Government

Government (Social Science) Synopsis

Government is a social science and the method by which a subplanetary (...smaller than a world), planetary (world), or interstellar (multi-system) state or community governs itself. The study of governments and othe related subjects is known as political science.

The Imperium uses a system to distinguish government from each other. This system is called the UWP System. Government types in the UWP indicates the general type of authority. The Planetary Government tables describe characteristics of each government type by power structure or source.

See Allegiance Code for more information.

State vs. Stateless Systems

A State is an organized community living under a common leadership (government), organized on the basis of a subplanetary (...smaller than a world), planetary (world), or interstellar (multi-system) government. States are also referred to as polities.

Larger-sized states, such as galactic or polygalactic arrangements, have been hypothesized, but do not exist within Charted Space.

A Stateless Society is a society that is not governed by a state. Stateless Societies have little to no centralization of authority. What positions of authority exist are generally extremely-limited in power and scope. Stateless Societies use widely-disparate economic and cultural organizational practices. Many Stateless Societies posses little in the way of executive, legislative, or judicial power structures.

The Hive Federation, which also bears some properties of a Confederation, is as close to a stateless society (anarchy) as can be found in the major states of Charted Space.

Government Powers

Governments exist with vastly different levels of power and influecne over nearby governments or states.

Please see client state and pocket empire for more information.

Minor Powers

Minor Power: A Minor Power is a state may or may not have achieved independence from other states in most aspects of governance. Minor States have little freedom of governance and, if strongly dominated by another state, they may be classifed as client states.
Power: A (Standard) Power is a state that has achieved independence but not much freedom from other states in most aspects of governance.

Major Powers

Superpower: A Superpower, or Great Power, is one of a handful of states that dominate all other lesser states in their interstellar sphere.
Hyperpower: A Hyperpower is a state that dominates all other states in its interstellar sphere.

Sovereign vs. Non-sovereign States

States may additionally be Sovereign or Non-sovereign.

A Sovereign State is a state run by a Centralized Government that has sovereignty over an astrographic area, sometimes as small as a single solar system and, at other times, as large as a multi-system or even multi-sector polity.

Sovereign States most often share the following qualities:

Autonomous
Independent
Self-governing.

Sovereign States are often referred to as:

Great Powers
Hyperpowers
(Standard) Powers
Superpowers

A Non-sovereign State is a state that has little to no sovereignty over an astrographic area.

Non-sovereign States most often share the following qualities:

Non-autonomous (Subjugated)
Not independent (Subordinate or Subsidiary)
Not self-governing (Subservient)

Non-sovereign States are often referred to as:

Banana Republics
A client state
A colony
A dependent state
Minor Powers
An occupied state (Under military adminstration)
A puppet state
A vassal state

Government Power Structures

There are five power structure types, most commonly found amongst the governments of Charted Space:

Confederation: A Confederation is an interstellar political entity with a very loose relationship amongst a number of smaller political units. In some cases, a confederacy is little more than an alliance between independent states.
Federation: A Federation, or Federal State, is an interstellar political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing states under a central (federal) interstellar government.
Unitary State: A Unitary State is an interstellar political entity characterized by a hogher degree of centralization than a Federation, but much less than a Hegemony or Empire. Most Unitary States have a high degree of separation of powers and guiding legal and governmental documents.
Hegemony: A Hegemony is an interstellar political entity that has established political, cultural, economic, or military predominance or control over other states.
Empire: Empires differ from other states in that they have supreme control over other states. In the case of the Imperium, the Emperor retains the power to exert supreme control over his vassals, or the Imperial Nobility, in a system reminiscent of feudalism with some aspects of federalism.

Comparative Government Power Structures Table

System	Centralization	Strengths	Weaknesses
Confederation	Low	Gives local/regional/planetary governments almost complete control	Sets almost no significant uniform policies
Federation	Medium	Gives local/regional/planetary governments more power	Sacrifices uniformity on some issues
Unitary State	High	Sets uniform policies that direct the entire sector/state	Disregards local/planetary differences
Hegemony	Very High	Directs strong policies that direct the entire sector/state	Strongly disregards local/planetary differences
Empire	Supreme	Dictates supreme policies that direct the entire sector/state	Supremely disregards or outright ignores local/planetary differences

Government Power Sources

There are at least six major power source types (...as well as some other possibilities), found amongst the governments of Charted Space:

