d86 Volatile City-State Governments
For Iapheia, but can probably be adapted to any setting that needs quarrelsome city-states in a roughly early 20th century milieu. This list is optimised for gameability and interest rather than realism - a parliamentary democracy where there's sometimes an unpopular prime minister and elections are a bit turbulent but everything is basically fine isn't much of a crucible for adventure.
Roll 1d8 for a broad category and 1d6 for a subcategory.
- Republic. The city-state has a parliament or senate, democratic elections, and probably a Chancellor or Prime Minister as head of government.
- One-and-a-Half-Party System. There are two major parties, but one holds a deeply entrenched majority. The other may resort to non-electoral means to pursue its goals.
- Tripartisan Entente. Three major parties, one of which is smaller than the other two, but big enough to keep them from getting a majority and thus become a kingmaker.
- Proportional Gridlock. Lots of parties with very few seats each. Governance is sporadically achieved through massive, unstable coalitions.
- Multi-Cameral. Several legislative chambers with distinct but overlapping remits and party systems, joined by a complex system of veto and amendment rights.
- Imbalanced Suffrage. Voting power varies based on social standing, age, gender, or some other criterion, and all parties must court the privileged groups.
- Representative Plutocracy. Nominally a democracy, but the government raises money by literally selling votes, so anyone with enough cash to burn can functionally set the agenda.
- Oligarchy. The city-state is ruled by a group of elites whose composition and succession is not subject to the will of the public.
- Ancient Aristocracy. An ever-shifting kudzu of families, titles, privileges, and loyalties. The bickering nobles only close ranks when their shared position is threatened.
- Theo-Aristocracy. An exalted caste of priest-gentry, detached from and often resented by the regular church. All decisions are justified on the grounds of fundamental, ineffable virtue.
- Robber Barons. Successful industrialists buy their way into the halls of power. Many only want political power as a tool to bludgeon their commercial rivals.
- Clan Dominion. The government is a council of elders from several ancestral ruling clans, eternally feuding but bound by intermarriage and treaties.
- Timocracy. A pseudo-democratic system where voting power is determined by property ownership. The general public rents almost everything from calcified landowning families.
- Astrologarchy. A citizen's social standing is based on their astrological charts; only those born under the most auspicious confluences can govern.
- Dictatorship. The city-state is ruled by a single person, whether they call themselves a Premier, a Grand Duke, or a Supreme Leader.
- Contested Monarchy. An ancient throne with a tangled, disputed line of succession. Unsuccessful monarchs are quickly deposed or assassinated in favour of more popular pretenders.
- Philosopher-Tyranny. The dictator is expected to base their decisions on an existing body of political wisdom. Their tutors hold more power than their closest subordinates.
- Astynocracy. Ministers are theoretically free to manage their domains, but kept in line by an omniscient secret police force, which may even outrank the dictator.
- Microfeudalism. Individual wards and government departments are overseen by Viceroys or Lord Mayors who, in turn, command a civil service of hereditary vassals.
- Eternal Throne. When the dictator dies, a new vessel for their divine soul is "found" through a complex series of rites and tests (which always picks one of the old dictator's allies).
- Saturnalian Despotism. The dictator is a normal citizen chosen at random at a fixed interval, and a rotating cast of advisors struggles to direct their absolute authority.
- Bureaucracy. The city-state has no separate legislative branch - everything is handled by a sprawling, and likely ponderous, civil service.
- Bureaucratic Mire. The civil service is a sclerotic, self-perpetuating nightmare of working groups and regulations. Much is done to ensure that nothing is accomplished.
- Mandarinate. A theoretical meritocracy, decided by a byzantine system of exams and qualifications which have very little to do with actual civic acumen.
- Kritarchy. Government by pure jurisprudence. Magistrates interpret and enforce existing laws; high-ranking judges can effectively make new ones through legal exegesis.
- Athenian Democracy. All major decisions are made by referendum. These votes are often corrupt and heavily swayed by pressure groups within the civil service.
