The Politics of the Republic

[Tabitha]

No, not a suggestion for an Episode III title, but a question regarding the political organisation of the Republic. I don't understand it at all.

Our closest look at how the government works is through the situation of Padme Amidala. When I first digested the fact that she was Queen of Naboo, barely in her mid-teens, I thought "Well, it's a monarchy, these things happen".
Upon watching AOTC and rewatching TPM, I realised that the Queen of Naboo is a 'duly elected' official.

As Jerry Seinfeld would say, "What's the deal with that?". I mean really, would you vote for someone that had barely hit puberty? How could they be expected to have a sophisticated understanding of international and interplanetary relations with even the best education that could be provided in 15 years.

Next thing we know, she's a Senator. Makes an interesting comparison to Palpatine, who definitely looks the part as far as politics is concerned. Can you imagine any two more disparate choices for an electorate to make?

Is there some obscure reference that I didn't catch that might explain all this? Any takers?

[Dave]

Thanks, those are things that I'd thought about too. But I don't have any answers!

I also thought the Queen of Naboo was a Monarchy, why else was she a child. Then they said she was only Queen for four years. It made no sense to me.

I can believe that they would then elect her as a senator though, because she had done such a good job as 'Queen'. We don't know Palpatine's history, so we can only guess at the backhanders and dodgy dealings that allowed that slimy individual to rise to power.

What about the Senate itself? Is it an American Senate, or more like a Roman Senate?

What about the Trade Federation? How do they fit in? They have a private army and their own seats in the senate. Why would that ever be allowed? Its a clear recipe for disaster.

[Tabitha]

Another problem was the fact that Leia was "Princess Leia". SO, uh, where did that royal title come from? Bail Organa is not referred to as Royalty in the prequels, and as Amidala's title was only a temporary one, then surely it isn't hereditary?

I would like to know how the Trade Federation operates in relation to the Republic. I thought that perhaps they existed outside the Republic, but then I remembered that they made an appearance at the Senate when Amidala asked the Republic to step in to save Naboo.

*confused*

[Dave]

from the Star Wars Databank:

The Republic had enjoyed centuries of growth and prosperity; it was inevitable that its wealth would foster those with greed to match. The varied instruments of trade and commerce banded together into galaxy-spanning organizations meant to aggrandize their profits. Coalitions such as the Trade Federation, Commerce Guild, Techno Union, and the Intergalactic Banking Clan consolidated their individual markets under governing bodies of such size that they exhibited pull on the actions of the Galactic Senate.

The Trade Federation was a consortium of merchants and transportation providers that effectively controlled shipping throughout the galaxy. Under the rule of the scheming Neimoidians, it had attained enough clout to have full representation in the Galactic Senate, as if it were a member world. In order to rein in the Trade Federation, as well as raise funds for an overburdened government, the Republic approved the taxation of outlying trade routes.

Outraged, the Trade Federation brazenly blockaded the peaceful planet of Naboo in protest. Its fleet of massive battleships surrounded the pastoral world, cutting off direly needed supplies to the planet. The bold action caused great uproar in the Senate, marking yet another scandal in Chancellor Valorum's checkered career. Eager to resolve the dispute, he secretly dispatched a pair of Jedi ambassadors to Naboo to parley with the Neimoidians.

That is basically the whole backstory to Episode I. My problem is how the Galactic Senate could ever become so weak that they allowed Trade Federation members to have seats. What were the Jedi doing during this period of time?

As for Leia, maybe Bail Organa marries the Queen of Alderaan, and marries into the Royal Family himself. (Alternatively, I think you have struck upon a huge Star Wars nit!)

Interesting, that Leia also became a Senator at a young age (She became the youngest senator ever in fact.) The Galactic Senate obviously feels that the best decisions on the future of the Galaxy will be made by teenage girls!

