Senate for democratic factions? - Alpha Centauri Forums

  Alpha Centauri Forums
  Old Test Forums
  Senate for democratic factions?

profile | register | prefs | faq | search

Author Topic:   Senate for democratic factions?

Octopus posted 11-30-98 03:38 AM ET
With all of the recent political maneuvering against the Human Hive, I started wondering if there will be a "senate" for the democratic factions, like Republic and Democracy had in Civ. If there is, will they (for example) oppose alliances etc. with factions that shouldn't get along (e.g. no alliance between Peacekeepers and Spartans because the PK senate doesn't think the Spartans will live up to their end of the bargain)? Also, if these senates do exist, will I be able to negotiate with them in multi-player (e.g. going behind the players back and making peace, etc., with his senate even though he wants to keep fighting)?

Arnelos posted 11-30-98 07:23 AM ET
I would think so, but only later in the game. However, it should be noted that the very small populations involved in SMAC make such a situation fundamentaly different than that of Civilization. I would think that having to divert the number of workers and scientists it would take to have a Senate would reduce production too much. That's why we have the "frontier" government for the longest time. I suppose it works by the fact that Pravin Lal or Skye or Zhakorav would need the support of the population for warfare (given the high propensity for protest in the event of unpopular action). Otherwise, I would think the leader would have free reign in foreign policy.
However, it makes sense that later in the game, when populations reach high enough to actually support a specialized political elite that a citizen senate may actually form. Given the still very small populations (in an Earth type context), it would probably operate a great deal like the Athenian democracy, where citizens were rotated into and out of the legislative body over the course of their lives, as was the case for jury duty as well.
With such a small population in a small Republic, policy tends to be much more uniform on external matters and political structures tend to be very efficient. With such a small Republic, I find it highly doubtful that the members of the legislative body would do anything very highly out of their faction's interests. As the case would be, it would probably be more like Darth Vader trying to go around Mon Mothma and negotiate a temporary peace agreement (with obvious intent to backstab later) with the Rebel Senate. With such ideologically motivated populations, it may be much harder to pull off.
Remember that in SMAC we are not dealing in huge populations of entire civilizations, just the small population of the crew of the UNITY that is split into 7 separate factions.
To close this thread, click here (moderator or admin only).


Hop to:

Contact Us | Alpha Centauri Home

Powered by: Ultimate Bulletin Board, Version 5.18
© Madrona Park, Inc., 1998.

Author	Topic: Senate for democratic factions?
Octopus	posted 11-30-98 03:38 AM ET With all of the recent political maneuvering against the Human Hive, I started wondering if there will be a "senate" for the democratic factions, like Republic and Democracy had in Civ. If there is, will they (for example) oppose alliances etc. with factions that shouldn't get along (e.g. no alliance between Peacekeepers and Spartans because the PK senate doesn't think the Spartans will live up to their end of the bargain)? Also, if these senates do exist, will I be able to negotiate with them in multi-player (e.g. going behind the players back and making peace, etc., with his senate even though he wants to keep fighting)?
Arnelos	posted 11-30-98 07:23 AM ET I would think so, but only later in the game. However, it should be noted that the very small populations involved in SMAC make such a situation fundamentaly different than that of Civilization. I would think that having to divert the number of workers and scientists it would take to have a Senate would reduce production too much. That's why we have the "frontier" government for the longest time. I suppose it works by the fact that Pravin Lal or Skye or Zhakorav would need the support of the population for warfare (given the high propensity for protest in the event of unpopular action). Otherwise, I would think the leader would have free reign in foreign policy. However, it makes sense that later in the game, when populations reach high enough to actually support a specialized political elite that a citizen senate may actually form. Given the still very small populations (in an Earth type context), it would probably operate a great deal like the Athenian democracy, where citizens were rotated into and out of the legislative body over the course of their lives, as was the case for jury duty as well. With such a small population in a small Republic, policy tends to be much more uniform on external matters and political structures tend to be very efficient. With such a small Republic, I find it highly doubtful that the members of the legislative body would do anything very highly out of their faction's interests. As the case would be, it would probably be more like Darth Vader trying to go around Mon Mothma and negotiate a temporary peace agreement (with obvious intent to backstab later) with the Rebel Senate. With such ideologically motivated populations, it may be much harder to pull off. Remember that in SMAC we are not dealing in huge populations of entire civilizations, just the small population of the crew of the UNITY that is split into 7 separate factions.