The Government of the Holy Federation of Stars is a parliamentary theocracy with a mostly ceremonial and oligarchically elected theocratic head of state. It is divided into inhabited star systems, which are then further divided into various nation-states, tribes, feudal realms, and other forms of organization, depending on how the inhabitants structure their society. These systems have considerable autonomy as the HFOS runs under a confederal system. The national Government is divided into three branches - the executive, the legislative, and the Sopetim - whose respective powers are invested in the Federation Charter. The theocratic branch is the High Priestdom, which is a theocratic position that both acts as the head of the national Church and the head of state, with the High Priest or their chosen diplomatic corps being the official representation of the nation on a foreign scale. The legislative branch is the Lawbringer, tasked with making and passing laws. It is entirely unicameral and primarily deals with autonomy, infrastructural projects, military affairs, and taxes. The judicial branch is the Sopetim, a group of religious judges who can veto laws if they violate religious morality or minority protections.
Due to its foundation on a series of compromises, as well as the Byzantine bureaucracy required to manage billions of people, many aspects of the Federal Government are hotly debated. The most prominent is the inclusion of religion in the Government, represented by the Hecklerist High Priest. Many more radical Hecklerists view it as a means to maintain Zion, their term for the ever-expanding core Christian territories. More moderate leaders in the Hecklerist Church justify it as a means of unity through a moral figurehead with no legal power. Many secularists of all varieties have condemned the lack of separation between Church and State, viewing it as corrupting for both. Secular opposition to the Government takes the form of autonomy, as while the Holy Federation calls itself a Federation, it acts as a Confederation. Among the secular, traditionalists, reformers, and Allmotherists, there is an argument over the role of Government. The delicate balance of powers between Autonomy and State Control is often at the center of these arguments. Similarly, the federal Government is volatile due to the extreme variations in culture, with the typical economic, cultural, and political scales - such as left vs right - being entirely overthrown and replaced by a complex mixture of cultural values and political ideas. While this has made the federal Government a "bazaar of ideas", it has also caused extreme stagnation and internal unrest, as issues that seem trivial to us may be debated for months.
Due to the presence of cultures that have non-binary genders, and alien species that have atraditional genders due to differing biology, this factbook will be using the pronoun "they."
The Theocratic Branch consists of the High Priest of the Hecklerist Church and the Diplomatic Corps, the only Government department under the direct control of the executive.
The High Priest is the head of the Hecklerist Church and the Head of State. Their role within the state of the Holy Federation, which is legally separate from their role as a religious authority, is described in Title II Section 2 of the Federation Charter. The current High Priest is Kenny Noel. The High Priest acts as the Head of State, Chief Diplomat, and Spiritual head of the nation. The role of the figurehead is that of a legally powerless figurehead who is supposed to unify the nation spiritually and morally rather than through force. While they have no power to make, approve of, or overturn laws and edicts, the Charter also describes how the High Priest has legal control over the nation's diplomacy. They can appoint and remove the head of the Diplomatic Corps at will and is otherwise considered highly important in diplomatic affairs.
Being a figurehead, personal appearance and public relations are extremely important to the High Priest. They may find themselves touring both foreign countries and domestically to improve relations between the region and the Government. This may come in the form of official visits, speeches, and prayer; but may also come in the form of unofficial visits, such as the High Priest immersing themselves in the local's culture. This is a daunting task for any prospective High Priest, as while this includes regions that adore the High Priest or are highly stable, it also includes regions that despise the High Priest or are highly unstable. While at the end of the day it is up to the High Priest to determine whether or not they want to visit these regions, they are frequently pressured to do so under the implied threat that their Government is unpopular and their unpopularity may lead to consequences. While High Priests cannot be impeached in the normal way due to their position, unpopular High Priests have found themselves being pressured into retiring or even finding themselves mysteriously dying after one-too-many bad decisions.
