PeliusAnar
Well-known member
The question I wanted to ask the forum is, 'What is the best way to govern The Galaxy in Star Wars?'
This issue has a singular main component, the size of the Star Wars galaxy is stupidly large. Star Wars Population. Star Wars Senate. Star Wars Population Cannon.
The sheer size presents a number of issues. The first issue is the conflicting laws. While a system of laws like the US and how the states are organized might appear the best option, there are far more different cultures, life styles, and sentiments due to the various alien cultures. Even if the population is primarily human, that still leaves a wide array of different cultures to deal with. All of this creates a larger bureaucracy which slows down said government.
Second, in terms of voting power, if it is one vote per sentient, then species that quickly breed and reproduce have an advantage in terms of voting weight compared to other spices that are long lived with low reproductive rates. Then there is the age that voting is allowed and the standards that would be used. Do species get to determine their own age of majority or would it be decided by a distant bureaucracy?
Third, the enforcement of law and cost of said enforcement over a wide region of space. This was a big weakness of the original Republic, only having a police force but no standing army. There are no known over reaching threats, but corporations having reached interplanetary levels, require their own standing forces to protect this interests. To adequately police the galaxy and stop piracy would require a massive investment into the military, which leads the risk of warlords emerging.
Fourth, due to the sheer wealth corporations can own entire planets and voting blocks. A good example of this in the real world is how Disney owns an entire county in Florida. Due to the sheer size of said corporations they have enough employees, control so much, that they can effectively control entire systems and force a representative of their choice from said systems.
Fifth, while economies of scale are a thing, at a certain point they cease to be a factor and the supply chain, becomes the limiting factor. The infrastructure needed isn't as simple as building a factory either, especially for larger items like ships. Also due to the wide range of aliens, accommodating all of them would vastly increase the cost of various items due to ergonomics and how various species perceive the world around them.
The Republic before Palpatine took over was bogged down by a massive bureaucracy, court system, could not enforce its own laws, and had representation from corporations, nobles, and other entrenched interests with very little representation of the populace. There is a strong argument to be made that things only were accomplished because Palpatine could manipulate things. This is supported by the 1,000 years of slavary and Hutt Cartels that dominated vast areas of known space.
The Empire under Palpatine prescribed to the Tarkin doctrine. To summarize, the idea was to unite the Galaxy behind a single leader with one vision in order to cut out the special interests and to enforce said vision through a combination of military might and fear. Due to the size of the galaxy, there is a legitimate argument that the Death Star was in fact necessary for this to happen, the cost of patrolling and establishing a vast military presence would cost more. A Star Destroyer cost about 200 million credits and the Death Star cost about 1 trillion credits. This implies 1 Death Star = 5,000 Star Destroyers. While there is more strategic flexibility having more ships, it also opens up the possibility of betrayal by military leaders attempting to establish their own dominion (which they did after the Emperor died).
With all this in mind the question remains, 'What is the best way to govern The Galaxy in Star Wars?'
This issue has a singular main component, the size of the Star Wars galaxy is stupidly large. Star Wars Population. Star Wars Senate. Star Wars Population Cannon.
"over a million member worlds, and countless more colonies, protectorates and governorships. Nearly 100 quadrillion beings pledged allegiance to the Republic in nearly 50 million systems."
The huge open area is lined with 1,024 pods arrayed in concentric circles, each pod housing a delegation from an important planet, sector or political body.
The exact size/population is a bit unclear due to Legends vs Cannon. But it should be reasonable to assume that the number of systems is 3.2 to 50 million and the number of people is between 6.4 to 100 quadrillion, giving an average of 2 billion beings per system, which does not seem unreasonable compared to just Earth. This in turn implies a single Senatorial position for every 3.1 to 48.8 thousand systems, or 6.2 to 97.7 billion beings.The galaxy, as it was commonly referred to, was one of the trillions of galaxies in the universe. The galaxy was a vast composite of over 400 billion estimated stars[1] and over 3.2 million habitable systems[1] orbiting around a supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy.[6] The galactic arms rotated around this black hole across a diameter of over 100,000 light-years.[4] It was home to countless sentient species and star systems.
The sheer size presents a number of issues. The first issue is the conflicting laws. While a system of laws like the US and how the states are organized might appear the best option, there are far more different cultures, life styles, and sentiments due to the various alien cultures. Even if the population is primarily human, that still leaves a wide array of different cultures to deal with. All of this creates a larger bureaucracy which slows down said government.
