Bingowings said:

I cant see the problem with this. Earth history has plenty of examples of elected monarchs. People seem to have this very fixed idea of how monarchy works based on the British model presumably.

I think it has a lot to do with Kings and Queens being rulers as opposed to elected plebes.

I second the "pick a profession, Padme!" decision.

As far as Yoda is concerned, I developed the impression that he was supposed to be a lot like Pai Mei, in that he did not exile himself to Dagobah so much as he was always there. Maybe not all Jedi would go there, but those seen with great potential would be sent there for the highest level of Jedi training.

Boy, Lucas really screwed things up. (Sigh) Maybe someone could edit the film(s) to reflect this concept.. but it would be extremely difficult and take a lot of craft and imagination... and help with Sony Vegas (among other programs).

This would be the kind of thing where someone would almost have to start from scratch and do a flash animated prequel with a completely new story.