How the Senate Works in Star Wars

Ойын-сауық

The Galactic Senate has stood for 25,000 years, but its organization leaves a lot to be desired, with many gaps in representation. In this Politics of Star Wars video, I break down how the Senate works, and more importantly, why it often doesn't, with several examples from within the Star Wars Expanded Universe. This is really how liberty dies.
0:00 - Intro: 0:00
0:55 - Separation of Powers
4:49 - The Senate Under the Empire
7:08 - Mechanisms of Representation
11:00 - The Republic as a Federation
16:50 - The Problems of Representation
25:55 - Political Parties in Star Wars
30:25 - How do Elections Work?
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Пікірлер: 455

  • @CoreysDatapad
    @CoreysDatapad Жыл бұрын

    This one's been in the works for a while, so I hope you enjoy it. Let me know if there's other similar style videos you'd like to see. There are few areas where I could have made comparisons to places like Germany rather than Canada/UK/US, but I figured with the bulk of th audience being from those palces, it made more sense using those as the basis of comparison rather than explaining another system as the basis to compare what we were talking about.

  • @sheevpalpatine2128

    @sheevpalpatine2128

    Жыл бұрын

    This is a amazing work Corey. Some people complained about all the political sub plots when the prequels came out but I loved it, the whole grand plan and chess moves by... Well me lol. I thought things were well put together, from the Sith infiltrating the intergalactic banking clan, to arranging for the Jedi to seek out Kamino to secretly (even from themselves ) create the clone army and all their gear. I really enjoy the longer videos thanks M8. 🤘

  • @Upsedriss

    @Upsedriss

    Жыл бұрын

    would love more of these longer videos, this one was a lot of fun!

  • @amysargent4237

    @amysargent4237

    Жыл бұрын

    Did Coruscant, Alsakan, and/or Raxus (Capital of The CIS) have senators for their respective governments/factions in times past? Or, when they were the capitals of their governments/factions, did they just having "Non-Voting Representation" status, because of "Taxation without Representation" arguments for districts, instead of states/provinces; much like Washington D.C, or even Puerto Rico in The United States' case? (I don't know what the political status of Puerto Rico is right now, I know it's neither a state, nor a district. Is it truly a soverign nation of it's own, or, is it like Herglic Space, Nouane, Paqwepor, Bothan Space, and even Hutt Space in some ways, because it's like an "Allied Region" to The USA?)

  • @barnettmcgowan8978

    @barnettmcgowan8978

    Жыл бұрын

    Awesome job! I loved the long format.

  • @ifrichardnixonwasgoodatfoo1470

    @ifrichardnixonwasgoodatfoo1470

    Жыл бұрын

    I’m honestly surprised that you didn’t directly mention the Canadian Senate as an odd and undemocratic federal chamber (in regards to the regional block system) as opposed to the American Senate’s comparatively equal, if disproportional, arrangement.

  • @gavinsmith9871
    @gavinsmith9871 Жыл бұрын

    The hodgepodge nature of the Senate actually makes a lot of sense. Remember that it existed for thousands of years. The Republic changed, was destroyed and reformed, multiple times across history. So it only follows that it would be a conglomerate of very old, slightly old, or completely new laws and precident. Before the modern period, this was very common. There is a perception that the Roman Empire or Pre-Revolution France were absolute unitary states but this could not be further from the case, Every city and internal division had its own customs and laws, and agreements with the central polity. These often changed and changed back multiple times. And ti seems like the Republic was much the same.

  • @albernardi8

    @albernardi8

    Жыл бұрын

    That’s what I was thinking as I watched this. Maybe I’m just doing mental gymnastics or whatever, but I actually like how dense the retcons are for the Republic. It makes sense that people would be checked out of politics if understanding THIS was the barrier to entry. And like you said, there’s thousands of years of reforms and revolutions. It’s a bit like scar tissue: it builds up over time the more injuries are inflicted

  • @theliato3809

    @theliato3809

    Жыл бұрын

    It certainly makes sense. So much upheval followed by a millenium of relative peace is gonna make one heck of a system

  • @boobah5643

    @boobah5643

    Жыл бұрын

    It's worth pointing out that one of the first things the French Revolution did once it assumed power was straight up eliminate _all_ the old internal borders (and the tariffs and special carve outs associated with those borders) and reorganized France into the modern districts. The older the system, the more likely you are to have special rules for certain areas; as an example, Lake Champlain in New York is eligible for federal funds targeted for the Great Lakes, despite not being one, and has been since the 90s. And that's a relatively young system; the federal government is less than a a quarter millennium old, and it's only been in the last century that it's started mucking about with puppeteering states via financial strings.

  • @90skidcultist

    @90skidcultist

    Жыл бұрын

    The 20,000 year old late Galactic Republic was only destroyed ONCE. It was a vassal of the Eternal Empire, along with the Sith Empire, but was destroyed when it became the Empire. Long live the Republic and the Jedi that serve it!

  • @gavinsmith9871

    @gavinsmith9871

    Жыл бұрын

    @@90skidcultist In Legends. In canon we know it was destroyed at least once and it has been implied to have been destroyed multiple times. As for your last sentence though? Based and Chad Lightside pilled.

  • @kingkusnacht
    @kingkusnacht Жыл бұрын

    The Duros or even the planet of Duro not having their own senator doesn't really make sense. They are supposed to be one of the few founding members of the Republic . It's unthinkable that they'd agree to founding a federation in which they have no say.

  • @corrinestenman5683

    @corrinestenman5683

    Жыл бұрын

    I think it's highly likely that they were one of the first independent constituencies to have their own senator.

  • @boobah5643

    @boobah5643

    Жыл бұрын

    Aren't the Duros supposed to be the second most populous species in the Republic?

