The Curious Republic of Gondour

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"The Curious Republic of Gondour" is a short story by Mark Twain. It concerns a visit by the unnamed narrator to a state in which all citizens are guaranteed at least one vote, but where up to eight further votes can be acquired through education - which is provided for free by the state - or by the acquisition of wealth (these votes being unlimited in number.) Furthermore, no one can rise to any public office without passing strenuous competitive examinations. Twain suggests that these measures will limit the political power of the lower classes, which he believes to be a desirable end.

Heinlein's Expanded Universe discusses the story, [1] though misspelling the toponym as "Gondor."

Nevil Shute proposed a similar multiple-vote scheme in his novel In the Wet ; however, he envisioned a maximum of seven votes per citizen, each tied to a particular personal attainment (military service, starting a business) except for the first and the seventh, the latter only granted as a special honor by the monarch.

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References

  1. Robert A. Heinlein, Afterword to "Who are the heirs of Patrick Henry', 1980; in Expanded Universe , Baen Books, Riverdale, NY, 2003, pp. 326-327