Star Wars Meta: Democracy in the GFFA
Feb. 24th, 2019 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redrikkiPoliticians in the Prequels-era Republic talked a good game about loving democracy, but did they? Did they really? Obviously Senate operates on democratic principles with the Senators proposing and voting on legislation, but just how democratic is the Galactic Republic at large? Not very.
The only two explicitly democratic worlds in the GFFA: Naboo and Pantora. On Naboo, kings and queens are elected to serve 4-year terms and are term limited. They are advised by the Naboo Royal Council but, at the end of the day, the monarch makes and enforces all laws and appoints the planet's senator without any sort of legislative branch.
The Pantoran Assembly, headed by an elected chairmen, governed Pantora. It's unclear if the members of the Assembly were elected or if they were an assemblage of hereditary nobles like the British House of Lords or Roman Senate. In the Clone Wars episode "Sphere of Influence," the Pantoran Chairmen is Baron Papanoida, so apparently the Pantorans have some sort of nobility.
Pretty much every other planet who's government we see during the Prequels and Clone Wars are either monarchies or ruled by some sort of hereditary nobility. Alderaan, Mon Cala, Onderon, Shu-Torun, Arkanis, Zygerria, Toydaria, and Bardotta are all ruled by absolute monarchs. Other worlds including Mandalor, Serrano, Raada, are all ruled by hereditary nobility. The novel Bloodline introduces the concept of the Elder Houses, or the collective human noble houses of the Galaxy. There are also a bunch of worlds run by random warlords or criminals including Tatooine and Chagar IX. Senators, for those planets that had them, were always appointed by the planetary authorities.
When you think about just how few people within the galaxy actually had any political rights or experience with democracy, it becomes easier to understand why most people didn't have that much of a problem with the Empire. The average citizen was used to living under the absolute rule of someone be it a monarch, a duchess, a warlord or an emperor. The Alliance to Restore the Republic, i.e. the Rebellion, was founded by a politicians who feared that Palpatine was encroaching on their traditional power by imposing a system of military governors. I wish we knew more about how people from worlds with democratic traditions reacted to the Empire, but alas.
Questions? Comments? Am I forgetting a democratic planet? What's up with Star War's obsession with royals and nobility? Does George just like the Rebel princess aesthetic, or is he a secret royalist?
The only two explicitly democratic worlds in the GFFA: Naboo and Pantora. On Naboo, kings and queens are elected to serve 4-year terms and are term limited. They are advised by the Naboo Royal Council but, at the end of the day, the monarch makes and enforces all laws and appoints the planet's senator without any sort of legislative branch.
The Pantoran Assembly, headed by an elected chairmen, governed Pantora. It's unclear if the members of the Assembly were elected or if they were an assemblage of hereditary nobles like the British House of Lords or Roman Senate. In the Clone Wars episode "Sphere of Influence," the Pantoran Chairmen is Baron Papanoida, so apparently the Pantorans have some sort of nobility.
Pretty much every other planet who's government we see during the Prequels and Clone Wars are either monarchies or ruled by some sort of hereditary nobility. Alderaan, Mon Cala, Onderon, Shu-Torun, Arkanis, Zygerria, Toydaria, and Bardotta are all ruled by absolute monarchs. Other worlds including Mandalor, Serrano, Raada, are all ruled by hereditary nobility. The novel Bloodline introduces the concept of the Elder Houses, or the collective human noble houses of the Galaxy. There are also a bunch of worlds run by random warlords or criminals including Tatooine and Chagar IX. Senators, for those planets that had them, were always appointed by the planetary authorities.
When you think about just how few people within the galaxy actually had any political rights or experience with democracy, it becomes easier to understand why most people didn't have that much of a problem with the Empire. The average citizen was used to living under the absolute rule of someone be it a monarch, a duchess, a warlord or an emperor. The Alliance to Restore the Republic, i.e. the Rebellion, was founded by a politicians who feared that Palpatine was encroaching on their traditional power by imposing a system of military governors. I wish we knew more about how people from worlds with democratic traditions reacted to the Empire, but alas.
Questions? Comments? Am I forgetting a democratic planet? What's up with Star War's obsession with royals and nobility? Does George just like the Rebel princess aesthetic, or is he a secret royalist?
no subject
Date: 2019-02-25 04:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-25 02:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-07 04:42 pm (UTC)The HC also includes the fact that like in Celtic kingship, the Manda'lore is an absolute leader only in war, while in peace each clan is mostly independent and self-governs.
This also means a lot of infighting, so it's a mixed bag.
no subject
Date: 2019-03-07 06:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-07 06:44 pm (UTC)I love to incorporate features taken from them in my fics. My current nerdgasm is depicting Manda'lore Maul as a Celtic High King. Watch this space.