Star Wars lore question/discussion - power of the Republic and Empire

[Dodoroq]

Going to ask a question (or stir discussion/ask for confirmation) on executive power Republic (before it's fall) and Empire had in various parts of the galaxy. I was asking the same thing on Reddit (outright deleted the message) and Stackexchange (post has too many questions, ask just one - message closed). I have no idea where to turn to discussion with someone knowing more of the universe - I have read the books, seen the movies, played some PC games, but don't have the background of TV shows, comics, ...

So, for the topic of interest to me:

Take Republic before separatist movement - there were systems with representation in Senate (part of Republic), some systems not part of Republic and Hutt Space (not part of Republic, and somewhat organized). If someone would commit a crime to Republic, could he be pursued to non-Republic system or to Hutt space by Republic forces? Did Republic have some power other than formal plea to get people off independent systems or Hutt space?

Then, take Republic during separatist wars. Part of Republic's systems defected to CIS, making it two major power bodies in the former Republic space, and still having independent systems and Hutt Space. How did the trade work between Republic systems and CIS systems - were there ships going officially between those carrying cargo and passengers? What was the executive power if someone who committed crime fled from Republic to CIS system or vice versa - any means of getting such person back?

Last, take Empire on it's start. It started from the Republic space and spread back over CIS systems, slowly building presence and executive power throughout galaxy. I guess that independent systems stopped being independent in most cases (because who would dare to oppose Empire), right? What about the power of the Empire to act in Hutt space?

[LibraryOgre]

Take Republic before separatist movement - there were systems with representation in Senate (part of Republic), some systems not part of Republic and Hutt Space (not part of Republic, and somewhat organized). If someone would commit a crime to Republic, could he be pursued to non-Republic system or to Hutt space by Republic forces? Did Republic have some power other than formal plea to get people off independent systems or Hutt space?

My understanding is that they generally did not have anything like extradition treaties with the Hutts, but they may have with other non-Republic powers in the galaxy (while big, the Republic wasn't nearly ALL of the galaxy). This would be part of the reason for the prevalence of bounty hunters; I can't be certain, but I got the impression that though the Hutts wouldn't send a criminal back, they also wouldn't stop a bounty hunter from claiming their prize (unless that prize was personally valuable to them).


Then, take Republic during separatist wars. Part of Republic's systems defected to CIS, making it two major power bodies in the former Republic space, and still having independent systems and Hutt Space. How did the trade work between Republic systems and CIS systems - were there ships going officially between those carrying cargo and passengers? What was the executive power if someone who committed crime fled from Republic to CIS system or vice versa - any means of getting such person back?

Officially, I don't think either trade or extradition worked between the two; since the inception of the CIS, it was at war with the Republic, and there aren't going to be many official trade or legal agreements between two countries at war. Again, though, I think bounty hunters got a pass... both sides needed them, so allowing them to pursue bounties that did not affect them officially was fine (i.e. you can put a bounty on Bob Killedadude, and we don't care, unless he's General Bob Killedadude of the Republic Navy... then there's going to be a bunch of clones lined up between Bob and Cad Bane).


Last, take Empire on it's start. It started from the Republic space and spread back over CIS systems, slowly building presence and executive power throughout galaxy. I guess that independent systems stopped being independent in most cases (because who would dare to oppose Empire), right? What about the power of the Empire to act in Hutt space?

The beginning of A New Hope implies that there are some independent systems, or at least semi-autonomous systems with some self-governance under Imperial control, but that those were swept away about the time the Death Star came on-line (Jeddah no doubt scared a lot of governors, and Alderaan was supposed to lead to an avalanche).

With the massive amount of space and overlapping jurisdictions, I think the bounty hunters played a big role in all eras... the Republic may have prevailed upon the Jedi in some cases, but filing a bounty with the Guild and letting guild hunters bring you your bad guy was easier.

[Dodoroq]

Thanks, it mostly seems we are in agreement.
I am about to start a new Star Wars campaign, this time set in the end of the Clone wars and towards the rise of the Empire, with party not loving the Empire that much. Last campaign we ran for about 5 years (yes, we do not play that often) was placed in the KotOR era, party representing Sith Empire, and eventually ended with a power struggle in the party followed by killing the only character knowing the stakes of the game and then reporting back to the Sith lord with highly unsatisfying results... I really want to set the environment as close to the canon as possible to create correct feel, last time the story did not really go too much according to the movies feel.


