Government

Government types in the Galaxy Map filter

Government in Elite Dangerous primarily refers to organisational structure and characteristics of a Minor Faction. The Government of a Minor Faction determines which commander activities will increase or decrease its influence and the level of contentment of the people inhabiting star systems and stations under its control, which in turn impacts the Background Simulation. Government types also affect the availability and quality of certain station services.

Government Types

Standard

There are 11 standard government types:

Government	Description
Anarchy	Anarchist factions are typically criminal gangs or organizations that possess no official (or organized) form of government, yet still wield influence within a system. They usually have no formal laws, except those of self-preservation and personal loyalty to an individual, and as such anarchy systems are lawless and dangerous places.
Communism	Communist governments believe in an equal society, although one controlled by a central group. The means to choose that central group are varied, and often contradict the altruistic aims of such a society. Generally such governments are totalitarian and centralized.
Confederacy	Confederacy factions are sometimes considered forms of proto-democracy. Although instead of a centrally elected government their society is governed by smaller parties and interest groups working in concert. The votes of the individual are not a core concept for these societies, although can be found in some.
Cooperative	Cooperative factions are similar to communist ones in that their core precept is equal stature of all members of society. Unlike communist factions, a cooperative's governance is not centralized, but organized through devolved parties and committees. All are expected to work equally for the betterment of their society, rather than that of the individual.
Corporate	Corporate State governments extend the corporate structure throughout the society, with shareholding being the equivalent to citizenship. The principles will vary, but are generally set to ensure smooth operations for the corporations, often to the benefit of the attached population.
Democracy	Democratic governments are chosen by the voting public. The government then sets the law. While the specifics often vary between democratic states, they are all unified by the concept of being accountable to their voters.
Dictatorship	Dictatorships have an overall ruler, who will remain leader until they die, or are overthrown. Power in the society is controlled (often by extreme measures) by that single individual. Succession is often a tumultuous affair. All members of society owe their allegiance to that individual.
Feudal	Feudal societies are based around a group of feudal leaders, each which have absolute power within their region. They usually cooperate to appoint a single overall representative, but power rests with the feudal lords, rather than the appointed representative.
Patronage	Factions and societies based upon Patronage have at their root family structure, with a hierarchy extended beyond that. Loyalty and honor is generally at its centre, similar to that of the Empire. Some argue this provides a truer form of democracy.
Prison Colony	Prison colony factions deal with the governance of prisoner inmate populations, usually on a large scale. While they are authoritarian and often controlled at the top end by a law enforcement element, they do sometimes contain a political element contributed by the prisoners.
Theocracy	Theocratic factions are based upon the structures of their respective religions. The practical processes are different between the religions, but they all share the concept that their society exists in devotion to their religion and the the deity or deities or beliefs at their centre.

Unique

There are 4 special government types that apply to specific situations:

Engineer - Formerly "Workshop". The government type used for Engineer Workshops.
None - The government type for all uninhabited systems. Functionally similar to Anarchy in that there will be no security response to criminal actions.
Prison - The government type for the four factions (Alliance Incarceration Concern, Federal Internment Corporation, Imperial Detainment Company, Independent Detention Foundation) that control Detention Centres.
Private Ownership - The government type for all Fleet Carriers.

Deprecated

There are 2 government types which are not utilised:

Colony - Originally used for factions in newly-colonised systems, which would later mature into a pre-determined standard government type.
Imperial - While present in the game, no minor faction with this government type has ever been documented.

Government Subtypes

Most government types have multiple subtypes depending on a minor faction's allegiance which are described on the Status submenu of the System Status tab in the right panel of the ship HUD. Note that certain government types are not permitted under the laws of the Federation, Empire, and Alliance, and so no minor factions exist with the subtypes for certain allegiance and government combinations.