1. Autocratic States (Government by very few Sophonts): Autocracy, Constitutional Tyranny, Despotism, Dictatorship, and Totalitarianism.
2. Monarchies (Goverment by a few Sophonts): Absolute, Constitutional, and othe forms.
3. Oligarchy (Government by small groups of Sophonts): Aristocracy, Military junta, Plutocracy, Stratocracy, Timocracy, Diarohy, Triarchy, Theocracy, Bureaucracy, Feudalism, and other forms.
4. Republican States (Government by Representatives of Sophonts): Limited Monarchy and Representative Democracy.
5. Democratic States (Government by large groups of Sophonts: Populist): Direct, Representative, Electronic Demarchy, Collegial Democracy, and other forms.
6. Pantisocratic States (Government by Everyone: Anarchy): Organized Anarchy and Sociocracy.
7. Other Types of States (Government by specialized groups of Sophonts): Anocracy, Kritarchy, and Particracy.
8. Chaos (Government by noone: No State): Noone in control without other social mechanisms to encourage order.

Comparative Government Power Sources Table

Power Source / Govt. Type	Leader Quantity	Power Distribution	Power Characteristic
1. Chaos	None	None	Chaos (Barbarism)
2. Autocracy	Very few	Very Low	Authoritarian (Supremacist)
3. Oligarchy	Few	Low	Authoritarian (Elitist)
4. Republicanism	Some	Moderate	Representative (Elective)
5. Democracy	Many	High	Representative (Elective)
6. Pantisocracy	Most	Very High	Populist (Anarchy)
7. Other Power Sources	Various	Various	Populist (Chosen Groups)

Government (Social Science) Standard Codes & Descriptions

The Imperium uses a standardized system of government codes referred to as the UWP (Universal World Profile) System. These codes are most useful when used to describe worlds presided over by members of Humaniti or sophonts with similar psychologies.

General Government Codes & Descriptions

Worlds inhabited by Humaniti or non-Human Sophonts similar to Humaniti are generally classified with the following codes:

Government Codes
Code	Name	Description	Power Structure
0	No Government Structure.	In many cases, tribal, clan or family bonds predominate	Confederation (Anarchy)
1	Company/Corporation.	Government by a company managerial elite, citizens are company employees.	Hegemony
2	Participating Democracy.	Government by advice and consent of the citizen.	Unitary State
3	Self-Perpetuatlng Oligarchy.	Government by a restricted minority, with little or no input from the masses.	Hegemony
4	Representative Democracy.	Government by elected representatives.	Unitary State
5	Feudal Technocracy.	Government by specific individuals for those who agree to be ruled Relationships are based on the performance of technical activities which are mutually-beneficial.	Hegemony
6	Captive Government/Colony.	Government by a leadership answerable to an outside group, a colony or conquered area.	Federation
7	Balkanization.	No central ruling authority exists. Rival governments compete for control.	Confederation (Anarchy)
8	Civil Service Bureaucracy.	Government by agencies employing individuals selected for their expertise.	Unitary State
9	Impersonal Bureaucracy.	Government by agencies which are insulated from the governed.	Hegemony
A	Charismatic Dictator.	Government by a single leader enjoying the confidence of the citizens.	Empire
B	Non-Charismatic Leader.	A previous charismatic dictator has been replaced by a leader through normal channels.	Empire
C	Charismatic Oligarchy.	Government by a select group, organization, or class enjoying overwhelming confidence of the citizenry.	Hegemony
D	Religious Dictatorship.	Government by a religious minority which has little regard for the needs of the citizenry	Empire
E	Religious Autocracy.	Government by a single religious leader having absolute power over the citizenry	Empire
F	Totalitarian Oligarchy.	Government by an all-powerful minority which maintains absolute control through widespread coercion and oppression	Empire

Code 7 Balkanization: Balkanization is a special result which indicates that there is no world government; instead several rival territorial governments exist. In such cases, the specific qualities of each territory on the planet should be separately listed.

Code 6 Captive Government / Colony (Subordinate Government) & Codes (0, 1, 2 & 3): Subordinate Government are non-sovereign (...or semi-sovereign) governments on other planets within a system. These governments are usually code 0,1,2,3 or 6.

Government (Social Science) Standard Codes & Descriptions for non-Human Sophonts

However, the Imperial UWP Government Codes do not adequately describe the world of sophonts with radically-different psychologies and mindsets. So, alternate sytem and codes were created for sophonts with different mindset and methods of governance.

