I actually do like the Official Faction structure of Discovery.
However, I have said before is another way people can keep official factions active.
There should be a way that the people of factions should be able to vote their leader out if more than 60% of the membership want leader change.
This would mean, nobody can ultimately tyrant any faction without any effort. Nobody could tell people they'll never step down and they'd rather the faction die.
It would keep Discovery pro-active as leaders wouldn't want to put a foot wrong so they don't get voted out.
Just a theory.