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Old 03-14-2018, 10:34 PM   #181
Johnny1A.2
 
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Default Re: Exotic Governmental/Legal Systems

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An hereditary monarchy where the (female) ruler has multiple husbands each of whom is made head of one of the branches of the civil service.
I foresee...instability. Very quickly.
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Old 03-14-2018, 11:18 PM   #182
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Default Re: Exotic Governmental/Legal Systems

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I foresee...instability. Very quickly.
I still think it's weirdness is kind of cool.

One variation that will fit a more patriarchal society is Chinese Consort Clans. In China a Surname that is descended from the closest male relation to an Imperial Concubine gets an extra panache attached to it's bragging rights. One can take this further and have a Consort Clan control each department.

This brings up some interesting thoughts. Budgets and harem politics will have a weird relation to each other. If clans practice adoption they can bid for potential offers to the emperor at a beauty contest. As the concubine who wins the Emperor's favor will get the best budget(not to mention will be listened to closest in naming of the Vizier)unless the Emperor is extremely strong willed the natural tendency of the state will be to be ruled by consort clans which are the same as cabinet clans.

All sorts of things can be thought of besides the rather naughty titilations. How much power is in the concubines themselves? How much in children, dowagers, male relations, eunechs, etc. How many favors have to be paid off and how far do these extend?
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Old 03-14-2018, 11:55 PM   #183
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I foresee...instability. Very quickly.
<shrug> Obviously the husbands have to be chosen for reasons other than the ruler's personal preference but that's far from rare.
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Old 03-15-2018, 06:34 AM   #184
Michael Cule
 
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A quasi-caste society run by "professional associations" who elect one of their number to be in charge of government agency to which they are relevant and together they form the ruling council for the state as a whole. So medical professionals elect the Councillor for Health, military men elect the Councillor for War, law enforcement elect the Councillor for Public Order. And of course that means that those who are not a member of an association are left unrepresented and the obstacles to joining are notable if you aren't the child of someone who is already a member.
One of the nations in the very strange setting for Greg Stolze's REIGN is ruled by guilds. After the Imperial invasion wiped out the noble families who were in charge before (using a very nasty blood-based magic) the guilds took over the resistance and the eventual government.

The resultant state is immensely proud of its can-do attitude, the fact that anyone can rise... Well, anyone who belongs to a guilded profession and can manage the politics of both their guild and the national assembly. They really don't see the people who don't count under this system and think it doesn't matter that so many don't have any way to make their voices heard.
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Old 03-15-2018, 10:43 AM   #185
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Default Re: Exotic Governmental/Legal Systems

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One of the nations in the very strange setting for Greg Stolze's REIGN is ruled by guilds. After the Imperial invasion wiped out the noble families who were in charge before (using a very nasty blood-based magic) the guilds took over the resistance and the eventual government.

The resultant state is immensely proud of its can-do attitude, the fact that anyone can rise... Well, anyone who belongs to a guilded profession and can manage the politics of both their guild and the national assembly. They really don't see the people who don't count under this system and think it doesn't matter that so many don't have any way to make their voices heard.
Sounds like a sort of pre-capitalist corporatocracy ... spellpunk anyone?
Although IIRC this was how most medieval cities functioned (at a local level anyway).
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Old 03-15-2018, 04:41 PM   #186
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Default Re: Exotic Governmental/Legal Systems

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Originally Posted by Michael Cule View Post
One of the nations in the very strange setting for Greg Stolze's REIGN is ruled by guilds. After the Imperial invasion wiped out the noble families who were in charge before (using a very nasty blood-based magic) the guilds took over the resistance and the eventual government.

The resultant state is immensely proud of its can-do attitude, the fact that anyone can rise... Well, anyone who belongs to a guilded profession and can manage the politics of both their guild and the national assembly. They really don't see the people who don't count under this system and think it doesn't matter that so many don't have any way to make their voices heard.
There might be a little tinkering that can provide representation for guildless. Most natives are going to be members of the guild they are apprenticed to going in. Immigrants are more troublesome though if they do not end up joining some guild or other they can be allowed a "free laborers guild".
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Old 03-15-2018, 09:08 PM   #187
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I foresee...instability. Very quickly.

<shrug> Obviously the husbands have to be chosen for reasons other than the ruler's personal preference but that's far from rare.
The issue would be less the preferences of the Queen than the paternity of the heir, and the status/power that would come with it. In some ways, that system would be on a head-on collision course with reproductive biology/psychology.
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Old 03-15-2018, 09:09 PM   #188
Johnny1A.2
 
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Default Re: Exotic Governmental/Legal Systems

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Originally Posted by jason taylor View Post
I still think it's weirdness is kind of cool.

One variation that will fit a more patriarchal society is Chinese Consort Clans. In China a Surname that is descended from the closest male relation to an Imperial Concubine gets an extra panache attached to it's bragging rights. One can take this further and have a Consort Clan control each department.

This brings up some interesting thoughts. Budgets and harem politics will have a weird relation to each other. If clans practice adoption they can bid for potential offers to the emperor at a beauty contest. As the concubine who wins the Emperor's favor will get the best budget(not to mention will be listened to closest in naming of the Vizier)unless the Emperor is extremely strong willed the natural tendency of the state will be to be ruled by consort clans which are the same as cabinet clans.

All sorts of things can be thought of besides the rather naughty titilations. How much power is in the concubines themselves? How much in children, dowagers, male relations, eunechs, etc. How many favors have to be paid off and how far do these extend?
Along with the nasty side-effects, too. which would also make for useful gaming hooks. For comparison, see the 'harem politics' of the Ottoman Court, esp. in the later centuries. The harem politics in Istanbul were visciously nasty.
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Old 03-15-2018, 09:18 PM   #189
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Default Re: Exotic Governmental/Legal Systems

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paternity of the heir,
Unless the PATermity of the heir didn’t matter.

If the sovereign is female, and can only be female, then the MATernity of the eldest daughter is all that matters.

Effectively a queen bee with drones, and the drones making themselves useful by helping to run the “hive”.

Take it one step further and have a meritocratic bureaucracy, with the head of each ministry wedding the sovereign upon promotion to the top of the civil service... like a President or Prime Minister marrying their cabinet... but a cabinet they didn’t select.

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Old 03-16-2018, 12:35 AM   #190
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Default Re: Exotic Governmental/Legal Systems

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Unless the PATermity of the heir didn’t matter.

If the sovereign is female, and can only be female, then the MATernity of the eldest daughter is all that matters.

Effectively a queen bee with drones, and the drones making themselves useful by helping to run the “hive”.
The marriages could also be ceremonial, with babymaking not considered a significant part of the equation. Her husbands run the departments, but her consort(s) (who may or may not be husbands) take care of other matters.

In a matriarchal and matrilineal society, with the relevant ancestry of a child being pretty obvious, the relationship between marriage and parenthood could wind up being be viewed entirely differently. Maury Povich wouldn't get much mileage out of "you are the mother."
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