# The Imperial Political System ## By Master Syth Mace Shawn, OCS Master Cynic of Imperial Political Studies @ Varitum Temple, Chilren Region, Blamsam District, Tarkeen Directorate 83396 ### Introduction I have been tasked with writing a description of the Imperial form of Government. This is impossible. There is no singular 'imperial' form of government within our Empire. Further still, our new Emperor and this, his new 'Trans-Galactic' Empire, are themselves grand transformations from our traditional form of government. However, as the Emperor himself as willed it that I write this, I shall do as I am ordered and employ my skills and services for persona gain and Imperial glory. For the above mentioned reason I shall alternate in my analysis between various historical periods, at times without division. I shall endeavour to explain how we have grown from the roots laid down by Emperor Palpatine in the First Terran Empire to our modern Imperium Omnium Aestrium. On the other hand, I shall attempt to refrain from discussing that most shameful of periods, when our great empire was under foreign domination and rulership. Though it has had immense impact on much of our glorious Empire, I am no sociologist and therefore see no need to expand upon such impacts to any great length, nor provide any profound nor deep analysis of them. I shall only touch upon that shameful period of foreign domination and rulership in the moments which most necessitate it. Similarly, I shall avoid discussing much of the composite parts of the modern Imperium. I shall not discuss the First Order, Britannia, nor the IVFT, but rather the remaining regions which have sworn loyalty to Emperor Kylo Ren directly, and are now the principle regions of the Imperium. However, the core principals and ideas which I shall describe here function for the Imperial government under which those composite parts are joined to, and are united by a shared culture, history, religion, economic system, and general outlook on the universe. It is necessary I dispense with that overprescribed description of the Empire which many from the Federation and those whom interact with Federation peoples' develop, best described by quoting from its origin, Elton Collingwood: > "Under Emperor Palpatine, the Imperial canon was Codified to contain: > 1. A declaration of an Empire - The official declaration of the Empire, explains how the government should be organized, with the emperor as the head of government and state with absolute power. A legislative branch in the form of the Imperial Senate, the executive branch being composed of the military, and the judicial branch being non existent, instead being folded into both legislative and executive. Declares the Book of Sith the state holy text. > 2. The book of Sith - The ancient Sith holy hoser book, dating back to the ancient Canadian Sith Order from the days of the Third World War. Defines a lot of the religious and therefore social aspects of the empire. > 3. The Tarkin Doctrine - Defines the military doctrine of the empire. Supremacy must be visible at all times. The military must appear as a single unified, unbreakable wall. An unstoppable wave of identically trained perfect soldiers. > 4. An Empire of Nobody - Written by a heavy critic within the Senate of the Emperor. Outlines the fact that the empire is nothing without its citizens and thus is always subservient to them and their needs. If they are not happy then the empire can not function. This document would server as the outline of imperial society for all the future and is considered required reading for any nations leader in the Known Universe." Now I am a famed Imperial cynic, but I truly believe that the average Imperial or citizen of the Empire is not as devoid of a mind as the average Federation citizen, and so can plainly see the absurdities of this description. The only addendum to this is that modern Federation scholars have come to acknowledge the role of the Unwritten Constitution in Imperial history.[^1] However, if one is blind to it, I shall endeavor to explain why this explanation is perhaps lacking, or wrong. I must take one moment before I do to explain why this is of note or relevance. I shall expand upon, and then explain away, the importance of the Unwritten Constitution to the Empire, and the general system of legislation within the Empire shortly. However, it is necessary to properly understand the cultural context of Imperial society, which is defined by the so called 'Imperial Cannon'. ### A Declaration of an Empire The Declaration of an Empire was deliver after, as described by Grand Master Syth Darth Raven in his *A Short History of the Empire*[^2], "losing, two different wars" necessitating "a state of emergency". The Empire was a response to crisis. This document above any other outlines Emperor Palpatine's vision for the Imperial state, and his understanding of Federation history. He was especially forceful in highlighting the unique role of the Senate in Federation history, as in many ways *the* founding institution of the Federation. He also expanded on how during periods of high Senatorial power, life within the Federation was often at its best. From this document, combined with what is evident from the Unwritten Charter, and scholarly interpretations of the Tarkin Doctrine, this vision begins to take clear shape. The declaration is the culmination of Palpatinian political thought. Essentially it lays out the Imperial world view. It is necessary to understand this