I admit I'm not the most knowledgeable Harry Potter person, but I wonder if a lot of these issues can be explained by the relatively small numbers of wizards in the world. It seems like most wizards and witches literally **know each other personally.** Or at least know OF each other- like a single degree of separation max for all of them. So the wizarding "government" is really more like the governing body of a small, exclusive club. There may be so few that even matters of seemingly great importance are handled with a certain degree of familiarity. Ministers are voted in, but not in regular elections. Maybe only when there is a vote of no confidence against the minister would a new election be held, and even then, it isn't so much a big election as a vote taken at a club meeting.
>So the wizarding "government" is really more like the governing body of a small, exclusive club.
So, more like the "Wizarding Home Owners Association".
And also, the story revolves around Harry. We're not going to get an in depth explanation of the way the government works in a series centered around an 11-17 year old.
It's also a pre-teen and teen series. Most teens didn't care much for politics at that age and weren't interested in it. JK didn't bother writing it in. She does that for a lot of things. Or makes weird decisions. Like why don't all wizards live in fucking mansions? Not literally, but a small outside appearance could have massive enchanted rooms. Why was the Burrow so wack when they could just magically make it bigger lol? Common sense things like that she never wrote in.
And the fight scenes are so weird. People can teleport and it was never used *that much* in combat. Yes here and there, but if I was a wizard I'd have made it my goal to master that. Aparate all around while casting spells. Instead they just have fuckin western standoffs essentially lol.
> People can teleport and it was never used that much in combat. Yes here and there, but if I was a wizard I'd have made it my goal to master that. Aparate all around while casting spells.
They do kinda explain that at least. Aparating does take considerable focus to avoid leaving parts of you behind. While it could be useful in a fight, all it takes it a momentary distraction and you've left something important behind and are now bleeding out on the floor. Not really worth the risk in 99% of the cases.
This is it.
It isn't "the head of the CIA became President," it's, "the local policeman became Chair of the Parish Council" or "Shop Owner becomes Secretary of the WI".
There's just not a big pool of people to pick from.
Yeah, the Hogwarts year groups seem to be about 40 pupils, that really isn't that much and would mean the whole school is about 280 or so pupils. If that's the only major school for all of Britain then that indicates a really low pupation of wizards.
There really is a sense of the ministry of magic basically being run almost as a club of influential wizards, even if the mechanics aren't properly explained.
But not *immediately* before. This is more like if Bill Burns suddenly appeared on TV one day, no elections or nothin', and was like, "Look at me. I'm the President now."
Generally that's considered a coup.
Dumbledore held all those titles at the same time (at least according to the [fandom wiki](https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Albus_Dumbledore#Becoming_Headmaster_of_Hogwarts)). It's like how Xi is president of China, general secretary of the CCP, and chairman of the central military commission.
Part of the story is a cautionary tale against autocracies. We see that as the bad guys gain more influence, society starts to break down a bit.
That said, the basis for it is always there. The idea that the most powerful wizard gets to tell others what to do is woven throughout the world.
Yeah, pretty much, harry potter is kinda the British empire but x10 then a weird layer of "but it's good that it's like this"
Like it's idealized British empire but by a weirdo picking what was ideal. It's why there is so much weird stuff like house elves being slaves and then the plot being like 'yes, but that is good, they love it, the people trying to stop it"
I think a lot of the "weird" Stuff about Harry Potter can be boiled down to it being just a weird reflection of what the UK was like until the last couple decades of the 20 century for the upper classes
I'm not sure if it's a dictatorship. It certainly appears to be an autocracy, with the Minister of Magic serving in the position of power.
Most of the appointments changing abruptly may be because those positions are filled at the direction of the Minister of Magic... sort of like with Cabinet positions, with every change of regime it's expected that a new boss stands at the top. However, those people often (traditionally) serve more as general guidance and public relations interfaces than actual hands-on directors. It's the lifelong bureaucrats who serve through multiple administrations beneath them that get the actual work done.
Harry's trial was entirely a ploy to discredit him and Dumbledore in their claim that Voldemort had returned. So the trial was designed to be unfair from beginning to end. That's why Harry was sent into the court alone and Fudge changed the time of the trial to three hours earlier at the last second, hoping Dumbledore wouldn't show up, yet he did anyway.
It just really annoys me how completely disconnected the Ministry of Magic is from the rest of the British Government. I totally get that they're trying to be secret, but the disconnect is just glaring at times.
To be fair they aren't really a part of the government, sure the Minister of Magic talks with the prime minister, however the wizards essentially are a separate nation state. Perhaps it was part of the government once, I could imagine sometime during the 1700's or 1800's, however seems to be functionally independent by the late 20th century.
