United Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets, UFP, or "The Federation" is as an interstellar federal state with more than 150 member planets and thousands of colonies spread across 8,000 light years of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Federation also maintains its own military and exploratory agency, Star Fleet.
The Federation is described as stressing, at least nominally, the values of universal liberty, equality, peace, and cooperation. The legislature of the Federation Council is headquartered in a building located in San Francisco. There is an executive branch headed by the Federation President, who keeps offices in the Palais de la Concorde, Paris. There is a judiciary branch as well, the highest court of which is the Federation Supreme Court. The Federation's scientific, diplomatic and defensive/military arm is Star Fleet, headquartered at the Presidio in San Francisco.
Depiction
The Federation is founded under a document known as the Charter of the United Federation of Planets, which is occasionally referred to informally as the "Constitution". It draws text and inspiration from the United Nations Charter and other sources. An important guiding principle - indeed, it is listed as General Order One in the list of Star Fleet general orders - is the Prime Directive, which forbids any interference in the natural development of any pre-warp civilization. This is intended to prevent even well-intentioned Federation personnel from introducing changes which could destabilize or even destroy other warp-era cultures through interference. In practice, however, consistent application of the Prime Directive tends to be a controversial issue, and the Federation does not always abide strictly by it. Other aspects of the Articles provide for rule of law, equality among individuals and protection of civil and creative liberties, based on principles found in contemporary Western political theory. It includes a set of guarantees of civil rights, the "Seventh Guarantee" being analogous to the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and its protection against self-incrimination.
The Federation has exacting requirements for prospective member worlds that wish to join. Caste-based discrimination is forbidden, and major systematic violations of sentient rights are also deemed serious impediments for acceptance. Furthermore, while most member worlds have single, unified world governments, it is not required for entry, as the Federation will consider "associate membership" for nations of non-unified worlds.
Economics
The Federation has been portrayed as a utopia by many of its citizens, a condition enabled by a state of abundance, most likely due to replicator technology which means everyone can generate their own resources and scarcity is virtually nonexistent. On Earth, war and poverty have been eliminated. Individuals strive for self-betterment rather than fiscal remuneration.
Money in the modern sense is very seldom used in the Federation, and not needed for the life of a typical Federation citizen, as replicators make the need for almost all material goods filled and a pervasive altruistic philosophy of self improvement and helping others provides for most labor. Money began to fade from everyday use in the late 22nd century, although it was still in fairly common use by the mid to late 23rd century.
The Federation has a massive economy, built around large scale, inexpensive production of almost all consumer goods. No money is used for basic expenses, such as food, clothing or shelter. However, there is a basic unit of exchange called the Federation credit, which is used in transactions with non-Federation members.
As many would have it, the driving force behind Federation society was no longer the acquisition of wealth, but rather self-enhancement and the benefit of all. Perhaps ironically, entrepreneurship was encouraged. The traditional benefits of entrepreneurship, profit and personal gain were replaced by goals of personal enjoyment and improvement, often manifested in the form of a new service to fill social needs and expressions.
The various systems of the Federation are generally rich in natural resources, although their intrinsic worth has changed as the replicators reduced the need for most refined and semi-refined materials. Other materials, such as latinum, which were more time and energy demanding, were often traded for with non-Federation planets. One of the most valuable minerals was dilithium, which was critical in regulating the matter-antimatter reactions in the Federation's power generators.
Member worlds of the Federation who possessed resources unavailable elsewhere, were obligated to provide consignments of the substances in times of emergency. Such transfers were often facilitated by the Federation Star Fleet, as in the delivery Ardanan zenite to the plague-ridden world of Merak II in 2269.
Political Geography
- In 2161, upon its founding, the Federation Sovereign Territory a 23-lightyear sphere centered on [[Earth. A 5-lightyear radius was established around every member world outside that zone, unless otherwise negotiated.[1]
- In 2210, the Federation Sovereign Territory was modified by the Unified Treaty on the Boundaries of Legally Recognized Federation Space to have the sphere centered instead on Wolf 424 (Babel)and increased to 50 lightyears.[1]