EU-Fic/History/The Galactic Republic

THE GALACTIC REPUBLIC

by Illuminatus Primus

Introduction

The Galactic Republic was selected as “the name of the political manifestation of the preexisting social, societal, international, and interstate community and union of galactic civilization” (Article I of the Constitution). Commonly referred to as the "Galactic Union" in most modern translations, this is a somewhat crude rendition of the Old Wukkaran Rijk, meaning something between "realm," "nation," "polity," and "union," and generally the transcendent body politic; many translations avoid this problem by leaving it simply the "Galactic Rijk." An alternative term found in contemporaneous documents was the Olys Corellisi rseczpospolita (compare to the Old Coruscanti res publica, and Old Alderaanian calque common weale). Over time this distinction became academic and purely legal-technical; "the Galaxy" unambiguously in non-astronomical contexts referred to the society or civilization as a whole, and even "Galactic Republic" or "the Republic" itself became informal to refer to the Galactic Union or the body politic (or even, by co-extension, the astronomical galaxy itself as well) in a general sense, without the specific connotations of the federal political apparatus. People speaking of "the Republic" spoke of the galactic society as a whole, where the metonym "Coruscant" spoke of the political apparatus.

Foundation and Introduction

Historians debate the beginnings of the Republic, suggesting that it is artificial to claim the date of a legal document which hardly changed the reality of politics and society overnight misses the point of answering the question - where did the Republic come from? Further, the Constitution ratified conventions and traditions which had preceded the Republic proper. Nevertheless, the point stands that the Constitution of the Galactic Republic was ratified on 24,965 BrS. It established in law, the fundamental institutions of the Galactic Republic, namely the Republic Authority, the Supreme Court of the Galactic Republic, and the Senate of the States of the Galactic Republic in Congress Assembled, and held that sovereignty in the Union "inhered in the Member States".

The Senate of the States of the Galactic Republic in Congress Assembled

The Senate was the supreme body of the Republic. The Constitution defined criteria for membership in the Republic, defining the full-fledged, formally-enfranchised, and concurrently sovereign members of the Union. The States of the Senate, typically abbreviated as the Member States were differentiated from the External States, which could be Client States, Associate States, or Independent States (in practice, no political organizations were considered equals in international relations and legal status to the Galactic Republic, and basically all were in some fashion reliant upon or influenced by policy, though the pretense was maintained for sound relations in many case). There were well over one million Member States, and each accorded a single Senator, and a single vote.

The Senate had long-standing pre-Republic origins in common interstellar institutions, alliances, and councils. The United States of the Inner Regions, the Galactic Community Organization, and the Core Union were all well-known antecedents to the Republic, and their deliberative bodies of senators, ambassadors, and members of parliament were the ancestors of the Senate (traces of this can be still found, with the usage of "senator" for the delegates of the Union's sovereign states, who rank as ambassadors, and for whom many conventions and procedures are derived from Union parliamentary practice). The Senate of the States of the Galactic Republic in Congress Assembled, formally speaking, rarely met. Composed of over a million Senators throughout most its history, day-to-day meetings of this body would have been unwieldy and unnecessary. Rather, the Great Powers - those "ancient masses of hard and soft power nestled comfortably at the centers of huge constellations of territory and influence," as neatly summarized by Dr. Yinqo Lamont in The New Order in Power - and some other states nominated senators which would acquire the support of other senators, who would lend them their votes (the so-called "votes-by-proxy"), allowing them to individually represent whole sectors or regions (it should not be misconstrued that all Voting Members or Powers were necessarily Great Powers, with the most notable case being that of the first Galactic Emperor’s senatorial constituency of the Kingdom of Naboo). This process of informally - though regulated by long-established constitutional convention - and essentially electing a presidium of itself allowed the Senate to compress its working membership on a day-to-day basis to between one to ten thousand "Senior Senators" (depending on the historical period and circumstances). Though denounced by many of the lesser States as a mere stage show to conceal rule by the powerful and well-connected - which certainly was not completely unfair, especially during crisis and the brief authoritarian storms of Republic history - the relationship between most Voting Powers' and their Senior Senators on one hand, and between their Lesser State and Junior Senator clienteles on the other, was hardly one-sided. The Lesser States, through their Junior Senators, successfully traded their votes-by-proxy amongst Senior Senator's delegations, and were capable of denying a Voting Power's Senior Senator from being seated by withdrawing sufficient support (constitutional conventions in the Senate mandated that a Senior Senator maintain basic confidence by his supporters). Reflecting this practice and the legal name for the body, though technically incorrect, "Congress" began to refer to the entire body, and "the Senate" to the working minority of Senior Senators.

