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I just had a few questions about the Ministry's election system:
How is a Minister of Magic chosen?
We know that the Wizengamot is a sort of judical branch of the Ministry, but is there also a legislature branch? If there is, how are people chosen?
How many years is one term as Minster of Magic?
This question is not that important, and slightly off-topic, but is there a wizard form of the UN?
We don't have much insight into how the Minister for Magic is chosen. We know that Barty Crouch was 'tipped to be the next Minister', and that Dumbledore had been asked several times to fill the post, and that to me doesn't really suggest a vote among all the people in the wizarding community. Perhaps the person is elected by the Wizangamot. I think there have been threads in the past on this subject. Yes, here's one. It might be an idea to look over that.
Fudge was Minister for six years, from 1990 to 1996, and it's noted that he was forced to leave office, rather than lose an election. Millicent Bagnold also retires instead of losing. We don't know if there's a set term or not, but the fact that past Ministers have retired or been forced out suggests that there isn't really. This is quoted from the other thread regarding terms of office in England:
I suppose the wizarding version of the UN would be the International Confederation of Wizards.Quote:
Originally posted by Tim the Enchanter:
There is no term of office for the Muggle Prime Minister. He (or she, in the case of Thatcher) simply stays in power for as long as his party or party coalition retains a majority in Parliament. However, a PM could also lose his position by dying or being rendered invalid somehow, by resigning, or by being voted out of office by a vote of no confidence. Since there aren't any political parties in the wizarding world (that we're aware of), the Minister for Magic would probably stay in office until he dies, retires or resigns, or is voted out.
I'm really not very knowledgable about politics and government so I don't really feel comfortable adding any more, but I hope the information above helps somewhat.
Sarah x
I have a few more questions:
how many members are there on the Wizengamot?
How are they chosen?
Do they have a set term or is it until they die or resign?
how many members are there on the Wizengamot?
According to the Harry Potter wiki, there are about 50 members. I don't recall how many there were in Harry's trial by the "entire" Wizengamot in OOtP, but that number seems about right. Though in my imagination, I pictured up to a hundred.
How are they chosen?
There is nothing mentioned in the books about this, but seeing how the Ministry of Magic is seemingly devoid of democratic processes, the Wizengamot members are almost certainly not elected by the public.
I would imagine that the Wizengamot and the Minister for Magic select and choose who becomes a member. The fact that Albus Dumbledore was the Chief Warlock until fired by Fudge and Co. in OOtP would seem to indicate this. The Wizengamot appears to be a very exclusive organization with strict membership requirements (including having the right ideological outlook), so potential candidates must have all the right credentials and be chosen by the Wizengamot to be a member.
That's just my view.
Do they have a set term or is it until they die or resign?
I would think Wizemgamot members retain their post until they die, resign, or are booted out.
Tim the Enchanter
How is a Minister of Magic chosen?
Something else to consider might be to think of the Ministry of Magic as just another one of the British Ministries. I mean, they spoke with the Prime Minister, and I almost think that the Ministry of Magic was formed out of a desire to model the Muggle form of government. Try looking into how the other Minister of all the other Ministries are chosen, and maybe you can find a way to go off of that.
How many years is one term as Minster of Magic?
Again, looking into how the British Ministries work in terms of...terms might be a good way too. Of course, the Ministry of Magic and the other British Ministries might have nothing to do with on another, and wizard-kind just stole the word, because they're jerks that way.
In my stories, the American Secretary of Magic is a member of the president's cabinet, just like the Secretaries of all the other Departments. Every president provides their own cabinet when they are elected president, so the American Departments of government get a complete overhall every four or eight years.
Of course, most presidents don't know about the existence of magic, s on their very first day on the job, a group of pre-chosen candidates are brought into the Oval Office, and the president has until the end of the day to choose their Secretary of Magic...provided they don't have too big of a nervous breakdown from discovering that magic exists.
But on a related yet unrelated topic, something else you might want to consider is do the leaders of various countries get the honor of learning that magic exists as just another one of their perks, or is it something that is only done in emergancies like we saw in HBP and DH?