History Main / DisasterDemocracy

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* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':

* In ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'', Shidou stages an 'election' amongst the survivors fleeing by bus, after the bus is packed with his cult of personality.

* Both invoked and subverted in ''Literature/TheBrokenEarthTriology'': In the first book; as Lerna left Tirimo, the com was holding an election for leadership after the accidental death of its headman. In the second book; Essun stops Castrima from voting on [[spoiler:turning all of the Orogenes over to be killed by the Rennanis army]] by disintegrating the ballots and the ballot box into dust. [[spoiler:"No voting on who gets to be people!"]].

* Both invoked and subverted in ''Literature/TheBrokenEarth'': In the first book; as Lerna left Tirimo, the com was holding an election for leadership after the accidental death of its headman. In the second book; Essun stops Castrima from voting on [[spoiler:turning all of the Orogenes over to be killed by the Rennanis army]] by disintegrating the ballots and the ballot box into dust. [[spoiler:"No voting on who gets to be people!"]].

* [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]] and very vaguely mentioned in ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander''. Right at the beginning of the game Ashelin mentions that the council (which has Veger in it) has overcome her vote on the matter of keeping Jak in Haven City and thus banishing him in Wasteland for life, implying that at least some limited voting within the council takes place. But later, when decision about critical mention takes place that Veger tries to interfere with, she single-handedly dissolves the whole council. Add to it that the [[VideoGame/JakIIRenegade previous game]] establishes her as the governor of the city and makes no mention of the council whatsoever and it gets even vaguer.

* In ''Manga/HighSchoolOfTheDead'', Shidou stages an 'election' amongst the survivors fleeing by bus, after the bus is packed with his cult of personality.

[[folder:ComicBooks]]

* In the ''Literature/NovelsOfTheChange'', just about everyone resorts to some variety of monarchy when gunpowder and electricity stop working, but Corvallis sticks to its American roots and has the university committee arbit all decisions. This makes it something of a HiddenElfVillage.
** Which is ironic, considering that certain of the survivors have gone well out of their way to create a ''literal'' HiddenElfVillage, right down to calling themselves the Dúnedain and using Sindarin on a regular basis.

** In ''Literature/IslandInTheSeaOfTime'' the election of a Chief Executive and development of a new government is a major plot.
* In ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' the ability to hold to the democratic process in the midst of a ZombieApocalypse is a major part of one of the survivors' stories.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars: Days of Ruin'': Early in the game, Brenner's Wolves encounter at least two villages whose leaders were chosen by the people. This is discussed, with Will wondering why people try to establish order in a post-apocalyptic anarchistic world. Brenner reasons that it is out of virtue and create their own laws, while Lin counters the argument by stating that it is out of instinct that they establish laws so that they don't kill each other.
* Despite being all monarchies, ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has the PlayerCharacter able to [[KingmakerScenario influence (or dictate) two elections for King]] during the oncoming Blight apocalypse. While just placing a new monarch guarantees soldiers, depending on the choices made beforehand is whether the kings (and/or queen) do well in the resulting peacetime.
** This is justified by the fact that both candidates have ''some'' claim to the throne: one is the father of the Queen and thus father-in-law of the recently deceased King in addition to being a hero who fought alongside the deceased king's father in freeing their country. The other is the bastard brother to the deceased king who has no experience at actually ruling.
* In ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' the United States government, which lives inside an abandoned oil rig and is thus called "The Enclave", holds presidential elections just like in the times before the nuclear war. However, it is hinted that there is only one candidate who would rule for years. In any case, only about a thousand people lived on the rig, and so the franchise is minuscule and definitely not representative of the will of the American people.
** In ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', John Henry Eden didn't even try this, and he can be talked into killing himself because of it.

** There's also the New California Republic. Starting out as a small hamlet called Shady Sands, led by WastelandElder Aradesh, by ''Fallout 2'', the Republic holds dominion over a decent chunk of [=SoCal=] and is looking at expanding into the north. By ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'', it has grown exponentially, having taken all of California through aggressive expansion and is looking to colonize [[VivaLasVegas the Mojave Wasteland]].
*** They're generally well-regarded for hunting down raiders, outlawing slavery, and stabilizing the region. However, both Aradesh and his daughter Tandi were Presidents-for-Life (mainly owing to their outstanding popularity; they held regular elections). The only reason the Presidency didn't become hereditary is Tandi's son being dumb as rocks. The legislative branch is openly dominated by business interests, and corruption and red tape are an increasingly major issue, but they're still far better than both the pre-war United States and their wasteland contemporaries.

