Pseudo-medieval Democracy?

[Jabrosky]

Originally my setting was going to be a standard hereditary monarchy, but now I feel more like designing a society closer to my own political ideals. This society would be similar to a representative democracy in that all community leaders (be they guild masters, village chiefs, provincial governors, or even the country's "ruler" figure) are popularly elected, and their main function would be coordinating activities and resolving interpersonal disputes within their respective communities. Additionally, to prevent corruption and to minimize socioeconomic inequality, the society would have no money; there would either exist a gift economy or a barter one (I am not 100% sure yet).

What would you call the ruler of a democratic country like this? "King" sounds too much like a hereditary monarch, but "President" sounds too modern for my taste.

[Steerpike]

Just some ideas here. These could be made to fit, I think:

Exarch
Archon
Polemarch
Elector
Consul
Praetor

Those are the ones that come to mind for the moment. Historically, these were used a bit differently from what you are talking about, but I don't think they are out of bounds as far as a title in a fantasy world.

[Feo Takahari]

Slightly off-topic, but please, please, please make sure you thoroughly understand the economic principles involved before trying to write an "ideal" society with an unusual economic system. Way too many authors create systems that sound great on paper, but simply wouldn't work without incredibly strict social controls and/or mindlessly efficient laborers. (Also, how does this society handle international trade?)

[Jabrosky]

Slightly off-topic, but please, please, please make sure you thoroughly understand the economic principles involved before trying to write an "ideal" society with an unusual economic system. Way too many authors create systems that sound great on paper, but simply wouldn't work without incredibly strict social controls and/or mindlessly efficient laborers. (Also, how does this society handle international trade?)

Uh, gift economies without money have always existed. In fact they actually predate money economies, yet we still have archaeological evidence for long-distance trade going back to the Paleolithic (long before agriculture, let alone money).

[Shockley]

The term for the (popularly elected, even) leader of the Althing was 'logsoguma(th)er.' The variants of that term in northern Europe would have been Lagmann, Laghman, Laghmader, Laghma(th)er, etc. A close equivalent would be Fosite, also rendered Forsetti, Foseti, Forseti, etc. and is etymologically related to the word 'President.' Perhaps a bit too European for your tastes, but that's what comes to my mind.

Some non-elected positions: Satrap, Nomarch, Imperator, Ameraudar (A rough rendering, from memeory, of the Gaelic for Emperor), Sar, Sar Sarrani and Nebty.

[Jabrosky]

The term for the (popularly elected, even) leader of the Althing was 'logsoguma(th)er.' The variants of that term in northern Europe would have been Lagmann, Laghman, Laghmader, Laghma(th)er, etc. A close equivalent would be Fosite, also rendered Forsetti, Foseti, Forseti, etc. and is etymologically related to the word 'President.' Perhaps a bit too European for your tastes, but that's what comes to my mind.

Do you know what those words all translate to?

[Shockley]

Logsoguma(th)er is, literally, 'Law-Speaker'. Fosite is 'one who presides.'

[Zander]

In Renaissance Florence they had things like the Priors of the Guilds, the standard bearer of justice, and the lord defender of the city. I think the priori were for general rulership, the standard bearer a sort of watchdog to maintain justice amongst the priori,mthe judicial system, etc. I think the lord defender might have just been some sort of head of a war counsel,might the last say. Not sure. Politics in Florence at this time was a shambles, with even the democratic aspect being undermined by the Medici, and everything being turned head over heels by invasions and whatnot.
In Venice they had a sort of elected duke, the doge, and beneath him councils of increasing size. Venice was One city state that stayed strong for a long time. But then again, they also had their democratic principles undermined and turned into an oligarchy, at least for a while.

[Cleio]

Another example from history is the Dutch Republic. A bit later than the middle ages (early modern period) but a society centered on the economy. It's governing bodies were elected from the 'regent' class. Sovereignty lay with the provincial states, but matters of national importance, in particular defense and diplomacy, were regulated by the States General. The Grand Pensionary is often considered to have been the leader of the central government and the de facto prime minister.

Of course, in the Dutch Republic another important power was the stadholder. This was, at least in practice, a hereditary position, though how much power these princes had depended a lot on their own initiative. They played to very important roles. One, they were the captain-general (commander-in-chief) of the army. Two, they were in important figure head for dealing with foreign monarchs in a society where noble rank was everything.

Not surprisingly, there was often a conflict and sometimes an all out power struggle between regents and stadholder.

[imsc]

some titles that i could think of:

supreme elect
elected sovereign
first citizen
prime elect

you could also keep the traditional titles like "king", "emperor", etc. . . . but state that they are democratically elected and have limits on their power.