The First Popular Ascendancy
The First Popular Ascendancy was a democratic republic which linked a number of formerly independent city states into a unified federation which became a world spanning government on Magicians' End, between 1920 APC and 2040 APC.
Structure
The First Popular Ascendancy was an early example of democratic theory on Magicians' End. Governmental policies were decided by a vote in the Popular Council, a parliamentry style debating body which met in the Popular Council Chamber at Arginbury. Members of the Popular Council were elected on an individual basis for three year terms. There were no general elections, simply a continuously shifting pattern of council members, appointed at the time their constituency elections became due. The leader of the government was the First Ascendant, elected also for a three year term by the members of the Popular Council. Should the First Ascendant fail to be relected by the people in their own constituency at any time, the Popular Council would be obliged to choose a new leader.
History
Magicians' End had not fully emerged from the terrible years of the Long Famine when on the 1st Mald, 1916 APC a gathering of civic leaders from all over Myruthea, was convened at the Tree of New Greening .
This tree was an ancient oak in north Myruthea, chosen as a symbol of endurance and renewal as drought conditions eased everywhere at the end of the age of the Long Famine and the world cooled to more benign average temperatures. It was here that the impetus came for the formation of the First Popular Ascendency, which was formally declared four years later in 1920 APC.
A group of activists who had long hoped for a time when a more temperate climate might bring the world together again, had also held a dream that ordinary citizens could and should be granted more of a say in the politics of their cities and regions in future. They pioneered a democratic consititution designed to limit the power of autocrats and mages. To join the First Popular Ascendancy, a city must elect representitives who would serve in their Popular Council. To gain the support of the Ascendancy, new territories and regions must accept the supreme sovereignty of the Popular Council over all questions of trade, commerce and specifically military deployment.
Although ostensibly idealistic and perhaps seemingly naive, the Ascendancy captured a global mood for co-operation over conflict after the age of the Long Famine. Its early leaders, including the famously redoubtable Claire Argin, had more guile than its opponents reckoned with, and they cunningly co-opted and subverted their enemies by a combination of strategic subterfuge and covert aquiescence of existing exploitation rebadged under the new more palatable populist label. By the time the Ascendancy faced its first military threat it was powerful enough to inflict an instructive defeat which served as a salutary warning to later opposition.
The First Popular Ascendancy came to an end in 2041 APC, when it was succeeded by a very short lived and failed experiment in renewed imperial power that called itself the New Pale Empire but is also often called in derisive terms, "the Paler Empire" or "the Glass Empire".
Magicians' End - The Tree of New Greening by DMFW with Midjourney
Disbandment
The First Popular Ascendancy ultimately failed when powerful plutocrats and potential aristocrats found expression for their ambitions in the breakaway New Pale Empire in 2041 APC. Although the New Pale Empire was itself a short lived failure, it broke the pattern of democratic government and many think that none of the later political structures that inherited the ideals of the First Popular Ascendancy have ever been quite so successful in delivering true democracy, even when they lasted longer and exercised more power.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
1st Mald, 1916 APC - 2040 APC
Type
Geopolitical, Republic
Capital
Predecessor Organization
Successor Organization
Leader Title
Government System
Democracy, Representative
Power Structure
Federation
Legislative Body
The Popular Council was the legislative body of the First Popular Ascendancy. It met at the Popular Council Chamber in Arginbury, which is pictured in the image at the head of this article.
Location
Related Ranks & Titles
Magicians' End - Claire Argin as Mayor of Arginbury by DMFW with Midjourney
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