** [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', where different characters will inform you that decades ago, the various settlements of the Commonwealth at the time attempted to form a provisional government, much like the aforementioned New California Republic. But unlike the NCR, the negotiations became a squabbling match that ended in tragedy when an Institute [[ArtificialHuman Synth]] murdered all of the delegates. [[CynicismCatalyst The CPG Massacre has left settlements sour to the idea of unifying into the present day,]] with even those interested believing that the Institute will murder anyone who dares to try. To further add to the tragedy [[spoiler: logs inside the Institute show that at the time they had been trying to encourage the formation of the provisional government, but when the situation turned violent their Synth was the only one who made it out. Since then, the Institute has ''also'' given up on helping the surface settlements.]]
* Every human settlement in ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''. Yes, even [[spoiler:the winter resort cannibals]]; you can overhear some of them talking about putting the leader up to a vote.
* In ''{{VideoGame/Rebuild}}'', one of the possible victory conditions is reclaiming the city hall from the zombies and drafting a new Constitution.
** In ''Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadsville'', doing that is an intermediate goal for any level. During the process of drafting the Constitution, you can decide on how your "nation" will be run. This has pros and cons and can attract or repel various survivors. Additionally, rival "nations" will treat you differently depending on how you formed your Constitution. Strangely, ''all'' of them get angry at you for even daring to form your own government without asking them for permission first. You can usually placate them, though.

** Markus shared some of his decision-making authority at Thunder Mountain with an eight-member council, although they rarely appear onscreen. A DeletedScene from the pilot says there is a council election every year, although whether this means since the original pandemic or since they started reaching adulthood is unclear.

* ''{{Series/Jeremiah}}'': The main character and co. encounter a hidden remnant of the US government in season two. It seems they have kept this going in a bunker, with adults safe from the virus, duly voting on a President each election year. However, they turn out to be very dictatorial nonetheless, with the quality of the elections left unclear.

* There's a messed up version at the end of ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' season 2. Rick is being heavily questioned and generally the butt of everyone's frustration when they're forced to flee the farm and he reveals a secret he'd been hiding from the end of season 1. Feeling that he wasn't getting any credit for keeping them alive despite all odds, he basically pulls a "vote of no confidence" ''on himself!'' He dared all the other survivors to either band with him or, if they were as angry and convinced that he was incompetent as they said, go their own way. The season ends with everyone mutely staying in their makeshift camp.

* ''Series/GilligansIsland'' had an election, they elected Gilligan.
** Which is why they [[TooDumbToLive deserve to die]].

** Later in the series following the formation of the Council Of Worlds (made up of Cybertron and their recently rediscovered lost colonies), another election is planned for leadership. Starscream as leader of Cybertron is initially a shoo-in, but after an unexpected CrisisOfConscience he confesses to his (many, many, many) crimes and is imprisoned. Windblade instead is elected in a landslide (helped by the fact her main opponent Elita-One is a known BloodKnight with WeHaveReserves tendencies while Windblade herself is known to be a decent person).

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise2015'': following the defeat of the false Autobot High Council (who turned out to be Decepticons), Optimus Prime is offered leadership of Cybertron. Considering his HeroicSacrifice in [[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime the previous series]] is what allowed new life to be born on Cybertron and the fact that as one of the Thirteen he's a literal demigod, this is unsurprising. However, Optimus instead installs a temporary council made up of his most trusted subordinates and followers, entrusting them to lead until proper elections can be held. Then he just wants to take a ship and travel the stars for a while, without the ChainsOfCommanding that have weighed him down for most of his life.

** The Confederacy's government during the final days of the Civil War follows this. Jefferson Davis and the remains of his administration fled from city to city with much of their records trying to maintain some semblance of authority until they were finally captured. However, there were two different Confederate Congresses elected, the first being elected in 1861, and the second in 1863 and 1864. Davis had been elected in 1861, and under the Confederate Constitution wasn't up for re-election until 1867 (they had Presidents serve six-year terms). Of course, that didn't happen.
** Despite falling in the middle of [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic the worst viral epidemic in a century]], the 2020 US Presidential election still occurred on schedule. In fact, a few months before the election, President UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump actually halfheartedly suggested postponing the date, only to retract his statement after intense bipartisan backlash from both Congress and the public.