view was articulated in the context of the end of what is known today as the 'First Federation'. Palpatine's vision, and the whole of the Empire, is thus according to one argument the true descendent of the First Federation, rather than the false claimant today holding the name United Federation of Earth. So what does it actually explain? It argues that the time has come for the total subsumption of Federation industrial capacity to the Federal state; the declaration of a state of emergency which resulted in the empowerment of the president with near unlimited powers to create law by declaration; The empowerment of the Federal state to circumvent and ignore the House of Commons; The empowerment of the Federal State to intervene directly in day to day life so as to direct it to win the war; the suspension of the Federations' Bill of Rights'; the end of elections outside of Senatorial elections; the empowerment of the military and a military council as a counter-weight chamber to the Senate; State control of the economy; the confirmation of the Book of the Syth as a central uniting element of Imperial culture, from which religious and social values should be drawn'; the change of name from United Federation of Earth to First Terran Empire, and accompanying title change for himself from President to Emperor. Most notably it included an articulation of the imperial division of society: Imperials, Citizens of the Empire and Foreigners/Outsiders. Imperials are those who are part of the State. Citizens of the Empire are those whom the state exists to 'serve' and provide for. Foreigners are all people who are not a citizen or Imperial. Today most Imperial's and Citizens would laugh at the idea that there might ever be something other than a time of emergency. But the rest is today seen as a rather banal listing of the basic powers of the emperor and division of the agencies of the state. Those empowered by the State are able to carry out justice. The internal Agency of Review serves as a judiciary check, but otherwise there is no court system as seen in the Federation, at least for Imperials. ### The Book of The Syth The Book of the Syth is the core uniting religious text of the Empire. Like the Jyd-I it denouces 'religion' as seen by those superstitious Witchers and Versians, rather seeing it as science. Within Imperial society, the Book of Syth functions akin to the Book of Sigmar in Deutchrean society. Though the book itself does not carry the force of law. Syth, such as myself, as masters' of knowledge and skill in the magic arts. Our knowledge allows us to rise above the political battles and focus on providing information, maximizing our power for when the Empire needs us. The book of Syth explains that people ought to maximize their potential. Those who lazily choose not to maximize their potential are rightfully left behind. Why should society include those who don't want to join it? It argues that society belongs to those who can bend it to their will. The emperor, as the master of society, is the most able to bend it to his will. It is because of this that there is no permeant form of the Imperial instrument of government, rather it is evolving into different permutations, impacted by great leaders and refined by lesser leaders. Those who try should be rewarded with knowledge equal to their skill, and not much above that so as to prevent them from growing jealous and attempting to rise above their station. Once one knows their station, they ought to be happy in it. If they are not, they should refine their skills to improve their station. There are no gods, only beings in other planes of existence with whom deals can be struck for power now. All things can be understood with enough learning and science. There is no shame in only knowing as much as you do, and no more, but there is shame in not striving to know more. These are the teachings of the book of the Syth. Upon our political institutions it has instilled the ideal of competition and meritocracy, having the best rise to the top. Of course, this book is simply one among the many in the various Syth doctrines, but it is the foundation one for defining Sythism, even if the actual book in question, as Palpatine knew it, has long since fallen out of use. ### The Tarkin Doctrine When discussing the Tarkin Doctrine it is necessary to split the discussion into two pieces: the practical and the philosophical. The practical aspects of the Tarkin Doctrine have been superseded by new doctrines time and again. In truth, deploying a full Star Destroyer and Legion of Storm troopers to each planet to enforce the Emperors Peace is an expensive and impractical solution. However, the philosophical aspect of the Tarkin Doctrine has been taken to the heart of the empire. Citizens do not have a right to privacy. Every citizens space, domestic, public, private, or otherwise, which the Imperium can surveil is surveilled with cameras, microphones, drones, embedded personnel. Citizens mandatory neural-nets are constantly tapped and being monitored by AI within the Imperial HQ on each planet, and re-scanned by various backups located on other worlds and micro-stations scattered throughout each system. Imperials are in theory above surveillance, in practice ones' rank and connections dictate if one is survielled. Or more accurate if the surveillance apparatus is presenting monitoring an individual. Everyone is always being watched, but those high enough on the totem pole, with the right connections, have their