cool

Well, let's start with government.

The problem with mass governments is the tax levels.  This would mean that the TEC and TO would be streamlined to allow for minimum layers of government.

Obviously, at the top would be the TEC capital planet from which the legislative body of the TEC would write laws.  This Trader Congress would have likely have three houses:

Senate: The upper house and carries the longest terms.  All bills regarding war, peace, and the like must begin here.  When government officials are impeached, they are tried here.  All planets send three members to this.  All members of this house must have a doctorate in political science.

House of Represenatives: The middle house which has the authority to impeach the highest ranking officials.  All taxes imposed upon the people directly must begin here.  Members are sent based on population.  1 member per .5 billion on a planet, rounding up.

House of Treasury: the lower house where all taxes imposed upon goods must begin.  All members of this house must have doctorates in economics.  Members are sent based on the economic influence of a planet.  The annual budget must be passed by this house.

Now, as new planets are discovered, they must be addressed.  I will use a similar system to the one in my book.  I will call this the Colonial Union.

Planets with a population of less than .5 million are considered to be the property of the planet that founded the colony there.

Once above half a million people, a planet may petition the CU for membership.  At this point, CU officials will aid in the drafting of a planetary constitution.  The CU is a one house legislature.  All members must abide by its laws, but the CU must also abide by the laws of the TEC Congress unless a majority of 80% is achieved at which it may "veto" the law from affecting its members for three years.  After that time, they must re-vote to keep up the veto effect.

At a population of .5 billion, the planet may apply for membership in the TECC.  If accepted, a committee from the TECC will aid in revision of the planetary constitution.  Upon completion, the planet may begin sending members to the TECC.

In the way of executives and judicial branches, someone else can come up with that...

the executive branch is headed by one person nominated by an electoral college (each planet provide 1 representive per 1 billion population, with minimum being 1) who has a collection of advisors and staff workers to help with decision making in the times of crisis

answerable only to the Senate, the position is theoretically powerful, with power over the armed forces and the ability to propose laws and taxes of ones own ideas, but over time much has been stripped of its powers, only to be revitalized by the forming of the TEC

The highest ranking officer of the TEC (admiral?) is also the political extension of the TEC. The TEC is actually just the military force of the Trade Order, though the Order has been pushed to the back as the TEC deals with the war. But people in the TEC refer to the Trader worlds as a whole as part of the Trade Order, not the Trader Emergency Coalition. So what I'm saying is the TEC is just like a political party (one with really big guns) and the Trade Order is the actual group of people. Thoughts?

I'm with Ryat...  Let's call this leader the Regisor (from the latin regis meaning king; pronounced ree-gih-sor).  The Regisor may propose any law or treaty, but they must be passed the same way as any other law.  With laws that normally originate in a certain house, the respective house and may neutralize the Regisor's bill if they are more than 60% against it.

In the same way, the Regisor may veto any bill that is passed by Congress.  Congress may override this should each house re-vote and have an average over 67%.

@CI: No, the TO rebranded itself the TEC.  This is what the founding fathers did with the Articles of Confederation.  The Constitution was a completely different government than the AoC.  What happened is that the AoC may only be amended by a unanimous vote.  The C was technically an amendment, but since it threw out everything else and replaced it with itself, it is generally considered something else.

This is what I think happened to the TO.  When faced with destruction, it threw out the old bureaucratic system in favor of an emergency system.  For another example, think of Rome's ability to elect a dictator in times of distress.  Same idea.

actually i was thinking more along the lines of pre and post WWII US,

In pre WWII US, the presidency while of some importance did not have much impact on the domestic side and almost minimal impact on foreign relations. While the Great Depression brought more power to the executive branch, there was still very little impact on the foreign arena (at one point they were actually praising Hitler for what he did in turning Germany's economy around). Consequently the military was small and under equipped. Even after Hitler let loose, the US was still doddering around, worried about its economy and others things. After the Japanese attacked and gut punched the US forces not once but several times many powers were shifted back to the presidency to fight the war. Ironically after WWII, the Cold War began, and the presidency kept many of these powers changing what affected the US and the world. Initially this meant having one of the biggest armies of the world with a powerful industry to back it, which is how the TEC is now.

Basically this would be a MultiSystem Marshal Law. Any planets (even if they are facing destruction some will still oppose violence) that oppose military taking control or action against the Vasari would probably be crushed by the surrounding planets defensive forces.

disagree with the MSML. TO and to continue to the TEC was the allowance of conscientious objector so if planets as a whole wish to not use violence then that is their choice, flipside is they have to sign off the right to be defended by the TEC.

though if they attempt to stop the TEC in its quest to defend against the Vasari and Advent, well then the Marzas and Kols will be brought about.

