PATCHWORK STATES Patchwork states have no interstellar government at all; they're simply a large number of independent worlds with no interstellar organization. This mimics the situation in the modern world, just on a vastly larger scale. Effects On The Campaign Anarchies allow the maximum of freedom for PCs – and for villains as well. The characters may be merchants or travelers who have to cope with very different social conditions on each planet. FAILED STATE A failed state is the result of a catastrophic collapse of the interstellar government, leaving a power vacuum that attracts warlords, bandits, and extremists. There are no laws, and rulership comes from the smoking end of a blaster. Effects On The Campaign Anarchies allow the maximum of freedom for PCs – and for villains as well. The characters may be working to restore order or carve out their own empires, or perhaps playing a vicious game of man-behind-the-throne by propping up one warlord after another. ANARCHIST UTOPIA An anarchist utopia is a “pure” anarchy – without rulership, not just without law – deliberately set up as a state without a government. These can be quite large, even galactic in scale, but recognize no sovereignty above the level of individual beings. Iain M. Banks’ “Culture” is an anarchist utopia. Effects On The Campaign Anarchies allow the maximum of freedom for PCs – and for villains as well. Anarchist utopias are often “good guy” societies that must be protected. They can also provide a safety net, in the form of myriad sovereign NPCs who might be persuaded to take an interest. THE ALLIANCE An alliance is a group of autonomous worlds. Its key feature is that its members are genuinely self-governing. The alliance controls only interstellar policy – primarily defense policy and foreign relations – and not any member’s domestic affairs. Citizens have no direct influence on an alliance, but they can influence their world government, which is represented on the Alliance Council. There may be a small allied navy or space patrol. H. Beam Piper’s Sword-Worlds formed an alliance (the individual worlds had feudal governments). The human worlds of Larry Niven’s “Known Space” series might be considered a very loose alliance, at least in wartime. Effects On The Campaign Citizens of an alliance are free to do almost anything – even exploration is unregulated. Unless they violate one of the few alliance laws, they have little to fear from the patrol. Another benefit of adventuring in an alliance is its potential variety. Any sort of government or society can exist on a member world, as long as the world is reasonably stable in its dealings with other planets. However, this allows more chances for PCs to run into unexpected laws and taboos. And if they get in trouble on a member world, they can expect little help – the patrol has no jurisdiction (if it even exists). Resourceful types who are wary around repressive societies and who aren’t averse to world hopping when it’s time to run may do quite well in an alliance. THE FEDERATION Federations and alliances share many features, but they differ in basic philosophy. In an alliance, the individual member worlds dominate the central government. In a federation, the opposite is true – the central government takes precedence over its component worlds. Federations usually take the form of republican democracies – that is, citizens elect the Federation President and local representatives to a Federation Congress. The typical federation is free but bureaucratic. Federations are the ruling bodies in the Star Trek universe and Alan Dean Foster’s Humanx Commonwealth. Effects On The Campaign Campaigns set in a federation offer less freedom for those who play fast and loose with the law. Law-abiding types may find it the safest place of all – if they are federation citizens. PCs who run afoul of extremist planetary societies might find aid at the nearest Patrol office, unless the laws they broke meet Federation standards, in which case they may be turned over to local authorities. THE CORPORATE STATE This is a society run by *big* business – a huge corporation that controls entire worlds, with a monopoly on commerce among them. Leadership is vested in a Board of Directors and a Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Dictatorial corporate states are depicted in F.M. Busby’s “Star Rebel” stories and (on one world) in Sten, by Allan Cole and Chris Bunch. Poul Anderson’s Polesotechnic League is an alliance of (usually) fair and well-managed corporate states. Effects On The Campaign Corporate societies can be dangerous; corporate security is watching all the time. The PCs might be security staff… or “evil” unionists! Good employees will keep their eyes on business, their shoulders to the wheel, and their noses to the grindstone – while watching their backs. THE EMPIRE An autocracy is a state in which one person is the final authority. Such states usually clothe themselves in the trappings of religion, feudalism, militarism… or all three. Fifty years of science fiction have popularized the term “empire” for this sort of structure, and we’ll follow suit (but see Empire, p. 197). Theoretically, all power comes from the autocrat, or emperor – only by his grace does any lesser authority exist within the domain. Empires are not necessarily evil, or even totalitarian. An empire may be ruled by wise, fair people. Empires are so common in science fiction that they’re trite. Most (that of Star Wars, for instance) are dictatorial. Jerry Pournelle’s CoDominium is heartless and bureaucratic. But the Empire of Man in The Mote in God’s Eye and the Imperium of Traveller are basically benevolent. Effects On The Campaign If the empire is perceived as corrupt, players will enjoy getting away with whatever they can. If the empire is firm but fair (it can certainly happen!) there will be honor to be won in its service. ALIEN GOVERNMENTS Alien civilizations may have governments unlike any ever tried by humans. They could have a vast hive-mind, or be ruled by supercomputers. Government and power relations might be based on instinct, or on ruthlessly logical principles. Chapter 7 includes several ideas for completely alien systems of government. Effects On The Campaign An alien government type often presents a mystery to explorers or diplomats attempting to establish peaceful contact. A whole mini-campaign could be built on simply figuring out who’s in charge in order to start negotiations. Humans living under the rule of aliens may find their laws nonsensical or just plain weird; aliens visiting human space may be equally perplexed. PATCHWORK STATES It's possible to have an interstellar civilization with no government above the planetary or even the continental level. This simply mimics the situation in the modern world, just on a vastly larger scale. This arrangement is likely if interstellar transport is very slow and difficult, so that colonies have to be independent if they can survive at all, and there is no way for one world to exert military force against another. In this situation, space beyond the claims of planetary governments could be a dangerous haunt of