The World According to Star Wars by Cass R. Sunstein

Author:Cass R. Sunstein
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-05-31T03:00:00+00:00

DISCUSSING INVASIONS IN COMMITTEE

Star Wars is obsessed with the separation of powers. It speaks of republics and empires, but it’s really opposing democratic systems to fascist ones. That’s a central theme in the prequels, but you can find it in the first trilogy as well. What are the constraints on the executive branch, and on Chancellors (also known as presidents)? Under what conditions will an executive official claim supreme authority? Isn’t the legislature the most democratic branch? Does it fail for that reason? When does it fail?

Emperor Palpatine is able to rise to power only because of the ceaseless, pointless squabbling of legislative representatives in the Republic. He seizes authority as a direct result of that squabbling. (For some Americans in the twenty-first century, witnessing similar squabbling, that seizure of authority does not lack appeal.) Padmé sees the problem: “I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in committee.” So does Anakin: “We need a system where the politicians sit down and discuss the problem, agree what’s in the interest of all the people, and then do it.” Padmé wonders: “What if they don’t?” Anakin: “Then they should be made to.”

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