  • @christopherwilliams7845

    @christopherwilliams7845

    Жыл бұрын

    My headcannon probably did have a Senator for most of Republic history but after Ruuason they were gerrymandered into being part of Corellia, a subtle sign of Humanocentrism that infects the Republic even when they are free of Sith control and corruption.

  • @buddermonger2000

    @buddermonger2000

    Жыл бұрын

    Like he went over it didn't start that way. Originally it was a planetary basis until it was reorganized into the sector system. It's likely that as new members came in and new political powers arose that the representation of the Duros was slowly whittled away as they got put into minorities into multiple sectors and thus eventually effectively denied representation. Though what doesn't make sense is them not forming some sort of Duros interest group at some point. Though in that respect look no further than the fact that each writer had different ideas and goals and thus didn't really look to each other thus creating clashing lore.

  • @redfive8486

    @redfive8486

    Жыл бұрын

    @@boobah5643 not likely and even if they were the galaxy is like 70% humans 3%alien 2%alien 2%alien and so on

  • @jordanjames2956
    @jordanjames2956 Жыл бұрын

    It is amazing that the senate ever got anything done. Just imagine all of the differences between just human and near human members. Then add on top of that some of the species with more "alien" physologies and it is a miracle it even existed.

  • @KrolKaz

    @KrolKaz

    Жыл бұрын

    I think once aliens are in the mix humans won't find thier differences so gaping

  • @xerty5502

    @xerty5502

    8 ай бұрын

    I would think that founding members of the rebublic would rather like the idea of the senate not being capable of doing much. In fact other then some brief periods of increased centralization usaly under external threat. The powerful systems seem to keep a system that makes centralization of power at the federal leavl difficult as the norm.

  • @rvkice23

    @rvkice23

    7 ай бұрын

    A weakness Palpatine exploited on screen. I'm sure he wasn't fully lying when he said he loved democracy. Because with parliamentary maneuvers, he could pit any number of Senators up against others, gridlocking the place down until at last they were begging for a strong leader. One who will not let our tragedy continue@@xerty5502

  • @lorefox201

    @lorefox201

    3 ай бұрын

    ​@@xerty5502 and that was usually good for most planets I'd wager, given that at such scales the alternative is outright imperialism.

  • @xerty5502

    @xerty5502

    3 ай бұрын

    @@lorefox201 instead you see economic dominance and economic rather then military imperialism lead by those powerful systems to be honest not much differnce in the end. On the otherhand the lack of centralization probaly acualy keep the republic going longer because it keep the corruption less overwhelming for longer hard to say though to much of the history is just bullet points and not fleashed out enough to getvthose details that would tell us much

  • @00yiggdrasill00
    @00yiggdrasill00 Жыл бұрын

    Given the mass of historical precedent on laws and the sheer amount of planets and peoples the republic was trying to represent I think flaws were inevitable. That the Jedi went from watching the republic and working to uphold morality to serving the senate as a law enforcement agency would not have helped.

  • @shadowmystery5613

    @shadowmystery5613

    Жыл бұрын

    Bruh Lucas LITERALLY copied german history.

  • @arcanegamer2723

    @arcanegamer2723

    9 ай бұрын

    That and not having another branch of power to keep the senate in check didn't help as the head of the republic and the head of the senate are the same title and they also are elected by the senators so there are even less checks on their power.

  • @rear9259

    @rear9259

    5 ай бұрын

    @@shadowmystery5613and? George Martin just copied medieval Britain

  • @wildfire9280

    @wildfire9280

    2 ай бұрын

    @@rear9259 …I’m not really seeing it. Everyone says it’s just like the War of the Roses but Westeros itself seems like a lot of different inspirations than “it’s literally Britain omg”

  • @isd_chimaera8335
    @isd_chimaera8335 Жыл бұрын

    Corey actually just put in the time and effort to make a 40 minute video breaking down the entire political structure of the Republic. What a legend

  • @shadowulfhedinn8261
    @shadowulfhedinn8261 Жыл бұрын

    I've been looking forward to this, the political schemes in star wars, especially prequel era and just prior imo, are very interesting! Great breakdown, 10 "I am the Senate"s out of 10

  • @sypherthe297th2

    @sypherthe297th2

    Жыл бұрын

    We seem to be in a small minority. When I first saw RotJ I loved Palpatine. More than I ever did Vader. The prequels (especially Revenge of the Sith but also the Clone Wars tv show) were my favorites because I waited what felt like an eternity to find out all about Palpatine's swashbuckling adventures as the Senate. As far as I'm concerned the overarching theme of Star Wars is "Palpatine did it" even long after his final death his shadow loomed large over everything (and no Disney's poorly written Star Wars media doesn't count. . . Aside from Rogue One. It was pretty decent). Sadly, most people seem to hate all of the politics and just want to see lightsaber battles exclusively.

  • @rvkice23

    @rvkice23

    7 ай бұрын

    Double the votes, twice the fall!

  • @wildfire9280

    @wildfire9280

    2 ай бұрын

    ⁠@@sypherthe297th2 Rogue One and Andor are easily the best content to ever come out of the acquisition.

  • @triciagurr411

    @triciagurr411

    21 күн бұрын

    Senator from Hoth Senator from Dagobah

  • @ericremotesteam
    @ericremotesteam Жыл бұрын

    And to think people say politics in Star Wars are boring. 😏

  • @catmonarchist8920
    @catmonarchist8920 Жыл бұрын

    It's basically if the Weimar Republic was unicameral and fully parliamentary. The hodge-podge representatives based on ancient history rather than population and being sometimes appointed rather than directly elected (like the US pre 17th amendment) is like their upper house and the rest is basically ran as their lower house, including having the head of government named Chancellor rather than prime minister. Makes sense from the 'rise of national socialism' parallels

  • @johnmascola3403

    @johnmascola3403

    Жыл бұрын

    You forgot the the word, Unitary. It gave permission to local sectors of space, not whole worlds or even the species of life, to have representation from their own populations. This is called Devolution.

