Interstellar Coalition

Introduction
The Interstellar Coalition is an interstellar state composed of numerous member states, colonies, protectorates, and other planetary governments unified under the goals of universal liberty, justice, equality, trade, exploration, scientific advancement, peace, and mutual protection.

The youngest but most powerful state in local space, the Coalition encompassed 1000 light-years and is by far the largest state in the known Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Unlike its traditional rivals who derive power from a single dominant species subjugating other races within the boundaries of their empire, the Coalition's various Member States join willingly and are equals in the Coalition's democratic society.

The Coalition's official political capital is Babylon Station, while its military headquarters is located in Singapore, Earth.

History
The Coalition was formed during the Xindi Conflict on the 20 June 2156, the successor to the Coalition of Naval Accords, in Singapore, Earth.

The seeds of the Coalition were planted during the Xindi Conflict in 2153, when the founding worlds of the Coalition were brutally attacked by the Xindi. During the crisis, the species remained together, founding the precursor to the Coalition, called the Allied Coalition, a year later.

Military
The Coalition military is known as the Coalition Armed Forces and is meant not only to ensure the security and protection of the nation, but a myriad of other duties.
 * Coalition Fleet incorporates all space navies in military, exploratory, scientific, diplomatic, and defense operations.


 * Coalition Army incorporates all ground-based military operations, from security to military invasions.


 * Coalition Marines are a branch of the Coalition Army who are designed for ship-board combat operations and rapid ground-side strikes from Coalition Fleet warships.
 * Coalition Intelligence is a branch of the Coalition armed who contain all programs, projects, and activities of the intelligence community.

Politics
Unlike its imperial rivals, who derived power from a single species subjugating other races, the Coalition's various member worlds joined willingly and were equals in the Coalition's democratic society.

The Coalition Constitution incorporated a series of enumerated rights to which all sentient beings were regarded as being entitled, collectively referred to as the Guarantees.

Coalition law grants the government emergency authority to override local governance and declare martial law on a member's territory.

The Coalition is a representative republic, with an elected First Councilor as the head of the entire interstellar state. An election is held every four years, and a First Councilor may serve for an unlimited number of terms.

Political and direct administrative power is held within the Coalition Council, which is composed of one councillor from every Member World. There is no limit as to how many terms a person may serve as councillor. Each individual member state determines how its councillors will be determined; some nominate the world's councillor, while the electorates of many other Members elect their councillors directly.

The Executive Branch
The executive branch was responsible for the day-to-day management of the Coalition. The democratically-elected Coalition First Councilor was the head of this branch. The Coalition First Councilor served as both the head of state and head of government; as chief executive officer of the government, the First Councilor determined most of the Coalition's foreign policy, managed budgetary concerns, and served as supreme commander of the Coalition's military forces.

Secondary to him are three Triumvirates, acting as his second in command.

The First Councilor's office was located on the space station of Babylon Station.

The Coalition Cabinet was a special executive committee to the First Councilor of the Interstellar Coalition.

The Legislature
The Coalition Council was the bicameral legislative body of the Coalition, split between the System's Assembly and the Members Congress, both setup to act as a lower and upper house.

Coalition System's Assembly
The System's Assembly is the upper house of the Council, the representative body of each individual world in the Coalition, assigned one Assembly-person and then one additional person for every 500,000,000 citizens who claim residency to that select world. If more than one inhabited world existed within the same star system, Assembly-persons could combine to form a single representative body but would be capped at 10-billion citizens or 20 Assembly-persons however would also gain a additional voting seat in the Members Congress to compensate. No more than one star-system could be combined for this level of representation and no more than 15 systems within one member nation could be combined in such a way.

If a system wishes to bypass this cap, they would have to declare legal independence from it's parent nation, thereby becoming a independent power and required to pass a membership qualification review before becoming a member state in the Coalition, a process that could take up to 5 to 10-years. If worlds remained as individual represenative bodies, the cap was nullified.

Dissolving a system represenation and losing the additional seats in the Members Congress was allowed, with a five year probationary period before a new system represenative body could be formed either among the previous worlds or new ones under a member nation.

Coalition Members Congress
The Members Congress is the lower house of the Council, the representative body of each individual member nation in the Council, with one Congress-person and no more regardless of size. Additional voting seats could be achieved via the System's Assembly if more than one inhabited world existed within the same star system of a member nation, Assembly-persons could combine to form a single representative body but would be capped at 10-billion citizens or 20 Assembly-persons however would also gain a additional voting seat in the Members Congress to compensate. No more than one star-system could be combined for this level of representation and no more than 15 systems within one member nation could be combined in such a way.

If a system wishes to bypass this cap, they would have to declare legal independence from it's parent nation, thereby becoming a independent power and required to pass a membership qualification review before becoming a member state in the Coalition, a process that could take up to 5 to 10-years. If worlds remained as individual represenative bodies, the cap was nullified. This was to ensure select member nations could not use their larger populations to out-vote smaller member nations.

Dissolving a system represenation and losing the additional seats in the Members Congress but gaining them back in the Systems Assembly without the cap was allowed, with a five year probationary period before a new system represenative body could be formed either among the previous worlds or new ones under a member nation.

