Exotic Governmental/Legal Systems

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

That would mean either A) it cannot expand beyond a certain point, B)everyone in the places it expands to remains a helot or C) expansion is limited to clientage and/or influence. Or D) it evolves into an Imperium. All of these have actual historical precedent, enough to make a plausible game.

Consider, for example, that the formal legal definition of a "cardinal" is a priest of a church in the Holy See, that is, the diocese whose bishop is the Pope. In practice cardinals mostly hold senior posts in churches elsewhere in the world, but that doesn't entitle them to vote for the Pope. It's as if Congress (a) acted as the city council of Washington, DC and (b) in that role, elected the president.