Effects of Reversals (F70) on a society (TL3 to TL9)?

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

I wonder what are the consequences of a society (as in, the human society, the ant society, the Vulcan society etc., not a small population) having a strong tradition of Reversals (as per Fantasy, p. 70), like the Seelie/Unseelie switching in classical færie settings, or the four seasonal courts of the nWoD Changeling. One consequence I see is that political measures will be softer, as rulers will know that they will become subjects of another ruler in less than a year, and will want to be treated well too. However, I'm sure it's not the only consequence. Anybody willing to imagine more?

I'm particularily curious as to the presence of more high-/ultra-tech examples of such societies, not just your generic medievalesque.

Thanks in advance!

[Pip Boy]

I believe that this kind of reversals can usher a more equalitary society, once this rotational system allows several prisms of vision in very short time intervals (at least to a society, where troubles are hardly solved on short-term).

Removing the hypotetical "coup d'état" from that particular period emerging power, I think that would bring softer laws like you said, and a more equal form of government. I don't see a exchange between monarchy-parlamentarism-republic, for instance. Than that would make the government form to be the same, I guess.

Other reversal form that I think it´s interesting would be fragmentize the government. A futuristic society, for instance, could have "planet presidents" who follow a galaxy council as a general rule, but still be able to govern their own planet as he/she see fit, following only those galatical general mandates. One planet would indeed feel the iron hand or a strict counselor if the majority support him, whether that particular "planet president" is kind or not.

And I think that such a "wide" form of government bring greater corruption and value subversion opportunities to despotes. However, if there is a "immutable law" - as the faerie rule and it's mystic impositions - that too could increase the number of drastic solutions. The "winter rule" could kill every criminal, while the "summer rule" just locks them up, frex. Whatever the case, someone dies every winter... and that would be a way to the unseelie screw the seelie, AFAIK.

No one likes to give up influence or power.

[Anthony]

Well, we have a number of real-world examples of rotating presidencies/chairmen, such as the presidency of the EU. It tends to force alliances of multiple individuals to actually get anything done, as just about anything can be stalled for six months.

[pawsplay]

Any parliamentary government created by coalition. Any democratic government where the majority is smaller than the margin of error in the election.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Molokh

Greetings, all!

I wonder what are the consequences of a society (as in, the human society, the ant society, the Vulcan society etc., not a small population) having a strong tradition of Reversals (as per Fantasy, p. 70), like the Seelie/Unseelie switching in classical færie settings, or the four seasonal courts of the nWoD Changeling. One consequence I see is that political measures will be softer, as rulers will know that they will become subjects of another ruler in less than a year, and will want to be treated well too. However, I'm sure it's not the only consequence. Anybody willing to imagine more?

I'm particularily curious as to the presence of more high-/ultra-tech examples of such societies, not just your generic medievalesque.

Thanks in advance!

One effect is when the time comes for a new regime, there's going to be a scramble to influence who is in charge of the side that is about to rise to dominance. To take a present day example, there's a reason why the American Presidential race turned into a fierce horse race on the Democrat side, while the competition on the other side was quite a bit less intense.

So basically, as the time approaches to switch regimes, there's more pressure to figure out who the heir is, and either get in good with them, or find a way to substitute someone more tolerable, even more so if the new heir is going to be in place for a very long time. If it's a three month turnover time for season "kings", then not so much. Then you see a lot of deal making going on. Policy often becomes a product of consensus between the courts and they have to be careful not to **** each other off too much.

Things change if the timeframe is more like a century, even if the society is made up of people who live for millenia, because then you can see people figuring that now's a good time to get their own back for past "injustices" and make the most of their time in the limelight, while maximising the damage they can do to their enemies. Being long-lived does not preclude being short-sighted. If you can actually expect multiple generations to pass before the Fire Nation comes into ascendancy again then it may seem to make sense to take revenge for generational grudges knowing without doubt that when their turn comes again, centuries from now, they will abuse you even if you show them mercy now. At the same time however as the odometer begins to click over you start thinking about the future. Can you escape the cycle? Can you come to some kind of accomodation with your successors? Failing that can you slaughter them so that their theoretical time of ascendance will be less meaningful?

[The Colonel]

This would sort of assume that the reversing factions are hostile to one another ... I would suspect that for the society to get anywhere and retain the tradition they would all have to learn to live with it.
You might find that large sections of society take up fishing for the duration of the new regime, effectively getting out of the way of people they disagree with until its time for change again, as for those who are less committed to one cause or the other, they probably evolve the ability to switch between different ways of operating every now and again.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

This would sort of assume that the reversing factions are hostile to one another ... .

Sooner or later, they will be.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Why not look at a real-world example?

In the 16th century, the nations-states that made up Germany adopted the principle of Cuius regio eius regio (Latin for 'Whose rule, his religion"), meaning that the religion of the nation was the religion of the ruler. And in many cases, the religion of the region would change with every change of rule.

Consequences: Witch Hunts, mass forced conversion, and families split along religious lines. Eventually culminating in a cynical populace who paid lip service to any faith at all with no real belief, monarchs who changed religions in order to persecute their political enemies, and the Thirty Years War which caused almost the same amount of damage to Germany as the Second World War.

From this example, Reversals would lead to a cynical, disinterested populace and a corrupt, manipulative aristocracy, eventually culminating in destructive wars that would almost collapse civilization.

Good for RPGs (especially the violent kind), but bad for the society as a whole.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2

Why not look at a real-world example?

Yes but that's not the only real-world example. In the case of the European Union, the Presidency of the Union council rotates through the member states, changing every six months and that shows one of the ways in which such a setup can work. Part of it, is that while the President does have some power, he has nothing close to absolute power. It just gives his nation's interests a slight and transient political edge.

[vicky_molokh]

I'm not quite sure, but as far as I understand, Reversals are cyclic. That is, Farafair the Seelie rules half of the year, then Malakorn the Unseelie, then Farafair again etc., with many cycles repeating until one of the rulers/courts/etc. changes people-wise.