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Political system of the Federation


Yalu

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Reading about the upcoming UFP presidential election has left me with some questions about how the Federation is constituted. I know the Star Trek version of the UFP was modeled after the UN, perhaps with a stronger central government, but how does the Federation operate in our SB118 variant of the universe?

Is there in existence an in-character UFP constitution or basic law that outlines the various organs of government, and how the member planets interact with it? I've seen some other Trek sites that have a Federation constitution or Articles of Federation that seem to fill in the blanks. Obviously the Federation has a (mostly) common economic and defense policy, but has there ever been a discussion about the degree of federalism that exists? Are some worlds more autonomous than others? Surely the vast network of small colonies must have a different organizational arrangeemnt than planets like Earth or Vulcan.

Judging by the news articles about the election, it appears the UFP President is popularly elected, and that the functions of head of state and head of government are both vested in the President, like in the U.S. system. There exists a Federation Council in canon, but is this a legislature comprising representatives from all member planets, or a cabinet?

Any insights, or opinions, or suggestions, are welcome!

Edited by Stennes
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Great information Sevo, fantastic work.

This gave me an idea for a mission. When you will have some more time in your fingers, would you be willing to write down, how you see the president election and bid if each citizen of the Federation have a right to vote - in either case of voting on a planetary level or the Federation level.

I see Memory Alpha as an Internet today - it keeps everyone connected to each other, so in case of voting on the Federation level, everyone vote for a candidate, not on the planetary level - it would go as all votes to the MA and it would count votes and give the results. Can someone manipulate the counting? Much easier made if individually tabulated than if voting is on planetary level.

How can someone manipulate people on the planets to vote for them? How do you make people like you?

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It also seems like member planets can have as much or as little support from the Federation government (and Starfleet) as they want. In 'The Ensigns of Command' (TNG, S3.E2), the colonists on the planet just wanted to be left alone, though they were official members of the Federation. Tasha Yar's home planet seems to have at least roving pockets of lawlessness, though the explanation for why was never explicit. The Maquis also presented a strange dilemma, as they seemed to want to be both left alone to govern their own affairs yet have their say in the Federation.

Also, Ayiana, fantastic reading, thanks.

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It also seems like member planets can have as much or as little support from the Federation government (and Starfleet) as they want. In 'The Ensigns of Command' (TNG, S3.E2), the colonists on the planet just wanted to be left alone, though they were official members of the Federation. Tasha Yar's home planet seems to have at least roving pockets of lawlessness, though the explanation for why was never explicit. The Maquis also presented a strange dilemma, as they seemed to want to be both left alone to govern their own affairs yet have their say in the Federation.

Also, Ayiana, fantastic reading, thanks.

Tasha Yar's home planet, Turkana IV, was no longer a member of the Federation by the time Tasha was born. I think it's important that we make the distinction between Federation member and planet in Federation space, which are two distinct classifications.

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Tasha Yar's home planet, Turkana IV, was no longer a member of the Federation by the time Tasha was born. I think it's important that we make the distinction between Federation member and planet in Federation space, which are two distinct classifications.

Along this line, I wonder how much authority the UFP has over governing member planets in times of emergency. In normal times, a planet has sovereign authority, but in DS9's "Homefront", we see the UFP President, Jaresh-Inyo, take steps that directly affects Earth, namely instituting martial law, instead of leaving it to the United Earth government to decide. In one scene, we see him conversing with a few humans, and I think something that didn't make it into the script was that those were UE representatives talking about ceding control.

Its possible that a government can allow the Federation to oversee or govern their affairs in an emergency. Another possibility is simply that Earth is a special case, since it is also the Federation capital world.

What about a member planet who's government collapses or is in otherwise chaos? Can the Federation send diplomats and politicians to oversee the rebuilding of the government, or let that planet sort itself out? Note that this is in reference to a member planet, not a nonaligned one in their space. For example, if, say Betazed's government was to collapse, could the Federation intervene?

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