The Politics behind the wand

With Halloween having passed uneventfully last week, in the absence of reports about legions of zombies laying waste to our towns and cities, we present you the Felix Politics Guide to the Ministry of Magic from the Harry Potter Series.

The Ministry of Magic

The British Ministry of Magic is the government responsible for every magical being in the UK. It is lead by an elected Minister for Magic who is served by several heads of department. The Ministry seems to be much smaller that the muggle government, with the departments sharing 10 floors in the building.

In the books, the Ministry is presented in various lights. We meet some Ministry employees who seem to be very competent, like the incumbent Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt, who we first meet as a distinguished Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix. We also meet Arthur Weasley, a humble hard working civil servant who has been assigned to the small and little respected Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. He represents a man who is above scheming and office politics, yet suffers with a lack of career progression. Finally we meet characters such as former Minister Cornelius Fudge, a man who seems to have to sole ambition to stay in power at all costs. The Ministry of Magic is generally seen as corrupt, often using it’s strong Berlusconi-esque influence on the Daily Prophet (Britain’s most popular wizarding newspaper) to spread propaganda or discredit it’s opponents.

The Ministry has suffered from several scandals in recent years, including poor security with its most secure department being easily broken into by six schoolchildren and also several terrorists. Also, under the reign of Cornelius Fudge the Ministry of Magic instigated a draconian crackdown on the staff and students of Hogwarts School with Fudge fearing that the school’s Headmaster was after his job. Incompetence and little regard for evidence also leads to the Ministry falsely imprisoning several people, from Sirius Black, a man sent to Azkaban prison without a trial, to Stan Shunpike who was imprisoned during the second war against Voldemort to inspire confidence in the Ministry by the public.

The Minster for Magic

In the Harry Potter Universe we meet several Ministers for Magic with different traits. We first meet Minister Cornelius Fudge, a man most concerned with keeping the public happy, often at the cost of the truth. He happily uses his power as Minister for Magic to discredit both Harry Potter and Headmaster Albus Dumbledore who claim that Dark Lord Voldemort and his terrorist group the Death Eaters have returned to destabilize society. Fearing the truth he uses his influence over the media and political power to slander them, while also removing Dumbledore’s official positions. He is also happy to accept bribes and suggestions from rich socialite Lucius Malfoy, a man whose influence in the Ministry of Magic resembles the power of Rupert Murdoch. The second Minister we meet is Minister Rufus Scrimgeour, a former head of the Auror Office. Minister Scrimgeour also misled the public, using the media to pretend the Ministry was making significant progress in the war against Voldemort. He is not morally corrupt, however his appeasing of the people and lack of strategic decision-making allowed the Death Eaters to infiltrate and take over the government, ending with his assassination.

The third Minister we meet is Minster Kinglsey Shacklebolt, a supporter of Harry Potter and a man seeming unentangled with corruption or desperation. He is elected at the end of the war against Voldemort and signifies change in government and an end to corruption with more success than President Obama.

Conclusion

It is somewhat reassuring or alarming to see that whether in fiction or the real world, we can still be confident that some things stay the same. There are many further issues in the Harry Potter series to discuss, including racial segreagation (wizards vs. animals, wizards vs. muggles), descrimination (pure-bloods vs. muggleborns) and the media to name but a few, but I do hope that this small article has brought a happy end to a slightly scary week.