As such, United Earth is represented by one Congress-person in the Members Congress, while Earth itself had 44 Assembly-people in the Assembly, due to its population of 22-billion. If Earth and the other planets in the Sol-system were to combine for a system represenation, then gaining 2 Congress-people to vote, for a total of 16 total Congress-people for the entire United Earth member state in the Members Congress, at the cost of reducing its voting power in the System's Assembly.

Legislative Process
Laws would first be presented, debated and ratified in the Members Congress, before being presented to the System's Assembly for the popular vote. At which time the law would go into effect for three standard Coalition years, at which time it would be reviewed and voted on to continue in law or vetoed by the general civilian population. The Members Congress could bypass a veto vote by the System's Assembly and push for approval of new laws by the Coalition First Councilor, however doing so required a 2/3rd majority vote by the body.

The Council also held influence over the making of Coalition foreign policy. The Council's meeting chamber was in the space station of Babylon Station.

The Judiciary
Read More: Coalition Law

The judiciary was the branch of government responsible for resolving legal disputes. It consisted of a hierarchy of courts, with the Coalition Supreme Court at its apex. Coalition courts sometimes relied on panels of citizens known as juries. The Coalition Grand Jury heard testimony as part of criminal investigations, while the Coalition Special Jury tried war criminals. Alongside the civilian courts, the Coalition Fleet had its own system of courts martial with the Supreme Court at its apex.

The Supreme Court could strike down any federal-level law in the Coalition instantly and without providing precendence or explanation or requiring approval of the Executive or Legislative branches, but also requiring all sitting judges on the Supreme Court must resign effective the hour after the veto was passed and could no longer practice law anywhere in the Coalition territories. Said struck-down law could not be re-entered into practice or similar ammendments to re-establish could not be passed for a probationary period of 10-years, Council-persons were required to abstain from voting if such a law were to pass the Systems Assembly or Members Congress. If a new law that is passed found to be circumnavigating this by the newly selected Supreme Court, all Council-persons who voted, nay or yea, would be required to resign and be unable to practice law or hold office in the Coalition territories for 20-years.

Member Nations
Read More: Coalition Member States

The Interstellar Coalition is made up of numerous governments, civil organizations and alliances, all of which hold one or more seats in the Member's Congress. These groups are called the Interstellar Coalition Member States.

Member Worlds
Read More: Coalition Member Worlds

The Interstellar Coalition currently has numerous member planets, all of which hold one or more seats in the Coalition System's Assembly.

Culture
The Interstellar Coalition was an interstellar federal republic, composed of planetary governments that agreed to exist semi-autonomously under a single central government based on the principles of universal liberty, rights, and equality, and to share their knowledge and resources in peaceful cooperation and space exploration.

There is no official Coalition religion, although members are free to practice their own religious and philosophical beliefs, as protected by the Guarantees contained in the Constitution of the Interstellar Coalition.

Every June 20, Coalition citizens observe Coalition Day, a patriotic holiday established in remembrance of the founding of the Coalition.

Size
The Coalition was located in the Alpha-Beta Quadrants of the Milky Way Galaxy. By the current era, the Coalition's territory was spread across 1000 light years, with a membership of over races and hundreds semi-autonomous colonies.

Member Species
Read More: Coalition Member Species

Economy
The basic unit of currency backed by the Coalition was called the Coalition Credit. This currency was used in both internal and external transactions. Coalition worlds who possessed resources unavailable elsewhere were obligated to provide consignments of these resources in times of emergency.

Individual Coalition worlds were free to employ their own economic models.

Membership
Admittance into the Coalition was either by invitation or successful petition of a world or civilization desirous of joining. In the second case, membership was granted only upon satisfaction of certain requirements. Firstly, the government of the prospective member submitted an official petition to the Coalition Council, outlining its desire to join. A lengthy, thorough investigation of the prospective member's culture followed. This investigation could take several years, and was done to ascertain whether or not the culture genuinely shared the values of the Coalition: values of benevolence, peaceful coexistence and cooperation, the rule of law, and equal rights and justice.

Even before the investigation, the prospective member had to meet certain requirements. These requirements were not absolute and emergency provisions could be applied if a potential world is in immediate and devastating danger. These were as follows:
 * It had to have an "advanced level of civilization." The Coalition's baseline definition of this term was the capability for faster-than-light space travel. However this can also be associated with stability of government.
 * Its government had to have achieved stable planetary political unity, respecting the rights of the individual.

Defense
Coalition Fleet was the deep-space exploration and defensive service maintained by the Interstellar Coalition. Its principal functions were the advancement of Coalition knowledge about the galaxy, the advancement of Coalition knowledge of science and technology, and the defense of the Coalition. In addition, it also played a significant diplomatic role.

As per its mandate of deep-space exploration, its personnel were frequently brought into contact with cultures and sentient species whose existences were previously unknown to the Coalition. Coalition Fleet officers therefore acted as official representatives of the Coalition in these cases. Also, Coalition Fleet vessels were frequently used to ferry ambassadors on diplomatic missions.