Invitation to speculate:
I wonder who actually makes the laws in the world of FFVII. Obviously, Shinra does whatever it likes with impunity, but I doubt the Board is interesting in spending its days debating poop-scoop bylaws or legal ages for drink and consent. Midgar has a Mayor, who is so entirely under Shinra's thumb that he's forced to exist in the top-security area of their building. So maybe Midgar has a town council, which we never see because it's not relevant to the story, responsible for passing laws and by-laws and always obedient to Shinra's will. It seems really unlikely that their world has no legislative bodies, because the end result of that isn't a well-ordered world for Shinra to dominate, but chaos. Yuffie's dad seems to be some sort of government official in Wutai; Tifa's dad was the mayor of Nibelheim; Junon, I don't know about. Bugenhagen dominates Cosmo Canyon, but he might just be a really rich eccentric old guy who happens to live there, while the Canyon itself is ruled by a council of elders.
I wonder who actually makes the laws in the world of FFVII. Obviously, Shinra does whatever it likes with impunity, but I doubt the Board is interesting in spending its days debating poop-scoop bylaws or legal ages for drink and consent. Midgar has a Mayor, who is so entirely under Shinra's thumb that he's forced to exist in the top-security area of their building. So maybe Midgar has a town council, which we never see because it's not relevant to the story, responsible for passing laws and by-laws and always obedient to Shinra's will. It seems really unlikely that their world has no legislative bodies, because the end result of that isn't a well-ordered world for Shinra to dominate, but chaos. Yuffie's dad seems to be some sort of government official in Wutai; Tifa's dad was the mayor of Nibelheim; Junon, I don't know about. Bugenhagen dominates Cosmo Canyon, but he might just be a really rich eccentric old guy who happens to live there, while the Canyon itself is ruled by a council of elders.
