RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
The fact is that we have seen and still do see great perversity in congregational, presbyterian, and prelatic contexts. To be honest, I tire of the arguments for a particular polity that go, "Well, in X form of church government, this would never happen." Our concern with regard to polity should not be what is practical, but what is biblical.
In a perfectly pragmatic world, every system of govt works ideally.