  • @catmonarchist8920

    @catmonarchist8920

    Жыл бұрын

    @@johnmascola3403 so baffling that a galaxy spanning government would be a unitary state. There are cries for federalism in the UK and we're 67 million.

  • @johnmascola3403

    @johnmascola3403

    Жыл бұрын

    @@catmonarchist8920 I think the creator of Star Wars wanted to create an idea where a unitary galactic government, so Big with powers not to be shared by the minor political units within itself, just like your analogy from the former Weimer Republic. From there a Dictator would eventually rise to power. If you want my opinion, Britain should be a Federation of Nations within Your Kingdom. Not like an American federal system but one that is distinctive from the rest. as an American, our Federalist structure is, Far from being perfect, but it works

  • @catmonarchist8920

    @catmonarchist8920

    Жыл бұрын

    @@johnmascola3403 the Weimar Republic itself was federal and was consolidated and made effectively unitary by the NAZIs later on. I remember that the NAZIs and communists worked together in 1931 to try to overthrow the social democratic government of Prussia and that would've been big because of the number of seats it had in the upper house and was half the population. The UK is smaller than many American states and is insanely urbanised. Any push to federalism would create the need to destroy our ancient constitution. It would only be to appease the Scottish nationalists who are never appeased no matter what powers you give them (and they won't use them anyway and neglect things to blame Westminster) because that's their purpose and federalism would make the northern Ireland situation much much worse. It's like rewriting the US Constitution completely to stop Mississippi from seceding. It's just not worth it. Scotland are 5 million of 67 million and often have more deaths than births. They're ageing and emigrating so their political class look outward to try start a fight rather than deal with their severe problems at home (like the worst drug deaths in Europe). They can secede if they want for all I care. I live in Wales and the urban areas basically cross the border in places and the rail system is one don't need more headache on the border here. I think people in the same state should have the same rights wherever they live.

  • @johnmascola3403

    @johnmascola3403

    Жыл бұрын

    @@catmonarchist8920 You're Right.

  • @Tyranidus7
    @Tyranidus7 Жыл бұрын

    Given the numbers of worlds involved in universe a representative government was going to get stupidly complicated and gridlocked all the time no matter how this was structured lol. Makes Palpatine’s efforts seem almost understandable.

  • @buddermonger2000

    @buddermonger2000

    Жыл бұрын

    Though to be fair trying to centralize such a large entity would've been almost impossible and it's amazing they got as far as they did and in part is from the incredibly large military apparatus which effectively ran civilian life.

  • @Kenfren

    @Kenfren

    Жыл бұрын

    Tbh, the best system for such a "country" would be some form of decentralized semi-feudal monarchy, similar to mediaeval France. Where you have the king, but the lands are largely controlled by nobles, who have strong power bases of their own

  • @wildfire9280

    @wildfire9280

    Жыл бұрын

    @@buddermonger2000 Well he did kinda sidestep the law and every planet government by appointing governors…

  • @princevesperal

    @princevesperal

    11 ай бұрын

    ​@@KenfrenAnd that's why "Dune" is nicknamed "Star Wars for adults". That's exactly the political system in the multi-planetary empire described in this work.

  • @arcanegamer2723

    @arcanegamer2723

    9 ай бұрын

    @@princevesperal Although a centralized government would still have been able to work if the head of government head of the military head of the legislative branch and chief of state were separate titles not all appointed by the senate. The major issue with the republic is that it lost all branches of government except the legislative as the judicial was technically still a thing but an under reformed mess that had no power compared to the senate (that and the fact that mega corps were given seats in a purely public run governing body). Now one thing that people often forget was that the senate's power wasn't absolute its member states and member planets had a great deal of autonomy in how they rule and the laws they had.

  • @gabrielbrito2120
    @gabrielbrito21209 ай бұрын

    I kinda love that corporate personhood and government representation in the Star Wars Universe is directly related to a evil bald guy setting off a gigantic magic thought bomb that killed a bunch of people.

  • @MatticusSama
    @MatticusSama Жыл бұрын

    I love videos like this. It is interesting to see how authors of various books had such different outlooks on how the government of the Republic would work, and how that leads to a bit of clashing lore at times.

  • @ninja011
    @ninja011 Жыл бұрын

    In many ways, the Galactic Republic reminds me of the structure of The Dutch Republic, under the United Provinces before Napoleon, With the Senate being closer to an Estates-General in function and design.

  • @tonyjohnsen3160
    @tonyjohnsen31608 ай бұрын

    Me as a 8 year old «Star Wars yay! Lightsabers go pchhhhhh» Me now: ah yes the ruling counsel

  • @rejvaik00
    @rejvaik00 Жыл бұрын

    I got to tell you a republic lasting for 25,000 years before turning into an empire is actually pretty dang good streak of time

  • @CoreysDatapad

    @CoreysDatapad

    Жыл бұрын

    They had multiple periods of turning into Empires or Empire-adjacent entities, so they cheated a fair bit.

  • @cioccolata3165
    @cioccolata3165 Жыл бұрын

    I always think about how many of the people in the most important positions in the senate must be of almost superhuman intelligence, charisma and political talent as they are literally the best candidates in thousands of star systems. Assuming that the best candidates are chosen, of course. I mean, look at Palpatine. He's perfect for politics. He's charismatic, highly intelligent, ruthless with his enemies and supposedly fiercly loyal with his friends. Edit: I'm talking about Star Wars specifically, so I don't think that ruthlessness is needed for a good politician in our world.

