Is the MACUSA president elected?

Question

Is the Wizard POTUS elected to a 4 year term like the No-Maj one? If so, can he/she be reelected?

There's no indication of term limits, nor a VP as far as I can tell — Valorum, Oct 02 '17 at 21:20

score 18 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

18

Seraphina Picquery was certainly elected to the position, at least according to the film's accompanying factbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Magical Movie Handbook.

_{^{Seraphina's charisma and leadership skills made her a natural to climb
the political ladder of MACUSA. She reached its highest rung when her
fellow wizards elected her as President of the organization.}}

edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

Community

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answered Oct 02 '17 at 20:55

Valorum

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This only confirms that the last president of the MACUSA was elected, hundreds of years after Jackson’s term of office. – Adamant Oct 02 '17 at 21:11
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@Adamant - True, but I suspect the historical basis for the MACUSA government is liable to be of less interest than the characters we see in the film. – Valorum Oct 02 '17 at 21:15
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Yes, I would suspect that if the first and last president were elected that one's in middle bit were as well. – Skooba Oct 02 '17 at 23:23
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@Skooba - Go tell the Romans. – Valorum Oct 02 '17 at 23:30
@Valorum Good point... doesn't change either of our answers though! – Skooba Oct 03 '17 at 19:08

score 17 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

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Yes, Presidents (and all representatives) were elected.

MACUSA was modeled on the Wizards’ Council of Great Britain, which predated the Ministry of Magic. Representatives from magical communities all over North America were elected to MACUSA to create laws that both policed and protected American wizardkind.

...

The first President of MACUSA was Josiah Jackson, a warlike wizard who was voted into post by his fellow representatives because he was considered tough enough to deal with the difficulties of the post-Salem Witch Trials era.

The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) By J.K. Rowling

No word on term limits or vice presidents though...

edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

Community

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answered Oct 02 '17 at 20:53

Skooba

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This only confirms that the first president of the MACUSA was elected, hundreds of years before Picquery's term of office. – Valorum Oct 02 '17 at 21:02
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It would've been hilarious had this answer been given by @Adamant – can-ned_food Oct 02 '17 at 23:15
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Surely JK Rowling wouldn't use the term USA when describing an epoch almost a hundred years before the declaration of independence, right? – E.P. Oct 03 '17 at 13:42
This is a good point and raises an interesting question about what happens when canon conflicts with history. Regardless of the fact that HP is fiction, it tries to fit in with non-fictional history. A body created in the late 1600s would not have used the term USA, since that only came about in the late 1700s (early 1776 in a letter to Lt.Col. Joseph Reed). – Dancrumb Oct 03 '17 at 16:26
@Dancrumb America was still the name of the continent. It had states in it. If the magical congress was united over said states, it might call itself the united magical congress of the states of america, or the magical congress of the united states of america. Then, when a set of states in the americas breaks off from britian, they might suggest "united states of america" to the no-maj. Or maybe the name changed. – Yakk Oct 03 '17 at 18:20
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@Dancrumb I thought the same exact thing – Skooba Oct 03 '17 at 19:07
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@Yakk While the America name floated around for a while... there were no states, only colonies and territories until the Revolution. – Skooba Oct 03 '17 at 19:10

Is the MACUSA president elected?

2 Answers2