In Star Wars the Old Republic preceding the formation of the Galactic Empire, while depicted as decaying, was often touted as an example towards which the Rebels strove. A fair, egalitarian democracy on a galactic level.
But, the question I will ask here is: was it a democracy at all?
Given a lack of sources depicting the structure of the Galactic Republic, we will need to operate from the Chommel Sector example, as it is the only firm example we have in the period leading up to the Clone Wars. The Chommel Sector, encompassing 36 Republic members and 40,000 colonies and dependencies is represented in the Galactic Senate by a single Senator. In the period we will observe, this is Padme Amidala, from the sector capitol world Naboo, an awoved democrat and leader of the pacifists (one of the Senate factions). However, as we will see, it seems that Padme Amidala was far from a supporter of full democracy.
The first issues is the fact that the Chommel Sector in it's entirety falls under the jurisdiction of the Galactic Republic. However, we also know that most of these worlds don't rate representation in the government. While dubious, we have such examples in our own history. The French Republic, the Second German Empire and the British Empire all ruled vast areas without those areas being granted any form of representation. In the Star Wars galaxy, this practice would be more easily defendable than colonial practices on Earth, but not by much.
The second issue, a much more crucial one, is the method by which the representative of the sector is chosen for the Senate (note that the word elected hasn't been used). In our example, Padme Amidala, following the end of her tenure as Queen of Naboo (an elected head of state, the title of Queen is ceremonial and does not carry with it any greater authority than that of any republican head of state), was asked to serve as Senator by Queen Jamilla of Naboo and was subsequently appointed to the Republic Senate as Senator for the Chommel Sector. Note that there is no election and that the head of state for a sector capitol has the authority to appoint representatives to the central government without (presumably) even bothering to consult with other member worlds of the Republic!
Finally, we have a curious fact. Senator Amidala was a pacifist (going so far as to present bills to abolish the military in the middle of a war), but her supposed constituents were, in fact, very much opposed to her stances. The population of Naboo were militarists (arguing for the creation, or recreation, of a Republic Army and Navy, abolished a thousand years prior in the Russan Reformation). It seems unlikely that Senator Amidala would be able to retain her position supporting such an unpopular stance, so it stands to reason that she wasn't elected in the first place.
Overall, while this is only the example of a single sector in a Republic that has thousands, it doesn't paint a nice picture. Indeed, this indicates that the Empire wasn't exactly a departure from the Old Republic it is often painted as ... in fact, it seems to be quite the opposite, the Empire is the Republic, centralized and more active, but nonetheless the same polity (after all, the Republic has a track record of glassing planets just like the Empire does).
The one primary issue against the Empire, humano-centrism, was already present during the Old Republic, spouted by many individuals who would later hold positions of significant authority in the Empire (such as the Tarkin family of Eriadu). Similarly, we have, again, the Naboo example of completely ignoring a sentient species on their own world and not even bothering to either establish an embassy or any form of relationship with them until said species demonstrated the capability to stand toe-to-toe with a modern army.
The New Republic, as a response to the Empire's actions, went in the opposite direction. Decentralization to the point where the Senate is seemingly as powerless as it was prior to the Declaration of a New Order and where individual member worlds could descend into all-out war with each other without the central authority being able to intervene (as aptly demonstrated during the Caamas Document Crisis) ... or, in fact, being able to field any naval force to prevent such an outbreak.
Similarly, at it's peak, the New Republic was half the size of the Empire at it's peak. That amounts to roughly 750,000 member worlds and more than 30 million dependencies, but we know for a fact that only 200,000 worlds were represented (and thus could influence the decision-making process) in the Senate. While this number seems better than those for the Old Republic, it doesn't paint the paragon of democracy and justice the New Republic presented itself as.
I will write no conclusions here as I don't exactly have ample evidence to truly substantiate the claims made above, them being simple guesswork from a singular example. So, thoughts? Opinions? Flames?
