How to Build Fantasy Governments: Creating Conflict and Depth through Worldbuilding

Join Marie in discussing how to create governments

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Chapters

• 0:00 Governments in Fantasy
• 1:42 Components of Governments
• 2:55 Legitimacy of Government
• 21:58 Core Functions of Government

Transcript

“Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the man; he had the vote.” This quote from *Mort* by Terry Pratchett occurs to me every time I think about government models. The Patrician had legitimacy to govern due to his vote, and he had the competence to make tyranny work. Those are skills I think some of our modern-day politicians wish they had, but truly that quote is a masterful expression of a fantasy government that sticks with the reader both for the amusement value and for the thoughts it provokes.

And that’s what this podcast is about: creating a government or governance style for a fantasy culture that will create a plot-ready framework of governance that you can use to generate tension and create stories in fantasy worlds. Welcome to another episode of *World-Building Blueprints* from Just In Time Worlds with your host Marie Mullany. If you're watching this on YouTube, there is a playlist where you can watch the previous episodes in the information card. If you're listening to this in a podcast app, the previous episodes are available there.

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Okay, so let's talk about government: what it is and how it works. Humans are social creatures. One of our great strengths is the ability to work together in large numbers. However, when large groups work together, some kind of structure becomes necessary to guide the group’s activities. Most often, though not always, this leads to some sort of hierarchical governance, and it always requires some laws that guide society. There are really two components that make up government. There is the “why” government functions, or what provides government with legitimacy in the eyes of the people. In other words, why do the people, who normally outnumber the agents of government, obey? And then there is the “how” government functions, in other words, how government officials meet the expectations of society.

In this podcast, we'll start with legitimacy and then move on to the core government functions, determining how your government meets those functions. Legitimacy is vital for any government to function effectively. When a government lacks legitimacy in the eyes of its people, its ability to govern falters. The population must believe in the reason behind the government's authority, whether it's fear of power, belief in elections, or divine approval.

There are four primary sources of legitimacy that you can consider when building governments in your fantasy world: democracy, competence, higher power, and might-makes-right. Each of these sources determines the type of government that exists in your world, and selecting the legitimacy source of your government will be step one of building your government. Let's discuss each of these sources in a little more detail.

First, democracy, or power of the people. In democracies, people either elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf, or they directly vote on policies. Historically, a well-documented democracy is present in Athens in 508 BC, so it's definitely not a newfangled thing and can be freely included in historical fantasy-type settings. When implementing a democracy in your fantasy world, consider how voting rights are structured. Do only landowners or the wealthy get to vote, or is it more inclusive? Each type of person that is enfranchised will have an identity with potentially its own subculture within your culture. Enfranchisement is a great place to build some very interesting lore and plot tension. Perhaps recently, a previously disenfranchised group has forced the culture to recognize their right to vote. There could be people trying to prevent this kind of expansion, protests for and against, or even if such a change was in the deep past, there could be famous or infamous people associated with such a movement that are known to members of this culture. Such people might even be seen in very different ways by different identities in the culture. The traditionally enfranchised might see such a person as a rebel, while the newly enfranchised see this person who brought change as a hero.

Also, consider if there are voting blocks somewhat akin to the Electoral College of the USA, or if the system is one-man-one-vote, like the elections of Europe. Bear in mind that with a system where you have voting blocks, some votes will always be worth more than others, as blocks with low population have the same amount of votes as blocks with high population. So, a voter in a smaller block has a greater influence than a voter in a higher population block. We commonly think of this in terms of voters in certain regions or locations, but in the Roman Republic, the people of Rome were divided into tribes based on their heritage, so voting blocks certainly don't have to be based on regions but can be created by any other identities in the culture, including religion, gender, class, or some fantastical attribute of your culture.

Besides who votes and how they vote, another big point to consider is if the democracy is direct, where everything is voted on, or representative, where the people elect leaders. This is somewhat of a sliding scale. A democracy can hold elements of both. In such a case, there would be referenda on some aspects, while other matters would be left to representatives. The act of voting, especially in direct democracies which need frequent votes, is a great place to build in fantastical or science fiction elements like devices that are used to vote or magical creatures that collect votes from households, and so on. Whatever mechanism you create, it's a great opportunity to add some fun, relevant, and important fantastical elements.

