What documents are space governments based off of?

[Rusty Shackleford]

I know that the Sol Alliance is basically a mix between the United Kingdom and United States styles of governments, and that the Republic of Biesel operates as a federal republic, but that seems to be the extent of the details present on their associated wiki pages regarding their governments. I want to pose the question, which historical documents are the two major space governments modelling themselves after? It seems to me that a modified version of the United States Constitution would be the obvious answer, given that it separates the powers of government into three branches and balances their power against each other, preventing monopoly from occurring (cough cough Westminster cough cough), and it possesses an added Bill of Rights guaranteeing rights to the citizens.

[Owen]

I don't believe it is actually ever said anywhere. I guess it would be cool to have something like that. I would assume it is some sort of Constitution.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

The Sol Alliance is a direct successor to the United Nations, and the nations on Earth had to lose any "this is the supreme law of the land" in their respective constitutions to remain subservient to it when going into space. Lots of treaties on space just became defunct or were abandoned over time as we settled space in the Aurora universe.

Colonies of the Sol Alliance have a Colonial Charter. It's like a constitution that marks them as member states to the greater nation of the Alliance, but it's also an alliance and trade agreement. So it's like being a member of NATO, but also the UN, but also NAFTA, but also a federal republic. The Sol Alliance is complicated. It establishes their planetary (or system) government in very basic terms. It establishes that you need: Representatives to send to Unity Station to represent the system in the full Alliance, a governor for the planets, lessor elected officials, and local courts. Systems have a lot of autonomy in regards to everything else - the Sol Alliance is pretty much a Confederation.

Biesel has its own constitution that is very closely emulating Mexico's Constitution of 1917. (Fitting, since this is the first constitution to spell out social rights, but was then amended and struggled to uphold these, a fate Biesel is going through as well.)

Obviously it's adjusted to fit the process of running a fully fledged star system, and I don't really want to write up an entire constitution, but the theme is Mexico's constitution. It's especially fitting aesthetically too!

The Frontier is whatever the frontiersmen agree to follow. Documents are just documents, and often frontier governments are modeled after practicality and pragmatism. The Republic of Elyra, when I wrote it, strongly resembled the government structure of Iran blended with Westminister. Despite modern preconceptions, Iran's constitution is, on paper, pretty moderate in regards to the structure of the government, with obvious differences.

[Gollee]

Can we assume that business law follows British Common Law? It's the most widely accepted part of RL law; up to the point where two people in different countries can agree to use BCL instead of the law of either of their countries for a transaction.

[Rusty Shackleford]

The Sol Alliance is a direct successor to the United Nations, and the nations on Earth had to lose any "this is the supreme law of the land" in their respective constitutions to remain subservient to it when going into space. Lots of treaties on space just became defunct or were abandoned over time as we settled space in the Aurora universe.

 

A direct successor to the UN would not require the nations involved to renounce their constitutions and sovereignty. The UN is a supranational organization, meaning it operates on a completely separate level, and has little to no influence in the day-to-day operations of the member states. Why wouldn't these documents still exist and be in continued practice? (Also, Mexican constitution? Of all places and variations?)

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

In the Aurora Universe, the United Nations took over control of space colonies and rebranded itself the Sol Alliance in 2140, creating a new world order and establishing a single government for all of humanity. Obviously legal changes took place when nations on Earth and space colonies agreed to this decision. The Sol Alliance still operates as a peacekeeper and mediator between both the remaining nations of Earth on the planet and space colonies. The Sol Alliance does not directly interfere in the governments of Earth but these governments are subservient to the federal Sol government. It is a member state in the greater union, to use a familiar example of the United States. The constitution of the US has been amended 33 times, I'm sure it will be amended more. Or replaced!

And yes, the Mexican constitution fits very well to base a modern, socially liberal government on. And it's personally more interesting a take than just another clone of D.C. or Westminister.