[ABANDONED] Continuing Contingency

[Daarwyrth]

A draft I had been sitting upon for a while. Feedback and comments are more than welcome!

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CURRENT DRAFT:

[Title] Continuing Contingency

[Validity] Must not have Autocracy

[Description] During @@NAME@@'s annual State of the Nation address, radical anarchists intended to bomb the Capitol, hoping to rid the nation of its entire government. Fortunately, intelligence services and law enforcement dealt swiftly with the terrorists, ensuring the event remained uneventful, with several attendees visibly dozing off. Yet upon debriefing, your cabinet was notified of a glaring lack of any sort of contingency plan, in the event the nation's leaders should literally be blown out of their shoes.

[Option 1] "Other nations employ a 'designated survivor' scheme, but choosing only one individual invites chaos," begins the Chief of the Central Intelligence Bureau. "When all of the government gathers in one place, you need to randomly draw a group of designated survivors who will pick up the reigns when we're collecting your bits and pieces."

[Effect 1] catching the flu on command is not beyond @@NAME@@'s politicians

[Option 2] Your Minister of Interior visibly shudders. "I don't want to think about that... just like I wouldn't want to be thinking about governing, should I be such a designated survivor. Simply mandate that no government official can be in the same place as another, that should solve the problem," @@HE@@ says, scooting @@HIS@@ seat away from you.

[Effect 2] bemused ministers ask 'who was that' when greeted by @@LEADER@@

[Option 3] "Inefficient and clumsy, like all civilians," huffs former general and Minister of Defense @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Only military efficiency can handle a nation in crisis! Give the order and I'll have the military set up a secret chain of command of generals and officers that'll step in to lead when you sorry lot are gone."

[Effect 3] the military secretly cheer on radicals seeking to destroy the government

[Effect 4] "If we gave people more political responsibility, they wouldn't need anyone telling them what to do," notes a very young Minister of Technology, vlogging the meeting. "Make an app all citizens must use and force them to vote daily for new legislation. That way, parliament would only supervise affairs and terrorists would have to kill all @@DEMONYMPLURAL@@ to destroy our government!"

[Effect 4] the GovernmentGo app includes rare easter eggs that turn the nation into an autocracy

[Option 5] "Disband it, disband it all!" yells the Minister of Security, hiding beneath the table. "All the contingency we need is you, @@LEADER@@, ruling alone and supreme, while permanently hidden in a fortified military installation deep underground! It's the only option to be safe from those terror-AAAH!" @@HE@@ exclaims as someone sneezes outside.

[Effect 5] @@DEMONYMPLURAL@@ start to believe @@LEADER@@ is a fictional character that doesn't really exist

[The Supreme Vatican Caliphate]

Annual, not anual.

[Daarwyrth]

Annual, not anual.

Typo corrected

[Electrum]

The premise seems a bit thin because finding a successor in a democratic society is not that much of an issue compared to an autocratic society (as in issue 461, which I believe you are trying to make a mirror of).

It's as simple as handing the leadership to the next person in the chain of command (e.g. US presidential line of succession), and if that doesn't work, holding an election to determine a democratically elected successor. I also find it unlikely that the government is planning for a contingency scenario where all of the entire cabinet/ministers/decision-makers have been killed - it's not something that's ever happened in real life, and such a gathering would surely be subject to the strictest security measures.

[Daarwyrth]

The premise seems a bit thin because finding a successor in a democratic society is not that much of an issue compared to an autocratic society (as in issue 461, which I believe you are trying to make a mirror of).

It's as simple as handing the leadership to the next person in the chain of command (e.g. US presidential line of succession), and if that doesn't work, holding an election to determine a democratically elected successor. I also find it unlikely that the government is planning for a contingency scenario where all of the entire cabinet/ministers/decision-makers have been killed - it's not something that's ever happened in real life, and such a gathering would surely be subject to the strictest security measures.

The idea was heavily based on the plot of the series Designated Survivor, where the Capitol is blown up during a State of the Union, effectively killing Congress, the Senate and the Cabinet, leaving only 1 designated survivor to become President. Of course, this is a work of fiction so I see why you might consider the idea to be flawed/the premise thin, since it never happened IRL

If it's an idea that doesn't work then I completely understand! I thought it could be an interesting topic to work with, but I don't want to force through an idea that is problematic or difficult to implement