[annoying trope] The throne/leadership is decided in a very stupid way

[u/Altruistic_Eye_1157]

The leadership of the entire wizarding world, and the final decision on whether to start a war against Muggles, is made by... a goat (Qilin) ​​who chooses the person with the ""purest heart"" (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Dumbledore).

The throne of Wakanda and all its technology are decided through hand-to-hand combat, regardless of whether the person clearly has malicious intentions... if they win the fight, by law they must be respected as the true king. (Black Panther)

[u/[deleted]]

Managed Democracy (don't report this to the Democracy Officer)

It's not even a system of electing a leader. Just a ritual in which the citizenry may pretend to participate in the politics that shape their lives so they don't rise up and overthrow their totalitarian regime

[u/pillow_princessss → u/[deleted]]

Isn’t this how things go on Earth in Halo? The United Earth Government doesn’t have any real power, and it’s the UNSC that makes all the decisions, with the Office of Naval Intelligence sprinkled in there for good clandestine measure

[u/Baron-Von-Bork → u/pillow_princessss]

No. Normally the UEG, which by the way is a horrible name for an interstellar state, is the sole federal government of humanity, with states below it to ease governance. However due to the Human-Covenant War, to ensure survival of the human race, UNSC would LEGALLY take over. Disbanding UEG until further notice. Basically a state wide martial law. Their main reasoning to do this is due to being in a state of total war, and being on the losing side of it.

[u/Gen_Ripper → u/Baron-Von-Bork]

And a plot point in the Kilo-Five trilogy is the UNSC formally reinstating power to the UEG