I think ghosty is more or less spot on. Especially since it jibes with my own theories (which I keep meaning to post up here and never get around to) 
This is my version of recent Klingon history:
When the Klingons first got into space, they were a collection of individual Houses, claiming to live by a basic honour code, but applying it only to those they deemed worthy (i.e. themselves, and anyone strong enough to beat them). It is not unreasonable to assume that the Khomerex Zha, as described by John Ford, encompassed the practical form of the code. Weak races were considered khesterex and considered unworthy of honourable treatment (the whole kuve thing). At this point the High Council was little more than a venue to air greivances without wiping out the species.
When they first encountered humans (Enterprise link here folks!), they considered them kuve and treated them accordingly. But the humans didn't get the message and kept coming back and not bearing grudges. The Klingons couldn't cope with this, and with the masses of free traders, and set about trying to keep the humans and the fledgling Federation out by all means. This led to frequent skirmishes (Picard's century of warfare), and the formation of a more solid central government, based on but separate from the Council, to control the fleet more efficiently.
The presence of a central government, and the accompanying bureaucracy, with a monolithic fleet and faceless bureaucrats protected by the power of the Council, forced a change in thinking for the Klingon Houses. Politics became much more important, prestige was measured by service to the government, and reduced by inter-House warfare, and Houses began to spy on their rivals. To try and control it all, the government instituted its own internal security services to monitor the Houses. By Kirk's era, the Klingon Empire resembled Stalin's USSR. The peak of this development came with the Organian Treaty, when the Klingons were forbidden from even fighting the humans.
This was the breaking point for the more honourable Klingons, and over the next twenty years, frequent uprisings and minor civil wars within the Empire pushed the government over the edge. By the time of the Praxis explosion, the government was starting to break up, and power was swinging back to the Council.
After the peace treaty, the Klingon Houses abandoned the government and returned to their clan-based ways. Honour became a big issue for the reborn Houses, culminating in the restoration of Kahless.
The Khomerex Zha still works, it's just much less intrigue-oriented than the Ford version.
Incidentally, the civil war period leading to the fall of the government is the background for my planned campaign. I have Praxis being a victim of military activity, and the fabled crusade against the tribbles was actually the final strike against the government forces. I've even fitted the fusions into it!
Jon
"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea is asleep and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song.
Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do."
THE DOCTOR, "Survival" (Doctor Who)
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