** To explain: the British parliamentary session is required to last up to five years, though elections have often been held earlier. An election was due in 1940, but when WWII broke out, elections were suspended, leaving a ten-year gap with no elections from 1935 to 1945 (the longest since the Civil War). The reason this could be done is that in Britain, parliament can basically amend the "constitution" at will. In recent years, signing up to the European Convention of Human Rights has introduced some limitations on this power.
** Considering that all of the three main parties supported Churchill as a war leader, it's unlikely an election would have really made all that difference to the political situation.
** One of the larger communal bunkers in London during the Blitz held elections under the command of their most popular resident: a three-foot-high entertainer. Oddly inspiring in its way.
* Averted for military personnel in most captivity situations or where a group is cut off from outside contact for any serious length of time. In such a case, authority automatically goes to the highest-ranked line officer or senior enlisted, who has authority over all subordinate military personnel in the group. He can then delegate tasks to certain people, place them in charge of certain areas of responsibility, and so on. The military being what is it, this usually works out rather well for them. Civilians in the captive or disaster-struck group are welcome to take part in the process by taking direction from the officer in charge, or pooling resources and tasks with the military-led group, but it is generally accepted that a civilian will not be placed in charge of the military subgroup as a whole unless s/he is already an elected official of some sort, which complicates things a bit.

* ''Videogame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'':

** Komi is another Russian wasteland democracy, aiming to be even more free in terms of expression and welcoming than Tomsk... with the problem being, they are ''too'' welcoming, and thus the remnants that got kicked out of every other territory for extremism have flocked here. As a result, Komi is an absolute ''clusterfuck'', with huge instability issues and constant coups coming and going from the Democratic, Communist, and Far-Right groups, and can only settle down if one leader manages to hold on for more than two months and clean out the rest. Komi has the most potential leaders out of any other Russian warlord territory, ranging from some of the very best for Russia (Bukharina's Socialist government, the Democratic leaders even if Stalina's a bit dubious) to the single absolute ''worst'' ([[spoiler:[[TheCaligula Sergei Taboritsky]]'s wild [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans Burgundian]] ride to hell]]).

** [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', where different characters will inform you that decades ago, the various settlements of the Commonwealth at the time attempted to form a provisional government, much like the aforementioned New California Republic. But unlike the NCR, the negotiations became a squabbling match that ended in tragedy when an Institute [[ArtificialHuman Synth]] murdered all of the delegates. [[CynicismCatalyst The CPG Massacre has left settlements sour to the idea of unifying into the present day,]] with even those interested believing that the Institute will murder anyone who dares to try. To further add to the tragedy [[spoiler: logs inside the Institute show that at the time they had been trying to encourage the formation of the provisional government, but the Synth agent there to help things along suffered a malfunction and killed all present. Since then, the Institute has ''also'' given up on helping the surface settlements.]]

* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' has two such elections, for vice president and president. Let's just say that the colonials got what they voted for when they elected Baltar.

* ''Series/{{Jericho}}'' legally elected a new, (and less competent) mayor not long after the catastrophe.

*** Notably, the Combaticon [[BloodKnight Bra]][[TheBerserker wl]] meets her when she's canvassing and admits he'll vote for her because he's learned to [[CharacterDevelopment fear]] [[HiddenDepths death]], and is afraid that if anyone ''other'' than Windblade wins war will return.

* ''Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse'' subverts and parodies various aspects of this as the Golganfrinchan B Ark crew form committees to make fire, adopt the leaf as currency and then suggest burning down forests to avert inflation, and various others absurdities. But then again their population consists entirely of hair dressers, marketing executives, and telephone sanitizers. [[spoiler:They must have got their act together eventually, because they're [[AncientAstronauts humanity's ancestors]].]] Unless, of course, [[spoiler:the author's point was that we ''haven't'' gotten our act together, even millions of years later.]]
* ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' has an election between two of the boys. Despite the more level headed candidate getting in, ultimately things descend into chaos.
* Similar to ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'', the ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' series features a population of children coming together to survive after all the adults suddenly disappear and they find themselves trapped inside a giant ethereal dome. The first book features an AffablyEvil young man stage a quasi-peaceful takeover of things only to be deposed when his corrupt "government"'s dirty secrets are exposed and things turn violent.

* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/TunnelInTheSky'' the stranded students' mistake is NOT establishing a democracy but making their government too complicated to suit primitive survival conditions. In another book ''Literature/StarmanJones'' the stranded passengers turned colonists are advised to write out a ''Mayflower''-like compact straight off or they are not likely to survive.

** Although it starts off as an absolute monarchy by the 2040's the British Empire is shown to have restored a full Parliamentary system (although the King is alot more powerful than before the Change). However the new Britain is almost unique inuniverse in being a continuation state of the original UK. Although briefly ruled absolutely by mad King Charles III, once his son inherited it was fairly easy to restore democracy as the institutional continuity had survived with the 200,000 who escaped to the Isle of Wight at the Change.
** In ''Literature/IslandInTheSeaOfTime'' the election of a Chief Executive and development of a new goverment is a major plot.

*** Likewise Dave, of the Republic of Dave, asks that you help with the election. Most of the voters (who are all Dave's relatives; it's more of a family homestead than a country) are inclined to vote for Dave, but the player can perform some election fraud to get somebody else elected,[[note]]you can get a ''draw'' without fraud, but in that case Dave, in his capacity as the election officer, declares that the incumbent, Dave in the role of president, will remain until the next election[[/note]] causing Dave to throw a hissy fit and leave.
** There's also the New California Republic. Starting out as a small hamlet called Shady Sands, led by WastelandElder Aradesh, by ''Fallout 2'' the Republic holds dominion over a decent chunk of [=SoCal=] and is looking at expanding into the north. By ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'', it has grown exponentially, having taken all of California through aggressive expansion and is looking to colonize [[VivaLasVegas the Mojave Wasteland]].
*** They're enerally well-regarded for hunting down raiders, outlawing slavery, and stabilizing the region. However, both Aradesh and his daughter Tandi were Presidents-for-Life (mainly owing to their outstanding popularity; they held regular elections). The only reason the Presidency didn't become hereditary is Tandi's son being dumb as rocks. The legislative branch is openly dominated by business interests, and corruption and red tape are an increasingly major issue, but they're still far better than both the pre-war United States and their wasteland contemporaries.
** Not to mention the detailed story of Vault 11, which involved holding elections for a sacrifice, although to be fair, that was kind of doomed for disaster from the start, and didn't need much prodding to descend into madness.

** Komi is another Russian wasteland democracy, aiming to be even more free in terms of expression and welcoming than Tomsk... with the problem being, they are ''too'' welcoming, and thus the remnants that got kicked out of every other territory for extremism have flocked here. As a result, Komi is an absolute ''clusterfuck'', with huge instability issues and constant coups coming and going from the Democratic, Communist and Far-Right groups, and can only settle down if one leader manages to hold on for more than two months and clean out the rest. Komi has the most potential leaders out of any other Russian warlord territory, ranging from some of the very best for Russia (Bukharina's Socialist government, the Democratic leaders even if Stalina's a bit dubious) to the single absolute ''worst'' ([[spoiler:[[TheCaligula Sergei Taboritsky]]'s wild [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans Burgundian]] ride to hell]]).

* Mere trifles like UsefulNotes/WorldWarII or UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar do not stop the US from holding presidential elections, though in both cases the incumbent was re-elected (in the Civil War at least, that was not a foregone conclusion: Lincoln was ''extremely'' unpopular for most of the campaign, until the tide began to turn late in 1864).

* Averted for military personnel in most captivity situations or where a group is cut off from outside contact for any serious length of time. In such a case, authority automatically goes to the highest-ranked line officer or senior enlisted, who has authority over all subordinate military personnel in the group. He can then delegate tasks to certain people, place them in charge of certain areas of responsibility, and so on. The military being what is it, this usually works out rather well for them. Civilians in the captive or disaster-struck group are welcome to take part in the process by taking direction from the officer in charge, or pooling resources and tasks with the military-led group, but it is generally accepted that a civilian will not be placed in charge of the military subgroup as a whole, unless s/he is already an elected official of some sort, which complicates things a bit.

* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars: Days of Ruin'': Early in the game, Brenner's Wolves encounters at least two villages whose leaders were chosen by the people. This is discussed, with Will wondering why people try to establish order in a post-apocalyptic anarchistic world. Brenner reasons that it is out of virtue and create their own laws, while Lin counters the argument by stating that it is out of instinct that they establish laws so that they don't kill each other.