Quote Originally Posted by Simple_Barghest View Post
No but democracy bad, so it existing in the same in-game boundaries means it got pushed.
/s
Never mind that Garlemald was a republic before it was an empire and the senate existed from that time and was carried on. It just lost power in favor of the military, but they were still public officials who offered counsel to the Emperor. It makes sense that citizens would turn to them for some form of government, especially since most of the military legions (or maybe all? I'd have to check some stuff) are defunct now and they were the other major non-imperial power.