pirates or bandits, but worlds could cooperate in patrolling deep space, forming the basis of an alliance (see p. 191). Conflict among patchwork states is likely to be localized, pitting a few worlds against each other, and rebellions will be directed against specific planetary governments (often with the help of unfriendly neighbors). Trade can be as free or restricted as individual worlds wish, and companies with operations on many worlds can grow rich enough to become independent powers in their own right. Government The local governments probably have a bewildering array of government types, including some that aren't viable on larger scales(see Planetary Governments). The Military Individual worlds can have as much armed force as they can afford (see p. 187). This means that in aggregate, a group of patchwork states can have more military force than an empire – it's just that there's no central command to point it all in the same direction. There's little distinction between the Patrol and the navy, and planetary armies are most likely configured for defense. Mercenaries are a prime method of foreign intervention, and thrive in this kind of system. Law and Order Patchwork states have law at the planetary or national level, and enforcement can be as efficient or lax as the citizens tolerate. Beyond planetary orbit there is *no* law, and unless a pair of worlds have specific treaties of friendship and commerce, *all* spacecraft will be viewed as potential raiders by the planetary navy. Extradition treaties may exist between specific worlds, but otherwise all law enforcement is concerned only with local crimes. Origin Patchwork states originate when there are several inhabited worlds but no power capable of imposing a government and no desire among the planetary rulers to unite. It is, in effect, the “state of nature” from which other interstellar governments arise. FAILED STATE Contemporary news readers are probably familiar with what happens when the government of a country can no longer maintain any order. Law disappears, and society returns to a state of nature, in which the strong do what they want to the weak. On an interstellar scale, there could be entire star systems in which order is maintained by a local regime, but in deep space or on remote planets the law of the jungle prevails. This is also the situation in a frontier zone with little or no control by the central government. An interstellar failed state can remain lawless until either some external force imposes order (which may unite the quarrelling natives to resist the invaders), or until one world sets up an empire or several enter into an alliance to dominate the rest. If the new rulers can suppress or co-opt the local bosses, the new state may survive, but often the civil war drags on through several more cycles. Government While there is no government per se, there is a pecking order of who has the biggest gun at the moment. Early on, displays of power are the way things get done; as the pecking order solidifies, warriors become warlords, making some small-scale politics viable within the scope of their rule. The Military No formal military exists. Instead there are people with whatever hardware they can get their hands on. Space forces consist of a few battered old ships, and there's no distinction between the Patrol and pirates. Armies are simply the local goon squad. Failed state militaries can't go toe-to-toe with any kind of organized opposition, but are lethally effective at low-level terrorism and guerrilla warfare. Law and Order A failed state has no law at all. The strong do what they want and the weak suffer what they must. Some warlords may maintain order among their followers or in a given territory, but that just makes them tempting prey for raiders. Bounty hunters may venture into a failed state's territory in search of particularly valuable fugitives. Origin Failed states are the endpoint of a society's collapse. There has to be some kind of organization that has broken down. Fallen empires, based on the Roman model, are the most common in fiction, but the real world has seen republics and other systems fail. A corporate state might go bankrupt leading to collapse. ANARCHIST UTOPIA Very different from the thugs-with-guns style are stable anarchies deliberately set up as states without a government. These can be quite large, even galactic in scale, but recognize no sovereignty above the level of individual beings. The Culture in Iain Banks' series of novels is a huge anarchy that is the dominant civilization in the galaxy. Anarchies on an interstellar scale must either be the only society there is, or else must be wealthy and powerful enough to defend themselves against aggressive neighbor governments. Social arrangements are either fiercely “libertarian capitalist” setups, with contractual agreements and payment for all services, or “true communist” societies in which automated labor and superintelligent computers have really made it possible for everyone to have what they need without money. Government Anarchist utopias have the least in the way of government… but even without an official organization, sovereign citizens can form ad-hoc “working groups” to undertake projects or deal with crises. The Military An anarchist utopia won't have a formal military either, but in a sufficiently wealthy and advanced society, the ad-hoc groups formed for military operations can be quite powerful. The Patrol and the navy alike consist only of ships built and manned by volunteers, and fleets form for specific missions. Defense against invaders is the most likely, but there's nothing to prevent citizens of an anarchy from mounting an offensive to topple an unfriendly state or spread the anarchist ideology at blaster point. Law and Order Utopian anarchies also have no laws. Nevertheless they may have fairly strict non-legal methods of social control. Custom and tradition can be as powerful as law, or there may be technical fixes like monitor robots to zap anyone attempting violence. Free-enterprise police services could protect subscribers. Origin Anarchist utopias are generally founded by groups with a specific ideology, and are designed to be functioning societies. Anarchists might simply be from a species that needs authority to get along, or could be reformers or exiles from an oppressive state. ALLIANCE An alliance is a loose affiliation of several sovereign states for mutual benefit. In the modern world, NATO and the North American Free Trade Agreement are military and economic alliances. The European Community is an example of an alliance moving toward federation (see p. 193). The structure of an alliance can be formal and tightly organized (like NATO), an ad-hoc arrangement like the Escobar alliance in Lois McMaster Bujold's “Vorkosigan” series, or just a loose and general “we're on the same side” agreement like the human worlds in Niven's “Known Space” stories. If the members of an alliance continue to improve their ties and work together, it can become a federation, but if one member predominates, it can take on qualities of an empire. Conflict within an alliance can be