rdfs:comment
| - The Great Houses or Houses Major are the most powerful and important Houses with voting right in the Landsraad. Their number was not fixed; they varied in history with political and economic fortunes, and depended to some degree on the strength of the empire's basic institutions: There were as few as 35, and as many as 157. At their worst, the Great Houses represented arrogance, privilege, selfishness, greed, lust for power, repression, military adventurism, political machination, and a blatant disregard for the rights or the desires of the populations they governed.
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abstract
| - The Great Houses or Houses Major are the most powerful and important Houses with voting right in the Landsraad. Their number was not fixed; they varied in history with political and economic fortunes, and depended to some degree on the strength of the empire's basic institutions: There were as few as 35, and as many as 157. All other, lesser houses belonged to "Circles of the Empire," each being accorded a certain number of votes representing each sector or system in the known universe and circles elected representatives to sit at each session of the Landsraad, with a rotating representation on a regular basis. The different circles had differing methods of electing representatives. At their worst, the Great Houses represented arrogance, privilege, selfishness, greed, lust for power, repression, military adventurism, political machination, and a blatant disregard for the rights or the desires of the populations they governed. At their best, as with the House of Atreides and others, the Great Houses were a workable form of government, providing guidance for the populace, economic welfare, justice, protection from Imperial bullying, security, the promise of lifetime service with fair wages and a comfortable retirement, selflessness, and a sense of community. Unfortunately, given humanity's penchant for misusing power of all kinds, the negative elements tended to outweigh the positive in most cases.
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