Hunger Games Nerdgasm

So I made this blog and I haven't posted in a while. I had spring break and then birthday stuff...more on that later! In short, I am now fifteen whereas before I was fourteen. Because fifteen is the age that comes after fourteen, strangely enough.

Anyway, the main point of this blog post is that I am a nerd. Namely, while making flashcards for Government finals, I wondered what kind of government Panem (the future North American post-apocalyptic country in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins) has. (SPOILERS for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire from this point on.)

I figured it had either a unitary system of government or a federal system.

In a unitary system the central government holds all the power. Local goverment has no power & just carries out decisions made by the central government. Like HENCHMEN. Italy, France, Sweden, and many other countries across the world have this type of government. (For a full list, see this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_state .)

In a federal system, national, local, and state governments share power. Each level makes their own laws, elects their own officials and makes their own decisions. The United States has this type of government.

In Panem the central government would be the Capitol. The districts would be the state/local governments depending on the district. Some districts may need a state government while others may not be large enough for anything but a town government. From what I can tell, the Districts we have seen so far (basically, 12) don't really have individual, distinct towns. Not once is a singular city mentioned, apart from the Capitol.

The Hunger Games is set in future, post-apocalyptic North America, presumably in the same region as the United States, which no longer exists. District 12 is in the Appalachians - they are coal miners just as people in the Appalachians are today. The Capitol is in the Rocky Mountains. According to Wikipedia, Ms. Collins has said that the districts are not placed in numerical order within Panem, and much of North America's landmass has been depleted due to natural disasters. And the districts are not all the same size, either. Also according to Wikipedia, "The districts are shown to be of varied sizes, with District 12 only having a population of 8000. Other districts like District 11 stretch on for miles and have enormous populations." So it makes sense that District 12 is shown as being generally one town, with the poorer part of town being the Seam.

From what I can tell, the Capitol acts differently on different districts. Katniss says that as long as District 12 produces its coal quotients, the Capitol leaves them alone. (Of course, this was said at the beginning of The Hunger Games - their relationship changed radically by Catching Fire, and I can only imagine the state it's in now, as of the end of Catching Fire). District 12 displays several characteristics of a unitary government here: their Peacekeepers are chosen by the Capitol, all decisions are made for them, and most aspects of their lives are controlled directly by the Capitol - like the Hunger Games, which is mostly to keep the districts in check (but also provides sadistic entertainment for the Capitol). However the Peacemakers are easily swayed by the citizens because they are all living in the same poverty. This control over local government by citizens is more like a federal system of government.

Like I said earlier, we haven't really gotten to see any other Districts in much detail, so I can't speak for the rest of the districts. But based on District 12, I would say that Panem has a unitary system of government, with some districts leaning farther towards a federal system of government.

Wow, I feel like I just had a podcast in my head. My thoughts were very much like an episode of MuggleCast, only about the Hunger Games.

Thoughts?