- Civic Cult. The civil service is religiously motivated, dividing its worship between the heavens and the city itself. All governmental procedures are laced with ritual and superstition.
- Unified Theory. The civil service follows a strict set of formulae and principles devised by a venerated, delusional social scientist. Deviation is vital, but must be concealed.
- Private Governance. The city-state doesn't have a dedicated ruling body. Governance is the domain of some other sector of society.
- Stratocracy. An established military government, formed during the Last War and never dissolved. There is no distinction between civil servants and soldiers.
- Junta. A "provisional" military government. Constant unrest gives it a pretext to continue martial law until the "civic emergency" is over.
- Holy Tribunal. A secret council of religious officials makes policy, and the extended church hierarchy enforces it with a private army that may clash with the regular military.
- Corporate State. A single vast corporation or corporate conglomerate rules, treating the city-state as just another piece of its portfolio.
- Sophocracy. A council of revered academics has taken charge of the city-state, ruling based on the latest scholarship and sometimes conducting social experiments on the populace.
- Rule of Beauty. Artists rule, in pursuit of their own esoteric agendas. Politics and aesthetics are tightly intertwined, and unfashionable tastes can be cause for exile or worse.
- Anarchy. The city-state doesn't have a dedicated ruling body. Governance is handled at a lower, more atomised level.
- League of Boroughs. The city-state is split up into dozens of smaller polities, some as small as a few city blocks, each with its own elected government.
- Syndicalism. All power is held by trade unions, which exchange resources and aid in a network of mutual partnerships. Union officials can become petty tyrants in their own domains.
- Fractal Commune. A decentralised web of intentional communities, ranging in size from dozens to thousands of people. Vicious politicking is common both within and between them.
- Egoism. A fully atomised society where the only sin is restricting another person's freedom. When disputes arise, wars can break out over who's restricting whom.
- Hyperagorism. In theory, a society built on voluntary exchanges. Laws exist only to protect this principle, and are only enforced by a few dedicated volunteers. Wealth is power.
- Arena of Ideals. Civil war as social praxis. Political movements are militias. Violence is constant and incoherent. This brutality will someday create the perfect society. Someday.
- Exotic. Roll again with 1d6 as the first die and apply one of the following modifiers.
- Kleptocracy. The system has been fully co-opted by organised crime. All elections, appointments, and trials are transparently rigged.
- Fifth Estate. The city-state's thriving amateur press is a political force in its own right. Polemicists and muckrakers can command so much power that their opinions become de facto law.
- Divinatory Law. The system is bound to the will of the divine, as conveyed through oracles, scripture, or pure chance. Potentates strive to bend the omens to their own agendas.
- Governance Engines. Primitive cogitators are used to assist with decision-making, supposedly calculating the best courses of action. They are painfully easy to sabotage.
- Narcocracy. Important decisions are made under the influence of psychedelic drugs, which are believed to open one's mind to the cosmic truth.
- Necrocracy. The dead are a part of the political process. Politicians act as proxies for the views of deceased national heroes. In some systems, corpses can vote through living relatives.
- Combined. Roll again twice with 1d6 as the first die. Both systems exist in one of the following relationships.
- Joint Rule. Systems A and B are expected to work in harmony, and little can be done without the consent of both. Bitter, quarrelsome compromise is the norm.
- Dormant Hierarchy. System A has a universal veto or similar crushing power over System B, and only custom and decorum keep System A from using it to rule outright.
- Departmental Divide. Systems A and B handle different aspects of government. Fierce arguments over grey areas between the two domains are common.
- Geographic Divide. Systems A and B rule different regions of the city-state. The borders are vague, ever-shifting, and cause for constant conflict and occasional violence.
- Demographic Divide. Systems A and B rule different subsets of the population, with different laws and cultural norms for each. Society is fiercely stratified and punishes mingling.
- Pseudo-Revolution. System A is the original administration. System B is an illegal anti-government with enough popular support to protect it from reprisals. Chaos ensues.