View source for Talk:Alliance/@comment-86.85.209.235-20150211192308/@comment-85.166.108.253-20150417234729

As far as I know, the Alliance can best be described as a Confederation: Its members are separate nations, who primarily share their military forces as described above. Since its members are represented by all sorts of governments, it stands to reason that the internal legal structure of the Alliance must allow for very different governments; everything from total libertarian democracies to totally fascist totalitarian states, with everything inbetween. As such, Alliance law most likely only regulate trade and safety in interstellar space, while few or no laws affect members' internal politics directly, hence the Alliance of Independent Worlds.

If you have seen Firefly/Serenity; think browncoat.