The Diplomatic Corps is the only department under the control of the executive branch. Its powers are described in Title IV Section 3 of the Federation Charter along with all other federal departments. The Diplomatic Corps is headed by the Secretary of the Diplomatic Corps, who can be appointed and removed by the High Priest at their whims. The current Secretary is Trugar Yeemen. The Diplomatic Corps is the department responsible for representing both the HFoS as a whole and the Government of the HFoS. It not only has diplomats stationed in every known polity but also within the Federation to ensure cooperation between its members. As such, it is quite a large organization, with its various embassies, consulates, bureaucratic offices, diplomatic training institutions, etc, collectively employing 2,894,972 people.
The Diplomatic Corps is divided into 13 Sectors. Each sector roughly corresponds with a "region" of space, including several species within them. The first two are named Sector Prime and Subprime. Prime represents all major planetary bodies within the federation and their subsequent polities and is one of the largest sectors in terms of employment. Subprime deals with those outside of planets, such as Gatawan clans and other spacers. The remaining are numbered 3-13. Size of sectors varies depending on the administration, with some being as small as a few star systems while others contain hundreds. This decentralization is necessary, however, since the large space and numerous worlds are not easily traversable.
The Legislative branch consists of the Lawbringer, the Lawhead, and the remaining Federal Ministries. There are 7000 seats in the Lawbringer which are given to planets proportional to population. Planets can do what they wish with their seats, with a few exceptions, and as such, there is no set standard for how a person gets a seat and their term limit. The Lawbringer elects a member to become the Lawhead, a position equivalent to that of a Prime Minister.
The Lawbringer is the legislative branch of the Government. It is unicameral and has 7000 seats. Its powers are delegated by Title III Section 2 of the Charter. The Lawbringer is responsible for making all laws on a federal level along with the signing of treaties with foreign nations, control over the federal ministries, and deciding policies on spending. Every seat that is owned by a planet is considered "theirs." How they select the person to sit in it is entirely up to the discretion of the planet itself. Some planets, such as Earth, chose to allow the people to directly elect representatives by dividing the planet up into electoral regions. Others are less democratic, with Qutzeo instead using their seats as hereditary titles - with their "rank" being equivalent to a duke. However, there are a few restrictions. One seat will always equal one vote without exceptions, and planets may not give their seats to non-citizens even if the non-citizen was elected. Members can be called whatever title their planet has designated for them, but "Member of the Lawbringer" or simply "ML" is acceptable in English.
The following is a list of seats divided by which planet they come from, sorted by population.
Any member of the Lawbringer may suggest laws. However, whether or not said law even makes it to the Lawhead relies on several factors. With several thousand politicians within the Lawbringer, quite a few laws have been "lost." If a law does make it, the law will be presented by the Lawhead. Afterward, it can be debated on, compromised, or otherwise discussed by the members for a certain allotted time throughout the day - or all day if the discussion is deemed important enough by the Lawhead. Due to the vast amounts of cultures and people represented by the Lawbringer, debates on more controversial bills can take days and even weeks before a conclusion is made. While there are safeguards to prevent the Lawbringer from being consumed by a bill, there are times where they are ignored out of a desire to continue the debate, purposeful filibustering on one party's part, or morbid curiosity. Most bills do not pass, as they need a 3/4ths majority to pass, though many don't even make it past a simple majority. However, this also means that if a bill is passed, it typically does not result in large-scale riots. Under the HFoS' Government, no individual bill or group of bills has caused violent political opposition, though violent opposition due to other practices does still occur.
Other powers of the Lawbringer include the ability to oust other members of Lawbringer with a 3/4rds majority, the ability to impeach the Lawhead with a 3/4rds majority, and the ability to put a Secretary of a Federal Department under investigation with a simple majority. The impeachment of the lawbringer is actually very important, as around 60% of the Lawbringer is unelected.
The Lawhead is the Head of Government and the Head of the Lawbringer, hence the name. Their powers are delegated from Title III Section 3 of the Charter. The Lawhead is responsible for organizing the Lawbringer, managing the Federal Departments - sans the Diplomatic Corps -, and representing the Lawbringer in official matters. The Lawhead is chosen amongst the Lawbringer with a 3/4ths vote. Upon becoming Lawhead, they lose their seat but assume the Seat of the Lawhead which is both a literally and figuratively elevated position. They maintain their ability to suggest, debate, and vote on laws - but are still limited to their vote only equalling one. They serve 500 Ahkmen Years, which roughly translates to about 5.47 Earth Years, and can serve two terms. The current Lawhead is Izi-Tarkmop.
