Quote:
Originally Posted by jason taylor
One I dreamed about(yes it really did come to me in my sleep-amazing what comes to mind like that)was that each noble family goes through a ritual which would scandalize the population which makes the nobility mutually blackmailable. Sort of rule by Mexican Standoff.
I doubt that would actually produce a good sort of system. I just put it down because it was to good a narrative idea to forget.
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I actually suspect that this sort of situation has a lot of real-world precedent, not as an 'official' practice but as something that emerges as some other system gets corrupted. Not necessarily some particular act, but simply that o once a system becomes corrupt enough, you have to be corrupt to function within it, and that makes you part of it, esp. when an unofficial but real oligarchy is actually in control.
Rule By Practical Experience:
A variation on the competitive examination principle: A very large society might set aside certain cities, and assign candidates for higher office to actually run them. Whoever does the best job of running the 'test city' moves up the ladder. For ex, successfully govern Des Moines for 5 years and you get to be Governor. Of course that leaves the issue of who makes the determination of 'success' and its definitions.
I don't think it would work, or not for long, but I could imagine it being tried and running for a little while. It has some real world precedent in heirs apparent being given a fief to run as practice for the crown.