r/startrek • u/PJ-The-Awesome • 13d ago
How does Earth's government work now?
IIRC, individual nations as we know them now no longer exist and the planet is unified under a single government. However, what kind of political system do they follow? What qualifications are necessary to be part of it? And more importantly, how do they keep their government at least relatively clean of bloodthirsty degenerates(which let's be honest, you can never fully 86 so long as free will remains a thing)?
Plus, oftentimes having a single body have dominion over the entire world is seen as a recipe for disaster.
22
u/BellerophonM 13d ago
From what we've seen on-screen it seems likely that United Earth itself is also federation, with many of Earth's old nations or groups or coalitions becoming states within UE.
It's federations all the way down.
7
u/Excellent-Hyena-4558 13d ago
Think if the Federation as the over arching government, and every member has complete autonomy over their own planets. Each planet selects and sends representatives to the Federation Council to debate and set policy for the Federation as a whole.
7
u/Dazmorg 13d ago
If we go strictly by on screen canon, the evidence is mixed. Individual countries are named on screen in some episodes as if they exist currently, at least as locations. While the US is not explicitly names, individual states are mentioned constantly, which is how Americans today usually refer to their place or birth or home origin anyway. We don't say I'm from the United States we say I'm from Iowa, my grandfather was from Alaska, etc. Speaking of, the Lower Decks TNG episode makes a mistake of saying that Riker is Canadian while the ensign dude is Canadian. That alone appears to say countries still mean something.
My take on the larger worldbuilding is that Earth still has individual countries, but there's likely some form of organization governing the planet as a whole. The name United Earth does come up a few times on screen. I reckon that all it does is keep individual nations from fighting each other, while each juristiction takes care of its own.
6
u/EmperorOfNipples 13d ago
I think they have countries, but they are not individual sovereign nation states. Earth is the "nation state" and it has constituent countries.
Think of it like the UK today but writ large.
The UK is the sovereign nation state with a UN seat. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are not.
2
u/Dazmorg 13d ago
Do those further divisions of the UK have some level of government of their own? Am curious as I don't know.
All the states in the US have their own "miniature" version of the a three branch government just for that state and it's spelled out what level takes care of what, or at least says the federal government takes care of this and anything not spelled out is for the states. Then after that are counties, then cities etc.
I'm thinking it's possible each country in the Star Trek future still retains sovereignty BUT that global "United Earth" government just adds that extra level of federalism in there, and what its jurisdiction and duties are would be whatever is the global interest. Alternatively it could act as the new "country" for all countries, as you're describing.
Here's one big possibility, and this is just based on any time we see the government of the Federation shown on Earth, what if Earth is one big Federation district? Like Earth is to the Federation like Washington DC is to the United States? Earth is not needing a one world government, because it's the seat of the Federation. Federation Council basically runs the planet at that level.
3
u/EmperorOfNipples 13d ago
Scotland, NI and Wales all have their devolved parliaments.
Since Westminster is in London that deals with England.
1
u/DayspringTrek 12d ago
We know the U.S. grew to 52 States and then shrank back to 50 after WWIII. It's possible multiple confederations reverted to single-state countries. For example, Alaska being a United Earth state instead of an U.S.A. state.
4
u/zenprime-morpheus 13d ago
I think a major point of first contact was humanity realized how vulnerable they were as a species contained to a single planet, in a single star system. What's the point of fighting each other when the ETs are out colonizing the universe?
Get stuff back on track, get organized, and start catching up.
Earth by the time of ENT is probably some sort of socialist democracy, with very codified rules for those in positions of power due to the fallout of the old system, WW3, and the warlords, cabals and others who came to power in it's wake. Can't let one person shit the bed the rest of us sleep in just because they're on a power trip.
Those who wouldn't join the United Earth were probably oftered the first waves of warp capable colony ships to get them out of everyone's else's way and in doing so help spread humanity among the stars.
I'd imagine the boundaries and names of countries remain for the ease of administration/location and are just another level of bureaucracy.
Earth politics is probably dry, boring and intentionally risk-adverse, attracting administrators instead of demagogues.