  • @creed8712

    @creed8712

    4 ай бұрын

    Palpatine in his actual political work outside of his schemes was basically just a centrist who never stirred anything up that wasn’t already heading in a certain direction. That’s how he got elected because basically nobody had enough beef with him since he kinda stayed out of everyone’s business unless it was directed towards him

  • @philloraptor8205
    @philloraptor8205 Жыл бұрын

    I've been really looking forward to this video and it turned out great! It helped bring some clarity to one part where I had always some issues (namely the extent of who a single senator represents).

  • @CoreysDatapad

    @CoreysDatapad

    Жыл бұрын

    Glad you enjoyed it!

  • @qliphalpuzzle5453
    @qliphalpuzzle5453 Жыл бұрын

    That’s why I kinda appreciate some of the later legends novels when it went with some the minutia of the new republic/galactic alliance and how it had to deal with the monolithic task of thousands to higher worlds (I’m pointing towards the Thrawn Duology and the slavery debate in the Fate of the Jedi books) and how they conflict with each other.

  • @SubManic
    @SubManic Жыл бұрын

    This is a very nerdy video that is very well written. The policy wonkery continues.

  • @crestonchi5427
    @crestonchi5427 Жыл бұрын

    Darth Plagueis novel has a lot of the political background in it.

  • @WhoregrimNutsbearer
    @WhoregrimNutsbearer Жыл бұрын

    Maintaining a strong central government across such a heterogeneous constituency was completely infeasible. The Republic should have been transformed into more of a confederacy, with another deliberative body in between the sectors and the Galactic Senate (of course the Core Worlds would never allow this, because decentralization means less influence for them). Here's what I think they should have done: 1. Redesign sector boundaries, so instead of a random grouping of systems, it takes into account things like local politics and cultures (e.g. don't put Kasyyyk and Trandosha in the same sector). Make it so that each new sector needs a minimum number of star systems in it. Sectors decide internally how to elect the sector representatives. 2. Combine the sectors into several administrative groups, almost like making smaller Republics out of groups of sectors. This body is meant to create most of the policies that would affect all of the sectors, almost like a scaled-down version of the original Galactic Senate. Most of the time, a given sector or system isn't going to be affected by issues or laws from another sector on the complete opposite side of the galaxy. Sector representatives also elect Senator(s) from amongst themselves by plurality vote. The number of Senators they can choose is the same for each group of sectors. If the highest candidate(s) get less than a certain percentage of votes, then they need to hold another election (e.g. if the winner gets like 0.1% of the total votes, then that candidate isn't really going to represent the other sectors). To force them to resolve gridlock, if they can't agree on Senators, then they don't get a voice in the Galactic Senate. 3. Galactic Senate (or the highest deliberative body) consists of Senators chosen from the sector groups. The Senate would be for issues that affect the entire galaxy. 4. Chancellor is elected by a series of popular votes that start at the sector level, then sector group.

  • @buddermonger2000

    @buddermonger2000

    Жыл бұрын

    Ooof. Issues with this are really the idea of a popular vote at all with the levels which are being discussed. Multiple planets are dealing with populations of literally billions and when you get a whole galaxy trying to get a majority to agree on 1 leader is almost laughable. That's not even mentioning the fact that each planet isn't even necessarily a democracy and so having a popular vote on a leader quite literally multiple levels above you makes no sense. It's honestly logistically just beyond feasibility in some respects. However you have a point in the devolution to the tiny republics and the formation of a confederation for the overall republic as a true federal model simply breaks down at that scale and thus necessitates another decentralized level. There is also another portion worth noting where the republic is effectively the only power in the galaxy. There are technically other powers but they're dwarfed in scope and very few. Thus there are incredibly few things which work Galaxy wide and thus the highest level would effectively be an internal organization meant to manage things between sector republics.

  • @adamjensen5891
    @adamjensen5891 Жыл бұрын

    Really enjoyed this Corey, the politics and economics was one of my favorite elements of the prequels. I’d love more of this stuff!

  • @worldwanderer91
    @worldwanderer91 Жыл бұрын

    The Republic is more parliamentarian than a federal government. The Chancellor is elected among existing senators (like PM in the UK and Commonwealth nations) and not in a separate election like the US. Also the Senate have the executive powers and responsibilities normally under the purview of the executive office

  • @CoreysDatapad

    @CoreysDatapad

    Жыл бұрын

    Being a parliamentary democracy is not a distinct thing from a federation, they describe different elements in the organization of a state- the UK and Canada are both parliamentary democracies for example, and Canada is a (con)federation where the UK is not. You can have federal systems that are parliamentary democracies, and you can have federal systems that are not.

  • @Kolonol1

    @Kolonol1

    Жыл бұрын

    Lol the people don't elect the president anymore either in the US....we are an Oligarchy not a people's Republic anymore...

  • @lynngreen7978
    @lynngreen7978 Жыл бұрын

    A possible way to illustrate the senate's representation would be the US House of Representatives. When first established, it was one Representative per 30,000 people (minimum of one per state). Which means we should have about 11,000 (an average of 220 per state). New York City alone would have 279 Representatives. Instead, now we have 435, with the number per state allocated by percentages. A more manageable number.

  • @fluffly3606

    @fluffly3606

    Жыл бұрын

    The House of Representatives is a very bad example; Galactic Senate representation appears to be allocated arbitrarily rather than by anything as solid as population. It's more like if the Senate regularly redefined state borders according to their own, if any, rules.

  • @Oliver-ld3ei
    @Oliver-ld3ei Жыл бұрын

    This video was one of my favorites from your channel Corey. I loved the in depth view of the Republic and I’d love to see a similar video on the CIS and how that faction was led.

  • @rockinglemon9399
    @rockinglemon9399 Жыл бұрын

    Wow, what a fun and interesting deep dive into the politics of Star Wars. Keep it up!

  • @clarkstartrek
    @clarkstartrek Жыл бұрын

    Thousands of Outer Rim Planets didn't even know what the Galactic Republic even was. For Thousands of Years! Until The Galactic Empire was declared by Emperor Palpatine.

