Quote:
Originally Posted by jbcohen
I have come to a recent conclusion that most of the books and TV shows that I have seen are about civilizations that ar rules by monarchs. Star Treck (the program talks about the elected body but we never get to see it in action) and Star Wars (where viewers get to see the republic's senate and often see elected representatives) stand out as exceptions to this rule. David Weber's civilization is run by a monarch and Michael R. Hick's civilization is not really a monarchy but it tends to act that way. The only reason that I can think of for this trend is that monarchs are easier for writers to deal with since there is no dynamics that need to be dealt with that acompany a democracy. Any thoughts on the issue?
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I used to see panels at SF conventions about government vs interstellar travel. There are good arguments to be made about the type and size of government that works or even can work, with respect to the speed of travel between units of the civilization. Democracy doesn't work very well between stars at lightspeed. Sending a representative means something different when it's a lifetime appointment due to travel. On the other hand, instant communications makes some government types more likely.
Just like the difference between a sailing ship commander before radio, and a modern naval commander, the speed of communications effects your level of responsibility for independent action. And there are spiritual arguments to be made that, even with a large bureaucracy to run the government, it can make a difference to public perception if there is a royal head of state that "cares for" the people.
Pure democracy only really works when you can meet and get to know every voter in the system. Beyond that scale, some representative is needed, and the level of legislative abstraction gets huge when you throw in lots of planets. If I can't go to an office to talk to my rep, does she really represent me? Maybe it's better to trust a royal prince, who at least might have the advantage of a good education (or not, but that's another reason for a story.....)