registered wizard that has held public office for five years. They must be nominated by three members, one of which must be from a reserved seat.
- Any candidate who accepts the position must have their financial history reviewed by the goblins in order to ensure their financial independence. Any debts / obligations to criminal organizations or foreign governments would disqualify them.
- Any qualified candidate is then put up for a public challenge period of 30 days, where any registered wizard can formally challenge the candidates standing before three judges. This challenge almost never works, but it reveals disqualifying information.
- Congress then deliberates over the remaining candidates, probably having multiple rounds of voting to eliminate the candidates with the lowest support, until only two remain.
- All registered wizards then vote to choose which of the two candidates become President.
In this solution, not anyone can be President, you would have had to serve first. Since I established that congressmen serve four years, the five year limit means that your own constituency has to like you enough to reelect you. This shows your commitment to the Republic. You keep the goblins happy by giving them veto power, and since they run the financial system, you want them happy. We don’t have primaries, so offer a challenge period to rake up all that muck. Then anyone who survives all that is approved by Congress, but the people get to approve Congress’s choice. Balance of powers, makes it difficult for demagogues to run the room, and keeps things stable.
Now even the best system can mess up, but when thinking how super-powered citizens try to mitigate disaster, this seems like a decent solution. Pop a comment down if you’ve got a better one. Or you can read how it works in No Such Wizard, my recent novel, I could publish it. If you’re a dedicated Kindle user like I am, it’s only $0.99. Check it out. If you’re a cheapskate like me, I still want you to read it, but you can check it out on An Archive of Our Own (AO3) with simpler formatting, but the words are all the same. Enjoy!
Albigensia Press 