Dwarf Fortress > DF Suggestions

Government Types

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Detoxicated:
So we need more government types. I can see that kingdoms were the norm in the middle ages, but there were quite many powerful republics too. Think venice, Frankfurt, Genua... Having different types of government adds a new layer for conflict. A republic of hill dwarves will want to destroy the duke of a closeby fortress of humans...
The differences between governments should be that in democratic governments the laws are created through vote and election whilst a monarchy will create laws on the whims of individuals.

SixOfSpades:
Those city-states you mention were run largely by coalitions of wealthy families, usually merchants. And you can't have wealth or merchants until the Economy arc.
Nations could also be organized around religion, with priests in charge of all matters secular as well as sacred. Again, the Religion arc isn't here yet.
You could also have a stratocracy, a government in which the state and the military are largely indistinguishable. (Think a military junta, but long-lasting and accepted by the people.) The current game may be able to support this.

Not that I'm saying we shouldn't consider these types of government: By all means, postulate. I'm just saying that once these parts of the game are added, we'll have a better idea of what sort of framework we'll be building on. (Then again, discussing them now may help tell Toady what sorts of framework we'd like.)

The game as-is is something like a dictatorial autocracy (almost nothing is outside the overseer's control) interacting with a very weak constitutional monarchy (There is a king, but the very worst thing he can do is send an army, precisely what your fort is designed to defeat), with slight elements of a meritocracy (the game will automatically suggest the most qualified replacements for Broker or whatever, but of course those officers have no real power).

GoblinCookie:

--- Quote from: Detoxicated on August 06, 2018, 06:43:22 pm ---So we need more government types. I can see that kingdoms were the norm in the middle ages, but there were quite many powerful republics too. Think venice, Frankfurt, Genua... Having different types of government adds a new layer for conflict. A republic of hill dwarves will want to destroy the duke of a closeby fortress of humans...
The differences between governments should be that in democratic governments the laws are created through vote and election whilst a monarchy will create laws on the whims of individuals.

--- End quote ---

Really at a basic level things are as SixOfSpades mentioned, there are quite a limited array of possible government forms unless we fundamentally change the way the society works, which may be never, since it is a can of worms that may not be worth it. 

Though using the middle ages as the base of idea is not a good idea in DF, there are a number of possible government arrangements that can feasibly exist.  At the present things work as a de-centralised constitutional monarchy, the king and nobility clearly have limited powers and things are done mostly by elected mayors. 

The main issue government wise is how much power do the king/nobility have against that of the elected mayors.  How much power do the elected mayors have to decree laws themselves against how much to they have to hold referendums to pass laws.  Centralising power in present DF means increasing the power of king/nobility, which leads to the question of having elected prime ministers like we have in Britain. 

All of these issues exist without us having to have wealthy merchants in the game.

Miles_Umbrae:
Suggesting Theocracy as a possible governance type that can be fleshed out with the "Religion arc" is a good suggestion.
Suggesting City States as a possible governance type that can be fleshed out with the "Economy arc" is also a good suggestion.
Military Junta(or whatever a militaristic governance is called) is a good suggestion as well.
There are ways to implement many governance types by name and basic concept at least without having everything already available .. that's the basic idea of Dwarf Fortress, that things gets fleshed out as development of the game progresses.

Azerty:
We should also consider the differences inside the same kind of government: for exemple, republics could differ over which classes get to vote and/or get elected (in some, merchants and craftsmen get to vote, in others, only landowners get to power) and their internal working (is the leadership done by an individual (consul, mayor) or a body (directoire, ), and how is the nomination? Does a senate exists and, if so, who elect it?). Monarchy would be whether they are elective (who elect the king?) or whether they are hereditary (what is the laws of succession?).

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