The Body Elective is the lowest tier of the solar systems representatives, with 1 per 1000 Calodins elected. They present to Parliament the bills that the people want to put in place after a they approved it themselves. One of thier checks and balances allows the best prestented and detailed bills to be sent directly to the Queen for her perusal.
The Parliament is the smaller senatory sommitee formed by elected Calodins of 4 per province, which can be any size ar density. They create most of the inportant bills which will be passed into law and also create the nessecary commitees and investigations.
The Arbiters are the equivalent to a Supreme Court. However instead of sitting at any building they are itinerary lawgivers, who actually move to where thier work suits them. They always travel in 3 in order to as a means of preventing ties when making judgments.
The Nobility are desended from the 12 children of the First Queen and while not highly active in politics and lawmaking, are instead found at the top of corporate commitees and leaders in buisiness. Many of the House matriarchs are CEOs and Presidents in intrasolar corporations and control the ebb and flow of commerce, at the same time being preveneted from overpowering each other through the Queens santions and maintain a sense of harmony with supply and demand. If any Noble would move into politics its most likely to become a Governess of a local province, which means having to be elected into the position. This can be quite easy with many Nobles natural charm and learned grace.
The Queen has "divine right" to rule, by being birthed by the previous Monarch and then taking the Oath with the Everlasting Tree. This involves praying to the Tree for Gaias approval and tantric dances and ritual mantras. Then the Tree leaks its sap from one of its might roots, which the future Queen drinks. She is suddenly whisked away spiritually, as if she became one in flesh with Gaia herself. She gains a small sliver of the Trees vast incredible knowledge, a preturnatural sense to detect lies, and-the best part-immortality. The Queen becomes ageless once she draws upon this sap and is officially recognized by Heaven and Earth as the new Ruler of Caledon. However, this comes at a high cost. She is un and Oath after all, for when she decides to carry her first child, she gives up her immortality and begins to age normally. That child and any others that come from her womb are eligeble to become the nest Monarch once the current one passes away.
The current Queen, Selena Monaco or Everhine, took the Oath at 22, and is still alive after 200 years. She expects to stay Queen for at least 800 more before deciding to have an heir, unless someone comes along who is truely capable of taking her breath away.
12 of the 13 original Houses are recognized in the current age: Morin, Eskobar, Risender, Dometheus, Carpendio, Lysander, Vildumon, Saster, Yollenda, Knightshare, Epsburg, and Wycleff.
The first 7 are what might be called "good" in that they focus thier corporate buisiness practices and civic efforts on the bounty and welfare of Caledon society as a whole. The three after them are neutral and prefer to work within the beuracracy and become elected as Governesses. The last two ar rather selfish and exploitive, often using subterfuge and clever games to get thier way.
There is a 13th House also, Menozola. Queens Selenas Mother, Isabelle, exiled this House after discovering illegal slave rings that they tried to pin on the Queen herself! They live in the Outer reaches of the Caledon system on several moons around one of the gas giants, and enjoy harrassing merchants and the Navy en route to space colonies. Reports suggest they also take slaves as much as they take the ships, and are a constant threat to the security of the outer colonial network.