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Old 07-18-2019, 06:21 PM   #581
jason taylor
 
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Default Re: Exotic Governmental/Legal Systems

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Actually, assessments like these have historically taken place, in cases when either there wasn't an obvious heir or if the general situation was unstable. There wasn't a fixed and stated numerical value and the various factors were weighed essentially by the consensus (or lack thereof) of the nobility, but at the end of the day, choices were made based on such assessments.
It tended to be the way the English succession would work out in the days of the Wittanagemot and was the logical effect of Parliamentary Supremacy in it's early stages. The Hanover-Stuart wars were in effect one faction claiming a right to "points" though it didn't call it that and another claiming direct succession.

The main problem I see with bluntly calling it a points system is that it is impossible to find final agreement on the points and it will be like judging a figure skating contest. The effect will either be Parliamentary Supremacy (which we already know about) or a frank electoral monarchy which isn't quite the same thing (I don't think Jon Sobieski had any notable royal blood recorded though someone will correct me on that).
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Old 07-29-2019, 10:03 PM   #582
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Council of Old Ladies:

The Senate must approve any clans title to representation in the Senate. It must satisfy the others that it is capable of contributing to public funds and the common defense, and to reproduce children. It also must satisfy that it's internal laws are honorable and will not bring disgrace on other clans.

When talking on the later point the ones casting their vote are prodded by relations stereotypically elderly females who are plugged into the gossip network. These form the ironically termed Council of Old Ladies.

The COL does not just approve new Senate members but are a general forum for discussing the honor or lack thereof of members of society. They are not, repeat, not an official government function. However their ability to put pressure on office holders gives them an unusual place.
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Old 07-31-2019, 10:55 PM   #583
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This would be a legal procedure. It might actually have been tried in reality, but I don't recall hearing about it.

Imagine a society that believes in the medieval concept of 'trial by ordeal'. (Note that this scales separately of technical advancement, it could be anything from a Bronze Age city-state to a galaxy-spanning empire).

However, it works a bit differently in that whoever is bringing the charges, even if its the state, must post a 'bond', and if the defendant survives and 'passes 'the ordeal, he is not only exonerated but claims the bond.

The ordeal is nasty enough to make it unlikely someone would risk it for the money, but the sum is substantial. Now, a quirk of the system is that you can hire somebody to take your place in the ordeal. If your hireling fails, both he and you face the penalty together (prison, death, whatever). But he 'passes', you're cleared too and you get the bond and he gets his wages (very likely a portion of the bond).

The worse the penalty at risk, the bigger the bond sum.

The ordeal isn't just plain torture, though, it's usually something like a quest or a challenge, though pain and suffering may well be involved in doing it.

The gaming possibilities should be self-evident...
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Old 08-01-2019, 02:31 AM   #584
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In one of Frank Herbert's books, I think The Dosadi Experiment death penalty cases always result in a execution. If the prosecution does not prove the case they are executed for trying to kill someone innocent.
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Old 08-01-2019, 03:17 PM   #585
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In one of Frank Herbert's books, I think The Dosadi Experiment death penalty cases always result in a execution. If the prosecution does not prove the case they are executed for trying to kill someone innocent.
I think the Venetians actually had something like that but it was for the one bringing charges. The Prosecutor would have been a cog and in any case they seemed to have used more the Inquisitorial method than the Adversarial.
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Old 09-03-2019, 03:25 PM   #586
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Here's an idea. Guild's regularly issue Patents of Nobility. These can be awarded to a rich patron, or a master craftsman or whatever criteria they choose.

Though the title is not officially hereditary (because it is given privately), known descendants of such are addressed as nobles at gatherings.
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Old 09-04-2019, 08:33 AM   #587
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The Misttorn Witches book series had an interesting option - the country is divided into Princedoms, ruled over by a king (I think the term used is High Prince or similar) who is also the Prince of one of the Princedoms. Every so many years (I think it was 7 in that series), the Princes all come together to elect a new king from their number. A good deal of the series’ plot revolves around two sub-Princes trying to prove themselves worthy successors for their ailing father to pass down his title to in time to have a chance at becoming king at the next election.

For my own entry, perhaps a Herocracy. This could be similar to the point system previously suggested, but only performance on the battlefield counts - you’d get points for each battle you participate in, points at certain kill-count thresholds, points for achieving important objectives (like killing/capturing an enemy commander), points for particular acts of heroism, etc. Whenever the current king dies or chooses to step down, whoever has the most decorated military career becomes the new king. My own head-canon for such a setting is that the citizens are questioning the system after the shockingly-effective rule of Harold the Porter King - a man who served (as a porter) in a huge number of battles and ended up king after the previous king and all the generation’s “heroes” died in a disastrous battle.
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Old 09-04-2019, 05:10 PM   #588
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Default Re: Exotic Governmental/Legal Systems

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The Misttorn Witches book series had an interesting option - the country is divided into Princedoms, ruled over by a king (I think the term used is High Prince or similar) who is also the Prince of one of the Princedoms. Every so many years (I think it was 7 in that series), the Princes all come together to elect a new king from their number.
Likely based on the elective monarchy of Malaysia. That country is a federation of 13 states, 9 of which are hereditary monarchies. Every five years, the nine monarchs elect one of their number to be monarch of Malaysia. Nowadays, it's simply done in rotation, but that's an informal agreement, rather than a rule.
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Old 09-08-2019, 07:52 AM   #589
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Council of Old Ladies
The Nora tribe in Horizon: Zero Dawn has a literal council of old ladies - they are lead by a council of Matriarchs, who are presided over by a smaller group of High Matriarchs. Matriarchs are those in good standing (not outcast/exiled) who are grandmothers, and they are elevated to the level of High Matriarch if they become great-grandmothers. The idea is that only those who “speak for generations” should lead.

This suggests another system, where one’s political rank is determined by one’s offspring. Plugging into the “point” system, perhaps you gain points for being a parent, for being a grandparent, and so forth. You gain further - but lesser - points for additional descendants within each generation. Rather than winner-takes-all, one’s political rank is decided by number of points. Such a system naturally lends itself to harems - if you’d rather it didn’t, either restrict political power to women (as in the above) or outlaw polygamy and only allow legitimate children to be counted (or only have legitimate children count fully, with bastards still counting but at a reduced value). In a society with formalized gender inequality, children of one sex may count more than those of the other.

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Likely based on the elective monarchy of Malaysia. That country is a federation of 13 states, 9 of which are hereditary monarchies. Every five years, the nine monarchs elect one of their number to be monarch of Malaysia. Nowadays, it's simply done in rotation, but that's an informal agreement, rather than a rule.
Nifty.
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Old 09-08-2019, 08:52 AM   #590
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Default Re: Exotic Governmental/Legal Systems

Apologize if this has been taken up, but rulership by poker? The game, not the instrument. The audacious gambler rules.
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