Empire: Difference between revisions

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The line of succession to the imperial throne is generally hereditary except if there's no suitable candidate acceptable to the [[Imperial Senate]].<ref name=":5" /> When ascended to the throne, the emperor rules until death.
 
Traditionally, all [[Emperor|Emperors]] are members of Duval[[Imperial dynastyFamily]], which stretches back to the Empire's founding. [[Hengist Duval]], the previous Emperor, changed Imperial law to allow female descendants of the Duvals to be crowned Emperor, clearing the way for [[Arissa Lavigny-Duval]] to be named his heir. Due to Hengist Duval's decree that [[Prince]] [[Harold Duval]] was not sound of mind, there was no clear successor. Thus after the assassination of Hengist Duval an election was held by the Senate and Arissa was chosen as the next Emperor by a vote of the Imperial Senate. She is the 16th and current Emperor of the Empire.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" />
 
===Imperial Senate===
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There are Senators that have come up from the Military, or by corporate success – but by the very nature of Patronage, and the cost of the petitions, it can be very exclusive, with family inheritance being important too.<ref name=":5" />
 
There are no elections, and Senators serve for life unless their title is revoked. A Senator represents a group of Patrons, who in turn represent Clients, and each of those represents a group of Citizens. This representation is public. Anyone can see who is currently supporting each Senator (Patron, Client), and their numbers. There are 1,000 Senators by Imperial Decree, dating back to the first Emperor a thousand years ago. A very popular Patron can petition to become a Senator if he or she thinks they could represent more Citizens than one of the least popular Senators. That less popular Senator the petitioner chooses to target has the opportunity to rally support against the challenger for seven days, but as does the popular Patron, and at the end of that period a decision is made based on their support, and that Patron cannot petition again for 1 Earth year if they are unsuccessful. Similarly a deposed Senator cannot petition to become a Senator again for a year. Posting a petition has a cost (1 Bnbillion CR[[credits]], paid to the Emperor) to prevent time wasters, which is returned if the petition succeeds. When a Senator dies or chooses to retire, usually their chosen successor takes their Senatorial seat. Most Senators will have such a chosen successor already working closely in their entourage, and familiar and friendly with their most powerful Patrons so continuity is assured; as a result generally their petitions are unopposed. Sometimes multiple petitions are made for the same Senatorial opening, which can happen when a Senator and their entourage dies in the same event, so this is the nearest the Empire gets to an election, with the most popular succeeding in their petition.<ref name=":5" />
 
A controversial issue can result in a sudden mass realignment of Patrons, but this can happen at any time; the system is pretty dynamic.<ref name=":5" />
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Effectively all Imperial systems have representation, but indirectly. Every Imperial Citizen has a right to representation by a Client. Every Client has a right to be represented by a Patron, and every Patron a Senator. Senators generally represent power bases – which can be many systems or a specific interest group, and typically many hundred Patrons – though it is up to the Senator how many Patrons they have. There is not a fixed number. So if a system has just one Imperial Citizen living there, they will have representation in the Senate – but most likely only indirectly through their Patrons. It is likely there is a Patron at the head of each of the larger Imperial Minor Factions for example, but not a Senator.<ref name=":5" />
 
[[Senators]] represent their Patrons as they see fit. Senators can also hold other roles, like [[Admiral of the Fleet]], [[Chancellor]], Leader of the House (runs the Senate hearings when the Emperor and Chancellor are not present). Senators can also have private interests, and generally represent one or more Corporations – often with large personal shareholdings in them. They are fully entitled to be biased towards their own interests, and generally do, as long as most of their Patrons hold much the same interests. Senators are above the law, subject only to a decree from the Emperor, and through history it has even been known for Senators to go to battle against each other.<ref name=":5">[https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=225156 Governments and politics in Elite Dangerous] by Michael Brookes</ref>''<nowiki/>''
 
==Faction information==