Institutions can be mundane. But my sci fi world building wouldn’t be complete without governing bodies. Everything from wars to scientific advancements can hinge on a government’s values and structures.
So how do I decide on the composition of a government?
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Before thinking about the government of my orangutan-based po’ongabel, I had already decided that their population is large and they have a strong interest in science and technology.
This may not be much of a baseline, but reverse-engineering their government was easier than I imagined once I thought through the government’s responsibility to its people, means of maintaining order, and delegation of power.
What is the Government Protecting?
Protection of the governed is one of the main responsibilities of governments. But, depending on the society’s values, “safe” can mean a multitude of things. For instance, a society’s people may feel safe when they are healthy and mentally well. A responsible government for this society may invest in healthcare and seek to resolve conflicts through alliances or compromise rather than war.
Similarly, a society built around the ideals of independence and autonomy is likely to have a populus that feels “safer” when their government is not involved in everyday affairs.
When building the po’ongabel government, I had to remember that safety and security for modern-day society not only includes things like counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, and defense against foreign interference but also public services and cultural preservation.
I had already decided that po’ongabel value science and technology and have a means of space travel. In the basic storyline I crafted for them, they were trying to piece together the details of an extraplanetary disaster. That would mean that they have few allies to tell them the history of the universe. With few allies and a potential for extraplanetary threat, I expanded their military and combined this idea with their values to create a government that advances science in the interest of planetary defense.
How Does the Government Maintain Order?
To stay relevant (and in power), a government must maintain a system for ensuring that the laws it enacts are followed. Are laws policed, judged, and punished compassionately? Does punishment fit the crime? Is guilt or innocence presumed before judgment?
One thing I noted here is that stricter policing and punishment systems can negatively affect the populace’s perception of safety. For instance, how safe do people feel if the governing body protects them from potential threats by imposing a curfew and brutalizing anyone who is wandering around after dark?
Thinking through protection and punishment scenarios like this helps me balance the cost and benefit of a government’s approach.
Coming back to po’ongabel: Their net gain from the government needs to be advanced technology because of how highly they value science. But if their highly technological society is made possible because of the military, that must mean their military is very powerful. Powerful enough to be the foundation for their policing and punishment system. So I began thinking of the po’ongabel government as a stratocracy, which is a form of government that is headed by military chiefs.
How Structured is the Government?
Small groups are usually easier to manage than large groups. So when a group becomes too big to manage, subgroups often form. With governments that manage vast lands or large populations, there are often smaller authorities like municipal governments.
Because po’ongabel are both great in population and land, I had to think about questions like:
What distinguishes a governed subgroup (e.g. land boundaries, cultural affiliations, etc.)?
What are the responsibilities of each sub-government (e.g. defense, public health, road maintenance, etc.)?
Are there any shared responsibilities (e.g. interstate highways)?
This line of questioning can go on, but the point is that I think about how manageable the roles and responsibilities of each subgrouping are. If I think it’s unreasonable that any one entity would be in charge of so much, I look to break the government down more.
This was the moment for po’ongabel that I was able to visualize their governmental structure. Once I decided that they have a significant military, I wrote a backstory wherein smaller groups were slowly absorbed or conquered into a central planetary government. For a bit of drama I decided to leave the absorbed governments primarily intact while giving overall military control to the main stratocracy.
I ended up with a reverse-engineered stratocratic confederacy with an unrivaled military-science, or mili-sci, focus.
Depending on the situation, I use other approaches for worldbuilding government, but po’ongabel are special because I wrote much of their story before constructing their government.
Because your writing process may be to work through the events of a story before focusing on the mundanities, I thought I’d share how I reverse engineer a government. I hope it was helpful.
Until next time, keep creating.