forbidden or strictly limited, as any major war would shatter it into two or more smaller alliances. Since the members are trying to remain friends, open war is much less likely than espionage, political meddling, and covert operations. Rebellions will oppose specific members of the alliance, and can cause serious conflict when allies are called on to help fight rebels whose ideals they may actually agree with. In a trade alliance, commerce is free and easy – within the borders, anyway. A free-trade pact may well include very tough tariff walls against non-members. Government The governing body is a council of delegations from each member world. If a world has multiple governments, all must be represented in the delegation. In some cases, an alliance may give special power to important members – extra votes or veto power. Normally, the Council may only pass laws affecting relations among its members, and seldom intrudes on its members' internal affairs. A majority of the Council – usually two-thirds – must favor any measure before it can be voted into law. A world can disregard alliance laws by seceding or by becoming an associate member – giving up its vote on the Council to gain full freedom in interstellar policy, yet retaining many benefits of membership. The council also acts as a court or mediator among member worlds. When it comes to politics, an alliance is wide open. Member worlds can practice assassination, war among themselves, bribe alliance officials – and until the council comes up with a two-thirds majority, the alliance will be powerless to stop it. Each member world, protective of its own sovereignty, is loathe to allow the extra police powers – including counterespionage or expanded military forces – that would allow the alliance to maintain order among its members. Only an outside threat is likely to unify the council to legislate the needed action. The Military Alliances typically maintain a small interstellar navy, while member worlds maintain their own defense forces. If member worlds are stingy, the alliance military may be desperately underfunded until actual war breaks out; if not, they can be small but formidable forces. Navy operations beyond routine patrols must be approved by the council. Alliance military forces may not intervene in a member's internal affairs without permission from that member. In extreme cases – if conflict on a world or between member worlds is a clear threat to the alliance and its other members – the council may send in a peacekeeping force. During peacetime, planetary fleets usually restrict themselves to their own star systems. They may also take turns performing border patrols or other routine duties at the request of the alliance. In wartime, the council can request members to mobilize their fleets to supplement the Alliance Navy. Even then, officers may challenge the nominal authority of the alliance admiral, especially when their homeworlds are threatened. Ground combat forces might consist of a small core group – a “Marine Corps” or “Presidential Guard” – supplemented in wartime by member worlds' armies. Mercenary organizations thrive in the loosely regulated clime of an alliance, and are always available to aid with the defense… for a price. Law and Order There will be an interstellar police force, usually called the Space Patrol (see p. 203). From a 20th-century perspective, the Patrol is a combination of state police and coast guard. It may be the only permanent armed space force an alliance maintains. The Patrol has full judicial and legal powers within the alliance and outside the member worlds' borders. Anyone arrested by the Patrol is tried in a Patrol court. Since alliance laws deal only with interstellar matters, adventurers will not be bothered by alliance law except when operating in space. Within the political boundaries of a member world – which usually extend throughout its solar system – they are subject to local laws and ordinances, which can vary widely from member to member! One world could be a liberal democracy where citizens enjoy great personal freedom, while others might be dictatorial, tribal, theocratic, corporate… Extradition of criminals from member worlds is possible, but never certain. Once a criminal is on a world, he is under its jurisdiction – the alliance legal system only has jurisdiction in interstellar space between member borders. The Patrol seldom interferes in commerce between member worlds – restrictions are more likely to be imposed by the members themselves. Exceptions may be made if the Patrol is after terrorists or pirates, or if a ship is acting suspiciously, but the Patrol must be careful not to offend member worlds – and delaying cargoes or disturbing tourists is often offensive. The Patrol exerts more control over travelers from beyond alliance borders. Patrol ships and border stations carefully screen incoming traffic, even if the destination worlds protest such scrutiny. Passengers are checked against lists of wanted criminals. Cargoes are checked for contraband, dangerous animals, or illegal weapon shipments, and routine tests are made for disease or pests. Leaving alliance territory, on the other hand, is usually simple. Certain goods may be taxed or banned, either because they're dangerous or to protect the industry of member worlds. Enforcement is up to the Patrol. Taxation of individuals is a power strictly held by member worlds, not by the alliance. The alliance is funded by tariffs, fines, and contributions from member worlds for protection and services. Payment may be made in kind rather than in cash. Worlds that cannot pay their “dues” may be subject to coercion by other worlds or by alliance forces. Terrorist and fanatic groups may exist. If they do, the limited authority of the alliance may make them hard to root out. Member worlds might secretly shelter terrorist bases, letting them train beyond the reach of the Patrol. Origin Alliances may form in response to external threats, or from the weakening of a more controlled society. This is a natural first stage for interstellar government. Often, the original members have ties besides geography – common ancestry, trade ties, or similar histories. FEDERATION A federation is a union of sovereign states, preserving a fair amount of power for member states but surrendering certain areas to federal control. The most famous federations in science fiction are Star Trek's United Federation of Planets and the Federation in H. Beam Piper's book of the same name. At the weak end, federations are like close-knit alliances combining military and free trade pacts. Stronger federations give more power to the central government, like the modern-day United States or Germany, and a very strong federation puts all power into the central government, leaving the member states as little more than administrative regions. If one member of a federation dominates the others and interferes in their domestic affairs, the federation becomes more like an empire. Even a fairly weak federation can keep order in space – that may be all the members allow it to do – so trade and travel thrive. Member worlds may or may not be allowed