Discussion How corrupt can rulers with magic become?

Most of them will be corrupt. Some of them will be extremely corrupt. Those born with magic will be more corrupt than those who acquire it later but some portion who acquired it later will be super corrupt. The head of state will definitely be corrupt but if he is openly corrupt than the world will be at sad state with rebellion as main theme and if he is secretive than conspiracy or mystery as main theme.

 

How corrupt they can be?
There're many form of answer for this question. We just need to look at how much power these nobles hold can be abused.

And I Agree with this (and I was lazy to write)

You should be able to see the red line.

 

IN response to your answers

Second: the concept of a non-magical commoner class will cease to exist in your world. the ideas of commoners and nobles rose from a mutually beneficial social contract. i.e I raise your food, you protect me. From my understanding of your magic, a single magician can till and sow a field that would take a village to work on . then on set intervals he can either cast a pesticide or if time magic is common, accelerate the growth of the plants. the feudal system works by having a centralized town being ruled by a noble family which is supported by the surrounding villages. Your magic would mean that a single family of magic users can run this entire process. non-magic users would either be exiled as they do not contribute to the family, hunted for sport as they would be considered less than the nobles, or enslaved not as laborers but as entertainers ( I will let your imagination think of what entertainment)

third : this will lead to paranoid rulers as it seems to me that your rulers seem to be almost all powerful . They might be overwhelmed by a large number of magicians but that just means a new absolute ruler will appear again once a new ruler is appointed and given his nexus

fourth: What I meant with this question was, how can they detect magic from children or babies, as well as those away from large population centers.Because you said that magicians can be born from anyone (with a specific bloodline). If I was a ruler, I would spend a large amount of my resources finding this boys and girls in far flung villages because these are potential weapons. I would not leave a working tank in the countryside is basically what I am saying . ( I know this contradicts my answer to second but you hopefully get my point)

fifth: I am okay with this actually

In conclusion
The fuedal system as well as nations and such would not exist. as the concept of a communities of mutual benefiting profession would also not exist. i.e not farmer, then no soldier to protect the farmer, no blacksmith and tailor for the clothes and tools of the soldier and farmer, no miner to get the ore for the blacksmith, no administration to insure order within the community as well as the creation and enforcement of laws.

Instead what you will get, are clans or families with shared blood connection, all of which are magicians as all non magicians will be killed or exiled, that control a territory, the scale of which is dependent on the power that the head, either a patriarch or matriarch, is capable of wielding.

 

Why a very powerfull mage would want to involve himself with this kind of society ?
I mean... I could see that a weak mage would find some pleasure in such power... but the more powerfull he becomes, the less he should care about this society. Would a lion care to rule over flies?

So maybe this society should be about the weaker mages getting jealous of the old freaks (the actual rulers of this society) that are too powerfull to give a fuck about this society... and trying to plot against those old freaks.

(sorry for my bad english)

 

Second: It isn't as simple for a magician to run an entire estate or even a small village by themselves because they would need to constantly supply there magic spell with Mana to remain in effect and so it would be waste of there power to do all the work with magic. So they will let the peasant and commoner toil away in the farm land, artisans craft there furniture or scribes to write down what they want, and blacksmith to create weapons or Alchemist to create medicine. Plus not every magician can use the same spell as magicians are born with affinity to certain spell compare with others. So a magician born with the affinity for fire can't be use to farm nor help water the crop or lift a shovel with a magic spell.

Fourth: For detecting people with potential for magic one just need to make them come into contact with mana or an object that will react to Mana.

 

A single mage can be hunted and have to do all the work by themselves to live, but in a society they can deligate those responsibility to others and also have a group at there beck and call. So just because a lion don't rule over flies, a lion have a pride of other lions that work to protect and also feed themselves and there offspring.

 

Corrupt in what sense?
In certain areas or just about everything?

Cronyism is the practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends, family relatives or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations

Corrupt in single areas is another caveat.
-Good at battle, but easy to manipulate
-Good at researching, but bad with finances.
-Good at executing, bad with lesser peons

Or stuff like that

 

To be honest I don't see much reason for them to be any more corrupt than nobles are in general, unless you have some kind magical effect that corrupts them against their will.
Also are we talking about a whole world with the same hierarchy or just one of many countries?

 

Many countries share this hierarchical structure or at least in the region that my story take place.