Officially, I don't think either trade or extradition worked between the two; since the inception of the CIS, it was at war with the Republic, and there aren't going to be many official trade or legal agreements between two countries at war.
I am thinking here about the many corporations, which by forming of CIS might have ended having bases on both sides of the conflict - for one SoroSuub should have factories on Sullust, Mechis III (both CIS) and Byblos (Republic). It seems to me that a corporation would sell to both sides of the conflict, with diversified industry probably needing to transport products of different factories over the line to both sides. I am wondering if this would be achieved by their own fleet, but that still means the ships need to be registered somewhere and thus be viewed as "enemy" on one side. An alternative approach I could understand would be using companies based on independent words, passing the goods through third side, but that seems improbable for a large corporation (aside for creating a daughter company on a third side world and re-registering the existing ships to there).
An extension of that means (by the nature of trade routes) that cargo and passenger ships registered to third side might be jumping directly between CIS and Republic systems... but not sure this construction is not too much. This may give the party an opportunity to travel across galaxy and adventure hooks when the system they are registered in starts to tend to join one side or the other.

Again, though, I think bounty hunters got a pass... both sides needed them, so allowing them to pursue bounties that did not affect them officially was fine.
...
With the massive amount of space and overlapping jurisdictions, I think the bounty hunters played a big role in all eras... the Republic may have prevailed upon the Jedi in some cases, but filing a bounty with the Guild and letting guild hunters bring you your bad guy was easier.
Oh yes, I am always forgetting the bounty hunters - they do seem to be a case of much harsher Interpol :-P
Personally I am not a big fan of them, but they belong to the universe - just seeing someone performing an attack on a person e.g. using a guided missile killing several other people around as a byproduct as something I would not want to have in my jurisdiction being a legal body - a person or organization may be someone who would hire a bounty hunter, but government most probably would not and governments make the rules.

[GloatingSwine]

Take Republic before separatist movement - there were systems with representation in Senate (part of Republic), some systems not part of Republic and Hutt Space (not part of Republic, and somewhat organized). If someone would commit a crime to Republic, could he be pursued to non-Republic system or to Hutt space by Republic forces? Did Republic have some power other than formal plea to get people off independent systems or Hutt space?

The Republic operated on Soft Power. It had basically no military might and was almost wholly an economic body. It could apply economic sanctions to a non-cooperative outside planet or Jedi could solve the problem behind the scenes, but it couldn't really take overt action because it had no arms with which to take that action.


Then, take Republic during separatist wars. Part of Republic's systems defected to CIS, making it two major power bodies in the former Republic space, and still having independent systems and Hutt Space. How did the trade work between Republic systems and CIS systems - were there ships going officially between those carrying cargo and passengers? What was the executive power if someone who committed crime fled from Republic to CIS system or vice versa - any means of getting such person back?

This was more of a hot war. Someone who committed a "crime" in the Republic would be noticed by the CIS and if the type of crime was more likely to be useful than not they would be tacitly ignored, and if it was more likely to be harmful to the CIS they would disappear or be co-opted.


Last, take Empire on it's start. It started from the Republic space and spread back over CIS systems, slowly building presence and executive power throughout galaxy. I guess that independent systems stopped being independent in most cases (because who would dare to oppose Empire), right? What about the power of the Empire to act in Hutt space?

The Republic turned into the Empire. By this time it had a large and powerful military and anyone who tried to say it couldn't operate and extend its laws to anyone and anywhere in the galaxy it pleased was introduced to the concept of orbital diplomacy. Criminal elements were tolerated on a local level as long as they did not conflict with the greater ethos of the Empire.

[Mechalich]

The Republic turned into the Empire. By this time it had a large and powerful military and anyone who tried to say it couldn't operate and extend its laws to anyone and anywhere in the galaxy it pleased was introduced to the concept of orbital diplomacy. Criminal elements were tolerated on a local level as long as they did not conflict with the greater ethos of the Empire.

Expanding on this, the Empire immediately conducted a massive military campaign upon its inception to retake control of both those CIS territories that had not yet surrendered and all the various independent holdouts who had been bucking Republic authority. This was called the Reconquest of the Rim (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Reconquest_of_the_Rim) and lasted from 19 BBY to 17 BBY. Huge amounts of criminal enterprise were dramatically curtailed (Darth Maul, knowing something of this sort would happen, directed the syndicates he controlled to go underground immediately prior to Order 66), Hutt influence was significantly rolled back, and the control of the central government expanded far above that which the Republic had ever possess throughout the Mid and Outer Rim.


What about the power of the Empire to act in Hutt space?

