Government of The Church of Scientology

I've been reading quite a bit of history recently and have paid special attention to the various forms of government man has tried over the years and their results. Many historians agree that one of the most successful periods of history was during the reign of the "Five Good Emperors" of the Roman Empire. These emperors (except for the last one) chose their successors according to merit, that is they found the man they thought was the best for the job, had him work with them as a sort of apprentice emperor and then adopted him as their son so he could "succeed" them. This method of government is usually called a meritocracy, which is defined as a leader or group of leaders selected on the basis of individual ability or achievement.

How good a meritocracy is depends on the criteria used to determine merit and what methods and policies the individuals chosen decide to follow. For example, in the United States it is vaguely assumed that the populous will select the best man for the job based on his past record and how well he campaigns, so it is a sort of meritocracy with public relations ability as the main criterion. What methods the selected person uses to govern are determined to a large degree by the US constitution and existing law. This gives a certain continuity to the government and prevents radical changes from occurring during one President's term.

In the Church of Scientology we have a sort of constitutional meritocracy. Every job in a church has a method of measuring what the incumbent produces and this is used to tell how well or poorly a person is doing and promotion is very dependent on this. In addition to that the Church runs on policy set down by the founder L. Ron Hubbard.

So people in leadership positions within the Church of Scientology are selected by merit and follow the policies originated by Mr. Hubbard or based on fundamentals laid down by him. This is a very successful form of ecclesiastical government as demonstrated by the huge expansion of Scientology in the 18 years since Mr. Hubbard departed.