If the Scothani Empire had not been incorporated into the Terran Empire, would it have been able to reform itself gradually by political negotiation and compromise?
Would the King have accepted that the nobles should vote on taxation?
Would the nobles have accepted that the commons should elect a lower house of the parliament?
Would the nobles later have accepted the extension of the electoral principle to the upper house?
Would Scothan females have gained equality?
Would slaves and subject peoples have been granted their freedom without having to fight for it?
Would all this have been achieved without any need to resist and overcome violent reaction?
Preferably but I doubt it.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Scotha was not exactly directly incorporated into the Empire, if only because of its sheer distance from Terra making that undesirable. Rather, it became a client ally or protectorate, with a good deal of internal autonomy, with an Imperial resident keeping an eye on Scotha, just in case it reverted to bad old ways.
The kind of political evolution you outlined would have far better than violent revolution, bloodshed, tyranny, etc., that we have so often seen in real revolutions on Earth. I would suggest that Terran influence and suggestions might have brought about much of that evolution.
The purpose of an upper house is not whether its members are elected or not, but to act as a check or brake on the passing, transitory passions which might happen to dominate the lower house. There are good arguments for saying hereditary, life long appointments, or at least long elected terms in the upper house frees its members from being cowed or intimidated from popular passions or threats.
Unfortunately, the left in the US is trying to debase and corrupt the Senate. Many Democrats are now agitating to turn the NATIONAL CAPITAL, a territory of only about sixty square miles, into a fake state, precisely because they expect to get two imitation senators from this "state" and permanent dominance of the upper house, freeing them from the tiresome need to heed the demands of their opponents and be forced to compromise.
I see nothing but disaster in turning the District of Columbia into a fake "state." And I have already protested against that bad idea to my local House representative. However, she is a Democrat, so I don't expect her to give a darn what I think.
We are facing very bad days in the US, as "Josip" and his Democrats proceed to wreck the country because of their folly, stupidity, fanaticism, and incompetence.
Ad astra! Sean
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