I dont think they TEC would allow the individual worlds to just fend for themselves. If they did, The Vasari would easily get the upper hand by crushing these systems that refused to be defended and and the Vasari would get Footholds inbetween the TEC worlds that actually do want to fight. This would give the Vasari the upperhand in the fight as theyll be able to cut the TEC lines in half, basically divide and conquer. Im sure the TEC would rather just crush the worlds that refuse to aid in the effort then serve it up on a silver platter to the Vasari

TO is still around. Its not the TEC, the TEC is a seperate entity from the TO.

Ok, so here is some thoughts:

The Trade Order(TO) is as we most likely will all agree a congress of some kind. Each planet/goverment/buisness whatever gets a say in this massive congress. The congress is governed by the Regisor (Like that work Volt ^^) He/she is like the house of speaker in today term. Runs and organizes the TO sessions. How each faction within the TO gets a vote is something we can discuss after we finalize the TO since it is the key to the whole TEC.

 Like it was mentioned in the Vasari post that the TO is like the UN now a days here are the what I think what is they share:
-Each member must follow the guidlines and rules made by the TO. But are not limited to just those rules, each faction can in turn have their own goverment.
-Each member must contribute to the TO in some way. Pre-war Im sure it was cash and goods. But now its supplies, troops and ships for the TEC. Like current times where countries send troops and suppies for peacekeeping missions.

Im not sure how the current UN allows for new members.(To be honest, I dont keep up with it.) But Im sure its a simple vote or something. And going with this thought membership into the TO is simple. Maybe along the lines like Volt suggested population based. But remember that we are not counting planets as members. We are counting factions. A faction could control 1 planet or 10's of planets. So the voting could become complicated if we decide to outline that. (I say its not super super importaint for lore)

Now the TEC is a military base group created from the TO for the TO. They act for the TO yet defend any planet in Trader Space that request it. Funded by the TO for the most part but non TO members if there are any can support them also.. Those planets who refuse to join the TO or help the TEC are Marshal Lawed into cooperation (Destroying the milita).

 Im thinking its safe to say that these border worlds are alot like the worlds in the Firefly universe. With the central planets secured and the border world still a bit untamed and wild.

Those are my thoughts on yall thoughts.

Ok, so I know we havent established how the Government works yet. But Ive got this idea in my head about a Intelligence Agency for the TEC.

My opinion is, that with 1,000 years of realitive peace. The TO had no real need for intelligence. So whatever they did have to give the TO a heads up would be almost useless.  But their would be a way to gather intel on the Vasari movements and tactics.

The Terrans have Broadcast Centers....Which I would think are like Giant TV network stations (prior to the war). Once the TEC come into play the Company that owns these Broadcast Centers, Or the multiple companies come under control of the TEC and would be intergrated together to form a Intelligence Agency which also doubles as a culture control. Maybe call them TOIN, TRADE ORDER INTELLIGENCE NETWORK. As well, these Broadcast Centers would have a link up with any scout ships, CIVIC and MILITARY Bases, TRADE Posts, And Planetary Communications devices planetside. As every bit of information would be vital to combating the Vasari and eventually the Advent this TOIN would be massive and influential to how the TEC operate.

Does no one read my posts!?!?!

It says in the intro movie that the TO rebranded itself as the TEC!  That means it changed the government from the ground up!  Even if only temporarily, its still the same idea!

Also, read my first post for information regarding legislative power.

Carbon commented on it. And here's what the lore says on the Sins website

"The Trade Order could not fulfill this role because its mandate forbade interference with the sovereign rights of the member planets.  Thus, the Trader Emergency Coalition (TEC) formed despite strong opposition to the loss of planetary autonomy."

So the Trade Order never really left, it just created a powerful military force that has free reign in its actions to combat the Vasari and Advent. So in my understanding of the situation now, the TO is dealing with issues between member planets, and the TEC is dealing with the war effort. And Carbon, I don't think the TEC would help non-member planets, because the TEC is not exactly a separate entity. It's more a government program/military force that can do anything it wants (kinda like Cheney's death squads ).

Yes but I was going on the manual lore. As stated in the OP. They created the TEC.

And I think your first post is going on the base that their are sepreate legislative, executive and judical brances of the TO. Not what I was thinking. There is only one. Because every member is allowed to have their seperate goverment. There is no need to create more polictical red tape by adding lots of different branches and sections to each branch. Simplicity is the key to the TO. Streamline everything. 1 congress =less red tape. Easier to pass codes etc etc.

I like that. Anyone not agree? We could add this to the top.