"The Curious Republic of Gondour" is a short story by Mark Twain, first published in the October 1875 issue of the Atlantic Monthly.
A second condition of Gondourian democracy is that no one may be seated in a public office without first passing a strenuous competitive examination.
Twain intended for these measures to limit the political power of the lower classes, whom he considered unfit to direct public affairs because of their susceptibility to demagogues.
Nevil Shute proposed a similar multiple-vote scheme in his novel In the Wet (1953 ), but he envisioned a maximum of seven votes per citizen, with each tied to a specific personal attainment (military service, life abroad, starting a business).
The exceptions were the first and seventh votes, the former being universal and the latter being granted only as a mark of special distinction by the monarch.