In a representative democracy, it's important to note that not every position in your system of voting needs to be an elected one. Some positions might be appointed, like judges, for example, or there might even be birthright positions, as there are in a constitutional monarchy. So, consider what is the lowest position elected in your system, and what is the highest position elected. And don't forget, you can have a mix of direct and representative democracy, with some referenda elements and other matters left to representatives. Or perhaps the people vote on all legislative matters, and then an elected executive of government only enforces the law. In fact, you can mix and match legitimacies themselves, with some elements of democracy and others of competence or higher power, which we'll discuss more later in this podcast.

But you can only mix and match if we explore the other legitimacy granters, so let's move on to legitimacy number two: competence. A government based on competence draws legitimacy from the skills or qualifications of those in power. People in these governments often earn their positions through exams, expertise, or achievement. For example, in the Song Dynasty of China, bureaucrats were selected based on merit after passing rigorous exams. Similarly, in a *kratia* (government by judges), those who interpret the law have absolute power. Even a government by the wealthy (an oligarchy) or the educated (a technocracy) can be folded into this type of legitimacy, as these governments claim that their wealth or education makes them uniquely competent to govern over everybody else.

This type of government offers fertile ground for storytelling. What kind of trials or exams must your characters pass to earn a place in the government? How does the society view those who fail or those who succeed? Is this a means by which social mobility can be achieved in an otherwise strict hierarchical society? Again, there is a great opportunity here for world-building when you consider elements like demonstrating competence. Perhaps there is a neutral magic spirit that determines competence, or a fantastical animal that must be defeated in some kind of contest, like beating a sphinx at riddles. In addition, there is plot potential here. The means of judging competence—examination or competition—could be corrupt, or one of the contestants could feel that they have been cheated, creating a great motivation and backstory for a character that could either be a hero or a villain, depending on if the corruption they perceive is real.

As with democracy, this can govern a part of your government while other parts are based on hierarchy, democracy, or anything else. Consider the Song Dynasty again. The emperor was a birthright position. There were nobles and great families, but the imperial bureaucrats were determined by the exams.

And speaking of birthright, let's move on to legitimacy factor number three: higher power determination. In this kind of government, the rulers are determined by a power outside their control. Something beyond the ruler's own life and competence gives them power—something unknowable, like divine right, luck, or being chosen by the spirits. A government drawing legitimacy from a higher power can take many forms. Monarchy, determined by birthright, is the most common example of this. Kings hold their position because they were born into it, and by being born—something controlled by the divine or luck or the spirits or whatever else—the monarch was chosen to rule. A theocracy would be another form of this government, where the priest class is chosen by the divine power to rule.

However, don't get hung up on the word "divine." The higher power could be governance by luck. All candidates for a position could roll dice, and the winner of the dice roll becomes the leader. In this case, luck acts as the higher power. In a science fiction setting, a council of AIs could adjudicate candidates by some unknown means and appoint the liaison, who would also serve as the ruler of the human population. In a fantasy setting with a sapient planet, the planet could determine the ruler and mark them in some fashion.

When constructing this kind of government, you need to determine what the higher power is and how it chooses the next ruler. Of course, your fantasy elements can play a great role here. Also, consider how corruptible that power or the means of choosing is. For example, if a person is chosen by divine right when sparkles shine on them in a contest of choosing, what happens if a mage figures out a way to duplicate those sparkles? Or what if a spirit is compromised by the bribery of power? Or what if AI code is corrupted by a skilled hacker?

Just because a higher power is providing legitimacy does not mean it can't be questioned. The Mandate of Heaven springs to mind here. Whichever family held the imperial throne of China was considered to hold the Mandate of Heaven, and you'd think that would be a higher power that cannot be argued with, but this is not so. Natural disasters, failures in governance, or any number of other events could be seen as omens that the Mandate of Heaven has been withdrawn from that family, and it's time for a new dynasty.

So you have some really great plot potential here, both in the granting of power and the removal of the higher power's blessing. And like with the other types of governance legitimacy, this can be a mix-and-match situation. A king could have an elected parliament, as with constitutional monarchies, or a king might be elected from a restricted group of heirs, in which case those who stand for election are determined by the higher power of birthright, and out of this group, democracy then selects the actual monarch. Or you could have an emperor who holds the Mandate of Heaven, and bureaucrats who must pass difficult exams, as was the case in many Chinese dynasties.