And, yes, this is the sort of thing I think about in my free time ... when I'm bored mind you. I'm not that weird most of the time.
But, the question I will ask here is: was it a democracy at all?
Given a lack of sources depicting the structure of the Galactic Republic, we will need to operate from the Chommel Sector example, as it is the only firm example we have in the period leading up to the Clone Wars. The Chommel Sector, encompassing 36 Republic members and 40,000 colonies and dependencies is represented in the Galactic Senate by a single Senator. In the period we will observe, this is Padme Amidala, from the sector capitol world Naboo, an awoved democrat and leader of the pacifists (one of the Senate factions). However, as we will see, it seems that Padme Amidala was far from a supporter of full democracy.
The first issues is the fact that the Chommel Sector in it's entirety falls under the jurisdiction of the Galactic Republic. However, we also know that most of these worlds don't rate representation in the government. While dubious, we have such examples in our own history. The French Republic, the Second German Empire and the British Empire all ruled vast areas without those areas being granted any form of representation. In the Star Wars galaxy, this practice would be more easily defendable than colonial practices on Earth, but not by much.
The second issue, a much more crucial one, is the method by which the representative of the sector is chosen for the Senate (note that the word elected hasn't been used). In our example, Padme Amidala, following the end of her tenure as Queen of Naboo (an elected head of state, the title of Queen is ceremonial and does not carry with it any greater authority than that of any republican head of state), was asked to serve as Senator by Queen Jamilla of Naboo and was subsequently appointed to the Republic Senate as Senator for the Chommel Sector. Note that there is no election and that the head of state for a sector capitol has the authority to appoint representatives to the central government without (presumably) even bothering to consult with other member worlds of the Republic!
Finally, we have a curious fact. Senator Amidala was a pacifist (going so far as to present bills to abolish the military in the middle of a war), but her supposed constituents were, in fact, very much opposed to her stances. The population of Naboo were militarists (arguing for the creation, or recreation, of a Republic Army and Navy, abolished a thousand years prior in the Russan Reformation). It seems unlikely that Senator Amidala would be able to retain her position supporting such an unpopular stance, so it stands to reason that she wasn't elected in the first place.
Overall, while this is only the example of a single sector in a Republic that has thousands, it doesn't paint a nice picture. Indeed, this indicates that the Empire wasn't exactly a departure from the Old Republic it is often painted as ... in fact, it seems to be quite the opposite, the Empire is the Republic, centralized and more active, but nonetheless the same polity (after all, the Republic has a track record of glassing planets just like the Empire does).
The one primary issue against the Empire, humano-centrism, was already present during the Old Republic, spouted by many individuals who would later hold positions of significant authority in the Empire (such as the Tarkin family of Eriadu). Similarly, we have, again, the Naboo example of completely ignoring a sentient species on their own world and not even bothering to either establish an embassy or any form of relationship with them until said species demonstrated the capability to stand toe-to-toe with a modern army.
The New Republic, as a response to the Empire's actions, went in the opposite direction. Decentralization to the point where the Senate is seemingly as powerless as it was prior to the Declaration of a New Order and where individual member worlds could descend into all-out war with each other without the central authority being able to intervene (as aptly demonstrated during the Caamas Document Crisis) ... or, in fact, being able to field any naval force to prevent such an outbreak.
Similarly, at it's peak, the New Republic was half the size of the Empire at it's peak. That amounts to roughly 750,000 member worlds and more than 30 million dependencies, but we know for a fact that only 200,000 worlds were represented (and thus could influence the decision-making process) in the Senate. While this number seems better than those for the Old Republic, it doesn't paint the paragon of democracy and justice the New Republic presented itself as.
I will write no conclusions here as I don't exactly have ample evidence to truly substantiate the claims made above, them being simple guesswork from a singular example. So, thoughts? Opinions? Flames?
And, yes, this is the sort of thing I think about in my free time ... when I'm bored mind you. I'm not that weird most of the time.
