Bob McDob
Better Health Through Less Flavor
This has been something I've been wondering about since before there was a Confederation, and now with new sources, I believe we may be able to pull it off.
In the beginning, the Confederation was very much a generic sci-fi planetary government (similar to Star Trek's Federation, which resisted idenfication in the earliest episodes). Any sort of elaboration tended to lean towards the military side of things, as would be expected in a military science fiction. The few facts that did lean out was that the Confederation was presumably styled after a modern day democracy with a fair amount of freedom afforded its citizens. The events of Secret Missions 2 hinted at the process of joining the Confederation, and indicated that governments retained their sovereignty under the alliance.
Very little further light was shed until the events of Fleet Action. This identified the leader of the Confederation as being a popularly elected President, with other elements fashioned after American-style government, including Chiefs of Staff and a Senate. Perhaps more revealingly, the amount of freedom afforded citizens of the Confederation was revealed. During the events of the war, cease-fire, resumption of hostilities right up to the Battle of Earth, there was a significant pacifist movement among certain liberal and intellectual groups, at least in the inner worlds. Wing Commander IV would later make reference to how most of the Confederation was under martial law for the majority of the war, with judiciary powers centered in the Admiralty courts, but this presumably did not apply to Earth and the Inner Worlds. Even after the horrors of the battle there was still a "blame-Earth" mentality among some (although this could be chalked up to some of the character's prejudices in exaggeration).
Wing Commander III revealed little except for the appearance of the Terran News Network, which seemed to indicate that even in the war's most horrifying days, freedom of the press appeared alive and well. There also appeared to be a 'rebellion' as some planets attempted to defect to the Kilrathi, which reinforces the alliance analogy but is inconclusive otherwise - the United States would surely have reacted unfavorably in the unlikely event of Alaska attempting to defect to the Soviet Union, for instance. The included reference material included with the game, Victory Streak, makes reference to "UNation dollars", while the Voices of War section in the just-previously released Armada refers to "dols" as the means of currency. In another thread I theorized this as showing the reluctance of some of the Confederation member states to relinquish their traditional currency, as Britain seperates itself from the EU by using the pound instead of the Euro.
Wing Commander IV is another excellent source of information in both the novel and game, none the least because our old friend Senator Taggert provides us with an inside look at some of the workings. Although Wing Commander III established the seat of power of Confed as Washington DC on Earth (in the losing cutscene), Wing Commander IV introduces the Great Assembly building, which is quite seperate from the American political structure in the area but otherwise resembles the US Senate chamber in workings as well as appearence. A curious reference is the fact that Taggert is referred to as being the Senator from the planet Altair - suggesting that every planet of the Confederation elects their own representative to the Council, unless of course Taggert represents a cluster of planets to which Altair is the primary (as in Star Wars, where Senator Amidala represents a number of star systens). The other notable thing about the Senate is that they seem amenable to sudden changes (fortunately for the Border Worlds). The constitution of the Confederation, the Articles of Confederation, is also first alluded to, although little else is said on the matter. Prophecy named the two major parties of the Confederation as the Federationalist and Populist, and Secret Ops, particularly the fiction, may include more information, but as a whole I don't recall anything else of note.
The conclusion I have attained then, based on the available facts, is that the Terran Confederation is an alliance of sovereign governments, similar in effect to the European Union and NATO but modeled on the United States, bound together under a common system of trade, law, and of course defense. There is a clearly defined head of state and chief executive of the Confederation, the President, elected popularly by the citizens of its member nations. These citizens also elect members of their regional systems to the Great Assembly, which is based on Earth in Washington, D.C. out of tradition. The exception to this appears to be territories such as the Gemini Sector, which are appointed a Governor by the central government on Earth. Due to the war with the Kilrathi and the ruling Federationalist party there is a significant military force, but despite several attempts at a coup the military remains and has always been subservient to the central government, and not to any member nation or political interest.
In the beginning, the Confederation was very much a generic sci-fi planetary government (similar to Star Trek's Federation, which resisted idenfication in the earliest episodes). Any sort of elaboration tended to lean towards the military side of things, as would be expected in a military science fiction. The few facts that did lean out was that the Confederation was presumably styled after a modern day democracy with a fair amount of freedom afforded its citizens. The events of Secret Missions 2 hinted at the process of joining the Confederation, and indicated that governments retained their sovereignty under the alliance.
Very little further light was shed until the events of Fleet Action. This identified the leader of the Confederation as being a popularly elected President, with other elements fashioned after American-style government, including Chiefs of Staff and a Senate. Perhaps more revealingly, the amount of freedom afforded citizens of the Confederation was revealed. During the events of the war, cease-fire, resumption of hostilities right up to the Battle of Earth, there was a significant pacifist movement among certain liberal and intellectual groups, at least in the inner worlds. Wing Commander IV would later make reference to how most of the Confederation was under martial law for the majority of the war, with judiciary powers centered in the Admiralty courts, but this presumably did not apply to Earth and the Inner Worlds. Even after the horrors of the battle there was still a "blame-Earth" mentality among some (although this could be chalked up to some of the character's prejudices in exaggeration).
Wing Commander III revealed little except for the appearance of the Terran News Network, which seemed to indicate that even in the war's most horrifying days, freedom of the press appeared alive and well. There also appeared to be a 'rebellion' as some planets attempted to defect to the Kilrathi, which reinforces the alliance analogy but is inconclusive otherwise - the United States would surely have reacted unfavorably in the unlikely event of Alaska attempting to defect to the Soviet Union, for instance. The included reference material included with the game, Victory Streak, makes reference to "UNation dollars", while the Voices of War section in the just-previously released Armada refers to "dols" as the means of currency. In another thread I theorized this as showing the reluctance of some of the Confederation member states to relinquish their traditional currency, as Britain seperates itself from the EU by using the pound instead of the Euro.
Wing Commander IV is another excellent source of information in both the novel and game, none the least because our old friend Senator Taggert provides us with an inside look at some of the workings. Although Wing Commander III established the seat of power of Confed as Washington DC on Earth (in the losing cutscene), Wing Commander IV introduces the Great Assembly building, which is quite seperate from the American political structure in the area but otherwise resembles the US Senate chamber in workings as well as appearence. A curious reference is the fact that Taggert is referred to as being the Senator from the planet Altair - suggesting that every planet of the Confederation elects their own representative to the Council, unless of course Taggert represents a cluster of planets to which Altair is the primary (as in Star Wars, where Senator Amidala represents a number of star systens). The other notable thing about the Senate is that they seem amenable to sudden changes (fortunately for the Border Worlds). The constitution of the Confederation, the Articles of Confederation, is also first alluded to, although little else is said on the matter. Prophecy named the two major parties of the Confederation as the Federationalist and Populist, and Secret Ops, particularly the fiction, may include more information, but as a whole I don't recall anything else of note.
The conclusion I have attained then, based on the available facts, is that the Terran Confederation is an alliance of sovereign governments, similar in effect to the European Union and NATO but modeled on the United States, bound together under a common system of trade, law, and of course defense. There is a clearly defined head of state and chief executive of the Confederation, the President, elected popularly by the citizens of its member nations. These citizens also elect members of their regional systems to the Great Assembly, which is based on Earth in Washington, D.C. out of tradition. The exception to this appears to be territories such as the Gemini Sector, which are appointed a Governor by the central government on Earth. Due to the war with the Kilrathi and the ruling Federationalist party there is a significant military force, but despite several attempts at a coup the military remains and has always been subservient to the central government, and not to any member nation or political interest.