[Tabitha]

The Galactic Senate obviously feels that the best decisions on the future of the Galaxy will be made by teenage girls

LMAO! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Could you imagine if that were true today? The Backstreet Boys would be knighted, or something...

Organa marrying into Alderaanian royalty is a good explanation, but I am still waiting for resolution of whether Leia's memories of her mother are of Padme, or a Step-mother. If we get those details resolved in Episode III then perhaps it will all make sense.

That's great info in your quote - I had wondered about the backstory of Ep I. I don't think it is that surprising that the Trade Federation could have gained full membership - especially after such a long time. This is already happening here on Earth - it wasn't that long ago that corporations had little in the way of legal rights, and were basically granted by, and existed at the whims of the ruling monarch. SLowly they gained political power and now have many "rights" that are usually reserved for actual human beings.
I can't remember many of the details of my lectures from Uni, but I can see us getting to a similar situation in the future.

[Diamond9697]

Also from the Star Warsatabank

Senator Bail Organa was the First Chairman and Viceroy of Alderaan, a hero of the Clone Wars, and the head of the Royal Family of Alderaan. An influential politician, he was a loyal Senator who commanded the ear of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine himself.

So apparently he was royalty in his own right. It also mentioned that it has been suggested that "Bail" is not actually his name but a title of some sort.

[pkgrl]

Great discussion!

First off, Bail is a title, not a name. Remember in TPM, one of the other people nominated for Supreme Chancellor was Bail Antilles (possibly an older relative of the "Captain Antilles" 3PO mentions in ANH)

Next, before she became Queen, Padme was also a princess and there are lots of those. From what I've been able to gather, the title of Princess is something granted to girls studying politics. The people vote for the best Princess to become Queen. At the end of TPM, Padme is surrounded by people from her court which includes several little girls, all of whom are listed in the credits with the title of Princess. And I think that's why Leia has the title of Princess, too. There might be a similar system in place on Alderaan, or Padme might have started one there. But I think Leia is "princess" for the same reason that her mother was before she was elected queen (and why Luke is NOT a prince. )

As for Padme's age, I could buy it. Padme was presented as a very wise (for her age) young woman who seemed to understand the political intrigue in which she was embroiled. She understood the nuances of negotiation. She was quite aware that the Trade Federation officials were talking out their arses. Whether or not she learned to expect this in her Legislative Youth classes is unclear, but lessons taught in that program must be very encompassing. I get the feeling that Padme (and other children like her) basically grew up with politics, much like Obi-Wan grew up with the Jedi and the Force. She has an intuitive grasp of politics that few others do.

It only goes to show how cleverly manipulative Palpatine is that he could dupe such a queen.

Now, the Trade Federation and other financially-motivated groups (lobbiests?) of course have become so powerful that they are allowed to maintain their own armies and hold seats in the Galactic Senate. They could disrupt trade, banks, financial transactions, large-scale operations like mining and droid manufacture, and worse if they're not taken seriously. The Galactic Senate has to take their wishes into consideration when dealing with situations like the one that arose on Naboo in TPM. That's why the Republic is failing. That's why it's become corrupt. That's why Anakin's little quip about a dictatorship ("if it works.") is so ominous.

[Tabitha]

Wow! I have been meaning to come back to this thread forever, but every time I read through I realised that you guys have covered everything.

I did watch TPM not long after posting this thread and heard the reference to Bail Antilles, and thought it might have been a title, but it just being a common first name is a possible alternative.

I still have to raise an eyebrow at the idea of a teenage politics whiz. If the expertise were in mathematics or something I could buy it, but politics is about people, and the manipulation and persuasion thereof. With every year I age I am realising how much I have yet to learn, and how wrong I was when I though I was very knowledgeable when I was younger. I was a pretty together person as a 15 year old, but no matter how intelligent or mature or trained someone is, I find it hard to buy the idea that experience would not be a larger factor in electing a queen.

Having said that, I concede that this is an alien culture we are talking about, and perhaps they do things differently