Graeber / Wengrow 320: "[A]re there any known examples of societies with formal caste hierarchies, in which practical governance nonetheless takes place on egalitarian lines? It may seem paradoxical, but the answer [...] is yes: there is plenty of evidence of such arrangements, some of which continue to this day. Perhaps best documented is the seka system on the island of Bali"
"their society is conceived as a total hierarchy in which not just every group but every individual knows (or at least, should know) their exact position in relation to everyone else. In principle, then, there are no equals"
"At the same time, however, practical affaris such as the management of communities, temples, and agricultural life are organized according to the seka system, in which everyone is expected to participate in equal terms and come to decisions by consensus"
the takeaway: "there is no necessary correspondence between overarching concepts of social hierarchy and the practical mechanics of local governance"