  • @Pittcrew1034
    @Pittcrew1034 Жыл бұрын

    love the work that went into this video. Great work as always Corey!

  • @violentmnky
    @violentmnky Жыл бұрын

    I asked in a comment, maybe 2 years ago, for you to please do longer videos. You actually responded to it, thus I am taking full credit for this video. You definitely never would have thought to get into more longform stuff if it weren't for little old me, and that's just a fact. I expect full credit in the next video that comes out after you read this, thanks! No seriously, this was excellent. You're steadily getting better at this, don't stop. Imo best and most criminally underrated Star Wars adjacent channel. Only a matter of time.

  • @UpliftedCapybara
    @UpliftedCapybara Жыл бұрын

    Great video! Looking forward to more long ones!

  • @kiaser21
    @kiaser21 Жыл бұрын

    I can't even listen to this video without getting confused when he says "the senate", as I immediately wonder if he's referring to Palpatine.

  • @nicholaswalsh4462
    @nicholaswalsh4462 Жыл бұрын

    So on a recent watch-through of the Prequels, I have found something. In "The Phantom Menace", Chancellor Valorum introduces Palpatine by saying, "The Chair Recognizes the representative of the SOVEREIGN SYSTEM of Naboo". Sovereign System. Interesting choice of words but surely just a one-off, right? Wrong. In "The Clone Wars" Season 1, Episode 15 "Trespass", Pantoran Chairman Cho describes Orto Plutonia as "Sovereign Pantoran Territory" and even declares the conflict between Pantora and the Talz to be an 'Internal affair", which relegates both Senator Chuchi (and by extension the Senate) as well as the Jedi to merely being passengers during his efforts to effect a genocide upon the Talz. It is not until Chuchi contacts that Pantoran Assembly and they declare Chi Cho out of order that she is able to negotiate with the Talz. What this indicates is that the Galactic Republic is not a Federal State or even a nation in the conventional sense but rather something more akin to the United Nations or the European Union. Member states have near total autonomy on internal matters and, as seen in neutral systems throughout the Clone Wars, foreign policy. Indeed, the use of the word "sovereign" to describe both Naboo and Pantora is telling. To be sovereign is to have "supreme or ultimate power". If Naboo is a Sovereign System, then the laws of Naboo ultimately supercede those of the Galactic Senate, unless accepted by the Naboo. Similarly, if Pantora is able to declare Orto Plutonia sovereign territory, then they are able to exercise authority superior to that of the Republic and the Republic is only able to act based on the will of the Pantoran government, rather than Republic Law. When this is all combined, many of the inconsistencies of the Republic make more sense. The issue of representation becomes the result of planetary sovereignty, with more powerful member worlds able to exercise their sovereignty to a greater degree and leverage representation in the Senate. It also explains the Senate's impotence, as the sovereignty of member worlds means that any action must be taken with general acceptance by the parties involved. It also explains why the Jedi were the only means used to attempt to solve the conflict between Naboo and the Trade Federation. The Republic is limited only to the deployment of "Peacekeepers", much like the UN is. And those peacekeepers have a very limited mandate off Coruscant. As Qui Gon says, "I can't fight a war for you." It also, handily, explains why so many worlds both joined the CIS and looked the other way as many CIS generals committed heinous acts of brutality. Many of the worlds mentioned as siding with the CIS lacked Senate representation, which they gained in the Confederacy's parliament. As such, those worlds are likely to have viewed the brutality of Grievous and Dooku as necessary actions in the service of the greater good: the protection of their sovereignty and their representation. Indeed, I find this interpretation of the Republic to be far more interesting than a galaxy spanning, centralized power structure. It explains the Republic's failings, the existence of entities like the Hutts, the Hapans, and others, the lack of Republic influence on worlds like Geonosis or Tatooine, and many other such things. And it makes the Clone Wars a far more interesting affair, as well as adding additional weight to the appointment of regional Governors in Revenge of the Sith and the dissolution of the Senate in A New Hope. The Clone Wars sees the conquest of the Galaxy by the Sith Empire, largely without a shot being fired. The dissolution of the Senate is merely the final formality, the final tone of the death rattle of planetary sovereignty. And with that context, it is small wonder that so many were willing to fight so hard against the Republic and the Empire.

  • @christopherwilliams7845
    @christopherwilliams7845 Жыл бұрын

    Awesome video Corey, by far one of the best Star Wars documentaries on the site. Personally I believe that the Republic would have been best organized with a mixture of EU level sovereignty and American Federalism, with powers lying within the Sectors and Systems and the Republic acting as a mediator and provide for common defense and trade instead of direct rule from Coruscant. Also if you wanted a really good example of a federal state with a horrible structure of representation and sovereignty, the Holy Roman Empire is a great real life example. Hundreds of states in a confusing mush of borders, sovereignty, and accountability.

  • @matthiuskoenig3378

    @matthiuskoenig3378

    Жыл бұрын

    Nope the holy roman empire is a poor example as it is more of an alliance than an actual state.

  • @MohamedRamadan-qi4hl

    @MohamedRamadan-qi4hl

    Жыл бұрын

    The holy Roman empire lasted 600 years........ It was clearly doing something right

  • @StarboyXL9

    @StarboyXL9

    8 ай бұрын

    @@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl From a utilitarian POV sure. Not so much from a "QOL of the avg inhabitant of its territories"

  • @patrickdwyer8064
    @patrickdwyer8064 Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for the great video Corey! I love these deep dives into the starwars universe 😊

  • @przemekbozek
    @przemekbozek Жыл бұрын

    Big thanks for a comprehensive overview - and adding to my growing list of books to read😁

  • @zweihundertneun6420
    @zweihundertneun6420 Жыл бұрын

    I really like the video, maybe you could do a more in-depth video about the differences between the Galactic Republic and the New Republic or Jedi Order and the New Jedi Order. Because I always start wondering when I read or hear something about the politics of star wars, why would the rebels even want to restore the republic and not replace the empire by something else? Especially the depiction of the Galactic Senate as corrupt in the prequels and the clone wars show, makes the galactic civil war seem more like a coup d'etat lead by disempowered senators, and less like an uprising of the oppressed population fighting for their freedom, which was certainly not intended.