to maintain their own military forces, but the Patrol and any exploration service are probably federal operations. If the members distrust central government, then the federal armed forces are stretched thin and need to call in member militaries for backup. Mercenaries won't find much work within a federation, but member states or the federal government may use them for “deniable” operations beyond the border. Rebellions may arise when a member wants to withdraw but the central government won't let it go, or when a very powerful group of members try to turn the federation into an empire with themselves as the center. Laws can vary from place to place within a federation, and in a weak one criminals from one member world can find sanctuary on others. This makes lots of business for bounty hunters. Federal law enforcement probably focuses on crimes outside planetary jurisdiction, and on really dangerous criminals who are too mobile for any single member's police to catch. Government The exact structure of a federation's government can vary. Most have been republics of some sort, with representatives of the member states voting in a council or parliament. Some federations, like the old German Empire of the Kaisers, were federations of monarchies with a supreme monarch over all. The modern United States is a federation in which the central government is chosen directly by the citizens, rather than the governments of member states. The governments of the members can vary. One can imagine an interstellar federation that includes planets governed by republics, monarchies, one-party states, and theocracies. A typical legislative body is a Federation Congress, elected by individual worlds (delegation size depends on world population); it is usually responsive to the will of the citizens. There is usually a separate judicial branch. The Patrol is responsible for enforcing federation law, but offenders are tried by a federation court at the appropriate level. When a world joins the federation, it agrees to abide by the federation charter. For this reason, sector or planetary government and law are much more homogeneous than those of an alliance's member worlds – divergence is prevented by swift federation action, including economic blockade and military invasion. Secession usually isn't an option for members of a federation, unless several worlds secede at once or outside military protection is available. Planetary nationalists favoring secession may become rebels or terrorists. In rare cases, politics will allow a peaceful evolution to “special autonomous status” and finally independence. There may also be frontier districts. These are similar to member systems, except that their populations are new (mainly colonists or the newly conquered) or scattered (a blighted region of space). The district government and officials are appointed by the federation. The Military Federation politics recognize that military and political power are linked. The Federation Navy is the only group authorized to have interstellar warcraft. Member worlds must surrender their navies upon joining. Hearkening back to the days of independence, however, naval vessels may be named after and manned by a particular world – the cruiser Lotvik, for instance, is crewed largely by native Lotvikians. Size of the fleet depends on the political will and wealth of its citizens. If the people will tolerate the cost of a major fleet, a federation can be as militant as any society. With federation permission, individual worlds may establish planetary guard units. These include ground troops and possibly atmospheric and sublight warcraft, but no significant armed starships. The Interstellar Marine Corps is the federation's military ground force. Planetary guard troops and draftees supplement the marines in wartime, but it is the experienced, well-trained marines who handle the dirty work – planetary invasions and defenses, commando raids, etc. If there is a continuing threat to the nation, federations may institute a draft, requiring young citizens to serve terms in the armed forces. Mercenary companies are rare except in frontier sectors, as the government distrusts independent military forces in central areas. In times of upheaval, mercs may be called in, but liaison officers will be assigned to ensure that they remain under strict control. A federation may form its own legion of mercenaries. These troops are useful for prosecuting politically unpopular wars, especially if they are recruited solely from frontier or foreign worlds – which have no representation in Congress and cannot easily complain about combat losses. Law and Order Unlike an alliance, which is concerned with the rights of its member worlds, a federation guards the rights of its citizens. Federation laws are designed to protect the individual citizen and to provide security and unity for the society. On the whole, federation citizens get more benefits, services, and protection than citizens of an alliance. Police functions may be handled by planetary or sector law-enforcement organizations or by the Space Patrol. The Patrol has full authority anywhere in federation territory, but must cooperate with planetary police – it cannot investigate and arrest independently of local authorities, unless they are obstructing justice. Extradition of accused criminals between worlds is mandatory under federation law, provided the requesting world can guarantee a fair trial. Otherwise, the accused will be tried in a federation court. Federation authorities (such as the Patrol) carry out the extradition process. Terrorists may be present, but bases must be well-hidden to survive. Any world known to be harboring terrorists can expect swift reprisals. Federations keep tabs on interstellar trade within their borders, routinely inspecting cargoes and travelers. Traffic entering and leaving the nation will be more restricted than that of an alliance. Passports will be required – especially if the federation has hostile neighbors – but the emphasis will be on the right of the average citizen to travel, limited by the security needs of the society. The Space Patrol is on hand to combat pirates or terrorists and to conduct rescue operations when needed. It will also ensure that unscrupulous transport companies do not take advantage of citizens. Interstellar trade involving federation worlds is regulated by the Interstellar Trade Commission (p. 202). Congress may ban some goods – usually harmful drugs, proscribed weapons, dangerous animals, etc. Tariffs and duties may exist to control imports that might harm world economies. This means there may be a lucrative business for smugglers in some areas, but that's what the Patrol is for. Customs offices are maintained at all starports in federation space. Starports are considered federation territory, and local police do not have jurisdiction there. The Patrol operates these ports, plus any additional posts needed at jump points or along trade routes. Free news services thrive, restricted only in the name of federation security. Taxes may be collected by federation, sector, and local governments. There may be a personal