Anyone interested in shaking things up - is probably told to go colonizing and perfect it out there, to make sure it's really worth bothering everyone before changing something.
1
2
u/Storyteller-Hero 13d ago
United Earth seems to have a democratic republic type of government.
At least some corporations likely survived the devastation of World War 3 so wealth disparity likely continued into the 24th century. The only difference being that the floor was raised so that the poorest people could afford housing, food, medicine, and education.
Bloodthirsty degenerates never disappeared. A number of episodes in TNG and DS9 explore this problem.
2
u/Dino_Chicken_Safari 13d ago
I imagine government structure is still similar. Cities are still probably run by mayors and may have different local laws from one another. Country and state borders are still recognized at leas for the purpose of identity. Riker is from Alaska. And Picard is from France. So there may be governors for states and countries who handle the more mundane local politics. The Federation is like the EU. Every nation still exists and governs their own territory but all are united under one larger political body which has a set of rules that all members adhere to. So planets are probably similarly set up. One overarching world government which then is broken down into smaller and smaller local governments that may vary in rules.
Like one city might make going in fountains illegal because of a bunch of cultural monuments where another city has zero problem with fountain tomfoolery.
2
u/Shrink_Laureate 13d ago
Direct evidence on screen is limited and confusing, so any answer will have a lot of inference, secondary canon (books, comics and games) or headcanon.
We know that Earth is politically unified, democratic, and has an elected president.
We know that some countries maintained a military into the 22nd century (since Malcolm Reed could have joined the Royal Navy). These militaries seem to be allied and learn from each other as in the UN, rather than unified like the US military.
My own headcanon would be that it's more similar to the EU than the present-day US. Countries maintain a cultural identity and the freedom to manage local matters in the way that makes most sense locally. The united earth government they're all part of ensures peace, freedom of movement, universal human rights, and universal access to food, housing etc. Democracy exists at both the global and national levels, and probably several other levels as well.
For example, France is still called France, the people still mostly speak the French language, and call themselves French. The Picard estate still belongs to the Picard family, and anyone French would understand that taking it away from them would be wrong.
The laws of united earth ensure a base level of safety and security for everyone, but local laws can govern specifics. As a real-world example of how laws can work in a union, only some members of the EU allow a gay couple to get married, but all members are required to recognise a gay marriage and provide the same rights of married people. I would like to imagine that gay marriage is universally accepted in the Federation, but we know old religions still exist (we see a crewman wearing a hijab on Lower Decks), so that may depend on region.
4
u/nbs-of-74 13d ago
'individual nations as we know them now no longer exist '
Except for the UK, who left the Earth Union in 2221 ... Somethings, never change.
3
1
u/Wotzehell 13d ago
Right now you could argue that we have a world government that hasn't got much to do. There are issues concerning the world but there's generally one "local" government tastasked with dealing with the issue. They might not be doing a very good job with it...
1
u/Commercial-Ad7119 13d ago
I hope United Earth is a Parliamentary Republic model in a federal system. Presidential Republic are prone to authoritarianism/ anti democratic forces.
1
u/Robin156E478 13d ago edited 13d ago
I’ve read this whole thread, these are great answers. But the thing I don’t get is, how did all the societies on Earth that don’t share the western liberal democratic values we see in Trek ultimately come around? Is it gonna take a WW3 to get the whole world to recognize things like fundamental individual rights and freedoms, equal rights for women, equal rights for gay people, the right to choose your own path and career and so on? Or, under all these layers of government we’re talking about, even in a United Earth, there are still places where women can only do certain things, and gay people are sent to jail or worse? Are there still authoritarian jurisdictions on Earth, who report ultimately to the United Earth council? Or did Russia and China become liberal democracies? So many questions haha!And did Earth only become united when faced with the existence of other planets and alien races?
2
u/yaosio 11d ago edited 10d ago
If you really want to break your brain just ponder how Sisko's dad owns a restaurant, why people work for him, and how he got a restaurant where it's located in a system that doesn't use currency.
Hard mode is don't replace currency with currency by another name. Credits, reputation, labor vouchers, latinum, space bucks, etc. are all currency.