And if you've enjoyed the podcast so far, give it some ratings love or a thumbs up, and let's move on to the final means by which a government can enforce its legitimacy: might makes right. In a might-makes-right government, rulers gain and keep power through conquest or other military strength or demonstrations of personal strength. Historically, most empires—from the Mongols under Kublai Khan to the Roman Empire—used military force to legitimize their rule over subject people, though not necessarily over their core population. These kinds of governments are often unstable, as it's expensive to rule by brute force (ask any occupying force, ever), and so this kind of environment is absolutely rife with plot opportunities, even if you're not writing a political fantasy, per se. After all, who doesn't like a good old rebel alliance against the evil empire?

An interesting twist on this kind of government is a magocracy, where magical prowess is the source of legitimacy of individuals. Mages, through their magical abilities, maintain control over the population. For example, the *Codex Alera* series by Jim Butcher showcases a world where the rulers harness magical furies to assert control. The might of their magic grants them authority.

When constructing this kind of government, consider how rulers demonstrate their strength. Is it their strength personally, or is it their power in terms of an army? If they do use armies, how and why do those armies stay loyal to them? Like with the other forms of gaining legitimacy, consider if there is potentially a mix here, like the emperor holds sway with his own people due to the higher power of birthright, but the subject people of the empire bow to the military might of his armies. This creates amazing points of tension from a plot perspective, especially if subject nations start being incorporated into the military. For example, will they hold the same loyalty as the core people? Will their lack of belief in the higher power infect the troops of the core nation?

Another point to consider is if might needs to be continuously demonstrated, and this is more applicable to governments where your might-makes-right is on the personal level. Consider a government constructed on magical strength. Does the person only need to demonstrate their strength once, and then they are appointed to a position and rise by means of competence? Or can they be challenged? It would be really interesting to create a government based on mages dueling each other to the top. Of course, that would be sort of like appointing the UFC champion as president—there is absolutely no guarantee that such a mage would be any good at governing, but that could be part of your plot tension.

Now, as I keep saying, you can and probably should mix and match these legitimacies in creating your government. So let's cover that in a brief overview before moving on to the core functions of government. A government is rarely dependent on only one of these mechanics for their legitimacy. Even in our current day and age, a country may have democracy combined with higher power, like birthright or birthplace. In the United States, for example, only a natural-born citizen of the United States can run for president. It is a very small deviation from democracy as the legitimacy supplier, but it is there. Of course, the majority of the USA government’s legitimacy extends from its democracy.

And for a world-builder, it might be enough to simply define the majority of legitimizing elements, especially if you're not writing a deeply political fantasy. However, a mix-and-match approach can add fascinating plot elements, especially if you do have some politics in play. For example, in my world of *Sangu Chronicles*, in the Empire of Lumon, I have a noble class who derive their legitimacy from their use of magic. At the highest end of the nobles—the Dukes—they must pass a test set by a Duang spirit to enter a potential pool of heirs, but only those of the bloodline of the Duke may take the test to start with. However, nobles only control the security and defense aspect of governance, though they do have some impact on making laws.

The Empire is a messy place. Anyway, there is another part of the government that controls the interpretation and application of laws, and that is the *R-sprakers*. These women—and it is always women for historical reasons—are elected from the population of their region by all adults over the age of 16. To qualify to stand for election, these women must have had a child—again, for historical reasons going back to the time of the tribes when parenthood was a critical qualification. Therefore, the legitimacy of the government overall springs from both democracy (the *R-sprakers*) and higher power (the Duang trials and birthright), and might-makes-right (the nobles are all mages who can enforce their will). This gives me great tension-generating abilities on the spots where these branches of government interact, and their sources of legitimacy scrape against one another, causing very natural friction. So don't be afraid to mix it up.

Do consider how your government gains legitimacy to govern in each of its core functions. But what are those core functions, and what does a government actually do in a fantasy world? Let's turn to that topic next.

From the earliest settlements to modern nations, one of the fundamental roles of government has always been to protect society. This includes not only defense against external threats but also the maintenance of internal order through policing and law enforcement. As societies evolve and the concept of property rights emerges, governments also become responsible for enforcing property rights, particularly for assets like land and livestock, which are essential for sustaining livelihood and generating excess produce. When designing your government, ask questions like: How is external security maintained? How is internal security maintained? Are there, for example, town guards or militias, or some other mechanism of getting warm bodies to man the walls or chase after thieves? How are people recruited for security, both internal and external? Does your magic system or other fantastical elements play any role? Does participation in security offer any kind of social mobility, for example, citizenship through service? And, of course, who (and this can be multiple people) controls security, and where do they derive their legitimacy from?