evidence destroyed. The rest of us are under constant surveillance, our actions ready to be used by whatever petty beuacrat seeks to impede our actions, unless we have the connections necessary to bully away that beuacrat, as is the imperial way. The Tarkin Doctrine in philosophy is that the citizens are to be watched at all times, so that any rebellion can be nipped in the bud. At the same time, rebellion should be recommended constantly in the citizens popular media, and the Syth religious ideals help to promote individual action including revolution. This is done so that revolutions and revolts foment quickly, draw their members together, and then can be crushed with quick action. A consequence of this was the deep philosophilcal split between civilian or citizens society where one is under constant surveillence and imperial society where one is free from scrutiny and privileged in having ones desires fulfilled when compared to a citizen. ### An Empire of Nobody An Empire of Nobody is the final primary document of the Imperial Cannon. Its actual author is friend of Emperor Palpatine, harsh critic of the Imperial regime and 'the last good Federationite', Thomas Hitchens. The essence of the argument work as described by Collingwood is not wrong. However, many in the Federation fail to understand its nuance. Hitchens' argued that the Imperium and Imperials needed citizens to command and lead. The Imperium is an ecosystem which must be maintained, unless Palpatine sought to devalue the dignity of the Imperial status by granting those working in mines and factories its status, rather than rightly reserving the status for senior management and owners. The argument was that Imperial infighting, and imperial games, were fine, so long as they happened happened behind the scenes within the Imperial realm of the Tarkin doctrine rather than in public within the citizens' realm. Do not engage in public terrorist attacks/bombings to remove a rival imperial. Avoid causing harm to citizens, and ensure owners of factories and the are working to improve the lives of their employees, rather than mistreating them to hoard profits. The rights of Imperial citizens can be restricted so long as they are given comfortable lives, and the option to gain the Rights of an Imperial if they so desire them. This once again underpins the fundamental Syth concept and call for a meritocratic hierarchical structuring to society. ### Legislative System Now that the cultural basis of the Empire has been established, we can turn to discuss its legislative structure, and briefly its executive structure. It is worth stressing that the judiciary is limited. Planets have a court which is administered by judges appointed by the planets administrator. Otherwise, cases are appealed to those with superiority over the person involved. There is the Agency of Review's Department of Imperial Conduct which can check Imperials on their actions, but the court apparatus of the Empire is effectively non existent. The Imperial executive is the dominant branch of power. An executive gives an order, in line with the precedent and actions of previous people to have held the post or like posts, and if the executive wishes to make a radical deviation, it must be justified by past precedent, immediate circumstance, or with an appeal to a superior to confirm the change in course and action. Effectively, the executive branch is whoever is the highest ranking person in a region, who is themselves bound under a superior, whom they may be traded away by, or may scheme to jump ship away from. Through this the imperial patron-client system develops, connecting everyone from the Emperor to the lowliest citizens of each world. ### The Evolving Nature of The Imperial Cannon An essential fact about these four institutions is that since the Rule of Palpatine, Vader, Tarkeen, and the subsequent five of that short lived founding era of the Empire, they have rarely coexisted all at once in imperial thought. That is the real truth of the four of them, they describe the core institutions of Imperial society: how the instrument of Imperial government is meant to operate; what the Impeiral religion is; what the relationship of the military-state to the civilian world is; and the obligations of the Imperial Military-State to the planetary civilian-state. The unwritten constitution exists as the foundation constitution document. describing things just enough that it can be reinterpreted in every new age while offering an institutional veneer of continuity. What this means in practice is that the various elements can change over time. You may begin with the outlined section above, but over time the ideas of the Book of Syth might be substitued for those of the Book of Sigmar, eventually inaugurated by an Emperor like Darth Sigizmund following his declaration that the Book of Sigmar is the be the new foundation of the state religion. It is essential to note here that in doing so, Darth Sigizmund was introducing a Catholic form of Sigmarism, imbued with Syth principles. This would stand in contrast to the Orthodox Sythism which had until then been the norm throughout the Empire. These reforms maybe followed up a few emperors later, say by Darth Ballam who declared a new, Catholic-Sigmarian-Syth Empire, where the position of Emperor and the upper echelons of Imperial power could only be held by Catholic-Sigmarians. The order of society was reconstructed along Sigmarian-Syth lines. So that the Emperor was the Sigmarian and Emder