User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 479: Who you should show the greatest respect to is, review./@comment-24800928-20160330160837/@comment-4829046-20160330171857

I think that's what Mashima is going for. To show a clear difference between the "Black Mage" treatment in Ishgar vs. the "Emperor" treatment in Alvarez. When it comes to Cultists and blind believers, there is much delusion and control involved and often those that have the highest posts are the most dedicated to the cause and lack lives outside of it. With an Empire, you have a government where those with high positions actually run a lot more than just some militia and since these posts are stable and recognized, with a system that can run in when they are absent for a while, they have time to do other things.