Another crucial function of government is the adjudication of disputes among citizens. This role predates agriculture and can be traced back to tribal communities, where elders or councils mediated conflicts. Initially, this adjudication was based on the community's belief in one party over another in conflict, but it evolved into more sophisticated legal systems. The development of codified laws and judiciary branches, such as the Code of Hammurabi from the Bronze Age, marked the beginning of complex legal systems and formalized dispute resolution. This function includes the creation and enforcement of laws. After all, judging someone to be a thief is simply a dispute about who owns the piece of property that was judged to be stolen.

When designing your dispute resolution framework, ask questions like: How are laws made, and how are they enforced? What legal categories exist, for example, magical property rights, religious law, safety laws, and so on? Bear in mind the norms we discussed in an earlier episode of this podcast will inform many of your laws, and try and work them into the laws that you generate here. Also consider the general type of punishment for lawbreaking within your culture. A culture that uses fines has a very different flavor to a culture that favors physical punishment or a culture that uses incarceration as punishment. And speaking of punishment, who judges disputes and metes out justice? A judge who is appointed based on their knowledge, a druid whose wisdom is attested by their magic, or a council of elders? Where does the legitimacy of the enforcers of law come from, and how do they judge innocence or guilt? Is there a courtroom? Is trial by combat an option? What role does magic play in separating the innocent from the guilty?

Finally, the third key function of government is the management of collective resources. Early agricultural societies required centralized control over resources like water for irrigation. As societies grew, this role expanded to include the management of public infrastructure, education, and welfare services. Today, governments are still pretty vital in managing those collective resources, overseeing the construction and maintenance of bridges, roads, power grids, and other shared infrastructure. When considering this aspect of your government, ask the following types of questions: What is considered to be a collective resource? For example, water, a magical substance perhaps, or grazing rights in the case of a nomadic civilization. How and by whom is access to collective resources determined, and where do these controllers of collective resources derive their legitimacy from?

When we reach the economic system design of this podcast, I will talk in more detail about collective resources and their use, but it is important to consider these resources during the process of government design as well as economic design. Also, bear in mind that what your government considers to be a collective resource or a public good will also influence how that culture feels. For example, a government that considers education to be a public good and provides education for young people and even perhaps a form of tertiary education will have a very different culture—one that perhaps values learning and where everybody is more educated—than a culture that considers this to be something that must be paid for from the pocket of each individual, and therefore is only something available to the wealthy.

So, when you're building up your public goods, look back towards your norms and decide what your public goods, infrastructure, and collective resources are, based on the norms that you have defined for your culture. And speaking of governments feeling different, bear in mind that how your government prosecutes these core functions will be influenced by their legitimacy. A democratic government likely has a lot of participation of the people in the determination of laws, for example. On the other hand, a government where might-makes-right in a tyrannical manner probably favors very harsh and frightening punishments for lawbreakers, since such lawbreakers are a very direct threat to the rulers who derive their legitimacy from enforcing their will on the population. After all, if you're not enforcing your will on these lawbreakers, how many other lawbreakers will you have to deal with?

Between considering the core functions of your government and what gives your government legitimacy, you should be able to design a government that not only feeds your plot some great conflict but also one which feels realistic to the reader in your setting. What gives your government legitimacy in your world? Let me know in the comments or by sending the podcast some fan mail.

And that's a wrap for this episode! Today, we explored what gives a government legitimacy and what are the core functions it needs to fulfill in order to be a government. Next month, we'll finally address cultural expressions like art—I know I keep saying that—and then we'll wrap up with a comprehensive model of culture before moving on to religion. So, make sure you subscribe if you want to get those episodes when they drop. And a very huge thanks to my members for sponsoring this podcast. A special shout-out to Tony, Katy, and Lupux as members of *Build it in Stone*; and Dylan, Tiffany, Aya, and Patricio as members of *Build it in Wood*. All members not only get early access to my videos but also get access to the worksheets that accompany this podcast. You, dear listener, can join their ranks for as little as a cup of coffee a month and also unlock all these perks. But don't feel pressured—you can also support me just by sharing this podcast around.

And on that note, I will see you soon for another episode. Remember: build what you need when you need it, and happy world-building!