Because I am updating my website the day before my first final, I'm attempting to update with an interesting post relating to my schoolwork.
Although the story of Anakin Skywalker's eventual turn toward the dark side is the main focus of the upcoming Star Wars movie, the Revenge of the Sith, the parallel story of how the Old Republic becomes the totalitarian Empire may perhaps be the most politically interesting. (Yes, even E.T. had a seat in the galactic Senate.)
The Galactic Senate, after having given Chancellor Palpatine emergency powers, allows the Senator to solidify his power with numerous constitutional amendments. From this constitutional change, an alarmed Senator Amidala (Natalie Portman) begins "collecting the pledges of what would become the Delegation of 2,000, a group of disaffected Senators formally critical of Palpatine's rule." From this pledge, the beginnings of the Rebel Alliance will form, but not until the Separatists have lost all ties to the Sith and Chancellor Palpatine installs himself as Emperor.From this example, the Star Wars government shows the inherent problems with ceding national sovereignty over to a supranational institution, especially in the form of military power. For many who believed in the Galactic Senate, as Robert Kagan might argue, their Kantian leanings to solve the Hobbesian world of galactic politics would point to a supranational government. The Hobbesian world, referred to by Kagan, is the conception that men by nature are enemies, not fellow citizens, constantly seeking power. Kagan says, " But he [Kant] also feared that the 'state of universal peace' made possible by world government would be an even greater threat to human freedom than the Hobbesian international order, inasmuch as such a government, with its monopoly of power, would become 'the most horrible despotism.'" It would seem that Kant, learned in classical philosophy, understands Plato's The Republic and its evolutionary stages of government. Plato notes that a democracy is the most unstable forms of government and the public will want someone to instill order, but which leads to tyranny. If a large supranational government were given to such oscillations of opinion and instability, then the threat of tyranny would have even greater magnitude. Keep in mind that the Republic was not founded upon the concept of a balance of power, it is more like the parliamentary systems of Europe. Much like the fallen democracies of Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy, the Republic gives its power to Chancellor Palpatine who later becomes Emperor Palpatine.
Now, there is a lot to be said for supranational institutions. The Galactic Senate is a place where nations can agree on a charter of rights, trade negotiation, the institution as a forum for foreign policy decisions, and where all nations have a seat in advising and consulting. Indeed, in the scary world of Jabba the Hutts, Boba Fetts, and other galactic smugglers, bounty hunters, and terrorists, it may be best for governments to try to cooperate and stop an intergalactic slave trade/smuggling ring or preserve rights/liberties in the world. These are just a number of good reasons to want to have allies and partners. However, countries will not cede their national sovereignty to a supranational institution because they are afraid of the "Kantian depotism" that might follow. Even worse, however, is that once countries feel that the Galactic Senate cannot suffice in representing their interests, they will lose faith in the institution, e.g. Naboo's war with the Trade Federation. This effect may even lead separating governments to want to destroy the instituion, e.g. the Separatists in this upcoming movie who wage war against the Republic. Case in point, the only way that the Republic was to fight off the Separatists was to have a standing army of its own to fight against the Republic. The Republic needed this power, and this standing army was the beginning of the "despotic regime" and the downfall of the Republic. Even Master Yoda's clear vision did not see when he lead the Clone troops against the droid armies that the standing army of the Republic would follow the old adage of "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." These troops gave the Republic new meaning, not as a forum for galactic politics, but as an entity unto itself. Combined with the centralization of power in one person, a Sith Lord at that, the Republic is a tale of perfect political tragedy. Ultimately, Star Wars III shows that the Kantian paradise could not solve the Hobbesian crisis posed before the Republic. As this movie and the next movie show, the ever-changing world of galactic politics is probably the most realist and Hobbesian of all political experiments. Amazingly, those Separatists would later join forces with others to form the Alliance, and the Republic would evolve to become the dark Empire.
Links found while Web-searching for anything about Star Wars: Star Wars III- All the cool stuff.
Star Wars Essays- These may shed some light to those who don't understand why Star Wars is so widely popular. Another commentary from Salon.com on
Star Wars: the hidden agenda An Essay on
How Star Wars Saved His Life... and Turned Him Into a Geek For Life Whoever this guy is, he's
hilarious. Some person's
musing on Obi-Wan, quite literary, might I add.
That's it for now. I'm off to study for Gov 125 & Gov 126. Good luck to my fellow DCers, and as always... may the force be with you (I'm such a nerd).