income tax, taxes on commerce, or both. Merchants and entrepreneurs will do their best to beat any such tax! Origin A federation often evolves when an alliance is forced by some threat to strengthen its central government. Federations last longer than alliances because their society can quickly meet and deal with external threats, and often has the power and authority to deal with internal ones as well. CORPORATE STATE Ever since the rise of large commercial corporations, people have worried about them becoming powerful enough to rival governments. In history, it has even happened from time to time: the British East India Company *was* the government of India for nearly a century. In science fiction, corporate governments come in several different flavors, depending on how the corporations are structured and how they exercise power. In history, corporations often exercise power indirectly. In Central America before World War II, for instance, the United Fruit Company was effectively the ruling power, even though each of the countries in which it operated had a sovereign government. The company paid heavy bribes to the government leaders to keep them agreeable, and could sometimes call upon the United States military when bribery wasn't enough. Powerful corporations ruling indirectly are a standard feature of cyberpunk science fiction. If a setting has multiple corporations, the dynamic changes. Competition among companies can give the people a great deal of leverage (see The Free Enterprise Society, p. 196). Of course corporations can band together to avoid competition, forming a cartel. If there is no higher power to prevent it, the result is an interlocked group of companies that function as a single operation. Corporate-ruled societies are likely to be awful places for independent traders to operate in, because naturally the ruling company or companies will monopolize all the lucrative trade routes. Mercenary soldiers, on the other hand, can often do quite well since a corporate state might prefer to hire military forces only when there's a war to fight, then downsize during peacetime. Spies can be agents of rival companies seeking trade secrets, and explorers can be “trade scouts” looking for new markets and business opportunities. Government A corporate state is “managed” rather than governed. Leadership follows standard business practice – the CEO directs day-to-day affairs, appointed and supervised by the Board of Directors. As long as the CEO has the support of the board, he has dictatorial powers, and may hire and fire all other executive officers. The Board of Directors is elected by the company stockholders. Directors have no responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the company, but act as a policy council to advise and direct the CEO. The directors elect one of their number as Chairman. The Chairman is the single most powerful person in the corporate state, though he operates behind the scenes. Minor rules and regulations are set by corporate bureaucrats at all levels. Major policy decisions are made by the board. The board also decides the amount of stock available on the market, and possibly its current cost. The relative benevolence of the corporate state depends on how the stockholders are organized. Citizenship is defined as owning stock in the company. Sometimes a stock certificate is issued along with a birth certificate; sometimes citizenship must be earned. More stock means more voting power; in a malevolent corporate state, the board is dominated by a wealthy minority. But sometimes the “poor” stockholders can band together into “blocs” of common interest, similar to political parties in a democracy. If they have the numbers, they can vote their own representative to the board. Stock ownership is power. If a few wealthy magnates control the board, society will be managed for their benefit and individual rights will suffer. If other voting blocs gain power on the board, interests will be protected; as more blocs gain power, rights are gradually extended to all citizens. Stockholders also receive dividends, as long as the corporation makes money. Militant stockholders may demand profits, steering CEOs away from long-term investments and toward short-term gains. After an unusually profitable period, the board may declare a jubilee year – paying extra dividends and sponsoring celebrations. Individual worlds are run by corporate middle managers, many of whom are working hard to show a profit and earn a promotion. Local management styles may vary from enlightened to dictatorial, and don't have to match overall corporate policy if the board is far away. The Military The company has a monopoly on armed might, from local police to interstellar fleets. Local forces will be controlled by planetary directors. Major operations may be ordered by the CEO and must be approved by the board. There may also be an elite security force – possibly a secret police in all but name – under the direct command of the Chairman of the Board. Law and Order Company regulations have the force of law. Many rules exist to insure that individuals put company concerns over any of their own. Personal freedoms are often allowed only to the point where they interfere with job performance. Failure to follow regulations, meet quotas, or get along with one's supervisor can result in demotions and salary cuts (and loss of social status), criminal sentences, or firing. Firing is the ultimate punishment, since there is no other employer – shopping at the company store, banking and credit rights, and health benefits are lost along with employment. Rebels aren't acknowledged as such. They are instead saboteurs, pirates, socialists, communists, or – worst of all – unionists, and are to be rooted out at all costs. The losers of a takeover bid could decide on armed resistance instead of golden parachutes. There is no judicial branch. Local executives conduct hearings and trials in their localities. There may be a “corporate ombudsman” to see that workers get fair treatment and fair trials. The power of the ombudsman depends on the stockholders. If the company is repressive, the ombudsman is helpless, or a pawn of management; in a benevolent society, the ombudsman has enough influence that middle management must respect his views. Travel between worlds is controlled by the company. Travel for corporate reasons is easily arranged. Individual citizens are also free to travel, using their own time and money, though they may be “bumped” from scheduled flights by business travelers. Productive employees are often rewarded with paid vacations to pleasure worlds. Most employees, however, rarely get to leave the worlds on which they are employed – unless their skills are temporarily needed on another planet. News is handled by the corporation's public relations or communications department, and reflects the company line. There are many stories about corporate success and happy employees. Failures are seldom reported. Trade is company-regulated. Company employees must obtain all their goods at the local company store, paying whatever prices the company sets. With the company