Skip to main content

harry potter - How Is the Minister For Magic Chosen and What Qualifications Are Required To Hold Office?


Is there an election process for the Minister for Magic? Or is the Minister appointed? If he/she is appointed, by whom is he/she chosen? Aside from being, obviously, a witch or wizard, what minimum requirements (education; career track; nationality; etc) are there for being eligible for Minister for Magic? Policy-wise, are the Ministers for Magic just successive permutations of each other, or has any Minister brought a progressive and fresh point of view to the office?



Answer



I can't answer all the points in your question, but the Minister for Magic is absolutely an elected official (First question), at least if you take Xenophelius Lovegood as a reliable source. Whether it's an election by the public, by Sr. Ministry officials, or even the Wizengamot is unclear.



Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, denied that he had plans to take over running the Wizarding Bank, Gringotts, when he was elected five years ago.



Quote from the Quibbler in Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 10, page 192 (U.S.A Hardcover, 2nd Edition)



I'm not aware of any further clarification, answering the other questions, canonical or otherwise. I have guesses based on what we do know...


As far as requirements, it does seem that fame and popularity are factors. That's not much different than Muggle politics.



  • Dumbledore was, of course, asked to take the position. He was both famous and powerful.

  • Kingsley Shacklebolt is the last known Minister for Magic. Also famous and powerful (perhaps not as much as Dumbledore, but he was a well-known Auror, and did his part in the resistance.)


Popularity and ability don't seem to be the only factor. As with Muggle politics, the mood of the public at the time of election appears to be a factor in who wins.



  • Barty Crouch was thought to be a shoe-in until he suffered a scandal. While he was still popular, he gained his fame by mercilessly rooting out Death-Eaters, which would have been seen very favorably in those frightening times.



I'm not so sure, however, about Scrimgeour. He was Fudge's successor after Fudge was "sacked". (Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 1). There's no mention of election, but that doesn't rule it out. I was always under the impression that he was appointed for the position. Either way, Scrimgeour had traits that would be desirable tot he public. He gave off the aura of "shrewdness" and "toughness" that the Muggle Prime Minister picked up on in his first impression.


It would certainly have helped him win an election, but it could also be that Ministry officials appointed him to the position, pending a coming election because the Ministry wanted someone tough in office to reassure the public. That's all pure speculation, though, because there doesn't appear to be any canon on the subject.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more