The Senate was considered the highest organ of government. Indeed, upon the Republic’s founding, a loud minority of Founders, the so-called Anarchy Worlds - distrusted any attempt to divest the legislature of direct authority. The Anarchy Plan (as it was named by a polemic by famous Federalist and constitutional theorist Dr. Publius Hamiltoni) called for the a Senate which would be vested with ultimate and direct authority in legislative, executive, and judicial affairs. The Federalist faction succeeded in winning over the great majority with claims that this “confusion of powers” and lack of permanent independent government would “leave the state without a head.” Accordingly, the Senate ended up occupying only the supreme legislative role, but remained the dominant partner, occupying the apex of the Republic's normative state. The Supreme Chancellor had to both be elected to fixed terms, and also maintain the confidence of the Senate during his terms. The Government had to be responsible to the Senate, and all senior appointments had to be subject to Senatorial scrutiny and confirmation (some appointments, like those of diplomats, were subject to a greater deal of scrutiny and power than was customary in presidential political systems; some theorists such as Shāhanshāh have gone so far to claim that in certain areas the Senate collectively shares the chieftaincy of state). The Senate maintained strong supervisory roles over the Justice and Defense functions of the Republic. And aspects of the Anarchy Plan can still be seen in certain legal areas (for example, original jurisdiction over cases of crimes against sapience belongs to the Senate itself, which typically in law delegated this responsibility to the appropriate courts, but it did not belong to the judiciary as a matter of fundamental law; as a result Master Jedi Knight Ulic Qel-Droma was brought by the Jedi Inquistion before the Congress for a direct trial). Similarly, the could appoint a (non-partisan) commission of Senators to receive diplomats with the Supreme Chancellor (even against his will), arguably contrary to the Supreme Chancellor’s responsibility for heading the state. Further, the supremacy of the Member States directly through the mechanism of the Senate allowed the Constitution to be amended through the unicameral legislature, without reference to the People or through mediatized mechanisms such as constitutional conventions (as was custom in many old states). This flexibility was a potential weakness which occasionally led to crises in the Republic, and eventually would be the prime avenue through which Palpatine walked on his path to imperium maius and the imperial dignity. Similarly, it was with reference to the standing precedent of the Senate sharing its supremacy with no other entity (in contradiction of the convention amongst the ancient republics of collegiality), that he displaced the Senate in favor of himself in the position of sole supremacy.

