World-Building Tips: Fantasy Political Systems

Fantasy politics are similar to other types of world-building in that you can pick and choose exactly what you want. Of course, this might be freeing to some, but sound overwhelming to others. There are SO MANY possibilities–how does one even start to choose a good political system for one’s fantasy novel?

Today, I hope to provide some useful tools to kickstart you into brainstorming and creating your fantasy novel’s political system.

The first step I use in creating a political system is to look at real world political systems. I have a brief list and overview of some political systems in the world today.

• Absolute Monarchy – The King/Emperor rules all. They get the final say, they hold all the power. Typically used in historical settings, but can also be modern. (Biblical example: King Saul/King David)

• Constitutional Monarchy – The King/Emperor shares power with a council. Usually the council consists of other noblemen, so still no power for the “little guy” but power is shared among the elite. Again, usually historical, but doesn’t have to be. (Biblical example: King Darius)

• Dictatorship – Similar to a Monarchy but is usually more modern with the head calling himself something different than “king”. Usually a military coup d’état brings about this type of government. Can be like an absolute monarchy, where the leader calls all the shots, or like a constitutional monarchy where a few elite are sharing the power. Typically more modern in setting but can be historical. This can be taken a step further into Socialism/Communism. (Biblical example: Emperor Augustus)

• Socialism/Communism – Basically a dictatorship but with a little more added rules. Nobody but the elite owns anything, wealth among the lower classes are shared, everything is controlled by the elite. Everyone gets the same wages, same homes, same food, same everything, as per the elites wish “for the betterment of society”. Setting-wise, pretty much like a dictatorship. (Biblical example: The ideal the serpent in the garden offered to Adam and Eve is the closest Biblical example to this I can think of, as he was trying to say they could be “equal” with God. Like true communism, this can never happen–there will always be a leader or someone over the rest, and, of course, ultimately God is over all.)

• Democracy – Everyone gets a say in voting in leaders. However democracy can turn into mob-rule as well. The majority always wins. This also might mean everyone votes on every little last thing, rather than voting for representatives who vote for their constituents. This can be either historical or modern in setting. (Biblical example: The People of Israel when they insisted Samuel give them a king.)

• Constitutional Republic – Basically what America has. It’s not a democracy because of the electoral college, so mob rule can’t happen, but the people still have a very large say in who their leaders are and how they want them to vote based on who they vote for. Typically modern but can also be historical. (Biblical example: The Judges could be the closest Biblical example to a constitutional republic–the people recognized them as their leaders and pretty much did as they said, but were not forced to and could live as they pleased within God’s laws which He gave to Moses.)

Of course, there are plenty of mixes and variations of these systems and probably even more systems out there. These are just the major systems I see both at work in the world today and in literature and media.

Tip #1: Pick a “Base” Political System

My first tip is to pick one of the above mentioned (or another system you find) political systems to use as your “base”. What is the closest real-life political system to your story world or that your plot needs?

For example, in most medieval fantasies, there is a king or similar entity ruling a domain. The closest real-world base to this, depending on the nitty-gritty of the system, would be either a constitutional or absolute monarchy.

Tip #2: Mix and Match Systems

Once you have your base, or “main” system down, you can have fun with things and mix and match different political styles, based on what your plot calls for, or even just for fun.

For example, if your main system is an absolute monarchy, you could add in a bit of the democratic system and have all the people vote in their king, who then is in for life and rules exactly like an absolute monarch.

Another example could be to have a democracy be the base, but their figureheads are called nobility titles, though they don’t have any real power since the power lies with the majority.

Tip #3: Keep the Plot In Mind

When picking a political system, something to keep in mind is the plot. In many stories, especially those where the political system is extremely involved in the plot, the plot itself dictates the type (or at least the base type) of system the world needs.

For example, a story with a plot surrounding a battle for a throne would have to be one of the two monarchies. A story where a character is fighting against the oppressive government often has a dictatorship/communism system, though on occasion it can be a monarchy as well.

There are also other factors, or more minor plot points which can point to the type of government your story might need. For example, if you have a concept where painting is outlawed, you probably don’t have a republic or democracy (though it is possible if the mob rule of democracy outlawed painting).

