a (somewhat) more democratic Principate

inspired by the "new laws for Rome" thread.

This is basically turning the question upside down. What if, instead of going for a more monarchical succession, Augustus decides that a stable succession is best achieved when the Princeps (a.k.a. Emperor) has to win a popularity contest of some sort from time to time.

This contest would give him legitimacy (and thus stability), without which there is only tyranny to be found (or so Octavian may think).

Maybe limit the number of times a person can consecutively hold the "emperorship" (the proconsular and tribunician powers as well as imperium over most of the army).

Now, the contest itself can be anything, maybe something like a vote by the Senate, the Assemblies and the often discussed provincial Senates, with each vote carrying different weight (e.g. you have to win 2/3 to gain the position). Or maybe something else, bottom line being that the decisive segments of society get to decide (not like in the late republic, where the plebs and middle class (the very people on whom the state depended) wanted one thing only to be shut down by the senatorial oligarchy).

The main problem with this is the loyalty of the army, who could just ignore these (either democratic or fake) elections and support whomever they please. The only way I see a way around this is with a mixture of indoctrination, religion and maybe some kind of military hierarchy/command system I haven't thought through yet.


Anyway, long story short, what kind of effects would forcing the man with the top job to face elections from time to time have in the short and long term ? Beneficial ? Harmful ? Anyway to actually make the idea work ?
 
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