  • @matthiuskoenig3378

    @matthiuskoenig3378

    Жыл бұрын

    In real life oppressed people's don't really rebel without the support of the rich (be they native or foreign) they useually just suck it up and carry on.

  • @checohidalgo9873
    @checohidalgo98738 ай бұрын

    It never ceases to amaze me the amount of dedication people put into works of fictional chronology.

  • @ands246
    @ands246 Жыл бұрын

    I’d love to see more of this style of video! Really interesting

  • @infinitecanadian
    @infinitecanadian Жыл бұрын

    So they basically had a kilobyte of senators (1024).

  • @jaker.astrophotography8076
    @jaker.astrophotography80768 ай бұрын

    Its really cool to here the other side of star wars, nice in depth video

  • @arseneken
    @arseneken5 күн бұрын

    This may or may not be the most interesting Star Wars video I’ve ever seen, I need to check with my sector representative first before casting my vote

  • @Ptaaruonn
    @Ptaaruonn Жыл бұрын

    This is so awesome. Great work.

  • @RyanPatrickOwens
    @RyanPatrickOwens7 ай бұрын

    Your commentary on the weird representative structure is super interesting. Thanks.

  • @heavyarms55
    @heavyarms55 Жыл бұрын

    Corey this was awesome! I apologize it took me so long to actually watch it because given the topic I wanted to pay more attention to it than a gameplay video or casual bit of lore.

  • @kanalkucker14
    @kanalkucker14 Жыл бұрын

    I really enjoy those long videos!

  • @JohanHerrenberg
    @JohanHerrenberg Жыл бұрын

    This is a very impressive essay, that bears repeated viewing. Many thanks for a job so well done! Oh, and subbed!

  • @antonioabreu5736
    @antonioabreu5736 Жыл бұрын

    Amazing video!!!

  • @matthewmalovich64
    @matthewmalovich64 Жыл бұрын

    Loved it! Great job Corey! Could you do a breakdown of canon post Ensor governments? I feel like they are even more unknown than legends governments

  • @PenguinofD00mxxx
    @PenguinofD00mxxx Жыл бұрын

    excellent video

  • @andregermain6205
    @andregermain6205 Жыл бұрын

    A trully excellent video

  • @redbassist5590
    @redbassist5590 Жыл бұрын

    38 minute long datapad video? Let's gooooooo

  • @UncleSkiBum
    @UncleSkiBum Жыл бұрын

    Came here from Eckhart's Ladder, subscribed as love the content here 👍

  • @TheTbenvick
    @TheTbenvick Жыл бұрын

    Someone's poly sci classes have found a use! 😂 Really though, great deep dive into something that is normally not a feature in the :pew pew" lore of Star Wars!

  • @ShawnCadieux1984
    @ShawnCadieux1984 Жыл бұрын

    This was exactly Lucas point. Congrats. You just explained exactly explained the original point

  • @CoreysDatapad

    @CoreysDatapad

    Жыл бұрын

    Perhaps I'm misinterpreting the intent of the comment, but I knoq that's the point of how the Senate is represented in Star Wars- the video was meant to go into more depth on these kinds of things than the movies were able to, with broader examples of how it got fleshed out in other works. I was never under the impression making this that I was contradicting Lucas' intentions, nor is it the kind of "Star Wars bad" video that thinks it's pointing out an unknown flaw that makes the story ruined.

  • @ShawnCadieux1984

    @ShawnCadieux1984

    Жыл бұрын

    @@CoreysDatapad uh.... but you didn't. And how the senate worked and politics is played out in other sources than the movies to start out with... we don't know so.... yes we do... This video made my brain hurt because it's all you take on getting to guess at and explain the corruption But it's shown.... and they could read the books... or source material Literally even a basic fan knows this. Generation tech, Eckhardt ladder, metinerdz.... literally everyone comes at this better.

  • @thetarkinist7265
    @thetarkinist7265 Жыл бұрын

    Awesome. Do the Empire’s political structure next

  • @angmid9210
    @angmid92105 ай бұрын

    Fantastic video

  • @g.davidturnblom5751
    @g.davidturnblom57514 ай бұрын

    Well constructed. Thanks. Most people don't understand their own governments, let alone fictional one such as seen in Star Wars. This video was not just informative, it provided solid educational benefits to those studying the real world, too!

  • @Thex-W.I.T.C.H.-xMaster
    @Thex-W.I.T.C.H.-xMaster8 ай бұрын

    In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society.....

  • @dizehjvegnomis
    @dizehjvegnomis Жыл бұрын

    this was a great vid, it's fun to revisit these stories through this lens! borsk fey'lya always bugged the hell out of me with his politics...but i gotta respect the spite he showed the vong at his bitter end.

  • @tomcross3000
    @tomcross30008 ай бұрын

    the imperial ruling council is like a ministerial cabinet, and its weird how the members are selected- presumably you don't need to be an elected official, or senator, or planet/sector representative or even a military officer, you can just be a corporate board member or have a strong family or powerful connections, at least in the empire. maybe some of that corruption started in the classic republic too however. legislation introduced in the senate by senators or reps would likely fall under private member's bills, to be shelved for future discussion after matters of urgency or current bills on the floor. interestingly i don't think political parties exist in the senate, rather committees or delegations instead would love a breakdown of star trek's UFP

  • @thedatatreader
    @thedatatreader Жыл бұрын

    One thing this video made clear to me is that the Jedi didn't just pick up the giftwrapped clone army and start the war. They were likely pressured heavily by their constituents and since public support was to do anything to protect the Republic from the now over-represented Corporate sectors, they had to do something. It's likely they either saw the move as inevitable or wanted to keep their political power to continue to protect the Republic's people from the threat of the sith they had previously detected. In ordering the Clones, Palpatine had already set his plans in motion.

