Subject: 72:7/7297 Regency and Succession
TS::>Jeff Zeitlin comments:
::>> When your empire gets too large to allow for this, you need a
::>> simple, clear, automatic method of replacement. Thus,
::>> inheritance. Thus, monarchy.
::>>
TS::>The people of the Regency might not be too keen on this. After all, look
::>what happened the last time someone had to decide who got to inherit the
::>Throne. Perhaps voting is the easier option after all. It may be slow,
::>but what the hell are you in a hurry for? With a large Empire the
::>ability of the central government to make decisions that actually matter
::>(rather than just rubber stamping those made by government agencies) is
::>extremely limited. What did Strephon actually do as Emperor? Until
::>the Rebellion he hardly figured at all in the lives of most citizens of
::>the Imperium. He was just a figurehead, a symbol. The day to day
::>running of the Imperium (and any large government) is in the hands of
::>its' civil servants. And no-one elects them. Nor do they inherit their
::>positions (although there's some doubt about that).
Your point is conceded from the viewpoint of _real_ power. The
problem is that of _perceived_ power, and guidance. The United
States, for example, could in fact get along quite well without a
President; yet let him get assassinated, and the Vice President
will have to take the Oath of Office as soon as possible, to
prevent a world-wide panic because "nobody is at the helm" of
"the most important nation on Earth". Similarly with the
Imperium or the Regency. There must be someone at the helm, or
the people will lose confidence in the government. With the
Spinward States, I get the impression that it was Norris's
personal charisma that was what made it possible for the other
states to put aside their distrust of each other and work
together for mutual survival. If Norris dies with a
"hand-picked" successor, the other states will likely give that
successor the benefit of the doubt, and see how well things work
out. In the event that Norris dies without a successor, the more
opportunistic factions in the _other_ states may prevail in their
counsels, and the Spinward States would then go down together.
So, why won't they hold off long enough for the Regency to hold
an election? Well, maybe they will. But what happens if the
first round of balloting (which must take _months_) doesn't
produce a clear choice? How long are the other states going to
wait for a clear choice in the Regency? These are questions that
must be considered. Remember that both the Vargr and the Aslan
took advantage of a perceived weakness in the Imperium when there
was no clear choice. Why should they refrain again? In the case
of the Domain of Deneb, a local charismatic leader was able to
stabilize the situation. But there is no similar leader waiting
to step in if Norris is removed from the picture. Thus, Norris,
even more than the previous Emperors, _must_ have a heir
apparent. Such a person need not be related by blood. But the
provision must be there for _that_person_ to take over on zero
notice.
TS::>The discussion about the legitimacy of the Regent's claim to the throne
::>is beginning to resemble Imperial Law 101. Putting on my Machiavellian
::>hat, I'd propose that all this stuff about legitimacy doesn't matter one
Conceded, again. But it takes _one_ person to provide that
inspirational leadership that makes it possible for the empire to
assert that legitimacy and have the people go along with it.
Even that might not be enough; we don't know how bloody the
"Pacification Wars" really were. But the perceived image of
legitimacy, and a charismatic leader, almost certainly helped.
TS::>Another example: the Right of Succession by Assassination seems to me to
::>have been invented by the Imperial Moot as an expedient measure when
::>faced with a powerful pretender to the Throne who they couldn't stop.
::>If some bozo turned up at the Capital with a huge fleet
::>of warships, killed the Emperor and then declared himself/herself the
::>new Emperor what was the Moot going to do? Yup, legitimate the new
::>Emperor by declaring a "Right of Succession by Assassination" clause in
::>Imperial Law. This was a convenient way for the members of the Moot
::>to avoid being killed themselves.
Actually, the RoA was created by the Moot to rid themselves of a
dangerous lunatic who had achieved the throne by normal and legal
succession. They didn't know he was a lunatic when the
legitimized him. They hired a fleet admiral to bump him off.
The payment was the Iridium Throne itself.
TS::>Quite why Norris has continued to call himself Regent for the 70 years
::>following the events of Arrival Vengeance I don't understand. Is he
::>waiting for a legitimate heir to appear? From where, exactly? Since
::>the AV crew met the real Strephon and Norris believed him to be the
::>real Strephon and the real Strephon bequeathed the Throne to Norris
::>(for what it was worth, Strephon may have been ruler on paper but
::>by that point he certainly wasn't ruler in fact) then Norris (on paper)
::>is the Emperor and so is whovever he decides to pass the title on to.
::>Whether anyone else outside the Regency will accept this is moot. But
::>then, they didn't accept it at the time of the Rebellion (hence the
::>Rebellion). Personally, I think that all this debate about legitimacy
::>is a waste of time and bandwidth: we're rehashing a problem that couldn'
::>be resolved 70 years ago. I don't think that it can be solved now either.
Well, Strephon didn't really make Norris the heir to the throne.
He made it clear that Norris was the only one left to carry on
the traditions, but as far as Norris's rank goes, he was only
confirmed in his self-assumed title of Archduke of the Domain of
Deneb. It was basically when the Collapse came that the Domain
sealed its borders, and basically proclaimed to its people that
it was the Regency for the Imperium that Was. After that, it was
just common usage that got "out of hand".
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin [email removed]
- ---
~ QMPro 1.52 ~ Not by killing others.