Sometimes the story does not have a clear, set political system in mind, however. For example, one could have a story where a minority character is being hunted by the government because of her faith, ethnicity, abilities, or whatnot. This could happen in a monarchy, dictatorship, and even a democracy, depending on the rules and laws of the land.

Tip #4: Keep the Story Message in Mind

This tip often comes into play if the political system is extremely involved in the plot or if the political systems change throughout the course of the story.

Let’s take the last example from Tip #3. Depending on your core message, you would probably paint one system, the one hunting down the main character, as the “bad” system, and whatever system allows her freedom as the “good” system. So if you wanted to paint a dictatorship as bad, you’d use that system as the one with the rules hunting her down, and pick another system, let’s say, the republic, as the “good” system which allows her freedom to speak, act, and exist.

In a situation like above, however, you have the added (yet fun!) task of developing TWO political systems, your dictatorship and your republic. What’s fun about this, is if you develop them simultaneously, you can compare and contrast them and add those details into the story!

Tip #5: Brainstorm (+ Some Questions!)

Finally, once you have the main system down, and any little mixes and quirks to the system the plot or story message requires, the best thing to do is just brainstorm in the way that most works for you. Sometimes, some people like to plot everything out. Others like to just start writing.

For me, I enjoy diving in and writing. But oftentimes, when I’m working on fleshing out world-building particulars, I like to write random backstory scenes. These might be of the character before the story, a side or mentor character’s backstory, or maybe a short of one of the political leaders and how they came to power. A lot of times, ideas come to me as I write.

But not everyone is like that. There are also those who need to plot out everything before writing, or still don’t know where to start after finding their main system and its major quirks.

So I have a list of questions which will hopefully help kickstart some of those creative juices to enable you to start fleshing out your fantasy political system! (Remember, if you have two or more political systems in your story, answer these for each of them.)

• What do the leaders really want? Get down to the bare bones here–are their desires pure, to help people, or selfish?
• What is the most positive thing the leaders have done?
• What is life like for the average person? Are they happy, healthy, hardworking, and able to earn a living? Or are they miserable, suffering, struggling etc? 
• How is the economy? Struggling? Doing well? Do the rich get richer and the poor poorer, or does gaining riches depend on someone’s ability to work hard? (Wars and such can affect this)
• On that note, what is the past (10-20 years) of the country? War torn? Peaceful? Had a coup d’état? (This can affect things a TON.) 
• What are the major events in the country over the past 20 years? This can be anything—a major sickness, war, famine, an assassination of a major political figure, rough relations with neighboring countries, a battle for the throne/seat of government between two or more parties, etc. Even if it doesn’t seem political in nature, anything that has affected the country in some way might be helpful to list here because those things often somehow are tied to present/future political events.
• How big of a role is religion for the leaders?
• Is there a state religion? Is it hostile to other religions? 
• What/who are the religious leaders and how much power do they hold? Are they very powerful, like a medieval pope? Or are they just normal members of society like everyone else? Or is there a hierarchy, like in Catholicism?
• What class systems does the government have?
• If applicable, what class systems do the people want? 
• How free are people to express themselves through speech, art, etc? Are they endangered if they speak out against the government?
• How are things inside the government? Is there only one leader or multiple decision-makers? Are the leaders at odds with each other’s goals or ways to accomplish their goals?
• How might unrest or disunity within the government affect the types of laws (or lack of them) issuing from the government? How might this affect the people’s perspective of the government?
• Are there any traitors working within the current government to bring it down?
• If there are two or more political systems vying for control, who is ultimately the “good” side? If there is no good side, who is the “lesser evil”? 

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A political system is fun to form because it can affect every single area of a character’s life, especially in the areas of Socioeconomics, Religion, Healthcare, the Arts and Music, and Speech and News. This can be seen not only in many governments in the modern day, but also throughout history. Actually, reading about history can also help one formulate their fantasy political system, especially for more historical settings.

I hope some of these tips helped. If you have any questions, tips of your own, or would just like to share your answers to the brainstorming questions (or even just discuss your own political system), feel free to pop into the comments below! I always love hearing from everyone! God bless! ~ Kay Adelin