Aslan Governments

In human terms, all Aslan worlds have a feudal form of government. Thus, one of several normal governmental codes might be assigned by humans to various Aslan planets (0,3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, and C are all applicable), and these codes might be found in a human catalog of world types. Kusyu, the Aslan homeworld, is often assigned a government type 8 in this fashion. Some UWP descriptions use the following codes to refine Aslan dominated worlds:

Aslan Government Codes
Code	Name	Description
G	Small Station or Facility	Either operated by an off-world clan or controlled by an Aslan company (the only instance where a world is controlled by anything but a clan)
H	Split Control	Different parts of the world are owned by several on-planet clans. An analogy to human balkanized worlds
J	Single On-world Clan Control	Other small clans may also be present, but they will be dominated by the major clan.
K	Single Multi-world Clan Control	The world is controlled by a single clan whose span extends over several worlds, not necessarily nearby.
L	Major Clan Control	The world is controlled by one of the Tlaukhu
M	Vassal Clan Control	The world is controlled, but not owned, by a vassal clan in fief to a larger clan
N	Major Vassal Clan Control	The world is controlled, but not owned by a vassal clan in fief to one of the clans in the Tlaukhu.

For more information on the forms of governments used in the Aslan Hierate, please see Aslan (government).

Droyne Governments

Due to the biological caste nature of the Droyne, independent Droyne worlds essential have one underlying government type: Droyne Hierachy. When balkanized worlds are found containing Droyne, each and every Droyne territory is a Droyne Hierachy type government:

Droyne Government Codes
Code	Name	Description
X	Droyne Hierarchy	Established communities are ruled by hereditary and long-established governments

For information on the nature of Droyne Hierarchies, please see Droyne.

Hiver Governments

Hiver Governments include:

Hiver Government Codes
Code	Name
S	Sept
T	Unsupervised Anarchy
U	Supervised Anarchy
W	Committee

For information on the forms of governments used in the Hive Federation, please see Hiver (government).

K'Kree Governments

From the human point of view, the K'kree have little in the way of a government structure. Most K'kree worlds are given a government code of 0 in human descriptions of world types. Some UWP catalogs use more specific codes:

K'kree Government Codes
Code	Name
P	Small station or facility maintained for the good of a family
Q	Ruled by a krurruna or a group of krumunak answerable to an offworld steppelord
R	Ruled by a steppelord on-planet

For information on the forms of governments used in the Two Thousand Worlds, please see K'Kree (government).

Government (Social Science) Other Standards

In source information of from other eras of history, other government codes and types have been used.

Era: The New Era UWP Extensions

Standard Government 0 thru F were kept, but the following were introduced in The New Era to reflect the changed nature of Charted Space. UWP catalogs contain the following additional codes:

New Era Government Codes
Code	Name	Description
M	Military Dictatorship or Junta	Government by the armed forces as an interim survival measure or result of a Coup
Q	Interim Government	The world is ruled by a temporary government (which may have been in power for some time)
S	Slave World	The world’s government is ineffectual or non-existent. The populace survives by offering tribute or slaves to an outside power (often Vampire ships) which does not care to rule the world directly.
T	Technologically Elevated Dictator	A leader or small group holds power through the use of relic technology
V	Viral Hell	The world is run by malevolent Viral Entities, ether openly or through a Quisling government

Era: The New Era UWP Additions

Additional Codes were introduced for specific regions. The same code (N) is used in two different regions to represent two different government types. In at least one case (M), the regional code conflicts with the general government code:

New Era Government Codes
Code	Region	Name	Description
G	Spinward States: (Found in Spinward Marches, Trojan Reach, Deneb, Reft Sector)	Small Station	Aslan goverment type.
H	Spinward States	Split Clan	Aslan goverment type.
J	Spinward States	Single World Clan	Aslan goverment type.
K	Spinward States	Multi-world Clan	Aslan goverment type.
L	Spinward States	Major Multi-world Clan	Aslan goverment type.
M	Spinward States	Vassal Clan	Aslan goverment type.
N	Spinward States	Major (Multi-world) Vassal Clan	Aslan goverment type.
N	Fourth Imperium	Noble House	Human government type. Noble Houses rule Imperial worlds directly. The 'ruling' noble may be an absolute leader or the head of state for a civil government.

Note: Fourth Imperium Nobility may consist of sophonts other than the races of Humaniti. Aslan, Vargr, Bwaps, and many other species of sophonts have served under the Fourth Imperium.

Government (Social Science) References

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.