I've been scratching my head at this question for a few days on a project i'm working on and can't seem to get my head around it.

What type of government is the country of Esthar?

A Republic, a Constitutional Monarchy (with the president as the Monarch), a Democracy? nah...really?

Any clues based on in game evidence and then some? It almost seems that Laguna had ultimate power as President, even though his aides, citizens and Dr. Odine talked him down sometimes.

Thanks for the help. I may be back continuously with additional Esthar questions and analysis.

An interesting and original thread idea by the way. :)

Well, it depends on the era - under Adel's rule it was virtually an autocratic, fascist, totalitarian magocracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magocracy) (rule by mage), but after Laguna deposed her, he was stated in the game as being 'directly elected' by the people as their President, therefore clearly making Esthar a republic.

However, whether or not Esthar is a constitutional republic is anyone's guess. There doesn't appear to be any kind of Congress, Parliament or assembly of representatives (whether directly elected or not) ever shown in Esthar, or even mentioned (unlike, say, Dollet which was stated as being not only a Duchy/Dukedom, but also having a Parliament as well), so it's likely Esthar is therefore essentially, for intents and purposes, a republican dictatorship.

A benign one to be sure, but still a dictatorship none-the-less, as apart from his aides, Laguna seems to be the only member of Esthar's government, with all power vested in him and him alone.

That's great info, and exactly what I was looking for. I didn't even think about Republican Dictatorship.

BTW, i'm asking because i'm working on a Second Life project to create Esthar. it's a long and daunting talk. I plan to set current events 50 years into the future from FFVIII.

Thank you for that info!