I doubt that there are any provisions in Klingon law for a Chancellor who wishes to cease being Chancellor -- it's probably literally never happened.
I still wonder, actually, if Worf can be considered to have been Chancellor, in all but the official legal sense - which might seem a silly thing to say and an omission that renders the whole concept meaningless, except that with Klingons I get the impression that said technical legalities are relatively unimportant to defining the role. Where do you draw the line?
It's an interesting question. Clearly Klingon law allows someone who slays the sitting
Qang in honorable combat to ascend to the position of
Qang. And clearly Klingon law also allows that victor to appoint someone else as
Qang in his stead. So the question is, would Klingon law regard that victor as having been
Qang in whatever period of time passed between the prior
Qang's death and the victor's affirmation of either himself or of a third party as the new
Qang?
My personal inclination would be to assume that when someone defeats the sitting
Qang in honorable combat, they would essentially be assuming the role of Arbiter of Succession (or some other such title). And that as Arbiter, he is either appointing himself, or another, as
Qang. Now, that's just my speculation. But it feels more intuitive to me to assume that the Klingons would not count someone as having been
Qang for the thirty seconds that passed between Gowron's heart stopping and the proclamation of Martok as the new
Qang.
So, by my interpretation, Worf was essentially succeeding Picard as Arbiter of Succession, rather than Gowron as
Qang. (Two
Qangs in a row appointed by Federation citizens -- how awkward!)
Was Martok not technically chancellor until his return to Qo'noS in The Left Hand of Destiny?
My interpretation would be that Martok immediately became
Qang upon Worf's proclamation of him as such, and that he no more needed to return to Qo'noS to legally be
Qang than Elizabeth II legally needed her coronation to become Queen; the succession was instant and not contingent upon completion of a ritual.
I do find myself wondering about the vocabulary of the Klingon Chancellorship. Is it better to use words like "office," "govern," and "resign?" Or better to use words like "throne," "reign," and "abdicate?" The Emperor may be the ceremonial monarch, but the Chancellorship does strike me as being very monarch-like in its functionality.
Political terminology is your thing and not mine, of course, but I do find myself with the same dilemma. I tend to go with the latter, if only because the former set is less absolute and dramatic, and to my subjective assessment is more bureaucratic and cautious. The latter is more Klingon. Perhaps not technically justifiable, but as you say, the flavour is a suitable fit.
I also find myself wondering why Federation Standard/English translates the term
Qang as "Chancellor." German Chancellors are so called because the
administrators who headed the clerics at imperial palaces during the era of the Carolingian Empire issued deeds and capitularies -- administrators whose title,
chancellor, was descended from the Latin term
cancellarius, the scribes and ushers who sat on the lattice-works that separated judges from courts.
Maybe there's a similar history at work in the evolution of the
Qang? Perhaps the
Qang was originally a scribe or usher who served the Emperor on some sort of dais or lattice-work that separated him from the High Council? And then Federation translators, seeing the parallel between the evolution of the office of
Qang and the evolution of the office of
Kanzler in German history, decided to set "Chancellor" as the English/Federation Standard translation of
Qang.
That seems very reasonable to my admittedly far-less-knowledgeable-than-you-on-the-subject eye.
Very kind, thank you -- but I just looked the stuff up on Wikipedia, so I don't want to portray myself as some kind of expert on the evolution of German governance.
The Chancellor does seem to be distinct from the High Council he leads, and is clearly some sort of functional replacement for the position of emperor (before the emperor was reinstated in line with what Trek lit has amusingly established as the Romulan model), so whatever role it developed out of probably supported the Emperor's position in some usefully administrative way?
Possibly. On the other hand, it occurs to me that Ambassador Kamarang's exact line in TUC was, "The Chancellor of the High Council is dead!" So the full title is apparently "Chancellor of the High Council" -- perhaps the officers that the
Qang-ship evolved from originally were porters/ushers who served the High Council rather than the Emperor, and thus have retained that title even though they now lead it rather than serve it per se?
Sorry for the break; I meant that since 1997 there are no hereditary Lords - it's not a house of nobles. Instead they are by appointment - former ministers and parliamentariansl party donors; politicians; members of industry; doctors; scientists; experts; and ten bishops of the Church of England, who are a mix of lower and middle and upper class backgrounds, and whose elevation to the episcopacy is effectively by appointment.
According to Wikipedia's article on the House of Lords, there are still some hereditary peers who sit in the Lords -- it's restricted to 92 hereditary peers who are elected from among their number by the Alternative Vote system.
Until then it was different of course! But the modern House is more of a random pot of experts and politically-tied members.
Christopher, I must admit whilst this is the common perception of the Lords, this isn't actually the case!
What is the point of the expensive House of Lords?!
Yeah that's what i think - it's to balance out the MPs, who are much more tied to whips, with people who have worked. It's too often the complaint about the Commons that they are mostly professional politicians; at least in the Lords are a more diverse range of world-ed members who can provide more expert opinion on Bills. They also serve to stall certain bills being pushed through the Commons by the Government, which may have been ill thought out or require further analysis. It's easy to critique the Lords - I used to - but then it became clear that the Lords can and do very important services. It's why I am opposed to another elected house - it will mean the same kind of people going into the Second House - rather than the genuine opportunity for different people in it (like the Bishops, or - love or hate him - Alan Sugar). I think what the House of Lords requires is refinement - it is good that former members of government across all parties are members, but it would also be good to add more people from different backgrounds relevant for society.
