There are 3 different groups involved in decision making for the village.
The elders – the elders are group of old men and women who have over 80 blooms (years). no 2 elders can have the same great great grandfathers. they are honored with the position until they have reached their last bloom. They are chosen by nature. As they age and grow one with nature they develop a tattoo on their forearm in the shape of fire water wind or earth. [This needs to be different.]  There are 16 Elders serving at any given time (2 from each family).  An Elder can not run for any office if they are in their last bloom.  (of course they know when they will die because nature tells them).
The elected – people elected by the village to handle regular affairs. This can be any person older than gage 9.
The people – this is a special groups chosen by the people. These are common people who weigh in on specific issues  these peoples are specific to each issue. To clarify this… if the issue is with regard to farming there is a specific person who is the “expert” and speaks to the issue for the people. If it is construction… if it is hunting…etc.
Elections. The elders oversee the general elections. the village is divided into 8 “families”. Each family has an election that is overseen by the elders for fairness. Only people past gage 9 are eligible for office. Only people in gage 9 and older are eligible to vote. There are no nominies. everyone votes for who they want. The 2 individuals with the highest number of votes are then put to a final vote where only the majority vote getter is put in office. If you are elected you must serve for 4 blooms. 4 families vote one year and 4 families vote 2 blooms later. Nature determines the vote count. A family will travel up to the swirling pool and prepare for vote. Nature will look into each person’s heart and tally the votes. That persons sign will present it self in the swirling pool of flourecent algae. And then the second. The family must then go home and think about who they want. The following week they will go back to the swirling pool and vote on their final representative. Their sign will show in the swirling pool.
The convention of wisdom. This is where governance happens. Stuff like, should the village change the crop grown in this area. Should the village build a second bridge. So and so wants to build a house of stone in this area. That would make them apart of this “family” is that acceptable etc.
The last text is called the village. This text spells out how the people are to live together. This text includes courting rituals, laws, leadership succession etc.