"I think a king or a queen must be the most important person in the country," Billy said as the boys sat down in the workroom to do their homework.
"I still think a president is more important," Emil' insisted.
"But if you're king or a queen," Billy pointed out, "everyone has to do what you say. You can make sure that everything that the government does is good for people. A president has to abide by the laws passed by Congress, whether they are good or not."
Mariah, who had already started her homework, looked up. "It’s a big responsibility, regardless of your form of government," she said, "but how much power that person has depends on which country you're talking about."
"What do you mean?" Emil asked.
"Well," Mariah began, "in some countries, a king or queen makes all the decisions. They get to tell everyone else what to do."
"They don't get elected by the people, do they?" Emil asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer, "so people can't do anything about it if they don't like their king or queen."
"That's right, Emil" Mariah agreed, "being a king or queen is an inherited (in-HAIR-uh-ted) position. That means when the old one dies or retires, their son or daughter gets to take over. The people don't have anything to say about it, but if people get really upset with what their king or queen does, they may work together to take their power away. That has happened in some countries."
"They may get rid of them altogether," Mariah continued, "or they may keep them in a ceremonial (sayr-a-MOHN-ee-ul) position. That means someone else makes the decisions for the country, but the king or queen has to go to special events like visiting their army or attending a ship launching or the dedication of a new building. They may have a president or a prime minister who is in charge of running the country."
"A prime minister?" Billy asked.
"Some countries," Mariah explained, "have a prime minister instead of a president and a parliament (PAHR-luh-ment) instead of a Congress. The prime minister is elected or chosen by the group that gets the most votes in the parliament. That person is like a president, except that a president is elected by the people who vote."
"But the president has to do what the people in Congress say," Billy put in. "Does a prime minister have to do what parliament says?"
"That's true in many countries," Mariah agreed. "A president or prime minister has some things they can do on their own, but those things are limited. They have to try to convince the people in their congress or parliament to go along with most things. That's a difficult job, because people have different ideas about things."
"So is a president or prime minister the most important job in a country?" Emil asked. "Which is it?"
"I would make a different choice," Mariah said, "One you haven't mentioned. I think a Supreme Court Justice the most important job of all in our country."
The boys looked at each other. They hadn't thought of that.
"We have courts all over the country," Mariah reminded them. "If people have a disagreement they can't work out, they don't have to fight. They can go to court. The judge will decide."
"I read that sometimes a law gets passed that isn't fair," Emil said. "Can people take the law to court?"
"Yes," Mariah agreed. "If they don't like how the court decides, they can take their problem to a higher court. A higher court is one that can change the decision or agree with it, and their decision is the one that counts."
"The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land," Mariah explained. "They make the final decisions. That's why I think it's more important to be a judge on the Supreme Court than to be a president or a prime minister. A judge on the Supreme Court is called a justice. They are supposed to see that decisions that are made are fair and just. That's justice for everyone involved."
"If it's the highest court, do they need a ladder to get to it," Billy asked thoughtfully, "or do they have stairs?"
Mariah tried not to laugh. "It isn't higher up in the way you might need a ladder," she explained. "It means that the lower courts have to abide by their decisions. Higher courts have the say over the lower ones." Then something occurred to Mariah. "Well, dolls might need a ladder for all of them unless someone carried us in, but that would be true of all the courts."
"Now we have a new justice on the Supreme Court in our country," Mariah added proudly. "She looks like me."
"Boys like you two," Mariah said, "have always been able to look at our Supreme court and think they could grow up to do that, if they study hard and learn the things that are needed about our laws, but there weren't any women on the court who look like me before. Now human girls who look like me can see themselves on the Supreme Court, too, if they study hard and learn about our laws."
"Wow!" Billy said.
"The most important job in the whole country!" Emil added. "You must have to be very smart!"
"Like Mariah," Billy suggested.
Mariah just smiled her little smile that almost wasn't, but she was thinking.
Wouldn't it be great if dolls could be on the Supreme Court? That would be something Mariah would like to do.
Maybe there's a Doll Supreme Court! Mariah would have to find out.
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.
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Copyright © 2022 by Peggy Stuart
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