Urizen leadership
Magic is seen as a mark of a rational and learned mind and more importantly as the most powerful tool that an individual or group can wield. The Urizen maintain that those who best understand the world are the ones best suited to lead it, and they look to their most powerful mages for leadership. Every citizen is encouraged to learn a little magic, whether it is practical spellcasting or superior craftsmanship, but ritual magic, the mastery of the lore of the Realms is regarded as the highest calling.
Most Urizen spires appoint an arbiter whose role is to resolve disputes, and represent the spire to others. Traditionally the individual who is deemed to demonstrate the most complete Arete is asked to take the position. In most spires this will be the wisest and most skilled mage, but a martial spire is more likely to choose a weapon-master than a magician.
There is little history of open military conflict between Urizen spires. Cooperation between neighbours is the norm in Urizen, but disputes between spires whose councils differ on political, social or ideological grounds are commonplace. Even before Urizen joined the Empire, such conflicts were almost always settled through debate, often with the assistance of a judge or mediator from a neutral spire.
Urizen are passionate about politics. Being able to debate competing points of view and achieve consensus is seen as a high art form that raises humans above animals. It also makes civilised people superior to barbarians who practice brute force approaches to leadership. The Imperial Senate is held up as a great triumph of the Empire, although they are often disappointed by the way the other nations choose to exploit the Senate, especially how they pick their Senators.
Many Urizen dream of a utopia and strive to share that dream with the Empire, partly by example and partly through education. The most common belief is that the wisest and most educated should lead by example, and that mages who have the greatest understanding of the cosmos and the greatest personal power should shepherd their fellow humans for the good of all.
Leading a Territory
Urizen Senators are determined by magical ability. All Urizen who live in a contested territory are eligible to vote, provided they demonstrate some mastery of ritual magic. Each spire in the contested territory can put forward a candidate, and each citizen receives a number of votes based on the breadth and depth of their Realm lore skills. The candidate with the highest number of votes becomes the Senator for the territory.
Candidates are encouraged to engage in open debate about their intentions, political views and agendas while the election is taking place, leaving votes to be collected by civil servants or representatives of the spire in question. The Egregore often chairs the debates, although it is not uncommon for a third-party mediator to be selected from outside the territory.
There are three principles in a man's being and life, the principle of thought, the principle of speech, and the principle of action. The origin of all conflict between me and my fellow-men is that I do not say what I mean and I do not do what I say.