Not to go off on a tangent, but this brings to mind Kim Stanley Robinson's design for a Martian government as part of his
Mars trilogy. In his companion anthology
The Martians, Robinson includes the Constitution of Mars. And because he wanted to address the idea you just did, about a legislature that's full of career politicians who may not be well-tied to the "real world," Robinson set Mars's legislature as a Congress with two houses -- a Senate full of elected Senators... and a Duma, the lower house, whose membership is chosen by lottery from among all adult Martian residents every two Martian years. The idea being that you get a more diverse range of experiences and a closer connection to the people, while also acknowledging that the Duma won't be the primary engine of government.
I have to admit that the idea is somewhat attractive.
I also find myself wondering why Federation Standard/English translates the term
Qang as "Chancellor." German Chancellors are so called because the
administrators who headed the clerics at imperial palaces during the era of the Carolingian Empire issued deeds and capitularies -- administrators whose title,
chancellor, was descended from the Latin term
cancellarius, the scribes and ushers who sat on the lattice-works that separated judges from courts.
Maybe there's a similar history at work in the evolution of the
Qang? Perhaps the
Qang was originally a scribe or usher who served the Emperor on some sort of dais or lattice-work that separated him from the High Council? And then Federation translators, seeing the parallel between the evolution of the office of
Qang and the evolution of the office of
Kanzler in German history, decided to set "Chancellor" as the English/Federation Standard translation of
Qang.
Has Treklit retconned K'mpec into being a Chancellor? Because in the show, he's just called "leader of the (High) Council."
The Lost Era: The Art of the Impossible did indeed establish K'mpec as having been Chancellor, yeah. However, you bring up a good point there. Between that, and the reference to "Klingon Supreme Commander," I do find myself wondering if maybe the modern Klingon
Qang is a bit like the ancient Roman Emperor or the modern Chinese President -- an office that lacks certain legal authorities in and of itself, but which is often held as a sort of "centerpiece" office by someone holding multiple offices simultaneously which collectively confer supreme executive authority onto the office-holder through their unique separate legal powers.
So, for instance, maybe the modern
Qang became the supreme executive of the Klingon state because the holder of that office also acquired the office of "Leader of the High Council" and/or the office of "Supreme Commander of the Klingon Defense Force," holding them simultaneously with the office of
Qang? And so, legally-speaking, being
Qang might not automatically make you the Big Cheese, but the person who becomes
Qang also acquires those titles ex officio? This is similar to how the President of the People's Republic of China is an office that is given as a sort of "centerpiece" to the leader of the PRC, yet his actual power base derives from his position as head of the Communist Party and as head of the army. (Or, for a more benign example, the Prime Minister of the U.K. gets paid, and holds 10 Downing Street, because he/she is ex officio First Lord of the Treasury.)
That might give us some insight into the legalities of Gowron's succession crisis? Maybe his position as
Qang was assured, but he had some trouble coupling the position of "Leader of the High Council" with the position of
Qang, helping cause the constitutional crisis? Just some speculation.
Based on canon, is it possible to make Chancellor and Leader of the High Council two separate positions that are sometimes held by the same person? Like, K'mpec was the Leader of the High Council but not Chancellor, while Gowron was initially just Leader of the High Council, but also became Chancellor around 2372. (And maybe Gorkon and Azetbur were Chancellor, but not leaders of the High Council?) With historically, the Chancellor serving as an interface between the Leader of the High Council and the Emperor, as you say, but some power-hungry ruler took both titles for himself at some point.
And here you are, saying what I just said much more succinctly. Entirely possible, yep!
That's a good point, Stevil. Trek lit has indeed clarified that K'mpec was Chancellor, and that the Leader of the High Council is the Chancellor, but there are definitely other ways to make sense of the canonical details, and the shift in terminology. As you say, TNG never used the title "Chancellor" and consistently referred to both K'mpec and Gowron as the "leader of the Council"; DS9 confirmed that Gowron is Chancellor. Having the two be separate positions (technically if no longer in practice) seems reasonable enough, but Trek lit has gone with the interpretation that the Leader of the Council was always the Chancellor.
That said, given Sci's comments regarding language and translation, maybe some in the Federation dispute the translation of Qang as Chancellor? Perhaps Picard simply dislikes the label "Chancellor", disputing it on the basis of his scholarly preferences, and prefers a less controversial and more straightforward description of the role?
The possibility that there's just some dispute within Federation Standard about how to translate
Qang is also entirely possible!
Martok travels back in time to meet chancellor Angela Merkel. I'd like to see Merkel's face when she is confronted with gagh. Refusing it would be considered as diplomatic incident....
I'm waiting for Arminius to return in clone form and face Merkel in combat. It will end with Merkel retaining the leadership but Arminius granted a figurehead position.
Silvio Berlusconi wouldn't stand a chance in a bat'leth fight against Martok.....
It's only fitting that I'm currently listening to some epic Ennio Morricone tunes.....
Berlusconi would try to hit on the Lady Sirella before getting his groping hand chopped off -- by an angry Sirella, as Martok looks on, laughing!
Andrew J Robinson did the same thing when the series had ended. I never got a chance to read the novel when it was in print, but I hear its pretty good book about Garak back in Cardassia in it's post war era. I hope one day the book will get reprint into a hardcover edition.