History Main / GenericistGovernment

* [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with a vengeance in Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire, which goes into great detail about the governments of Westeros and some of the nations of Essos too, and how they function.

* The government in ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' is vague. The ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' review offers up the idea that the player character is not LaResistance but a straight-up terrorist.

* ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'': It's not terribly clear why the King[[note]]not Emperor[[/note]] of the Empire is such a bad guy, nor is it explained what was so great about the previous government, which seemed to just be a bunch of guys with huge dragons running around doing... something. Partially justified by UnreliableExpositor.

* ''{{GURPS}}'' lists "Utopia" as a government type.

* ''ChronoCrusade'': In the manga version, we know there's a Queen of the Demons and there are "Elders" that have some position of authority, as well as possibly a caste system or military (Chrono is specifically mentioned to be a soldier, and some demons are referred to as "low-ranked")...but we're never really clearly told how all of this works, and who makes what decisions. We're only really told that it's "corrupt." The anime is even worse in this regard, the demons are said to have a leader that rallied against God, but are still apparently working under God...

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', the title of Minister for Magic doesn't appear to be an elected position. The Daily Prophet is said to be explicitly in the ministry's pocket. The only other newspaper mentioned is the Quibbler, which seems to be for conspiracy buffs, which seems to indicate that whatever the government is, its views are unchallenged by any kind of opposition. [[FascistButInefficient Which is pretty bad, all things considered]].\\
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There's almost no resistance when the feared villains openly take over, except from those already in conflict with them. A major plot point in the last book revolves around no-one but the heroes realizing that pretty much every wizard has enough power to easily punch through their enforcers and just walk out.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' and its prequels use this trope. ''Star Wars'' blurs the line between democracy and hereditary autocracy. Naboo is a monarchy with an elected queen who serves a fixed term, and Alderaan is a hereditary principality whose head of state, Prince Bail Prestor Organa, Viceroy and First Chairman, is also the sector's representative in the Galactic Senate (and later, the founder of the Rebellion).

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' and its prequels use this trope. ''Star Wars'' blurs the line between democracy and hereditary autocracy. Naboo is a monarchy with an elected queen who serves a fixed term, and Alderaan is a hereditary principality whose head of state, Prince Bail Prestor Organa, Viceroy and First Chairman, is also the planet's representative in the Galactic Senate (and later, the founder of the Rebellion).
** Senator Organa represented more than just his planet, but the entire Alderaan sector, which included the other inhabited planets near it. This is how Senatorial representation worked. Presumably the other planetary governments respected him enough to have the Alderaanian head of state as their representative in the Senate.

** The StarWarsExpandedUniverse averts this trope: many books go into great detail about exactly how the government works. The only problem is, it usually changes beyond all recognition from book to book DependingOnTheWriter, although this has reduced in recent years.

** ''Literature/StarTrekArticlesOfTheFederation'' laid out some of the fine points; the Federation, appropriately, seems to be a federal legislature, not entirely unlike the American Congressional system (or perhaps the Articles of Confederation; member nations retain a lot of individual control).

* ''StarWars'' and its prequels use this trope. ''Star Wars'' blurs the line between democracy and hereditary autocracy. Naboo is a monarchy with an elected queen who serves a fixed term, and Alderaan is a hereditary principality whose head of state, Prince Bail Prestor Organa, Viceroy and First Chairman, is also the planet's representative in the Galactic Senate (and later, the founder of the Rebellion). ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' makes fun of this. Naboo's constitution isn't as silly as it looks. Malaysia's mostly ceremonial King serves a fixed term of five years and is chosen from the royal families of the several states of that country. Naboo might work the same way. (Except that in Malaysia, a minor would be passed over and would have to wait until it was his family's next turn to be king.)

* The government in ''MirrorsEdge'' is vague. The ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' review offers up the idea that the player character is not LaResistance but a straight-up terrorist.

* Used in ''DominicDeegan'', where the government is vaguely defined. We know there's a king, and up until recently there was an order of Royal Knights, and that Dominic doesn't think much of the government as a whole (likening them to criminals) and...well, that's about it.