Officially the Hutts submitted to the Empire. Palpatine made Teth the administrative center of their territories and appointed a Moff to govern the region. Publically the Hutts bowed and scraped and promised to obey, and then privately they bribed their way back into just as much control as they'd possess before. Still, officially the Empire controlled Hutt Space, which meant that the Empire could send ships into the region to do things like pursue fugitives if they considered it important enough. They pretty much never did, but if Luke had tried to hide out on Nar Shaddaa, well...

[Dodoroq]

Thanks for input, this helps tremendously!

[LibraryOgre]

A completely non-canon thing I came up with about the Guild of Bounty Hunters:

In the waning days of the Old Republic, the Guild of Bounty Hunters was an archaic, neglected institution, replaced by freelancers and ad hoc systems. In theory, the Old Republic partially maintained order through Guildsmen; legal bounties were placed upon miscreants and registered with the Guild, and Guild-certified Bounty Hunters would seek them out and return them for the bounty. Many Guildsmen worked with crews, who may or may not be themselves certified bounty hunters, but they could spread a degree of the Guild's protection over registered members of their crew... but only the Guildsman could collect the bounty.

However, with the ascendance of the Jedi Order and its greater involvement in the politics of the day, the Guild of Bounty Hunters received fewer and fewer commissions. Why pay bounty hunters, when the Jedi were there? Many Guildsmen sought freelance work, less constrained by Republic laws. Whereas a Guild Bounty Hunter would once sponsor members of their crew into the Guild, now they didn't bother. The reputation of Bounty Hunters, once that of a necessary evil, became that of the thugs and enforcers of crime bosses and unscrupulous corporations.

After the Battle of Endor, the Guild of Bounty Hunters saw a slight resurgence. The diaspora of Imperial officers and war criminals, combined with the reduction of military force, left the nascent Republic with a need for semi-independent operators to deal with those on the run from the law... and an organization to control them. The ancient Guild of Bounty Hunters was revived, and the official bounties once again kept it fat. Guild Leaders petitioned to be able to accept outside work, as well, and the New Republic allowed that the guild could accept independent work, but that such work would need to be vetted, and bonds posted against liability for damages.

[Mutazoia]

The Republic functioned more like a forum and loose administrative body than a governing body. The Republic Senate would meet and hash out common law, but each system was still a separate entity free to rule its territory as it saw fit within the mutually agreed upon framework. Any cross-system legal matters would have to be hashed out between two or more sovereign states before official law enforcement actions could take place.

In Phantom Menace, for example, we see the Trade Union blockading Naboo. The only thing the Republic could do was send a couple of Jedi out to try to talk them into changing their mind, despite both the Trade Union and Naboo being members of the Republic, whereas slavery was not legal in Republic space but was in practice on Tatooine which was in Hutt space.

All this boils down to is that Bounty Hunters are the few individuals who can move from system to system in pursuit of a criminal with as little red tape as possible. The Bounty Hunter guild would have a standing contract with each system in the Republic to enter and retrieve a bounty at will, regardless of where the bounty originated. Less red tape to handle.

[Mechalich]

One thing about the Republic and later the Empire is that overall power varied immensely by geographic position, which was also a close match for population density.

This map (https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/6/6c/GalacticPopulation.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090903055032) is a very key piece of data for understanding how the galaxy worked. In particular, it's critical to recognize that it maps population density on a largely logarithmic scale, such that the average world in each of the denser regions has ten times as many people as those in the next down. As a result, the red-orange-yellow blob in the center comprising the central chunk of the Core Worlds contains ~50% of the galactic population in less than 5% of the total settled area, and the heavily settled portions of the Colonies and urbanized worlds along major hyperlanes (ex. Eriadu) contain a significant chunk of the rest. A rough estimate is that ~15% of the settled portion of the galaxy (meaning mostly the 'eastern' half since the 'west' is mostly Unknown Regions) contains 75-80% of the overall population.

Republic and Imperial control over this portion of the galaxy was fairly strong, at least at the planetary level, both governments had real problems controlling impoverished areas of urban decay, as seen in the Coruscant Underworld, and their ability to send a response to these regions through well-charted hyperlanes was quite rapid. Outside of that, though, their control rapidly dwindled to almost nothing.

In many ways this is comparable to a geographically large nation around the turn of the 20th century. There's going to be some core urban areas where the government is strong, and they'll be areas linked by railroads where the government can rapidly assert itself, but everything beyond the railroad lines is extremely difficult to reach. Extending the comparison a little, under the Republic the rail network was decrepit, prone to failure, and subject to nearly constant banditry. The Empire came along and restored the networks (even expanded them a fair bit), slaughtered the bandits, and improved reliability. They also developed giant off-road vehicles capable of transporting their armies overland with greater efficacy (these would be Star Destroyers), but they never had enough of them to be everywhere at once.