Civilisation

Civilisation, under the rule of the Galactic Council, are the 'good guys' in the Lensman series. Consisting of several million worlds, Civilisation functions only because its members are capable of working together despite their often enormous moral, physical or technical differences. Whilst Civilisation's government tends not to interfere in the goings-on on a member planet unless requested, it has enormous power in the fields of law enforcement, trade and defence - indeed it basically administers all three.

The Galactic Council is formed exclusively from Lensmen - although some planets may not be represented if they have never yielded any Lensmen, not one planet has ever so much as asked to withdraw from Civilisation, so good is its rule. In addition, the Council and the military are very close: Port Admiral Haynes becomes - in addition to his military role - President of the Galactic Council with barely a murmur of discontent throughout the books.

The exact level of democracy in the Galactic Council is not known: by default all Lensmen share similar views on the fundamental rightness of their position so debate is naturally going to be somewhat limited - however Lensmen are also by default incorruptible and therefore not susceptible to the political problems that would otherwise plague such a government. Exactly how they are elected to the Galactic Council is also unknown - E. E. Smith makes no reference to Port Admiral Haynes taking part in any political campaigning whatsoever (and this was during the war against Boskone), so he appears to have been appointed by the Galactic Council to the role.

Record 1175 - group - Last update 28 Mar 2007, 23:10:28

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