in Sigmarian political thought. Those with the strongest connection to Sigmoria, the lightseers, sigmarettes, and other clergy positions were reclassified as part of the state, and the Lawgarian separation between Church and State was abolished, instead introducing an Imperial Church-State. Emperor Skyman (Darth Bellam) was followed by Emperor Haicomb (Darth Dominitor I). Darth Dominitor I changed the Tarkin Doctrine to the Domination Doctrine which sought to maximize the power of the state not through constant present terror, but rather by an underhanded terror. Hidden strike cells of elite troops who could be called upon to quickly crush cells from within, and a smaller than present, but much more elite corpse of Storm Troopers who could quickly and forcefully put down any popular uprisings. In terms of fleet structure, the change was from Star Destroyers in every system to smaller, faster strike ships allowing the rapid movement of elite death-squads designed to put down any revolt the moment it appeared. And after the subsequent Emperor, Darth Dominitor II, the next Emperor Darth Theocratus-Domintor changed the empire from an Empire of Nobody to an Empire of Heros and Heretics. Which tore away any requisite rights or quality of life, instead seeking to foment action by heathens and heretics within the Imperium so as to smoke them out, allowing the Catholic-Sigmarian state to crush them. Thereby complimenting the new Domination Doctrine. Cause the cells to rise with embeded members who push the cell to more extreme actions. Leak the action to senior officials, who request a strike force which quickly, publicly, and efficiently massacres the rebel cell. Thereby ensuring word of the action spreads quietly so the citizens masses know through terror not to rise up. But all this religious strife has resulted in the isolation of a new, insular elite. By the reign of Darth Theocratus III the governing structure is beginning to come apart. A religious counter revolution has begun to prosper. A protestant movement of Witchers begins has appeared and now has enough covert followers in positions of power that with the assassination of Theocratus III and subsequent rise of Emperor Vilkaribam (Darth Chaoticus II) a new more tolerant military doctrine is introduced, the Toleration Doctrine, allowing religious division, and restoring a more active amount of troops to the streets, reducing the interpersonal chaos for citizens - the vast majority of whom are no longer heathens - and generally restoring a prosperous state of peace. The next Emperor, Darth Aquatus took a conservative reformist path, introducing An Empire of Tolerance as a change in the Empires military-state civilian-state relationship from the old Heros and Heretics model to a new one which allows religious dissention so long as the religion is suitably accepting of Syth ideals among citizens. Four emperors later, Darth Aurorus changed the state religion from Catholic Sigmarism to Protestant Syth-Witcherism. This brought about a relative resecularization of the state, and a restoration to pre-Catholic political theory. However, the overall religious character of life, and life within the Imperial state, took on a Witcher feeling. Prayers to local divinities and grand divinities were held within offices, though no one was mandated to partake. The official simply had to execute the duties such as lighting candles, giving offers and carrying out rituals, while not actually obligated to believe. With the whole of state except the instrument of Imperial Government changed, it would take three emperors before under Darth Toleranus a new A Tolerant Empire was declared, extending the civilian religious tolerances to Imperial officials, allowing anyone to partake in any religion, including removing the essentially unenforced requirement that the Emperor and senior government positions could not be entered by anyone, not just the increasingly small Catholic minority. And by then the complaints from a conservative Syth rebellion were reaching a painful pitch. It would only take two more emperors before Emperor Octavius (Darth Caesarius), reintroduced a Book of Syth as the states religious text, launching a series of 'conservative' reforms. But just as the Book of Syth which Octavius introduced was different from that of Palpatine - a more 'tolerant' interpretation of the Book of Syth produced by Darth Caesarius' friend and sometimes lover Darth Agrippan. This would foreshadow the whole of this 'conservative' restoration - the name of the institutional documents and the general form which they took was that which they held during the reign of the first Emperors, but the true text, interpretation and intent was wholly different. #### The Unwritten Constitution #### Declaration of the Emperor #### By Consultation with the Senate ### The Modern Empire --- ## Notes - [^1]: This came about within the Federation largely after their realization that a similar concept existed within their own government, recently described in Cecil Dooley-Sarrason's "The Unwritten Charter" and Mark Joyal-Lawall's counter chapter "Against the Unwritten Charter", both published in the forthcoming Tylson Roy-Laurencelle *New Thoughts on Transformations in Federation Political Philosophy: Views from the Fifth Federation*. A comment Imperial scholars had been making since the founding of the Second Federation. - [^2]: For this work Darth Raven was rightly elevated to the rank of Historian of the Imperial Court by Emperor Ren himself.