re: Noblesse oblige
We could go for days on analysis of human forms of government and organizing societies, but one point is that most successful systems seem to ride on a solid cultural and moral basis.
The term "noblesse oblige" itself has an entire foundation that has nothing to do with the hard legalities of its time. It isn't the written laws that make the difference between a neighborhood where you need bars on the windows and one where nobody locks their doors.