On the Treatise of Rule

Systems and their adaptation (2/2)

Democracy and Representative Democracy
Democracy entails that the people rule directly. On each pressing case they vote on what action to take. Free speech and freedom of the press is essential to the efficacy of a democracy. This, however, is cumbersome and extremely slow to work in a nation with a large population. It thus had only worked in the ancient city of Athens, with the exception of slaves, females, and men who were not born in Athens or who did not pay their taxes. Representative Democracy removes this problem. The people simply vote on representatives who then make decisions for the ones who voted for them. The same problems still exist, except on a far smaller scale. Decisions could be made too slow, but the risk of a faulty leader, and thus faulty decisions, is smaller.

In MagicDuel, Loreroot is ruled in such a way. A representative democracy, however, when there is a lack of enemies from the outside, could turn on each other, on the rival representatives. While this is not the case in Loreroot, it still remains a liability. Love is easily gained, but fear is not. The rule is more fair than a single ruler, however, as every person has a vote. This could still turn into a tyranny of the majority, however, if the representatives turn on each other. Then it would be akin to a faulty hereditary leader. The effects of such would be akin to being hated by their citizens. Currently, this is not the case in Loreroot and, as such, a long and stable rule is highly plausible. The lack of fear could be compensated by the great love they gain, as well as the spreading of risks that would come with absolute, single rulers.

Mandate
I hear you thinking, “The way people come to power in MagicDuel is not at all like the way that people on Earth gain power.” In the way that the rulers in MagicDuel usually get their mandate directly from Muratus del Mur, however, let it be obvious that people who have not proven themselves will have a hard time gaining such a mandate. Muratus del Mur is mostly a non-intervening power, so that also means that via the loyalty systems, power could be wrested away from the original ruler. As such, gaining the approval, love, and fear from the servants is still a goal for the rulers in MagicDuel.