Isekai Kenkokuki - Vol. 2 Ch. 13

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this king is as fresh as a lettuce even when he´s coughing blood and is about to die....
 
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@boag

If you are implying about the US which I’m sure you are the central government is very much in control. Of course states have rights but the key things such as national defense and monetary control come under the federal government which are the key things mentioned by almus in the manga that need to be under the umbrella of the government. Just look at what happened in the American Civil War, confederate states thought they had the right to come in and out of the Union when they saw fit but eventually they lost and it only further entrenched that the central government is king but the US is a republic so it’s governed by representatives chosen by the people.

So once again I say go do so research on your history cause no country has functioned without the central government having those key things in their control. If they didn’t it would be like Almus said local leaders could conspire with foreign entities and undermine the nation....
 
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@boag - Step back the truck there. The highest point of the Roman Empire when was everything was centralized. Meanwhile its experiments with decentralization was moments was when it was already declining. If it did helped, it doesn't looked that obvious. There's just too many factors in its decline to cite any single reason, but especially citing centralization when Rome was decentralizing during its decline.

The reality is centralization and decentralization are both rightful governmental approaches depending on the context. You don't want a distant central governments dictating every little matter and thing (Soviet Union for an example). You also don't want things to be decentralized into the hands of a few military strongmen (current struggles of Afghanistan, 1918 China). Or squabbling aristocratic fiefdoms (Holy Roman Empire).

Democracy isn't a third option either - it's tangential. You can have a centralized democracy or a decentralized democracy. While the act of voting is the most decentralized thing, one can be voting in a very centralized system (like voting in matters that it's execution perform by a very centralized seat) or very decentralized (like voting in a town hall). Also when question is about increasing stability, getting a bunch of people who never voted for anything before is not going to help.

Narratively, his advice is largely unrealistic. Most governmental systems are organic. Concepts like Divine Right was not conceived in some round table, but politics between the political class and the religious class. Over time, leaders start to consciously use it to their advantage, but that's a different story than a guy telling the King that he should declare he is chosen by God when there's no historical or theological precedent (though also narratively, there are actual gods that may give actually their blessing, unlike real life when even for the religious, most can agree God is not conferring special authority).

And also it's just weird to for a character brought from the modern world to suggest it. Maybe it's just a Westerner's mentality (and Japan is a democracy despite still having an emperor), but there's too many historical drawbacks versus successes in justifying authority by God. If he aware enough of the concept to suggest Divine Rule, then he's aware enough to know its dangers. It would be much more fitting if his advice expand on what he suggested for two sentences: separating tax collection and the military from the nobility.

Also, this reminds me of a book that fits well to this discussion; Something Almus, the author, and we all should find to be a good read: "The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics" by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita.
 
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@boag Except not. Rome was much needed for centralization and military reforms, since in the pre-marius system, every soldier equipped themselves, and they were originally farmers, whom could only wage wars during the time they weren't needed on the fields. That's what stopped their expansion for a long time. After unificating the army, they had a new era of expansions. As for centralization, when it was done by Augustus, Rome went into a new golden age. Their fall actually lied in decentralization, having 4 emperors and such, beside the obvious problems that the empire had.
 
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@swaggernaut77 What did made European countries and the US a major power was not democracy, but the technological advancments, and the fact that by the time they created a democratic government, the common people were educated for a certain extent already, with public education and such.
 
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No idea how old this story's "country" is when we have conversations like the one in this chapter.

One game i like to reference for political changes and reformation is Victoria II where, the player intervening in their selected nation can use a few tricks to get the country to take the path they want. One such way to introduce something like decentralized democracy in a hardcore conservative (reactionary) nation is to go extreme in the opposite direction. Really make things so horrible that people WANT to be decentralized and rid of the government, bonus points if you suppress and goad resistance and revolt movements, that makes them grow!

You can also do the same with centralized socialist agendas, create massive economic disparity, build lots of factories and fill them with poor factory workers (none of those educated clerks) and watch the people's political position turn red.

Then whenever your revolt happens, just let them take over.

Would be a great read too. =P

Either way, people normally are very complacent with their current situations, if a government does their job well enough most won't mind. If you want to get reforms through you need pressure and desire for it.
 
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@LysandersTreason
To be fair, at least in a fantasy world gods might exist.
(because there wasn't enough shitstorm in this discussion already)
 
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I guess you guys all missed the trap Almus set for himself there, him being a God-sent child of the Griffin, and alll.
 

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