As the organizer of the Lawbringer, the Lawhead begins all secessions by going over a list of topics that the Lawbringer will discuss that day. When new laws are presented, they have to read them in their entire original form. Afterward, they organize debate by allowing members to speak, acting as a pseudo-judge who gets both sides of an argument to explain themselves rationally. This is unless the Lawhead is a member of the debate, in which case their secretary frequently takes over as the de facto organizer. Other than law-making, the Lawhead has full responsibility for the appointment of Department Secretaries, being able to appoint them and remove them without Lawbringer approval. While this is because the Lawhead is supposed to be an extension of the Lawbringer, in practice, this fact has been used by the Lawhead to subvert the Lawbringer - as seen by Tarkmop's attempts to subvert the Lawbringer by using the Departments. Similarly, the Lawhead officially represents the Lawbringer as a whole in official meetings, something that is a consequence of the fact there are nearly 7000 Lawbringers.
(I refuse to write this. There's like 25 of them and knowing me, I am gonna go overboard and give each at least a paragraph.)
The Sopetim
As described in Title I Clause 1-5 of the Charter, the Holy Federation of Stars, the nation is a Federation of Planets, though acts more like a confederation. Planets may organize themselves however they please and are given significant autonomy in other such affairs. Planets are further divided into polities that I will refer to as "nations", though this term is used very loosely and includes tribes, governments without a state, feudal monarchies, regions that are officially anarchies, etc.
The Planetary Governments are the central authority or equivalent found on each planet. Their rights are described in For more information, click on their name.
As possibly implied by the previous list, the planetary governments are given significant autonomy over their own planets. They may organize themselves almost however they so wish, ranging from the Liberal Democracy of Earth to the feudal monarchy of Qutzeo. Moreover, the planets are further given significant autonomy over their economic, social, and other political affairs, even being allowed to form militias alongside their national counterparts. However, there are a few restrictions that planets must follow. Planets must respect certain human rights that are considered inalienable, such as the right to movement (specifically the ability to legally leave the planet they live on), the right to not be enslaved without due process of law, etc. Similarly, the planets may not use their militias against each other with it being forbidden for planets to declare war on each other. However, intraplanetary conflict is not entirely illegal, as the planets may use their force to put down riots, civil wars, and conflicts between nations. However, nations may not be destroyed or annexed without the consent of either the nation itself or the Court of Courts.
National Governments refer to any sub-planetary government, ranging from tribes such as the Narkpop communities to federations like the Estados Unidos de América. Like planets, they too have certain rights and regulations they must follow. However, they have significantly less legal protection than planets. As an example, in 2321 the Earth nation of Buganda tried to invade Toro. When Earth's Government responded by sending troops to Toro to repel the invasion, the HFoS declared that Earth was in its legal right to maintain peace between its member nations. As such, the autonomy nations get is determinate on the planet, with planets like Karkpop and Chaizu having significant autonomy while Ahkmen has none at all. However, on all planets, they do have certain rights. Nations may not be "destroyed", with even regime changes being looked down upon. Similarly, they have the right to organize themselves however they please so long it is within the legal boundaries of the planetary Government. Some planets are filled with sub-planetary republics, monarchies, plutocracies, tribes, hybrid systems, and other systems. Similarly, national governments have the right to militias of their own, though how large those militias are allowed to be depends on the planet.
While this system does allow member-states to retain their national and cultural identities whilst staying a part of the Federation, there are some issues with the system. Getting 8 planets aligned with a policy is already hard enough. But when some planets have hundreds if not thousands of further subdivisions, it can become extremely difficult for a policy to get accepted by the majority of the population. For example, the Okorhun drug is technically illegal and transport of it is enforced in interplanetary travel. However, individual planets have wildly different policies on it and furthermore, nations within the planet have different policies on it. While it is decriminalized on Earth, with its usage and sale being legal on a planetary scale, it is illegal within many nations in Africa. The reverse is also true, with the planet of Kyikniv officially criminalizing its usage and sale, but several nations including the Mumipotanishi Republic have decriminalized it, creating safe havens for their usage on the planet.