in control of all commerce, there's no competition and no chance of getting bargains somewhere else. Of course there's a black market, but it's grossly illegal. Specific taxes in a corporate state are not necessary, since the company makes a “profit” on everything that is bought or sold. Occasionally, in a profitable year, the corporation will even pay bonuses to its workers. Origin A corporate state may evolve from the conflict between a super-corporation and a weak government, or when government gives too much authority to business. If world colonization and exploitation is run by private enterprise, then single-company settlements may result. If corporate rule is unchecked by government, the corporation can expand its power base until it *is* the government on the colonies, while controlling trade with the mother world. In a far-flung society, corporations may be allowed to form private fleets for defense in remote areas – similar to the East India merchant ships in Earth history. Such military power can allow total despotism in colonial regions, and may give the force needed (perhaps in alliance with other corporations) to secede from or take control of the society. A corporation may also control a technology so valuable – FTL travel, for instance – that it can do whatever it likes! EMPIRE When historians or political scientists speak of an empire, they mean a system in which one state controls the internal and external affairs of one or more other states. If this is a legally recognized situation, it's a formal empire; if it's done by ad hoc arrangement or under the cloak of some other structure, it's an “informal” empire. Many empires in history have been combinations of both. The rulers of Rome had a formal empire of provinces under Roman governors, but they also had an informal empire of client states and allies. Sometimes it was necessary to take over the administration of a client state and shift it from informal to formal empire. Sometimes a province can get more autonomy, as when the British government granted dominion status to its colonies in Canada and Australia, recognizing that they were capable of self-rule – and capable of fighting for it if Britain refused. All empires tend to expand even when the central government has no desire to annex more territory. To safeguard the border, the empire's rulers naturally want friendly states as neighbors. To ensure that they stay friendly, the empire starts to take an interest in their internal affairs. Eventually, some crisis provokes intervention by the empire and what was formerly a neighbor becomes a conquered province. Naturally, to protect this province, the empire has to make sure there are no hostile states on the border, and the cycle begins all over again. Commercial interests and religious or ideological missionaries can accelerate the process. The process of expansion can continue until the empire bumps up against a power strong enough to resist. If they border directly on each other, the situation may be quite tense, with constant patrols along the line, “incidents” provoked by hotheaded commanders, and a clampdown on trade. Alternately, the empires may agree to back off and sponsor a neutral zone or buffer state in between. The action shifts from military to diplomatic and political as each empire strives to exert influence in the buffer region and prevent its rival from doing the same. This sort of thing can happen even when the empires are nominally friendly. Government Any kind of government can have an empire. Rome gained its first imperial possessions as a republic, and expanded them as a monarchy; the British Empire was acquired as Britain itself moved from absolute monarchy to parliamentary democracy. Republican France had a large formal empire in Africa, and the United States had a substantial informal empire in Latin America. In science fiction, empires are usually based on the Roman model, with an actual emperor as the absolute ruler. If there is a senate or other legislature, it is distinctly secondary to the monarch's power. Monarchical empires in fiction are usually evil and oppressive, as in the Star Wars movies, but some stories like Niven and Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye or Poul Anderson's tales of Dominic Flandry depict empires that are reasonably well run and humane. States with a single ruler have all the advantages and disadvantages of extremely centralized power. If the emperor wants something done, it gets done – but if the emperor can't be bothered, a problem can fester. And if the emperor is foolish, or crazy, or just plain mean, a lot of *bad* things can get done. The feel of a monarchical empire depends a lot on how the ruler gained power. Dictators or emperors who seized power by their own efforts tend to build strong but paranoid regimes, with lots of secret police, censorship, and murder of potential rivals. On the other hand, they do tend to be personally very competent rulers. But even the competent ones often make the mistake of assuming that being good at gaining and holding political power makes them experts at economics, military strategy, and city planning. This is seldom true. In human history only a handful of dictators have been competent, sane, and humane all at the same time. Few self-made dictators die natural deaths. Some empires have no set rule of succession, so all the rulers are essentially self-made dictators. By contrast, a ruler who has inherited power has a lot more legitimacy in the eyes of the people and can afford to be more tolerant. However, with hereditary rulers there is a great deal of random chance involved: will this one be a lunatic? Or just an idiot? It's rare for a dynasty to win the lottery of genetics and upbringing even twice in a row, so a strong ruler is usually followed by one or more weak ones. Sometimes the weak rulers are at least wise enough to recognize their limits and rely on competent ministers and generals, but sometimes they're so incompetent they don't even realize it. Since the chaos of civil war is sufficiently unpleasant, most people are willing to put up with hereditary rule if the only alternative is warlords fighting to become the next dictator. Some of the Roman emperors chose their own successors, which combines the legitimacy of inheritance with a merit-based choice. Unfortunately, some rulers can be swayed or tricked when picking an heir. High-tech societies might leave the choice of a new emperor to superintelligent computers, or design the next monarch from scratch using genetic engineering and sophisticated psychological manipulation. Of course, sometimes it doesn't matter who the emperor is, if he's just a figurehead. This can be a constitutional monarchy like modern European kingdoms, or a puppet ruler dominated by powerful ministers or generals. In some cases a weak figurehead emperor can regain authority if the ministers or warlords fail spectacularly. The Military Most monarchical empires, hereditary or new, rely on military power. (Theocracies or especially beloved monarchies may be able to get by without overwhelming power.) Some rulers are content to do nothing