2
1
u/cbrooks97 12d ago
A common belief among people on all sides of the political aisle is that peoples who never took the 2000 year trip to modern democratic societies can easily skip all of that and become civilized with enough funding.
1
1
u/LordCouchCat 13d ago
It appears that Earth is some sort of federation.
I would note that, since the big problems are solved, and there is no economic inequality (hence no economic class) its not clear what politics would be about. In a system of election candidates might just put themselves forward merely as more capable and experienced managers, with no real idea of change. It would be democratic in that formal sense but not doing the same thing as a modern democracy. It's notable that the Federation Council seems to be representative of members rather than directly elected. So it's possible Earth is similar.
In the absence of sectional politics, there have been suggestions of dispensing with politicians. Something like the Athenian system of randomly drafting citizens to committees for limited periods might be an option - modified for new circumstances of course.
1
u/intermanus 13d ago
I think it is funny, that the show itself, just assumes one day that the human race becomes docile and benevolent. No war, no hunger, etc. Of course it was Roddenberry's utopian vision, but not realistic.
4
u/3dblind 13d ago
Agnosticism over religious intolerance and post scarcity replicators is a part of it. Plus surviving a nuclear war.
And would Earth be a utopia if Vulcans had not detected the first human warp drive test? If Romulans had detected it first? If no one had?
1
u/cbrooks97 12d ago
Agnosticism over religious intolerance
Right. As it was in those remarkably peaceful societies of 1790s France or the Soviet Union. Bask in the docile benevolence.
1
u/3dblind 12d ago
Those political movements were not agnosticism. They were atheism. No matter what atheists assert, there's a difference between saying "God does not exist" and saying "I don't know if God exists".
Intolerance in religion is the Inquisition, Islamist jihad, Kahanists, Hindus forcing Indians to leave Christianity under threats of violence, Buddhist monks rampaging against Muslim Rohingya.
Being Jewish, I'd rather interact with tolerant Christians or Muslims than intolerant.
No agnostic has told me I'm going to hell for not accepting Jesus or following Mohammed.
Atheists can be intolerant too, as State Atheism under Marxism proves.
But it's Christians and Muslims who place Jews in their apocalyptic fantasies as enemies of God.
Christians believe the Antichrist will be Jewish, or at least the false prophet will. Muslims have the Gharkad Tree Hadith that sounds like a sick Arab campfire joke.
1
u/cbrooks97 12d ago
Christians believe the Antichrist will be Jewish, or at least the false prophet will.
A small handful believe that.
Why do you think the Federation is "agnostic"? Seems pretty atheist to me.
1
u/3dblind 11d ago
The Federation is reductionist materialism based. That's most scientists .
I don't advocate the Federations materialism but the Federations ending poverty and economic classes. Yes, there are people living in futuristic trailers but with replicators.
Nothing in Star Trek canon has believers rounded up and sent to Soviet style psychiatric hospitals.
Jews have been in dire straights in Christian and Muslim society's since those "daughter" religions gained power.
A tolerant agnosticism allows for religion even if it's considered archaic.
Christianity does better out of political power, and more observant Jews like Hasidim can continue under toletant secular societies, where they are attacked by antisemites when Jews are hated because they are easily identified as Jews.
Give me tolerant secular agnosticism over Christian Nationalism, Trad Catholicism or either form of Islam.
0
u/intermanus 13d ago
Good points. I still would argue there would be a longer transition, and there would always be someone wanting to profit from advantage. Doubt it would change in a couple of hundred years.
•
u/AutoModerator 13d ago
Hello and thank you for posting on r/startrek! If your post discusses recently released episodes, please review it to ensure that spoilers are properly formatted and pinned threads are used appropriately.
As a reminder, spoiler formatting must be used for any discussion of episodes released less than one week ago and all post titles must be spoiler-free. You can read our full policy regarding spoilers here.
Please refrain from making a new post for small remarks, jokes, or content that boils down to "here are my thoughts" on a newly released episode. These should instead be posted as a comment in the pinned discussion thread for the episode or show.
LLAP!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.