If we’re going to look at medieval European history, I’m going to say that the thing which most makes sense to me is the Three Estates: Nobility, Commoners, and Clergy, each with their own laws. Especially the Clergy.
If you abstract away religion (only, it’s kind of still there), I think this maps on to modern American society as the three estates being The Worthy, The Masses, and Enforcement.
Naturally, these three aren’t internally uniform, any more than any Estate was in the middle ages. You can have a wealthy member of the Masses, you can have a destitute member of the Worthy, just as a poor baronet was in the same class as the King, the Mayor of London and a starving serf were both commoners. But still.
I probably don’t need to go into the Worthy and Masses: you can figure out who is who by yourself. But Enforcement is more like the Clergy used to be. It’s a step to the right and outside the Worthy/Masses distinction. Whether you’re in the military or police forces or private security or whatever level of Lawndorder, you operate under different rules, and whether you came from the Worthy class or the Masses no longer has much impact. Laws that apply to the other two Estates don’t apply to you. You have privileges that the other two Estates can’t claim. Only, instead of needing to kind of speak Latin, all you need is a badge or a uniform.
And it’s not a question of religion, except that the unquestionable worship of Authority and Law and Force is practically religious in its fervour, so…
