Whether we like them or not, the government rules our lives in many ways every day. Likewise, our decisions, goals, and opportunities are shaped by politics. Let’s say that, hypothetically, you live in a society lacking any form of government or military. Wouldn’t this still have a serious bearing on how you live your life? Yes!

So why don’t we spend just a little bit of time discussing the creation of a governing authority in your new world?

Politics and Government

Politics can refer to a number of ideas in a society. It may be quite literally the views of the politicians and rulers in your country. But there is a deeper side to politics that refers to decisions made to maintain peace and balance. Both of these things are important to consider in your world.

So what determines a world’s politics? These are influenced by many of the things we’ve already discussed including religion, science, and cultural values. They are shaped by the people in charge. How would your people view those in charge? How do they feel about the decisions being made for them? Are they happy or disgruntled?

In addition, let’s spend just a minute talking about the politics of decision-making. When I was just starting grad school, the students in our program were placed either into a core molecular structure and metabolism course or into a neuroscience-specific, behavior-based core course. For reasons stated as “political,” the program was not permitted to place every student into the neuroscience-based core. Therefore, students were separated based on research interests (molecular versus behavioral). This is the kind of thing I mean. To keep the peace between departments, the students were not placed into their own separate course (or at least not all of the students), even though it might have made more sense. What kind of decisions, separations, and laws were made in your world in an effort to keep the peace? These kinds of things can be either mutually beneficial or lead to a lot of hurt feelings. It’s important that you remember how and why these kinds of decisions are made.

As for crafting your government itself, you have so many options. Monarchy, democracy, dictatorship…it’s a huge list. Think about the people you want in charge. Politicians, theologians, sorcerers, military, council or senate, or any other type of person or body of people will all have their own way of governing and making laws. Think about who you want in charge. If it helps, look up a list of government types and spend a little time picking what kind of government you want in your world. What are the levels of government? How much power does an individual have? How much power do the citizens have? These are all questions that will shape not just your world but also the plot, actions, and opportunities of your characters.

Raising an Army. Or Navy. Or Troop of One-Legged Sorcerers.

The military and police forces are the enforcers of the laws set in place by the government, for better or for worse. For without enforcement, rules are nothing but writing on paper (and there’s no guarantee that anyone even bothers to read it). So when you are creating your world and your governing authorities, it makes sense to take a little time to at least get an idea about your enforcement, be it military, police, navy, coast guard…whatever you want to fit into your story.

To get you started, here are a few questions to consider:

1. What kinds of branches do you have? Is there a police? What kind of military fits into your world? (hint: if you only have desert, you don’t really need a navy, do you?)
   
2. What kind of ranking system fits into your enforcing body? You can look up military and police ranks online to come up with your own. But, I definitely recommend you write it down, for your own sanity. No one wants to suddenly need something they’ve forgotten ten chapters ago.
3. What role do these organizations play in everyday life? In extenuating circumstances? How visible are they to the general public?
4. Who is allowed to be involved in these organizations? Only women? Men? Magic users? Clerics?
5. What is the mindset of a typical participant in these groups? You may want to spend the time to read a memoir or two from a soldier or sailor, etc., if one of your characters is involved. They won’t necessarily think the same way as a character who was never an enforcer of the law.
6. What does it mean to be in one of these branches? Is it voluntary? Forced? A fixed length of time? For life? Opportunity for advancement? What kind of jobs are available within their role?

Obviously, there is so much more to this topic than what I’ve included here. This is merely a starting block. I encourage you to do a little more legwork, particularly if you plan to have government or military play a central role in your story. There are plenty of resources online, at your local library, and in the form of classes at colleges and universities (probably even some online ones…check out khanacademy.org and see if anything there fits your needs. Plus, it’s free!).

Regardless of what you choose to do, I hope that this has been helpful. Only two more weeks of worldbuilding. Go forth and conquer!

Previously:  Introduction - Setting - People - Language - Religion - Technology - Magic Systems