Lord Irish's Sci-Fi RPG Site
Home Section Alternity Section Gamma World Section Star Frontiers Section Star Trek Section
Star Frontiers Section Header
The Campaign
Errata
The Federation
Intelligence
Military
Star Law
Sign Guestbook
View Guestbook

The United Planetary Federation

Overview

The United Planetary Federation (UPF) is an alliance of semi-autonomous planets within four parsecs of the Sol system. The UPF came into being at the close of the First Sathar War to provide for a united front against further Sathar aggression. While the Federation has grown in power and stature over the years, its members are still self-governing and the amount of influence it has over planetary and system governments is limited during peacetime. The UPF primarily concerns itself with interstellar affairs. Keeping the space lanes clear of pirates, corporate warfare, and Sathar agents through Star Law, and maintaining the small but potent Armada and Planetary Defense Forces are the mandates of the Federation government.

If you want to inject some politics into your SF game, check out David "Zeb" Cook's From Anarchy to Empire in Dragon Magainze #94, p. 78.

- Lord Irish

Government

The Federation has two branches of government: a combined executive/legislative branch and the judiciary. The former consists of two parts, the Senate and the Assembly. Senators serve eight-year terms and there is no limit to the number of times a senator may be elected office. Each member of the Federation gets to send three senators to the Capitol on Discourse. Planet Discourse is in the Epsilon Eridani star system.

The Senate

The role of the Senate is to establish the general laws and policies of the Federation. This is done through the drafting of resolutions in committees that are then voted on by the whole Senate. Approved resolutions go to the Assembly for amendment; disapproved resolutions go back to the committee they came from, are tabled, or abandoned. Once amended by the Assembly and recognized by the Prime Minister, Senate resolutions are put to a vote for ratification. If the Senate ratifies the amended resolution with a two-thirds majority, it is passed to the President to be signed into law.

The President

The President of the Senate is appointed by his fellow senators to preside over the body for a single eight-year term. During this time, he is referred to simply as "the President," and is generally accepted as the leader of the Federation. The President generally establishes the UPF's foreign policy and the broad goals of the government. It is the responsibility of the President to sign resolutions that have made their way through the legislative process into law. If the President believes the resolution is not in the best interests of the Federation, he may choose to veto it. Vetoed resolutions go back to the Senate. The President may veto a resolution three times.

The Assembly

The Assembly is the larger of the two executive/legislative chambers. It's members, called deputies, serve four-year terms, not to exceed five terms total. The number of deputies each world sends to the Capitol on Discourse depends on its population and Gross Planetary Product (GPP). Obviously, the number of deputies representing each planet varies.

The Assembly works out the particulars of resolutions ratified by the Senate, having final say on the allocation of resources to any and all legislative initiatives. This process is called amending. Resolutions are amended in committees and are then voted on by the whole Assembly. Amended resolutions go back to the Senate for final ratification; disapproved amendments go back to the committee they came from, are tabled, or abandoned. Once an amended resolution passes the Assembly with a two-thirds vote, it goes to the Prime Minister to be recognized.

The Prime Minister

The Prime Minister of the Assembly is appointed by his fellow deputies to preside over the body for a four-year term. During this time, he is referred to simply as "the Prime Minister." The Prime Minister leads the Assembly in hammering-out the particulars of the Senate's legislative initiatives and establishes the broad outlines of the UPF's domestic policies. There is no limit to the number of times a deputy may be elected Prime Minister. It is the responsibility of the Prime Minister to recognize or veto any amended resolutions that pass the Assembly. Recognized resolutions go to the Senate for ratification; vetoed resolutions go back to the Assembly. The Prime Minister may veto a resolution only once.

This page last updated on 04/09/2000.
All original content © .