  • @DeanmC261993
    @DeanmC261993 Жыл бұрын

    Yes! I’ve always wanted a video breaking all this down 💜

  • @darthironhand4353
    @darthironhand4353 Жыл бұрын

    Its like being back in my political science class, but I loved it..? You've done the impossible. Amazing work, would love to see things like this in the future!

  • @LordofIsleofTritone
    @LordofIsleofTritone Жыл бұрын

    I really enjoyed this video and the deep dive it gave. I've been looking forward to this for a while. I've always wondered how the Senatorial system worked with sectors.

  • @Arauto_Kagnos
    @Arauto_Kagnos Жыл бұрын

    A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

  • @dannyfalcon9890
    @dannyfalcon98908 ай бұрын

    Bro pulled out a term from Arend Lijphart’s: Patterns of Democracy and I was shook. Love that he used some actual political science terminology!

  • @thesinfultictac5704
    @thesinfultictac5704 Жыл бұрын

    This is interesting contrast to the United Federation of Planets from Star Trek. As even though the UFP is federal constitutional republic with certain rights and powers enumerated in the UFP charter and constitution ( though only a few of them are actually talked about in any length in a few pieces of media) The biggest being membership. No caste system, must have FTL capabilities, must have a unified world government that represents the majority of the population, must be willing to share tech and science, must allow recruiting for Star Fleet; must believe in Justice, liberty, equality, and peace; and I might be missing a couple. In contrast the Old Republic (especially after its formation in the Great Hyperspace War) routinely invaded planets that had never achieved FTL and either purposely or accidentally colonized the population. Admittance to the UFP is rigorous and members have to be a democracy of some kind. Whereas with the Galactic republic doesn't really care if the members states are practicing democracy at home. The biggest is that each member of the UFP is it's own nation-state, more akin to the UN in certain respect, leaving the governing of each planet (and its colonies) to its local population. Though each citizen of the UFP is both a citizen of its world and the UFP.

  • @brandonrooney5106
    @brandonrooney5106 Жыл бұрын

    it’s stellar to see such long and in depth content from you. I hope you keep it up!

  • @12345deviant
    @12345deviant Жыл бұрын

    Excellent work on this video, you really did a wonderful job of synthesizing the messy/spotty details on this topic

  • @Dumb-Comment
    @Dumb-Comment7 ай бұрын

    Imagine being a senator and representative, a group of monks telling you that the supreme court is run by some dude who according to the monks, is the opposite of their religion and is evil. I'm not surprised if the Jedi isn't taken seriously

  • @awe-fullanimations4737

    @awe-fullanimations4737

    4 ай бұрын

    But what if those monks visibly use divine magic for all to see and are supernatural in many ways?

  • @kingorange7739

    @kingorange7739

    3 ай бұрын

    You mean the executive branch?

  • @zephyrstrife4668
    @zephyrstrife46688 ай бұрын

    The Republic itself was a massive "empire" of its own. Giving corporations a say in politics was a problem in general, the sheer scale of how many worlds became part of the republic made it so that action by the central government would be slow, cumbersome and had its attention pulled in many directions at all times. One of the only things that seemed to prevent it from completely collapsing on itself was that it appeared the government generally allowed local governments to make decisions on their own regardless of whether or not it was something that the republic allowed. Though, response to some disputes had mystical wizard-monks from the government sent out to tell everyone to sit down, shut up and talk it out.

  • @Formalec

    @Formalec

    4 ай бұрын

    In short dealing with a galaxys worth of political problem is certainly no easy task. Having corporations represented as their own parties was a mistake that made it even worse

  • @ArcBing
    @ArcBing Жыл бұрын

    Love the video, and your real world comparisons made it much more understandable. Definitely can tell you have some background and deeper understanding of government structures. Great work as always!

  • @graye2799
    @graye2799 Жыл бұрын

    In the words of GO-TO: "it's a wonder the republic is intact at all".

  • @chrisreilly1290
    @chrisreilly1290 Жыл бұрын

    a sectoral government would make great sense, otherwise one planet could have day over several star systems in the same sector. and as you get out to the outer rim, this problem would increase. the reason I think the outer rim would have more star systems per sector is due to how the republic was built similar to the USA. early on in the USA, you had towns only as far apart as you could travel in a day. thud much more densely packed. as you move out west, transportation went from on foot, to horses, to trains, to cars. so the distance between towns grow much bigger and states are gigantic. for the republic, we have gone from planetary travel, to interplanetary, to interstellar, and eventually hyperdrive tech. Anyway, if there is no sectoral gov't, that would explain why so many systems broke off during the clone wars, even within same sectors.

  • @Bruno-Marcelo
    @Bruno-Marcelo8 ай бұрын

    Star Wars teaches me more about politics than my own country

  • @Falkriim
    @Falkriim Жыл бұрын

    Very interesting

  • @NicoleMay316
    @NicoleMay316 Жыл бұрын

    A lot of people hate that the prequels focused too much on politics, but you gotta remember, the Republic didn't collapse overnight, as much as it may have seemed that way. Palpatine just delivered the final blow, and even planted the seeds early on. Clone Wars proved politics episodes can work REALLY well.

  • @arpkahn670
    @arpkahn670 Жыл бұрын

    I'd love to see more longform content like this!

  • @USSVTV
    @USSVTV Жыл бұрын

    fan-fucking-tastic analysis. Love it. amazing video as usual.

  • @lemongrenade6135
    @lemongrenade6135 Жыл бұрын

    I like how you show Palpatine when talking about the senate, because he IS the senate!

