unfortunately after replaying disco elysium i am now considering the economic and political implications of ISAT's world so i'm going to ramble about it now
specifically in vaugarde.
firstly with dormont housing multiple shops and mirabelle mentioning dating *companies* and expensive earrings. market economy, possible capitalism. SAD!
then "defenders" existing as either a profession or volunteer position (i assume profession due to it being referred to as a "job" and the fact that you have to take "defender exams". speaking of which vaugarde seems to place a lot of emphasis on education which checks out culturally but it's probably politically important too so jot that down) and 'protecting [their] neighborhood, [their] city" from robberies at worst, with them usually helping with civil issues like rescuing cats from trees or helping old men with bags. is isabeau an ex cop or an ex social worker? is it both? perhaps defenders are citizens militias?
and the king targeting a house of change rather than any other particular form of government. is mirabelle a simultaneous college student and bureaucrat? or are Houses of change simply instances of government that provide education/food/body craft/healthcare to all, with "housemaiden" being a catch-all term for those who reside in them? furthermore, under the assumption that Houses DO constitute Vaugarde's government (again assuming that there is a government and they're not... like... ancaps with defenders existing as privatized policing institutions), are head housemaidens something like representatives or legislative bodies in a confederation? do you vote for head housemaidens, or are they simply chosen? promoted? in which case, by whom?
and then there's the way the king talks about monarchist ideals in the context of vaugardian society, which is of course NOT a monarchy.
*in vaugarde*? was vaugarde at one point a monarchy before possibly undergoing a revolution? "against the will of the people" -- perhaps this is a hint at a general *distaste* for monarchism among vaugardians... is that part of its cultural reverence towards Change?
WHAT IS THE HIERARCHY UNDER WHICH VAUGARDE EXISTS IN ORDER FOR THERE TO BE STORIES ABOUT "LORDS" GUARDING "CASTLES"?! since vaugarde is not a monarchy, is the status of a lord residing in a castle purely economic? is lord josephandre a lackey of capital?! is the cursing of chateau castle Defender propaganda?!!?! or-- or-- maybe the cursing of chateau castle is some kind of historical piece! it's long running, so maybe it contains cultural relics of a bygone era (possibly monarchist in nature)??!!?
also, notice how during his friendquest, isabeau points out that jouvente has "more than one house" as a way of emphasizing how big it is:
sure, it could just be that bigger cities need more resources and public service, but still.... it tells you something about House jurisdictions. maybe about representatives.
and the way mirabelle describes euphrasie:
the head housemaiden of *dormont*. the town, not the house. this all but confirms that towns/cities are ruled individually by their own House(s, in the case of larger cities)!
while not *all* vaugardians follow the Change belief, it seems pretty likely that the country itself is ruled by it.... boy, they sure are lucky that the House of Change is so welcome and opening to everyone regardless of belief! (though it's implied proselytizing might be encouraged for its members when siffrin tells mirabelle he might want to go on a pilgrimage.)
so TL;DR, in MY AMATEUR OPINION,
vaugarde is a confederation of theocratic city-states with a social-market economy and no central governing body.
i just thought that was interesting.....
