Lord William Beveridge, a British economist, once said, The object of government in peace and in war is not the glory of rulers or of races, but the happiness of common man. This philosophy relates not only to human governments but also to rabbit governments. Two governments in the novel, Watership Down , by Richard Adams either agreed or disagreed with this theory. General Woundworts government in Efrafa disagreed with this theory. Hazels government in Watership Down agreed with this theory. The government of Watership Down is better than that of Efrafa because they adopted and implemented Beveridges theory .
The system of government for the rabbits of Efrafa is a military dictatorship. Their military dictatorship is led by General Woundwort. General Woundwort came to power by invading the warren and demanding they accept him as their leader. He killed the old chief rabbit. He then moved the warren. General Woundwort set up a society where everyones purpose is to be a strong military warrior (join Owsla). This is because only the military gets privileges. Under Woundwort is the council.. This is made up of rabbits who are strong and cunning.
The council doesnt have any direct power, they mainly serve as advisors to Woundwort. The common rabbit live in different Marks. Each Mark is led by an officer. The military dictatorship at Efrafa does not have many advantages but their are a few. One advantage present at Efrafa is that the warren is very safe. One way that it is safe is that all of the holes at Efrafa are hidden. A second way that Efrafa is safe is that there are wide patrols which can quickly inform the general if their is trouble. These wide patrols enable Efrafa to know what is going on around them.
One example of this is when they find out the location of Hazels warren. They find this because Campion and his wide patrol find Hazel and his friends and follow him home. A third way that Efrafa is safe is that they do not let anyone find out about the warren. They do this in part by not letting people leave the warren. They show this by not letting Holly, Silver, Strawberry, Buckthorn, Thethuthinnang, Hyzenthlay, and Blackavar. Another way in which Efrafa is safe is that they have a very strong military. The military of Efrafa is led by General Woundwort. General Woundwort is the best fighting rabbit.
He has fought and killed many elil, including a cat, a crow, and a dog. General Woundwort also has a good mind when it comes to military strategy. One example occurs when Bigwig and the does are running away from Efrafa. Kehaar attacks Bigwig and his rabbits in the open field. General Woundwort quickly calls together his soldiers and directs them to a ditch. This is for protection against the bird. They then use this ditch to get down to the water meadow. He then set up an ambush. Regarding safety, Hyzenthlay comments, rabbits in Efrafa were as safe as stars in the sky, and Most rabbits here die of old age..
Another advantage of Efrafas government is that it is very efficient. Whatever General Woundwort says is done. One example of complete obedience to General Woudwort occurs when the rabbits are setting up their plan. When Woundwort tells the rabbits what to do they do it. Especially Campion who follows Woundworts dangerous orders to cut the rabbit off, without error or delay. The military dictatorship has many weaknesses. One disadvantage is the rabbits in the warren are not happy. Proof of this is that many rabbits of the rabbits are willing to escape.
One example of the rabbits wanting to escape occurs when Holly searches for rabbits. When Holly is looking for rabbits to join him in leaving Efrafa he has no trouble finding volunteers. In addition, when Bigwig is looking for rabbits to leave the warren with him, he also effortlessly finds does who are willing. A second disadvantage of Efrafas government is that they suffer from overpopulation. This causes problems because the does become infertile. Overpopulation also prevents many rabbits from leaving the ground and feeding as much as needed.
Another disadvantage of Efrafa is that they oppress the instincts of the rabbits. By making all the decisions for the rabbits, the rabbits become dependents on them. One example of this is when the does are escaping with Hazel and his rabbits, the does make a foolish decision. The does wander far away from the other rabbits and are eaten by a fox. A second example of a newcomer not being able to make a decision on his own is Blackavar. When Hazel and his rabbits are swimming to the shore from the boat, Blackavar jumps in after Hazel. He does this because he thought it was an order.
The final major problem with the government of Efrafa is that the leader is obsessed with power and prestige. General Woundwort has a incredible ego. He could not deal with being outsmarted by Bigwig and his rabbits. So, he sacrifices his warrens safety, by finding and attacking Bigwigs warren. This fight led to the death of many of Efrafas best fighters. The government of Watership Down consists of a democracy. The government is a true democracy where everyone has a say in government. It draws many parallels to the government in Athens, Greece during the golden age.
It is unlike the American representative democracy. Hazel is the chief rabbit. 0 But Hazel job consists of selecting the best idea out of all of the suggestions. There is no official military leader in Watership Down. Bigwig is the closest to that figure. The Watership Down government has many advantages. One advantage is that the rabbits all have their niche and they all contribute and share their skills. Each rabbit has their own specialty that they bring to the warren. An example of a role is Blackberry who is a resourceful rabbit.
One example of Blackberry using his skills is at the river. Blackberry devises a plan to get Fiver and Pipkin across the river using a board. Even a small rabbit like Pipkin has a role. Pipkin helps the warren by freeing Bigwig from the snare at Cowslips warren. Another similar advantage is that all of the rabbits have a voice in government. Whenever there is a problem everyone contributes an idea. Because they share ideas they are usually able to find the best solution to a problem. This is an advantage because of the old saying, two minds work better than one.
A third advantage of the Watership Down government is that they have made allies with many other species of animals. One example of an ally helping is a mouse whoe they saved from a kestrel. In return the mouse tells the rabbits where they could find a good place to feed. The mouse also helps them by telling them about the Efrafan rabbits. This enables the Hazel to develop a plan to protect them. A second example of ally made is one they make with a bird. The birds name is Kehaar. They help Kehaar when he breaks his wing by giving him shelter and food.
In return, Kehaar becomes a intricate part of their Efrafa plan. Some things that he does are direct them to Efrafa, serve as the communication link between Bigwig and the rabbits, and hold back the Efrafan rabbits by fighting them. The Watership Down government does not have many disadvantages, but there are some. One disadvantage is that Watership Down is not that safe a place. The holes at Watership Down are not hidden well. There are also many unnecessary holes. These holes usually served as a luxury but when being attacked they allow the enemy to ambush them.
One example of this being a problem is when they are attacked by the Efrafan rabbits. The Efrafan rabbits have no trouble finding the warren. And the Efrafan rabbits could have executed and ambush if the hole werent blocked. Another safety related problem is that the warren does not have a well trained military. This becomes a problem when they have to fight Efrafa. They are forced to outsmart rather than overpower. Another disadvantage of Watership Down government is that the government is not efficient. Everybody has their own ideas of how the government should be run. This causes the decisions to take a long time.
Hazel say himself to the newcomers, youre going to find us a sloppy lot One example of the government being inefficient occurs when the rabbits are running away from Sandleford and they encounter a river. The rabbits do not get anywhere because some rabbit want to cross and some do not. Then only when the dog comes do the rabbits cross the river. A second example of the democracy being inefficient is when they release the hutch rabbits in Nuthanger farm. After Bigwig and Blackberry free the hutch rabbits from their cage, there is complete confusion. No one takes charge and gives orders.
This results in only two of the four hutch rabbits escaping. More confusion follows as Hazel runs off and tries to rescue the lost rabbits. This is when Hazel gets shot. All of these events are caused by no one taking charge of the group and no one making important decisions. The military dictatorship at Efrafa and the democracy at Watership Down both have advantages and disadvantages. The Watership Down government is better because the rabbits are happy there. Human governments are the same way. Democracies also tend to be considered a better government than a military dictatorship.
