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Disaster Democracy: Difference between revisions
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This isn't as foolhardy as it seems at first, though it ''can'' potentially doom the survivors. If the group of survivors is small, they may decide that rather than [[Divided We Fall|pulling in different directions]], electing a leader will give them better odds of survival. Alternately, they may decide to "[[The Mutiny|mutiny]]" against a self imposed leader (or one from their [[Still the Leader|pre-disaster times]]) who hasn't been doing a good job. They may hold an impromptu election with papers and a hat, or it may be as informal as everyone saying "I'm with [[The Hero]]". If they're replacing a [[Commander Contrarian]] or [[Pointy-Haired Boss]] with an [[Ignored Expert]] or [[Reasonable Authority Figure]], they're far likelier to survive. If on the other hand, they boot the latter choices because they [[Death By Pragmatism|make pragmatic but unpopular]] choices, expect these voters to meet their doom.
If the group is much, much larger, then the survivors will band together and try to organize. It usually happens in a [[Cosy Catastrophe]] (or at least a slightly less hellish one), because the people have a need for a civil leader apart from the hero(es) who lead the "armed forces". The elected mayor or president can call upon the powers of [[Good Republic, Evil Empire]] to rally the people, as opposed to their enemy(ies) [[I Control My Minions Through...|who use fear]]. Unless [[Democracy Is Bad]], in which case this becomes a pointless waste of time that gets people killed for not simply letting the hero lead them.
Depending on the implementation, this trope usually helps prove [[Rousseau Was Right]]-- even at our darkest moments, we can pull together into a democracy instead of devolving into an oppressive autocracy. Of course, since a Disaster Democracy is usually pitted ''against'' an [[Hobbes Was Right|oppressive autocracy]], it becomes more of a cautionary [[An Aesop|aesop]].
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined
* ''[[Gilligan's Island (TV)|Gilligans Island]]'' had an election, they elected Gilligan.
** Which is why they [[Too Dumb to Live|deserve to die]].
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** In ''[[Fallout 3]]'' {{spoiler|John Henry Eden}} didn't even try this and he can be talked into killing himself because of it.
*** Likewise Dave, of the Republic of Dave, asks that you help with the election. The five voters are inclined to vote for Dave, but the player can perform some election fraud to get somebody else elected, who immediately declares himself dictator for life.
**** [[Take a Third Option|How about]] [[You Kill It, You Bought It|The Republic Of Player?]]
**** Or you can rig the election for [[Only Sane Man|Rosie]] to win, since she has a much clearer head than anyone else in the republic.
** There's also the New California Republic, which is a tribal village made up of Vault 15 survivors turned US [[Expy]]. By ''[[Fallout New Vegas|New Vegas]]'' it has grown exponentially, having taken all of California through aggressive expansion and is looking to colonise [[Viva Las Vegas|the Mojave Wasteland]]. Generally, its government mostly resembles the United States, but is probably a little more corrupt (and currently trending towards authoritarianism).
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[[Category:Politics Tropes]]
[[Category:Disaster Democracy]]
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