New Republic

The republic is a representative democracy centered on the senate based on the ACKBAR space station (originally pitched as the MOTHMA)  during peacetime. For the past sixteen years it has held strong and fierce to its ideals written down in the ‘Coruscanti Charters of Freedoms’ codified by Mon Mothma upon retaking the once crown jewel of the galaxy.

Joining The Republic

In the preamble of the Coruscanti Charters of Freedoms it lists a set of requirements for how all planets looking to join or that are within the Republic must conduct themselves. Failure to meet principle 2 or 3 may lead to investigation by a Republic Marshal, being expelled from the union or denial to entry of the union.

1. All planets are guaranteed the freedom of expression, right to assembly and freedom of worship and belief; all within reasonable conduct.

2. All member systems must respect the sapient rights of its peoples.

3. All member systems must give adequate representation to its peoples.

Many planets wish to join the Republic, either for its ideals, economic aid, or protection and while there are several requirements outside of the Charter’s any failure to meet the principles of them without any attempts to rectify it will lead to an immediate denial of entry.

Should a planet attempt to apply for membership and is willing to work with the Republic to meet the requirements for its application it then falls to the Republic Marshals to make sure everything is in order for said planet to join the union, namely restructuring the government to make it more democratic or make sure resources are shared evenly throughout the planet or that there aren’t potential problems that might plague said planet with things like pirates. Often Jedi are deputized for these efforts when available as they often have overlapping interests in these matters.

At its core the Republic is a union of planets that have come together willingly and this cannot be understated. All planets within the Republic, currently, may leave the union so long as at least 60% of the population of the planet votes to secede; a very controversial right.  But an important one to make it clear that the Republic is fighting for a free galaxy, not the Republic. Currently the Senate’s focus is on the rebuilding of planets that were sacked by Admiral Stavar Ulgo during his retreat of the Core Worlds, which despite having made great progress is still far from where they need it, along with other planets similarly decimated by imperial cruelty.

The Republic Fleet is, despite some setbacks, the premier fleet of the galaxy. The fleet is capable of easily matching any individual remnant fleet in a direct confrontation though they would be unlikely to match a unified empire; though the chances of that diminish by the day. As a volunteer service the Republic proudly boasts in its diplomatic meetings with remnant factions that not a single one of its servicemen needs to be conscripted or coerced into martial duty.

Besides the fleet however, which usually accompanies the ACKBAR or patrols the hyperspace lanes in case of pirate attack, the Republic army is rather decentralized as a result of both their volunteer-only recruitment but also their stance on the defense spending of individual worlds. Currently the Republic allows all worlds within its union to maintain their own ground forces as well as muster their own fleets to a point, so long as neither sourced from conscription or forced labor. However there is a size restriction on ships and the standing army of any individual planet is calibrated off said planet’s population; Droid soldiers currently are legal but are met with high scrutiny.

This means while the Republic military is huge for its size in comparison to any imperial remnant, it can sometimes depend on local militaries or marshalls in order to defend its outermost borders. Not much of an issue in the Core Worlds, but in the Outer Rim where planets struggle to muster even the most basic of garrisons, it requires lone rangers or rogue actors to defend from surprise attacks.

The Republic’s relation throughout the galaxy with the particular Imperial Remnants is actually a rather complicated web, factions like Naboo have almost amiable relations with the Republic whilst there have been rumors of low level skirmishes between Anaxes and the Republic in worlds looking to sway towards joining the Republic that may be facing infiltration as well as sabotage by Anaxes spies along with neutral worlds that are being invaded by Anaxes that may be receiving secret military aid by the Republic.  Overall it varies from remnant to remnant with Naboo being the best and Anaxes by far being the worst.

As for the corporate sector there have been overtures by the Republic hoping to perhaps finally bring greater freedoms to the region and inducting a major economic hub into its borders; But these largely have fallen through with the ethics of the Republic continuing to trade with the sector a point of contention in the Senate.

While there are many fights within the New Republic between its peoples, the past few years have seen a new debate emerge across the New Republic; federalism vs unionism.

Unionism is the belief that the New Republic should be a coalition of systems that aid each other as parts of a union. This has been the guiding principle of the New Republic for most of its life, born mostly as a reaction to the authoritarian centralization under the Empire. But over the past few years a counter philosophy has emerged; Federalism. A recently popular philosophy, Federalism is the idea that the New Republic would be better served by a more centralized authority. Of note, this philosophy began taking off with the concern that a system could leave the New Republic so they can abandon their responsibilities to protect the rights of their people, a concern that took off after Corellia failed to join the New Republic, igniting fears of mistreatment of Corellia’s nonhuman populations.

While Federalism has been around even back in the old Republic, it being spread enough for there to be a galactic wide debate is very new; so new in fact it doesn’t even have any formal organizations or parties backing it. As such, there is no major Federalist;, or for that matter a Unionist;, factions; individual people either think the New Republic should be more centralized or less.