This post is Part 1 in a series: Basic Legal Concepts for Fantasy Writers
Let’s start with the most fundamental question: where does your government’s authority come from? Since I assume most of my readers hail from constitutional democracies, this is a question you can already answer as regards your real life. I’ll let Thomas Jefferson field this one: “(g)overnments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” (Declaration of Independence)
Although America has the world’s oldest continuously-active constitution, government by consent is hardly an idea invented by our Founding Fathers. They don’t even owe the notion to Magna Carta, important though it is in Western history. Rulership isn’t just there: it must rest on some ideological foundation, whether or not that foundation is a good one. A myth, a mandate, a philosophy, that the people being governed accept, at least to the minimum standard that they pay their taxes and don’t rebel.
As Thomas Hobbes put it, “It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law.”
This raises 2 related issues I’ll address in this post: rationale and mechanism.
Isn’t the boss just the guy with the biggest stick?
If you want to be cynical about it, sure, frequently. The authority belongs to the people with the power and vice versa. If you want to locate your story in a plutocracy, by all means.
The word is mostly used as a fire-starter in modern discourse but history can show you plenty of examples of societies ruled by a wealthy elite whose justification for rule was being the wealthy elite. Rome worked like this; Italy’s merchant republics; parts of ancient Greece. Inasmuch as there is a thought process, it’s that the people in charge deserve to be in charge because cream rises to the top. The people who own the land and make the money are best suited to make decisions for everyone. If you opt for a system like this, don’t lose sight of the fact that the concept of a meritocracy is more convincing to the cream than to the milk.
In other words, even in a system where might or wealth are used to justify themselves, the people don’t have to obey. Rebellion is always an option. An option our species has reached for frequently when the people in power are seen to fail.
Another very popular government in the realm of fantasy is monarchy. A monarchy upheld by divine rule boils down to: I’m king ’cause god said so. If you want to have a laugh about that, go watch Monty Python’s Holy Grail. If it doesn’t strike me or Michael Palin as terribly persuasive, still it’s been remarkably successful throughout history in civilizations across the globe. Japan’s emperors are actually descended from a goddess, which is pretty impressive.
Many rulers were priests or holy people; you may hear these civilizations called theocracies or theocratic monarchies. An example of the former is Sumer; the latter, ancient Egypt. These leaders stood between the gods and their people, not only by divine will, but for the purpose of mediating the relationship. The gods of the ancient world were cruel and vengeful; they created people for the purpose of serving them. In a world like that — with an economy dependent almost entirely on seasonal flooding — you can see how the people who knew how to appease them would be considered vital.
Tribal societies reflect the same need for a coherent thought process behind a group’s leadership. A chieftain might be elected or the position might be inherited. This person might perform more an administrative or religious function, or could primarily be a warrior. Some tribes historically had 2 leaders, one for war and one for peace.
Whatever system you settle on, just remember that there needs to be a narrative. A reason why the people who aren’t in power obey the ones who are. Or hey, take that reason away and watch it burn.
That would make a great story too.
Some farcical aquatic ceremony
Now you have your rationalization, how is the power actually passed from one leader to the next? There’s going to be a bit of jargon here, so bear with me. I’ll break this down into discrete sections to help you streamline your decision-making.
Monarchy
Interesting fact, not all thrones are inherited. There have been elected monarchs throughout history — the Holy Roman Emperor, for example. If you’re interested in this model, the upper echelon of the nobility selected one of their number to be emperor.
If you want for your throne to be inherited, you have a few more questions to answer. First off, how many people can inherit? Partible inheritance is when an estate is divided equally between all legitimate heirs, and yes, this has been applied to thrones. Carolingian France and parts of Russian had a custom of splitting kingdoms between princes.
Assuming you want for power to pass to a single heir, does it go to the child or the sibling of the predecessor? The latter is called agnatic seniority, if you want to do more research. Simply put, the oldest generation has to be exhausted before succession can fall to the next.
The system that’s probably most ingrained in the public imagination is male-preference primogeniture: the oldest male child inherits. Cognatic primogeniture refers to a system where a daughter can inherit in the event that there isn’t a man around to do the job. Note that, however the heir is selected, the math is always being done exclusively on one side of the family: whether your society is matrilineal or patrilineal, the throne doesn’t hop across the aisle and wind up in the hands of the ruler’s spouse’s kin.
** If you were hoping for slightly more detail, I plan to address inheritance in greater depth in a separate piece devoted to wills and property.
Oligarchy
Damn it, Burnell, we just got done agreeing this is a winner-takes-all free-for-all, what more is there to say? I just have a few questions you might consider. First of all, what qualifies one to belong to the ruling elite? If ownership of land is at issue, this is probably going to be a stable place where ambition and mercantilism generally are viewed with skepticism. The money is old and has been handed down over generations between people who don’t necessarily do any of the work themselves.
If your society is mercantile, I would expect a mirror-opposite. New money is the only money that matters; tradition may not be held in high esteem. Ambition is the highest virtue, and provided you’re the right religion/ gender/ race, rags-to-riches is a real possibility for anyone willing to put in the work.
Theocracy
Technically, theocracy means rule by god. If you write a story where that’s the literal truth, please tell me, it sounds fascinating. The way the word is more usually used, priests run the government. How the succession is settled will depend entirely on how you organize your religion. Whether your priests are a class, caste, or volunteers is up to you.
Republic/ Democracy
I hope you already have some sense how this works, so I’m not going to belabor the topic. A few considerations for you:
- Who gets to participate?
- Are there tiers of participation limiting certain groups to certain types of decision-making or does everyone get a say about everything?
- Is your head of state (the face of the nation) the same person as the head of government (president or prime minister), or is that person a figurehead?
- Political parties. You know what they are.
You’re not my supervisor!
I’ll leave you with a wonderful illustration of that quote we started with. The fabulous metropolis of Teotihuacan, in what is now Mexico, was one of the greatest cities of the ancient world at its height. It had been abandoned for centuries by the time the Aztecs rediscovered it, and its history can never be more than a theory. Archaeologists have noted evidence of fire across large portions of the city that date back to the end of the era when it was inhabited, along with smashed religious relics. Its builders occupied the city during a quiet period between eruptions of a nearby volcano and bodies — both human and animal — have been found inside the very walls of its pyramids.
A city, then, built on sacrifice.
What makes this especially interesting is the correlation between the city’s construction and desertion and vulcanism in the region. A catastrophic eruption was followed closely by the swift construction of a massive city. It endured for several hundred years while the volcano slept. The monster awoke, and the city was burned and deserted.
Scientists have speculated that it was ruled by a priestly caste who mediated between its people and the gods in order to prevent eruptions. When the volcano became active again, they were seen to have failed. It’s been posited that those fires were no accident, but rather the result of rioting, a civilization falling apart from inside. It’s authority that makes a law, and when authority is gone, so to for rule of law. Only a theory, but a tantalizing one.
** Nothing in this post or on my website is intended as legal advice, or should be taken as legal advice. All content is for the purpose of general information only. Contact an attorney to obtain legal advice with respect to any legal matter.
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