The Senate was associated with great honor and circumstance, befitting their position as the dominant organ of government. While the Senate Rotunda was considered the center of galactic governance, the Great Senate Hall (capable of holding a full convocation of the Senate, unlike the Rotunda, which managed the day-to-day working minority) was considered one of the Wonders of the Galaxy, and both greatly outshone the relatively plain Presidential Palace and the Galactic Courts of Justice Building, architecturally and spiritually underscoring the central constitutional conceit of the Republic. The Great Senate Hall was a squared-off, imposing and gigantic palatial structure in the ancient style, built of polished granite and marble said to be mined from every member world in the Republic around a durasteel frame, and sealed with an anti-erosion sealant. It covered approximately sixteen square kilometers to the six and a half of the Rotunda. It was dominated within by the Great Curia, a gigantic columnar stadium that could seat well over a million in comfort along countless benches and terraces and outfitted with sophisticated technology and communications interfaces (though understandably less extensive than the suites aboard the repulsorlift pods of the Rotunda's Grand Convocation Chamber). At its center was a flat-topped spire of white marble, the Great Podium, which houses the President and Supreme Chancellor before the full convocation. It was at this stupendous location that the First Senate was seated, that the Reformation was ratified, that Ulic Qel-Droma was tried, and where Palpatine was acclaimed to the Throne of the Galactic Emperor. The Senate Rotunda was a more modern-styled, dome-shaped structure two kilometers in diameter. Much more utilitarian, it housed offices for the delegation and for obvious reasons was kept much more ready for use than the Hall. At its core at the end of the famous Atrium, was the Great Convocation Chamber, with the retractable Supreme Chancellor's Podium rising through from his offices at the base to the center of the chamber, surrounded by tiers of thousands of Senatorial repulsorlift pods. The Great Senate Hall and Senate Rotunda were both located on the Avenue of the Founders, but the Great Senate Hall was set at the center of the City of the Union. The City of the Union has since grown outward - with references to it now only found in formal legal documents and manifested in sinecures like the Lord Mayor of the City of the Union -, with much of the business surrounding the Senate and the galactic government sprawling out, even beyond the Senate District, becoming Galactic City. Located near to Coruscantia (laying adjacent to the Senate District), the capital of the Republic of Coruscant, the City of the Union was the planned city at the heart of Galactic City and the Senate District, itself the centerpiece of the Union Capital District, a special federal district ceded to the Senate in perpetuity by the Republic of Coruscant for housing the galactic government, and situated in the Senate District and various enclaves across and above Coruscant. The Senate Rotunda was located south of the Hall at the other end of Avenue of the Founders. To the north of the Hall ran the Boulevard of the Framers northeast to the Presidential Palace, from which Glitanni Esplenade went due west to the Galactic Courts of Justice Building and beyond.

The Senate directly commissioned a Sergeant-of-Arms, who was commander-in-chief and administrative head of the Senate Guard, an elite body whose role was to protect the Senate collectively from threats or disruptions and the Senators, individually, wherever they were. The Senate Guards were superbly trained, and a tenure in the Senate Guards was sure to land Guardsman lucrative opportunities in private security contracting, a second career of service in the Military Establishment, or in the Security Forces. Not that the Guardsman needed it to survive after a term of service, because any Guardsman discharged with honors was granted handsome pension. Also subject to the Sergeant-at-Arms’ authority was the Union Capital District Police and Gendarmerie (the Executive and Judiciary commissioned their own police forces to patrol the immediate grounds, but relied upon the UCDP&G for general defense and maintenance of law and order), whose job it was to enforce law and order within the grounds of the galactic government, and which was bound to defend the Senate at all costs should the Capital District ever come under attack.

