What ME government most closely approximates a democracy?

[Jon S.]

Limited choices, it would seem. The Entmoot comes to my mind first as a possible candidate. More a consensus-building mechanism than majority rules but democratic in principle.

[BeardofPants]

The Shire had some govt positions.

[CAB]

I think I would vote for Laketown.

[Curufin]

Not really very many, to be honest. They're all Monarchies, except for the ones mentioned above. Of course, democracy is an enlightenment concept, and was virtually unheard of before the 17th or 18th century. Since Tolkien's legendarium takes place somewhere in England's mythic past, it would look rather silly for it to jumpstart history, now wouldn't it? ;)

That said, I think the Eldar in Valinor, while they had kings (of course) were not terribly burdened by social strata. There was nothing said, for instance, of Fëanáro, eldest son of Finwë and his heir apparent, marrying the daughter of a smith. That, in a way, is rather egalitarian and democratic in a sense.

[BeardofPants]

What the... Wrong. That period of time was the re-emergence of democracy. Respectfully, you are writing off a lot of ancient history by saying that it was virtually nonexistent.

[Curufin]

Egad, you're right. I was thinking of Anglo-American democracy exclusively, and you're right that I'm completely wrong on that.

*gives Kudos to Greece, etc*

Thanks for the correction. I don't know where my brain was when I wrote that post.

EDIT: However, I stick by my point that for England, democracy was a concept not really thought of before the 17th or 18th century, and Tolkien would have been rather anachronistic to make his 'English' mythology full of democratic institutions.

[Jon S.]

Cool - I found this!

Democracy in Middle-earth:
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings from a Socio-Political Perspective
Alexander van de Bergh

The various peoples of Middle-earth differ not only in their languages, but also in their ways of living together as a nation or at least a commu*nity. It is not so much the microanalysis of individual cooperation, as in the Fellowship, but the (by critics lesser valued) governments that are of interest in this article. The possibilities range from the totalitarian dic*ta*torship in Mordor to the human monarchies to the idealized self-con*trol of the Hobbits. We assume that these forms of government are not arbi*trarily placed by Tolkien; instead, they relate to the respective peo*ples and to the fictional world of Middle-earth, hence adding substance to the novel as a whole. We can further assume that the events of the early and middle 20th century, among them the rise of the European dictatorships, had their share in contributing to the novel as it is now. Yet this does not mean that each and every aspect of the fictional gov*ernments could be allegorically translated into patterns of reality. It will become clear that there is indeed a close relationship between the peo*ples and their respective governments; that they share strengths and weaknesses. Com*paring the implicitly and explicitly judging commen*taries of the forms of government, we will see that the narration does not actively support democracy as a whole, but instead focuses on each individual’s own re*sponsibility.

ALEXANDER VAN DE BERGH has studied English, American and German literature and psychology at the Justus-Liebig-Universiy of Giessen. His focus is on the fantastic branch of literature, including science fiction and fantasy. Currently he is working on his dissertation on the topic ‘The Beauty of the Beast: Love Between Humans and Non-Humans in English and American Fantastic Literature’. His latest publica*tion is: Mittelerde und das 21. Jahrhundert. Zivilisationskritik und alternative Gesellschaftentwürfe in J.R.R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings. Trier: WVT, 2005. He is chairperson of the section ‘Phantastische Welten’ at the ‘Gießener Graduier*tenzentrum Kulturwissenschaften’ and he is working as a translator for Nintendo of Europe.

See also Tolkien and Modernity 2 (Cormarë Series No. 10)

t.b.d. pages, Walking Tree Publishers 2006, Cormarë No. 9, Editors: Thomas Honegger and Frank Weinreich, ISBN: 978-3-905703-02-3.

http://www.proaktiva.ch/walkingtree/cormareBookInfo.php?number=9

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

None. With the exception of Mordor, as an arbitrary totalitarian state, and the monarchies of the dwarves and such, there's not much that reflects any interest in government of any kind. Or, in fact, enterprise of any kind.