The Hunger Games: Fictional Government

Words: 1264
Pages: 6

Skoczylas 5

Nicholas Skoczylas
Ms. Vyse
English II
4/14/2016
Research Paper Final Draft The general history of governments includes all governments holding at least one thing in common. This one goal is to establish the greater good of the country, so that the country has all it needs. The government of the Soviet Union, or the USSR, did everything that it thought was right to do in a communistic government to make their nation live long and prosper. A very similar yet fictional government, the government of Panem in the story The Hunger Games, has most of the same characteristics. The Hunger Games is a series of books written by Suzanne Collins, and it is her most famous bestseller. Some similarities can include the governments? seemingly
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In the USSR, there was at first only one party: The Communist Party. Then, after a time, the Liberal Democratic Party of Soviet Russia was established. A ?History.com? staff member writes: ?For the first time, parties other than the Communist Party could participate in elections.? In the government of The Hunger Games, however, there were no parties. This clever decision was probably made by the government to prevent the people from thinking there was a chance for them to live peacefully. By preventing people from making a choice, the government takes away the people?s freedom. Nevertheless, the people still ended up rebelling and taking the government to change it and make it a better one, so that the corruption could be stopped. So, in this way, without political parties, the government from The Hunger Games ended up crumbling from rebellion. With its two political parties, the Soviet Union prospered for a long time, and it had achieved temporary relief from the nation?s people. Finally, after the relief had subsided, the government and its? nation collapsed. This proves a difference between the two …show more content…
In the Soviet Union, there was a man named Mikhail Gorbachev. Thayer Watkins explains: ?One of Gorbachev?s main instruments in his attempt to improve the country?s condition was his policy of glasnost. Through his policy, he used the mass media to arouse the people who would help change the way a bureaucratic system functioned.? While the policy of glasnost was not presented in The Hunger Games, Gorbachev genuinely wanted to help his nation, and he believed that ?a better Soviet economy depended on better relationships with the rest of the world, especially the United States? (History.com). In the Hunger Games, the leader of the rebellion against the government is Alma Coin, who at first seems to want to improve all of Panem for good, and lead the country out of its horrifying corruption. After she attains her power, however, it is evident that all she wanted in the first place was the previous president?s power. This shows that she was corrupt from the beginning, and she had no actual desire to help her nation in its time of need. With a corrupt mind, you cannot help any kind of government. This is a very distinct difference set by the two governments, where Coin corrupts her nation, while Gorbachev improves