Senators were appointed by their Member States according to their own customs and legal traditions, subject only to broad standards and requirements by the electoral laws and guarantees by the Republic to the sapience population. They were very prestigious appointments, and often competed with the head of state or government of the member state for prestige. In addition, States appointed a senator-designate who served as a member of the Senator's official family and who if the Senator was unable to discharge his duties for any reason, automatically became Acting Senator. This clearly became problematic where the Senator served simultaneously as a Senior Senator atop a Senatorial delegation; in such cases, the members of the delegation - including Acting Senators - would elect a Temporary Senior Senator for a brief term. All members of a delegation, including Representatives, could be elected Temporary Senior Senators (Shāhanshāh famously coined the term "Prosenator" for these non-Senators serving as Senior Senators). They had some ability to interfere on their accord with Republic government and assets within their constituency (reflecting the theory that the Republic received its power and sovereignty from, and with the consent of, the member states). Senior Senators had to mind a complex web of gentlemen’s agreements, treaties, compromises, and ad hoc deals in order to maintain the confidence of his "Support" (in Senatorial jargon) or affiliated Junior Senators, as required by Senatorial constitutional conventions. However the rewards were very great: a Senior Senator might effectively speak and vote for an entire sector’s or even region’s worth of member states, and accordingly were considered more powerful than all the leaders of individual states but the leaders of the Great Powers, despite ranking below all of them on the order of precedence. Junior Senators continued to serve even while "loaned" (referring to their conditional “loan” of their vote to a Senior Senator), and continued to wrangle political deals amongst Senior Senators and applied their influence in the various Devolved Governments. Senators were entitled to be referred to as “Senator” for life. Retired Senators were often still traders of favors in galactic politics, and some retired senators managed to gain strong if unclear influence as elder statesmen. These “Senators Emeriti” traded their connections and familiarity with Coruscant politics and culture to in-comers, who then owed the Emeriti favors for their other clients and homeworld. However, this relationship should not be crudely simplified to cynical client-patronage. The Emeriti often fancied themselves elder statesmen, and freed from responsibility to lobbies and dependence on campaign financiers, often did act as a conservative informal stabling pressure on the government, at least as often as it resulted in deleterious corruption and perverse vectors of power and influence. As retired Senator for the Republic of Eastreijk and Senior Senator for the Pylex Commons, Iulius Cracchus von und zu Irk-ra-Gen V was so bold to say, “the Senate-in-law is composed only of those Senators who are in the business of casting votes; the Senate-in-fact is larger, informal, and the Senate-in-law is subordinate to it.”

In addition to the semi-sovereign Member States, there were also the junior or immature partners to the Union (the official legal term being "Organized Unincorporated Areas" of the Union, in contrast to the "Organized Incorporated Areas" - the sovereign territory of the Member States -, and the "External Areas" - the non-fully-independent States outside the Republic proper -, the Clients and Associates). These political entities differed in their relationship to the Member States and Republic Authority, their status in law, their self-governance, their rights in the Courts, and say in their own affairs. However, many found voice in the Representative Delegations. The Representative Delegations were the result of a vague Constitutional requirements for galactic self-determination, Senatorial convention, and compromises. They were controversial throughout galactic history, with Strict Constructionists claiming they went far beyond the limited self-determination intended for, and the consent required by the Senate to administrate, the Non-Sovereign States by the Constitution. The Representative Delegations differed in their make up, with some representing minority or threatened species, some unique business or cultural interests, and some the Associates of the Union, but by far the largest was the Representative Delegation for the Non-Sovereign States. Individual members were known as representatives, and the Delegations piggy-backed off the Senatorial system. In particular cases and rulings, the Senate by convention secured the consent of a Delegation in areas of its particular area of interest. How representatives voted or were counted depended on the circumstance of the vote and the circumstance of the representative. An issue expected to effect a change in the legal status of Republic mandates would allow the Delegation to vote as its own body. In addition to their duties by convention, representatives would often ply their influence and backing amongst Senatorial delegations lending "endorsements" to a Senior Senator's votes or offering "secondments" to his motions. In some cases, representatives could be influential junior partners of a Senatorial delegation or official family (one recalls the Representative of the Gungan Species, General (ret.) Jar Jar, the Lord Binks, who served as a chief of staff and personal representative to Senior Senator Padme Nabierre, Lady Amidala (Kingdom of Naboo, Chommell Sector), best remembered for calling for the senatus consultum ultimum which created Palpatine's war dictatorate while serving as Temporary Senior Senator). In addition to their hard power in specific circumstances, and soft power in general, their status as junior members of the Senate pro forma permitted wide latitudes of potential service. Representatives theoretically could serve on committees with the consent of the committee Senators, and could stand for election as President and Supreme Chancellor.

Despite the opaque, indirect, and somewhat aristocratic character and means of representation for the galactic populace in the Senate, it served a needed function and consistently well enough that it survived for over twenty-five thousand years. The Galactic Senate is the central institution of the Galactic Republic, and the concept of Senatorial supremacy and primacy in questions of the will and consent of the galactic body politic, and legitimacy in governing the Galactic Union would not subside, and would have to be addressed by statesmen long after the end of the First Republic.