Ants thread, government in space

OK, have been reading these interesting and informative posts and
just had to add my 2 cents worth. While still small (say 10-20
people), I would guess that the colony or habitat in space would be
governed by international agreements, or by their respective laws.
When the colony reached several hundred people, obviously, some local
mechanism would need to arise (IMHO). This should be a voting
democracy, with some differences. The "president" (or rather,
Mayor?) should be well versed in scientific and engineering matters -
the responsibility of the colony rests heavily on him or her. The
Mayor/prez should report to an elected council, with representatives
from various areas of the colony. As growth continues, perhaps
parties can be formed, etc. The first "Mayor" may well be appointed
by Earth. Eventually a local court system will be needed to
adjudicate local matters (hey, that guy stole my thingamajig, how do
I file suit, etc). They Mayor would need some rather sweeping
powers, like the captain of a ship at sea, in the interests of the
whole. Later, (s)he would need to give up or be forced to give some
of them up (such as inprisonment by his/her word alone).

But this all is with a bias towards an open democracy. Some
closed, moronic (to my view) repressive, hateful Moslem (Iran-style?)
government would operate differently.

Of course, our first issue and primary concern is, how do we get a
space colony built?