more than stamp out dissent, letting the army and the fleet rot and exposing the empire to threats of invasion. Others (particularly self-made dictators) want to expand their dominions and crush all possible foreign enemies as well as domestic ones. Historically, this encourages other states to band together in alliances to crush the dictatorship. In most space empires, the navy is the dominant service, with fleets of huge starships. Being an admiral is a stepping-stone to the throne, which means senior officers are watched very carefully. Shrewd emperors divide the navy into entirely separate fleets, so that the admirals can keep each other under control. If there is a separate Patrol at all, it is subordinate to the navy. The marines are the navy's integral ground-combat arm, spearheading planetary invasions. The army does a lot of pacifying conquered worlds and suppressing dissent. Mercenaries can take service with local imperial governors to supplement the thin-stretched imperial forces, and in an informal empire situation they may be the primary instrument of policy. Law and Order The word of the emperor is law. Some emperors rule by personal decree, but others are happy to let a huge bureaucracy make all the “boring” decisions. Imperial laws take precedence over all other laws. Empires are restrictive by nature. In some cases there is a drastic difference in personal freedom between inhabitants of the ruling state and those of the provinces. Frustration with that difference is often the motive for rebellion. The Space Patrol has police powers. Routine trials are held by local governors, or by the Patrol for offenses in space, but important matters must come before an Imperial Magistrate. Punishments include prison, forced-labor camps, slavery, torture, and impressed military service. An autocrat may tolerate protest against his policies, but never against his rule. At the first hint of any actual threat, dissension is crushed. In tyrannical empires travel is tightly regulated and requires the right documents. Common citizens find it next to impossible to obtain permission to travel beyond the borders. One of the Space Patrol's duties is to police the borders for refugees attempting to escape. Interstellar trade may still flourish, but heavy regulations and duties make it difficult to prosper without buying influence in the imperial court. Nearly all empires have a system of tariffs and monopolies to reward certain merchants and exclude others. Small traders may turn to smuggling to survive. The empire will ban commerce it deems a threat, including military supplies; gunrunning to rebels carries an automatic death sentence. Traffic in drugs and vices may be prohibited by a puritanical emperor or encouraged by a decadent one. But the Imperial Trade Commission is notoriously easy to bribe. Taxes are numerous and burdensome, although some empires tax the subject provinces heavily to keep rates low in the home country. Origin Empires can come about in various ways. An expanding frontier of settlement and colonization can create a very tight-knit empire. Both Russia and the United States eventually absorbed their areas of settlement into the mother country. Britain's settlement colonies have become independent nations. Alliances can develop into empires when the most powerful member of the alliance starts meddling in the internal affairs of its partners, as happened when the Greek city-states banded together against the Persians and then the Athenians turned the league into an empire. A state that is home to many vigorous commercial enterprises can develop an informal empire based on trade. And of course, an aggressive military power can deliberately go out and conquer weak states. ALIEN GOVERNMENTS The list of governments above is naturally based on arrangements devised by humans, for humans. But in a science-fiction universe there are other possibilities suitable for alien civilizations. Hive Minds Humans have long been fascinated by the unity and activity of insect colonies, and it's interesting to imagine how a hive would function on a human scale. The term “hive mind” has two meanings, one from classic science fiction, the other from biology and information science. In science fiction, hive minds are societies in which all the individuals are linked together into a single super-organism. This is usually done via telepathy, although it can be natural telepathy or some kind of artificial “brainlink” device. The Borg of Star Trek are one well-known SF hive mind. Such hives usually exist to contrast their destruction of individuality and regimentation with human free will and personal liberty. A hive might even duplicate the specialized types found in ant colonies, with castes of workers, warriors, breeders, and so on (SF usually adds a huge-brained “thinker” caste). Hives may be limited in the range across which members can link up, so a multiplanet hive civilization might function as a federation of planetary hives. An equally interesting type of hive can be based on the “emergent properties” of behavior in actual insect hives. If one thinks of an ant colony as a single organism composed of ants, it's interesting to note how the colony seems capable of more sophisticated behavior than any individual ant could ever manage. Since ants don't have any kind of “thinking ants” in the nest, the clever behavior arises out of the interactions among individual ants. One can imagine a hive big enough to have human-level intelligence arising from its billions of nearly mindless members. Vernor Vinge's Tines in A Fire Upon the Deep are close to this concept. Such “hive individuals” could either interact with one another as rational beings the way humans do, or they could combine into a super-hive, a vast single intelligence. As above, this kind of hive would have trouble operating across large distances. Hive civilizations can be military powers, with inexhaustible armies of purpose-bred warriors. In fiction they tend to be better at ground combat than space battles. Trade, if hive cultures can even grasp the concept, is handled entirely by government representatives. Machine Civilizations Another SF standby is the idea of a society either ruled by machines or entirely made up of mechanical beings. Often this is presented as a nightmarish, dystopian society, in which “human” qualities like imagination, freedom, or love are subordinated to mechanical efficiency. The alternate universe codenamed “Steel” (p. B528) is one particularly nasty machine society. Often, machine civilizations take on aspects of a hive mind, with specialized units for each task coordinated by a giant “master computer.” (This has the advantage of giving the nightmarish dystopia a single neck to sever.) Other writers have envisioned civilizations of numerous independent machines, usually united by some pre-programmed obsession. Usually that obsession is highly unpleasant, like the life-destroying goal of the Berserkers in Fred Saberhagen's stories, or the imperial ambitions of the Daleks or Cybermen on Dr. Who. Even if they aren't actively hostile, a machine civilization could simply treat humans and