Alliance

The Federal Alliance of Systems or, as it is more commonly refered to as, the Alliance, is a multi-system star nation in the Galactic western part of Human Space.

Geography
The capital system of the Alliance is the Eridanus System and lies in the Riegler Sector of Human Space. It lies approximately 430 light-years to the Galactic north of Earth. The capital system consists of the habitable world Eridanus, the capital world of the Alliance, and the remnants of two planets which were destroyed immense meteor storms several dozen millennia ago.

The Alliance itself consists of 73 systems spread out over a very large area of space. The Alliance border three different major star nations (the Star Kingdom of Aurora, Terran Union and the Hydran Empire) and is by far the largest star nation in both Human Space and in history. There are many independent systems and planets within the Alliance territory.

Founding
The Alliance was founded in 267 P.E by a group of systems and planets which had recently been ravaged and had suffered heavily in the Riegler Dominance War. The politician Jephrey Burns from Eridanus was present at the peace talks between the warring factions and was inspired by the book "Utopia" he was reading at the time. He presented the idea of an alliance of nations, a confederation of worlds where every world had equal importance and equal say, regardless of size and power. Through cooperation, trade and a common desire to rebuild what had been destroyed, they would be able to create a star nation unrivalled since the days of the United Earth Empire. But they would abstain from having the same over-centralized government and practice the same total control of its member worlds which had eventaully led to the UEE's downfall. The representatives from the other nations were impressed by his ideas and their desire to rebuild and live in peace convinced them. Thus was the Federal Alliance of Systems born.

Growth and peace
The Alliance quickly esablished itself as one of the major powers in Human Space and gathered a large number of member nations in only a few decades. Eridanus was chosen as the capital world with the previous capital city being renamed to Capitol and housed the Alliance Council and Alliance General Assembly as well as being the administrative capital. The threat of the ever expanding Hydran Empire convinced many to join the Alliance and it continued to grow at a massive rate. The Constitution of the Alliance was presented in 299 P.E and was is still in effect today. It purposefully dictate that no government or group of politicians should be able to hold abosulte or much power, and every government instance is checked by another. It also gives the member nations wide autonomy in keeping with the liberalist essence of the Alliance itself.

Second Hydran War
On the advent of the First Hydran War, many planets and systems joined the Alliance, seeking protection from the despotic Hydrans. The Alliance stayed out of the conflict, but there was a distinct shift in Alliance policy after this. With President Eleanor Harris' first term as president she appealed to the General Assembly to help nations suffering under tyrant's rule and bring them liberation in form of freedom and democracy. This was well received and in 427 P.E the Alliance invaded the Sheng-Hou System in the north-western part of the Hydran Empire, sparking a war between the two nations. This became the Second Hydran War and the severely weakened Hydran Empire, recently defeated by the Star Kingdom of Aurora, was forced to surrender after a series of disasterous defeats. They conceded the Sheng-Hou, Pilifer and the Manking systems to the Alliance. The Alliance then invaded a series of independent systems which the General Assembly decreed as mismanaged and having tyrannical and illegitemate rulers. These too were brought into the Alliance as member worlds, largely against the people of these worlds', will.

Martin's Star
The ever expaning Star Kingdom and Royal Alliance soon presented themselves as the major political and ideological enemy to the Alliance. Where the Alliance promoted liberalism and desentralization, the Star Kingdom promoted elitism, socialism and state control. Large parts of the Alliance population started to feel threatened by the expaning Royal Alliance and demanded government action. In an effort to stop the Royal Alliance from further expaning, Alliance forces invaded Martin's Star, an applicant system to the Royal Alliance. The Star Kingdom was forced to stay out of the conflict, not wishing to go to war against the single largest star nation for a nation not even a part of the Royal Alliance and Martin's Star fell into Alliance hands. Martin's Star joined the Alliance, though public opinion in the system was very divided over this.

Cold War
After this the relations between the Alliance and the Star Kingdom cooled and worsened until a point where both sides regarded each other as their mortal enemy. But neither side was prepared for open war and trade continues between the two factions. Both sides are looking for possible advantages over the other and are looking for allies wherever they can be found.

Further information

 * See: 6th Century Cold War
 * See: Alliance Ideology
 * See: Star Kingdom of Aurora Ideology

Executive Branch
The President of the Alliance and the Alliance Council form the executive branch of the Alliance political system. The President's power is very much checked by the General Assembly, which he must demand support from in every case of affairs. The Council is the President's cabinet, formed by the different governmental secretaries, each responsible for their own state secretary post. The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs is the leading secretaries and is dubbed by public and the media as the "Triumvirate".

Legislative Branch
The Alliance General Assembly is the legislative branch of the Alliance and is formed by three representatives from each member nation. It is dictated in the constitution that every bill and government decision must pass through a vote in the General Assembly, and only if it gains a majority of votes is it passed. The real power therefore lies in the General Assembly as everything the government suggests can be voted down and it keeps any one person from attaining to much power. There are no political parties in the Alliance and both senators and presidents are elected on basis of personality and experience.

Judiciary Branch
The justice system is formed by the Supreme Court of Justice, the High Court and the myriad of local courts in the Alliance member nations. The Supreme Court of Justice is primarily a political court, appointed by the General Assembly every ten years. They continually monitor the government and the General Assembly and decide if any of them operates or makes decisions outside of their power limitations dictated by the constitution. The High Court deals with criminal acts of high importance or value which have passed through all instances of local justice and still repeals for higher justice.

Critisicm
The political system seems very logical and well organized, but the voting process on every bill and government decision makes it is very rarely a government bill/decision concerning member nations is passed. Each representative being very individualistic and intentionally keep the government from interfering in national business. This has in turn made critics, both local and international, to claim that this has weakened the central government to a stage where it is merely a figurehead and a speaker in the General Assembly Hall. They cannot take the initiative to actually exercise effective politic, but is merely reduced to the Assembly's puppet.

Supporters of the system keep referring to the fact that government monetary waste is kept very low and there is continual peace within the Alliance. It also keeps the government from becoming to powerful and turn dictatorical, the purpose of the whole system as dictated by the constitution

Constitution
The Constitution of the Federal Alliance of Systems dictate that there are to be a a free flow of capital, labour and people between the member nations. There is to be no trade barriers between the member nations, giving all nations an equal chance of getting into every possible export market. Every nation is to be represented by two senators in the General Assembly, regardless of size, population or wealth. Every Alliance-wide bill or government decision will be put to vote and only through a definite majority would it be passed. The President and the Council are to ask the General Assembly before being granted permission to go to war, raise taxes (which are kept very low) or introduce Alliance-wide changes. An attack on one member is an attack on all and every member nation is obliged to support each other in case of armed conflict, either through economic, military or other means.

Military
The Alliance Military is comprised of the Alliance Navy, the Alliance Ground Forces and the Alliance Marine Corps. The supreme commander is the President, but the de-facto leader is the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Alliance Navy is the largest with the largest number of personnel and largest in terms of funding. Personnel for the military comes from all the member nations of the Alliance and many nations retain their own defence forces, but Alliance ship, vehicle and weapon designs are all standarized. Like most militaries, the Alliance's is all-volunteer except in all-out war when drafting can be invoked.

Further information

 * See: Alliance Navy
 * See: Alliance Ground Forces
 * See: Alliance Marine Corps