A republic is a system of government in which sovereignty and final authority belongs to, and by foundational law is vested in, the people; institutions of government, therefore, derive their powers from the people, who delegate these powers to their representatives in government, such as the Senators in the Galactic Senate of the Republic.
Another prominent form of republican society is one in which the government is instituted by the people to provide for, and ensure, the protection of liberty, national defense, justifiable punishment of crime, and maintenance of order; however, the government is severely restricted in its scope and reach, as it may only do what it is specifically permitted by supreme law - a founding document, such as a constitution. In this sort of republic, government is intended to remain small and frugal, as violations of power and expansions of authority would serve to expunge its legitimacy.
However, most republics are highly fluid, with governments gaining power and growing in size according to the democratically imposed whims of the majority, as supreme law is either non-binding or ignored. There have been many republics in galactic history, including:
- The Galactic Republic, also referred to as the Old Republic
- The New Republic, founded after the collapse of the Galactic Empire at the hands of the Rebel Alliance. It was founded to restore the Old Republic
- The Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, formed from the New Republic after the Yuuzhan Vong took over Coruscant in 27 ABY, also referred to as the Federal Galactic Republic
- The Kathol Republic, a government within the Kathol sector
- The Ylesian Republic, the government set up by the Peace Brigade
This is a disambiguation page—a navigational aid that lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. If an article link referred you here, you might want to go back and fix it to point directly to the intended page.
See also
- Star Wars: Republic, a comic series by Dark Horse Comics set in the Rise of the Empire era.