I've seen this being implemented in a lot of games and I have to say - not the results I was hoping for. Most of the times I was the member of "council" and people start to believe that these people are there to gain something from it.
Like corrupt politicians or so. The fact that some become magically above others makes people automatically dislike and disagree with them.
In the other hand - I'm all for it. I know how this works and I want changes, big and well-though-out changes.