other organic life as a nuisance to be tidied up, as in Gregory Benford's Great Sky River and sequels. But other SF writers have speculated that a government by superintelligent, incorruptible machines might be exactly what people need. Isaac Asimov's supercomputer “Multivac” and positronic robots secretly ruled humanity and created a utopian society. More recently, Iain M. Banks' “Culture” stories depict a civilization ruled by extremely powerful computers in partnership with humans. Of course, Jack Williamson's “Humanoids” stories explore the dark side of humanity under the thumb of machines that only want to protect and serve us. And the ideas of transhumanists include, among other things, blurring or completely removing the dividing line between humans and machines. When it's a matter of personal taste to run your mind on computer hardware or living “meatware,” government by superintelligent AI will seem not only desirable but inevitable, about as controversial or utopian as automating telephone switchboards. Such societies might take the form of prosperous libertarian anarchies, or (oddly enough) something resembling a secular theocracy, with supercomputers in place of the church leaders and robots for priests. Dystopian machine civilizations are best used as the setting for rebels fighting for human survival or to reclaim humanity's dominion over machines. More pleasant settings with humans and machines working together allows for just about any adventure type, although since utopian societies run by superhuman intelligences tend to be peaceful and a little bit boring, the really fun adventures can be found across the border. Machine cultures can have very impressive armies of steel soldiers, fleets of superintelligent robot battleships, and highly efficient factories to replace losses quickly. Berserker-type machines may wage constant war against living things, so that the entire civilization is on a constant war footing. Trade with machine cultures is often difficult. The aggressive, dangerous ones take what they want, and the super-efficient utopian ones are often post-economic cultures of abundance. PLANETARY GOVERNMENTS Of course, planets have to have their own governments. There is a lot more variability in the style of planetary government than in interstellar societies. Individual planets in a space campaign can use the interstellar government types, though obviously with smaller constituent units. Exactly how large the units are can dramatically affect how a planet is run. Anarchy on a planetary level, as in an interstellar society, can reflect either a utopian absence of government or a dystopian absence of order. If there are organized states but no planetary government, the term "balkanized" is sometimes used. Contemporary Earth is either a balkanized world or a very weak alliance. Alliances are common on balkanized planets, and it's entirely possible for one alliance to effectively dominate the whole planet. During the era of the colonial empires, when most of Earth was controlled by a handful of European great powers who often acted in concert to keep order, one could describe Earth's planetary government as a loose alliance. Federations are a very likely form of planetary government. Many supporters of the United Nations have hoped that it can evolve into a kind of “Federation of Earth.” The exact details of the federation's government can dramatically affect its politics. An American-style republic with direct election of federal officials by the citizens is very different from a European-style union in which the central authority is selected by member state governments. Corporate government of a single planet is likely to be an offworld megacorporation that owns the whole planet (or at least has a monopoly on trade). A corporate-ruled planet that is not part of an interstellar economy is more likely to have a cartel-style government, if only because a single corporation wouldn't have anyone to do business with. Free Enterprise planets might be fairly common, especially in the case of colony worlds settled by libertarian idealists. How long those societies endure depends on the GM's opinion of libertarian ideas. Empires on a planetary scale are certainly possible, even at low technology levels. The Mongols, Romans, Spanish, and British all ruled substantial fractions of the world at one time or another, and one could imagine a more aggressive or durable empire finishing the job. On a planetary scale, empires can have any kind of internal structure. At low tech levels monarchy is likely, and the examples above all show a monarchical empire can be very successful at world conquest. Alternate Planetary Governments Some government types are more common at the planetary level than on the interstellar scale. This includes many of the types listed on pp. B509- 510, especially Athenian democracy (which pretty much *can't* exist across interstellar distances unless there's some form of very fast interstellar communication), and clan/tribal. The variant forms colony, cybercracy (as opposed to machine civilizations), sanctuary, and subjugated are also single-planet types. New kinds of planetary administrations include: Codominion: Rule by two different governments at once. This typically occurs in a colony or “neutral zone” region, either in dispute or a joint project of two states. The functions of government are divided between two administrations, sometimes even with different laws applying to citizens of the two governments. Things can get interesting when the two governments are very different and have different Control Ratings! CR variable. Conscription: Typically a republic or meritocracy, but one in which the rulers are chosen to serve *whether they want to or not*. Essentially government service is like jury duty in modern America – something you do because it's your responsibility. Conscript governments are usually CR2-4. One-Party State: A subtype of oligarchy, using the forms of a democracy but with only one legal political party. Power goes to those who can rise within the party hierarchy. Often the party grows to have millions of members, but the rank and file have little control over decision-making. On Earth they are typically socialist, as that allows the party substantial control over the economy to reward followers. CR3+. Plutocracy: Rule by the rich, often through direct purchase of government offices. Usually the officeholders expect a good return on their investment, leading to massive corruption. This differs from a corporate state in that power is held by wealthy *individuals* instead of companies, making it similar in some ways to a feudal system. CR2-4, with bribery common and accepted. Psiocracy: A form of caste system or meritocracy, but the key qualification is psionic talent. This gives the government remarkable power, since the rulers can do things ordinary citizens can't. A psiocracy might come about if psis are oppressed and decide they aren't going to take it anymore, but it could also represent an enlightened culture that uses psionics as a tool for the benefit of all. CR3+, sometimes with real “thought police!”