True Blood: Vampire Superiority...?

I dunno if this has been asked before. maybe people who have read the book can be of some help...because this has been bugging me...

how do you measure superiority among vampires? we know that age is one important factor, the older one is the more powerful, he or she is.

well, then how does vampire politics affect this... is it a voting system...

i mean godrick was so old and wise and he still was just a sheriff, while that old *beep* of a vampire was the magistrate of all of north america. how does that happen?

now to the more important part, where does the queen fit into all this? is the queen the queen of the vampires the world over or does it go by region i.e. are there several queens?

also, in a fight with the queen would an older vampire be able to defeat the queen (the show suggested that NO ONE could overpower Godrick) or is she undefeatable. also, who made her queen? how does that happen? why do vampires even need a queen? so, if the queen commits a crime, does she also have to go to the vampire court; whose power is bigger there, the magistrate's or the queen's?

I know this is a long post, but i would really love any insight into the matter. there has not been a tv show has made me so curious/interested in a long time.