Mike Resnick in his Birthright universe with charming casualness denotes central section of the Man-subdued Galaxy by its formal political identity, evolving from Republic through Democracy and Oligarchy to Monarchy and Anarchy. However, the governing principle of Democracy remains the same as the Empires they defeat: the Man should rule the stars. ;) If you didn't stumble upon these works, I recommend at least to glance; via means of thinly-veiled space opera/science fiction Resnick construes Western (both capital and lowercase letters are brought into action here) history of (post)colonial policies in Africa and Southern America, creating one of the most definitive roman à clef-like explorations thereof. You might find appropriate to start from Birthright, Santiago or, even better, Kirinyaga, probably his best cycle of short stories linked thematically with postcolonialism and proliferation of knowledge into deliberately archaicized societies.

Thanks for following me. Albeit I should say that I publish here more often in Russian than in English. I write in English when I'm in mood to think in English directly (which I tend to practice following Nabokov xD ) or to produce accurate self-translation of meanings previously set in motion.