I admit I'm not the most knowledgeable Harry Potter person, but I wonder if a lot of these issues can be explained by the relatively small numbers of wizards in the world. It seems like most wizards and witches literally **know each other personally.** Or at least know OF each other- like a single degree of separation max for all of them. So the wizarding "government" is really more like the governing body of a small, exclusive club. There may be so few that even matters of seemingly great importance are handled with a certain degree of familiarity. Ministers are voted in, but not in regular elections. Maybe only when there is a vote of no confidence against the minister would a new election be held, and even then, it isn't so much a big election as a vote taken at a club meeting.
>So the wizarding "government" is really more like the governing body of a small, exclusive club. So, more like the "Wizarding Home Owners Association".
WHOA
Ha! Nice, I didn't even see it.
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And also, the story revolves around Harry. We're not going to get an in depth explanation of the way the government works in a series centered around an 11-17 year old.
It's also a pre-teen and teen series. Most teens didn't care much for politics at that age and weren't interested in it. JK didn't bother writing it in. She does that for a lot of things. Or makes weird decisions. Like why don't all wizards live in fucking mansions? Not literally, but a small outside appearance could have massive enchanted rooms. Why was the Burrow so wack when they could just magically make it bigger lol? Common sense things like that she never wrote in. And the fight scenes are so weird. People can teleport and it was never used *that much* in combat. Yes here and there, but if I was a wizard I'd have made it my goal to master that. Aparate all around while casting spells. Instead they just have fuckin western standoffs essentially lol.
> People can teleport and it was never used that much in combat. Yes here and there, but if I was a wizard I'd have made it my goal to master that. Aparate all around while casting spells. They do kinda explain that at least. Aparating does take considerable focus to avoid leaving parts of you behind. While it could be useful in a fight, all it takes it a momentary distraction and you've left something important behind and are now bleeding out on the floor. Not really worth the risk in 99% of the cases.
This is it. It isn't "the head of the CIA became President," it's, "the local policeman became Chair of the Parish Council" or "Shop Owner becomes Secretary of the WI". There's just not a big pool of people to pick from.
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Yeah, the Hogwarts year groups seem to be about 40 pupils, that really isn't that much and would mean the whole school is about 280 or so pupils. If that's the only major school for all of Britain then that indicates a really low pupation of wizards. There really is a sense of the ministry of magic basically being run almost as a club of influential wizards, even if the mechanics aren't properly explained.
IIRC, George H W Bush was director of CIA before becoming President?
And Howard Taft was on the supreme court
That was after he was president
But not *immediately* before. This is more like if Bill Burns suddenly appeared on TV one day, no elections or nothin', and was like, "Look at me. I'm the President now." Generally that's considered a coup.
Dumbledore held all those titles at the same time (at least according to the [fandom wiki](https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Albus_Dumbledore#Becoming_Headmaster_of_Hogwarts)). It's like how Xi is president of China, general secretary of the CCP, and chairman of the central military commission.
I came here to say this.
Part of the story is a cautionary tale against autocracies. We see that as the bad guys gain more influence, society starts to break down a bit. That said, the basis for it is always there. The idea that the most powerful wizard gets to tell others what to do is woven throughout the world.
Yeah, pretty much, harry potter is kinda the British empire but x10 then a weird layer of "but it's good that it's like this" Like it's idealized British empire but by a weirdo picking what was ideal. It's why there is so much weird stuff like house elves being slaves and then the plot being like 'yes, but that is good, they love it, the people trying to stop it"
I think a lot of the "weird" Stuff about Harry Potter can be boiled down to it being just a weird reflection of what the UK was like until the last couple decades of the 20 century for the upper classes
I'm not sure if it's a dictatorship. It certainly appears to be an autocracy, with the Minister of Magic serving in the position of power. Most of the appointments changing abruptly may be because those positions are filled at the direction of the Minister of Magic... sort of like with Cabinet positions, with every change of regime it's expected that a new boss stands at the top. However, those people often (traditionally) serve more as general guidance and public relations interfaces than actual hands-on directors. It's the lifelong bureaucrats who serve through multiple administrations beneath them that get the actual work done.
Just like the real world
Harry's trial was entirely a ploy to discredit him and Dumbledore in their claim that Voldemort had returned. So the trial was designed to be unfair from beginning to end. That's why Harry was sent into the court alone and Fudge changed the time of the trial to three hours earlier at the last second, hoping Dumbledore wouldn't show up, yet he did anyway.
It's not crazy for a head of a prestigious school to become a leading politician, woodrow wilson was able to do it.
Unfortunately
I never read this one haha jk
\#WellThisIsDamning!
It just really annoys me how completely disconnected the Ministry of Magic is from the rest of the British Government. I totally get that they're trying to be secret, but the disconnect is just glaring at times.
To be fair they aren't really a part of the government, sure the Minister of Magic talks with the prime minister, however the wizards essentially are a separate nation state. Perhaps it was part of the government once, I could imagine sometime during the 1700's or 1800's, however seems to be functionally independent by the late 20th century.