Second, in terms of voting power, if it is one vote per sentient, then species that quickly breed and reproduce have an advantage in terms of voting weight compared to other spices that are long lived with low reproductive rates. Then there is the age that voting is allowed and the standards that would be used. Do species get to determine their own age of majority or would it be decided by a distant bureaucracy?
Third, the enforcement of law and cost of said enforcement over a wide region of space. This was a big weakness of the original Republic, only having a police force but no standing army. There are no known over reaching threats, but corporations having reached interplanetary levels, require their own standing forces to protect this interests. To adequately police the galaxy and stop piracy would require a massive investment into the military, which leads the risk of warlords emerging.
Fourth, due to the sheer wealth corporations can own entire planets and voting blocks. A good example of this in the real world is how Disney owns an entire county in Florida. Due to the sheer size of said corporations they have enough employees, control so much, that they can effectively control entire systems and force a representative of their choice from said systems.
Fifth, while economies of scale are a thing, at a certain point they cease to be a factor and the supply chain, becomes the limiting factor. The infrastructure needed isn't as simple as building a factory either, especially for larger items like ships. Also due to the wide range of aliens, accommodating all of them would vastly increase the cost of various items due to ergonomics and how various species perceive the world around them.
The Republic before Palpatine took over was bogged down by a massive bureaucracy, court system, could not enforce its own laws, and had representation from corporations, nobles, and other entrenched interests with very little representation of the populace. There is a strong argument to be made that things only were accomplished because Palpatine could manipulate things. This is supported by the 1,000 years of slavary and Hutt Cartels that dominated vast areas of known space.
The Empire under Palpatine prescribed to the Tarkin doctrine. To summarize, the idea was to unite the Galaxy behind a single leader with one vision in order to cut out the special interests and to enforce said vision through a combination of military might and fear. Due to the size of the galaxy, there is a legitimate argument that the Death Star was in fact necessary for this to happen, the cost of patrolling and establishing a vast military presence would cost more. A Star Destroyer cost about 200 million credits and the Death Star cost about 1 trillion credits. This implies 1 Death Star = 5,000 Star Destroyers. While there is more strategic flexibility having more ships, it also opens up the possibility of betrayal by military leaders attempting to establish their own dominion (which they did after the Emperor died).
Source: Tarkin | Attribution: Wilhuff Tarkin |
The factor that contributed most to the demise of the Republic was not, in fact, the war, but rampant self-interest. Endemic to the political process our ancestors engineered, the insidious pursuit of self-enrichment grew only more pervasive through the long centuries, and in the end left the body politic feckless and corrupt. Consider the self-interest of the Core Worlds, unwavering in their exploitation of the Outer Systems for resources; the Outer Systems themselves, undermined by their permissive disregard of smuggling and slavery; those ambitious members of the Senate who sought only status and opportunity. The reason our Emperor was able to negotiate the dark waters that characterized the terminal years of the Republic and remain at the helm through a catastrophic war that spanned the galaxy is that he has never been interested in status or self-glorification. On the contrary, he has been tireless in his devotion to unify the galaxy and assure the well-being of its myriad populations. Now, with the institution of sector and oversector governance, we are in the unique position to repay our debt to the Emperor for his decades of selfless service, by lifting some of the burden of quotidian rulership from his shoulders. By partitioning the galaxy into regions, we actually achieve a unity previously absent; where once our loyalties and allegiances were divided, they now serve one being, with one goal: a cohesive galaxy in which everyone prospers. For the first time in one thousand generations our sector governors will not be working solely to enrich Coruscant and the Core Worlds, but to advance the quality of life in the star systems that make up each sector-keeping the spaceways safe, maintaining open and accessible communications, assuring that tax revenues are properly levied and allocated to improving the infrastructure. The Senate will likewise be made up of beings devoted not to their own enrichment, but to the enrichment of the worlds they represent. This bold vision of the future requires not only the service of those of immaculate reputation and consummate skill in the just exercise of power, but also the service of a vast military dedicated to upholding the laws necessary to ensure galactic harmony. It may appear to some that the enactment of universal laws and the widespread deployment of a heavily armed military are steps toward galactic domination, but these actions are taken merely to protect us from those who would invade, enslave, exploit, or foment political dissent, and to punish accordingly any who engage in such acts. Look on our new military not as trespassers or interlopers, but as gatekeepers, here to shore up the Emperor's vision of a pacified and prosperous galaxy. |
With all this in mind the question remains, 'What is the best way to govern The Galaxy in Star Wars?'
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