There's a book called "Why Nations Fail" it's a case study of all nation sized sovereigns to have a ever existed and focusses on this very conflict, in it you'll find many examples of the kind of government you've asked for. They all failed eventually, but so did every nation state to exist ever as well.
Discussion
I assume you read it so you can give one example of smal govt. society that lasted?
Athens?, roman republic? Multiplice city states like Florence during the Renaissance, and the chatgpt answer I posted, though Im not aware of the dutch republic and the swiss one myself
I guess Roman Republic is a good example and lasted fairly long despite some elements of monarchy like consuls and dictators. I am not sure what the province rulers were like - I imagine they had significant military resources and backing of the consul and senate.