Government Type	Government Subtype by Allegiance
Government Type	Federation	Empire	Alliance	Independent
Anarchy	Rebel. A faction that engages in activity that quite often places them at odds with members of the Federation Law Enforcement agencies.	Rebel. An organisation that is actively engaged in activity that goes against the Imperial status quo. Members openly defy Imperial law, although not all known associates are involved in criminal activity.	Freemen. A group that refuses to recognize the legal construct as defined by the Alliance of Independent Systems. Often, but not always, these groups act as a front for some organised criminal syndicate.	Unfettered. This group is known to have a distain for any laws outside its own attempts to govern its members behavior.
Communism	N/A	N/A	Communist. A group that promotes the idea that all members are created equal, even though clearly some members are more equal than others.	Communist. A faction that believes that all assets should be communally owned, and that resources should be fairly divided among all members by judging each individual's true needs.
Confederacy	Venturist. A faction that, in conjunction with a number of similarly aligned organisations, promotes their agenda by manipulating the application of capital being channeled in to local business and social ventures.	N/A	Unionist. An organisation that engages in activities designed to strengthen ties with other independent groups in order to increase the influence of the Alliance of Independent Systems.	Unionist. An organisation that engages in activities that are designed to strengthen ties with other independent groups in order to maintain a certain level of independence from the three Great Powers.
Corporate	Corporation. A business orientated organisation that has been incorporated as per the Federation Charter of Free Commerce. Members of this faction are representative of a corporate entity and are seen as such in the eyes of the law.	Corporation. An organisation that has been granted the rights of an Imperial Corporation. They are likely to have business interests that extend beyond a single station or planet.	Corporation. An interstellar business organisation that has been incorporated in accordance with the terms laid out by the Alliance of Independent Systems.	Corporation. An independent business organisation that has been incorporated with its respective home government.
Cooperative	N/A	N/A	Broker. A faction that actively engages in alliances with a wide variety of other organisations in order to incubate and influence local enterprise.	Broker. An organisation that specializes in promoting synergy between disparate groups in order to incubate social and commercial growth.
Democracy	Political. Members of this group are actively engaged in the promotion of a democratically approved political agenda.	Reformist. As staunch believers in representative democracy, this faction often finds itself at odds with the more traditional Imperial factions. Despite frequent clashes with members of the old guard, this group continues to try and implement various systems for devolving social responsibility to duly appointed members of the community without going against the established status quo.	Democrat. A faction that is known for actively following the ideal that all members should be able to influence how their organisation operates.	Democrat. A faction that is known for actively following the ideal that all members should be able to influence how their organisation operates.
Dictatorship	N/A	Dictator. A faction that has been granted absolute power over a specific area of influence by decree of the Imperial Senate.	Authoritarian. A faction that uses a top-down management style in order to maintain a tight hold over its assets.	Dictator. An organisation that engages in authoritarian activities in order to establish and maintain absolute control over its chosen field of interest.
Feudal	N/A	Neo-Feudalist. A faction that actively engages in activity to ensure that Imperial Corporations are ceded more control over the day to day running of Imperial Worlds.	Feudalist. A group that leverages land based assets and corporate investments to exert its control over the systems that fall within their reach.	Feudalist. A faction that has built up a significant sphere of influence in the sector though a series of investments and acquisitions. As such they are able to use their portfolio of assets as leverage against local leaders.
Patronage	N/A	Patronage. A group that is actively engaged in the governance of Imperial Cliens. Representatives of this group should be treated with the respect that befits the rank of the organisations master.	Lobbyist. A group that is known for leveraging its economic resources in order to influence the actions of others.	Investor. A group that invests significant resources into Independent projects in order to incubate the growth of civilisation in the supposedly untamed areas of space.
Prison Colony	N/A	Warden. An organisation that has been commissioned to ensure that the Emperor's Justice is meted out at an officially sanctioned Imperial Penal Colony.	N/A	Watchmen. An organisation that has been formed to maintain control over a specific independent penal colony. Often such groups have sponsors that are decidedly not independent in nature.
Theocracy	Theocrat. A faction that has been recognized as a Religious Organisation under Federation Law.	N/A	Theocrat. An organisation that has been recognized as an official religion by the Alliance of Independent Systems.	Theocrat. An independent group that claims to be religious in nature. It is possible that this group may not be an officially sanctioned religion.

Notes

There are a number of unique government subtype descriptions associated with specific powers, which are described here. These subtype descriptions usually reference an event in the game or the results of player actions.
A system's government type can be seen via the Info tab in the Galaxy Map, by colour coding stars in the Galaxy Map, or by viewing the overall information in the System Map.
Minor Faction government types can be viewed in the overall information in the System Map.
Station government types can be viewed by selecting a station on the System Map.
When in some Anarchy systems, ships will not show up as WANTED, but they can be scanned with a Kill Warrant Scanner which will reveal any bounties currently active on their heads.

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