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' lists a [[TheMagocracy magocracy]], a government made up of magic users as a government type. It was also used in a vague manner in TheMovie and the sequel. Given the vast distinctions between inherited magic (sorcerers), book-learnin' (wizards), and divinely-granted magic (clerics, etc.), "magocracy" raises ''lots'' of questions...\\

** ''StarTrekArticlesOfTheFederation'' laid out some of the fine points; the Federation, appropriately, seems to be a federal legislature, not entirely unlike the American Congressional system (or perhaps the Articles of Confederation; member nations retain a lot of individual control).

* ''StarWars'' and its prequels use this trope. ''Star Wars'' blurs the line between democracy and hereditary autocracy. Naboo is a monarchy with an elected queen who serves a fixed term, and Alderaan is a hereditary principality whose head of state, Prince Bail Prestor Organa, Viceroy and First Chairman, is also the planet's representative in the Galactic Senate (and later, the founder of the Rebellion). ''DarthsAndDroids'' makes fun of this. Naboo's constitution isn't as silly as it looks. Malaysia's mostly ceremonial King serves a fixed term of five years and is chosen from the royal families of the several states of that country. Naboo might work the same way. (Except that in Malaysia, a minor would be passed over and would have to wait until it was his family's next turn to be king.)

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': Does the Federation have an assembly? How are its members selected? What's the role of the President (seen in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'')? Is Starfleet Earth's space military, the Federation's as a whole, or is it some combination? [[MildlyMilitary Is it even a military force at all?]] We don't know how the civilian government is selected at all, the role of Starfleet (how does it answer to the civilian authority?), what it means to be a member of the Federation (does a member planet completely lose its independence, or is it like being in the UN?)...

* Most ''FinalFantasy'' games seem to be right up this trope.

* ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'': It's not terribly clear why the King[[hottip:*:not Emperor]] of the Empire is such a bad guy, nor is it explained what was so great about the previous government, which seemed to just be a bunch of guys with huge dragons running around doing... something. Partially justified by UnreliableExpositor.

* ''MassEffect'': We know the three (later four) people at the very top of [[TheFederation Citadel space]], law enforcement on the Citadel, a small organization of black-ops agents with extremely high authority, and beyond that... not much else. We don't see any middle management or local self-government except on two ViceCity planets that aren't even part of Citadel space. We know that Earth is still fractured into nation-states, but nothing about the colonies.
** To be fair, much of that information is present in the codex (though in the secondary part). For example, you find out that the Asari are made up of a group of nation-states reminiscent of Ancient Greece, and the only official that the Asari recognize among their own people is the Asari Councilor.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Somewhat justified: The government of the Lancre kingdom literally consists of the King, the Queen, maybe a few other servants, and a standing army [Shawn Ogg, except when he's lying down], who also does some servant duties as well. In this case, though, Lancre only has a population of 500.\\
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Most of the governments are pretty generic, except for Ankh-Morpork (Best. Tyranny. ''Ever''.), Klatch and Sto Lat (monarchy) and, kind of, Pseudopolis - in ''Unseen Academicals'', Lord Vetinari is very amused by the fact that they decide to try a brave new experiment in democracy, and promptly vote not to have to pay taxes.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': Does the Federation have an assembly? How are its members selected? What's the role of the President (seen in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'')? Is Starfleet Earth's space military, the Federation's as a whole, or is it some combination? Is it even a military force at all? We don't know how the civilian government is selected at all, the role of Starfleet (how does it answer to the civilian authority?), what it means to be a member of the Federation (does a member planet completely lose its independence, or is it like being in the UN?)...

Related to SkeletonGovernment, though a Genericist Government can be of any size. May involve an EvilChancellor. Subdivides into TheKingdom, TheEmpire and TheFederation.

Most of the governments are pretty generic, except for Ankh-Morpork (Best. Tyranny. ''Ever''.), Klatch and Sto Lat(monarchy) and, kind of, Pseudopolis - in ''Unseen Academicals'', Lord Vetinari is very amused by the fact that they decide to try a brave new experiment in democracy, and promptly vote not to have to pay taxes.

* ''InheritanceCycle'': It's not terribly clear why the King[[hottip:*:not Emperor]] of the Empire is such a bad guy, nor is it explained what was so great about the previous government, which seemed to just be a bunch of guys with huge dragons running around doing... something. Partially justified by UnreliableExpositor.

* The government in ''MirrorsEdge'' is vague. The ''ZeroPunctuation'' review offers up the idea that the player character is not LaResistance but a straight-up terrorist.