  • @rubenp8320
    @rubenp8320 Жыл бұрын

    This is what I needed for my Stellaris runs. Thank you so much and I subbed! send Eck my thanks!

  • @42isEverywhere
    @42isEverywhere3 ай бұрын

    The more I learn, the more the "Galactic Republic" reminds me of the historical Holy Roman Empire

  • @LemonCupcakeVRInfinity
    @LemonCupcakeVRInfinity8 ай бұрын

    New Republic: Opens the senate again. Poe Dameron: Somehow Palpetine returned...

  • @TheKeyser94

    @TheKeyser94

    7 ай бұрын

    Really? With the barren wasteland that is the world building of the Sequels you never realise that is a Senate.

  • @eamon821
    @eamon821 Жыл бұрын

    Are there any examples of sectors have a sector legislature similiar to U.S states or Canadian provinces? Or are they just administrative?

  • @speakingofgreg
    @speakingofgreg8 ай бұрын

    If im not mistaken, during the reign of the Empire, Mas Amedda was the highest ranking Imperial after the Emperor. Where Palpatine was the head of state, Mas Amedda was the actual head of government in the rank of Grand Vizier, and the leader of the imperial ruling council. So bascially Mas Amedda outranked Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Grand Admiral Thrawn.

  • @LeRoiDuFresne
    @LeRoiDuFresne Жыл бұрын

    This was dope as hell, really added some depth to an already deep understanding of the Republic. Amazing vid, would be excited to see more of the same kind.

  • @Nealith
    @Nealith Жыл бұрын

    This was really, really cool. I’d love to see more stuff like this.

  • @LVZVRUS
    @LVZVRUS8 ай бұрын

    This was sick man. Love more vids this length

  • @MalenGarek
    @MalenGarek6 ай бұрын

    Please do more

  • @charlieo1138
    @charlieo1138 Жыл бұрын

    Really excellent video Corey. I can't wait to see more like this. I liked your blending of real and fictional examples to discuss different modes of government, and hope you get to spend more time in the future fleshing those out visually. I think a broad overview like this can be followed up by many shorter more argumentative videos fleshing out some of the nuances introduced. Wherever you go next, excited about what this means for the channel!

  • @bchristian85
    @bchristian85 Жыл бұрын

    I think the United Nations is probably the most similar thing to the Republic on the planet. I would assume most planets in the Republic, at least prior to the Clone Wars era, would have considered themselves citizens of their planet before citizens of the Republic. We are in an isolationist and nationalist era of world history so the UN has very little power right now, but should global affairs change it could become a lot more relevant. The Republic's transition to empire would be if suddenly the UN raised an army of it's own, conducted a war which ended in it's Secretary General becoming Emperor and a police state enforced by UN troops in all countries.

  • @joshuaroehrig5836
    @joshuaroehrig5836 Жыл бұрын

    Quality content

  • @underarmbowlingincidentof1981
    @underarmbowlingincidentof19815 ай бұрын

    Well. I didn't think I'd sit through fourty minutes of political theory for a made up universe but damn that was some good content! Great video! The research you put into these must be tremendous and it shows it really shows! Highest praise!

  • @glamourweaver
    @glamourweaver8 күн бұрын

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but my understanding of the Moff system under the Republic was that it was purely a product of the Clone Wars and Palpatine’s “emergency powers” and effectively represented the institutional transition to the Empire - with military governors being appointed by the Chancellor to oversee the reoccupation of Republic-taken CIS sectors - but then made a permanent and extended part of the governing structure of the Empire

  • @lukeporras1288
    @lukeporras12885 ай бұрын

    23:50 the idea of having intermediary sectoral governments as “mini-federations” within the Republic would make a whole lot more sense, instead of the arbitrary moving lines they were in the Expanded Universe. It would have probably made it a lot harder for Palpatine to gain so much control over them as well. It also reminds me of some proposals by Southern agrarian political thinkers in the early 20th century to divide the United States into intermediary regional governments, “mini-federations” within the United States, although that had more to do with regional vs central power than with federal representation.

  • @gavinsmith9871
    @gavinsmith9871 Жыл бұрын

    I can't wait to read about the Phase 2 High Republic when there were two co-Chancellors like Rome instead of one.

  • @Kolonol1

    @Kolonol1

    Жыл бұрын

    This is why I don't like the new star war..that sounds ridiculous

  • @gavinsmith9871

    @gavinsmith9871

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Kolonol1 Why? I think it's interesting. It could highlight the centralization of power that led to Palps making himself Emperor.

  • @catmonarchist8920

    @catmonarchist8920

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Kolonol1 Rome did this for hundreds of years and it worked

  • @Kolonol1

    @Kolonol1

    Жыл бұрын

    @@gavinsmith9871 there was no centralization that lead him to power....he played the system in a time of mass corruption

  • @Kolonol1

    @Kolonol1

    Жыл бұрын

    @@catmonarchist8920 Rome collapsed on itsekf

  • @bigdadddyd123
    @bigdadddyd1237 ай бұрын

    I like the longer vids

  • @Anedoje
    @Anedoje3 ай бұрын

    The chancellor literally just plays the role of the President of South Africa who is elected more or lesss by parliament but operates strictly as executive head of state and government

  • @marcbrown9413
    @marcbrown9413 Жыл бұрын

    Corey for the win! I love these longer form, deep dives and you are just the man for it. Excellent work!

  • @chinguunerdenebadrakh7022
    @chinguunerdenebadrakh70227 ай бұрын

    I think it's like if there was a world government IRL and the only entities represented there are supranational institutions like European Union, African Union, ASEAN, MERCOSUR, NAFTA etc with one representative from each. Within a single unit of the WG, like the EU, there's still different governments ruling different countries who have very diverse ways of organizing their interal government.

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