Politicing is kind of a central point to the game. What else would you expect when you get so many nobles together, from such a disparate cross-section of the island?
To be honest, you are somewhat correct about Allison driving a lot of what hapens. What you are incorrect about is that it wouldn't hapen without her. She tends to derail as much as she starts. In fact, she has worked to derail as much of the church's efforts to work against the south as she could, simply because she's not in charge of it. She can be very frustrating. If not for her, I think more would actually get done, because we wouldn't have to be constantly fighting her.
