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★ Harry Potter
order of the phoenix
Rousseau mentions a group called the tribunate, which he describes as "the guardian of the laws and the legislative power. It serves sometimes to protect the sovereign against the government" (Rousseau 168-169). In this case, "the laws and the legislative power" means the people's rights, such as freedom of speech. He also says, "The tribunate is not a constitutive part of the republic, and is ought to have no share of either the legislative or executive power, but for this very reason its own power is all the greater, for although it can do nothing, it can prevent anything from being done" (Rousseau 169). The Order of the Phoenix is like the tribunate because they protect the people from Voldemort. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Order's duties are mentioned, but none include fighting Voldemort or his Death Eaters. "We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them,...some of them are working on recruiting more people to the Order,...[and they're] always talking about guard duty" (Rowling 67-68). However, this relation is strained because while the tribunate can do nothing, some of the members of the Order of the Phoenix did directly fight against Voldemort. In addition, some of the members of the secret society worked in the ministry, which enabled them to have executive power. On the other hand, the Order of the Phoenix is not a part of the republic in that they are not afraid of Voldemort like the rest of the world is. Plus, they are not part of the government but their own secret society.