Important organizations with Courtesy Rank for standard ranks

[Prince Charon]

Based on a point brought up in another thread:

Originally Posted by malloyd

I think you could make a case for most starfleet ranks being courtesy ranks anyway, the chain of command seems very flexible even among the parts of the service that lean more to the military side. The Captain and First Officer usually seem firm enough to be actual ranks. Anything beyond that, not so much.

I'm not sure how true this is, but it's an interesting thought. Can you have an organization which is important in a society, one that has some degree of Legal Enforcement Powers or otherwise rights or authority that most people and groups in the same society don't have, where most or perhaps all formal ranks are covered by Courtesy Rank? If so, what effect does this have on a society, and on the organization?

The other organization I can see this working for is some eras of the Jedi in Star Wars Legends - not in the Clone Wars, but earlier, and to some degree later on, it could fit. (I have too little knowledge of Disney canon to comment on the Jedi hierarchy there, and no interest in finding out more.) I can also see this working for merchant vessel crews and similar groups, but that usually doesn't fit the 'powerful' aspect, and in societies where it does, the ranks tend to be more formal.


Thoughts?