1.) A Republic where the head of state/head of government is directly inherited by members of a family, without direct election for that post.
2.) A Republic where elections are contested, and to some degree dominated by a political dynasty.
The former is a monarchy with republican trappings. The latter is a republic with oligarchic undertones.
We have Cromwellian England and the United States as Real Life examples, when the former had a leader whose post was directly inherited, without an election within a single family, and the latter has free elections that have featured prominent political dynasties, with the outcome sometimes decidedly not in their favor. The two examples are very different on a fundamental level. I feel like the trope is diluted to a vague, "republic with political families," which
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Hide / Show Replies
I feel like this trope describes two phenomena:
1.) A Republic where the head of state/head of government is directly inherited by members of a family, without direct election for that post.
2.) A Republic where elections are contested, and to some degree dominated by a political dynasty.
The former is a monarchy with republican trappings. The latter is a republic with oligarchic undertones.
We have Cromwellian England and the United States as Real Life examples, when the former had a leader whose post was directly inherited, without an election within a single family, and the latter has free elections that have featured prominent political dynasties, with the outcome sometimes decidedly not in their favor. The two examples are very different on a fundamental level. I feel like the trope is diluted to a vague, "republic with political families," which
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." Hide / Show Replies