The Imperial University



Administrative Ethics Notes {AE}

The Purpose of Administrative Ethics

As governors and commanders of the Imperial Directorate, it is our sole duty to administer the territory of the fleet. On the surface, it may seem to be a fairly simple job. But those that have spent any time here know that it is in truth extremely complex. And the observant student of history will note that there is much more to it than is readily apparent. That is, the fall of both the Old Republic and the Empire (the only two legitimate governments that ever existed in this Galaxy) were caused by corruption among their officers. Consider, for instance, Darth Vader’s treachery and nepotism, which led directly to the assassination of our Emperor. Or just as severe, the abuses of senatorial powers that took place in the Old Republic, as officials accepted bribes, catered to large corporations, and used state funds for their own pleasure.

An examination of these facts would lead any reasonable being to believe that if any government, particularly ours, is going to survive, its leaders must be endowed with a firm ethical background that will keep them from the corruption that is so fatal to galactic governments. It is this reasoning by Imperial strategists that led former Grand Moff Crusader and Grand Moff Nyykl Orzon to commission the creation of a course in Administrative Ethics. This course is designed to instill our leaders with the practical ethics required to effectively govern the planets and fleets of the Imperial Directorate while avoiding corruption.

(NOTE: For convenience the terms "Governor" or "Imperial Governor" will be used to identify both Territorial Governors and Imperial Navy Officers jointly.)

The Relationship between the Governed and their Rulers

The critical element in determining how to handle something is determine exactly what it is you are handling, and how that thing relates to you. In a subject so important as government, there are a plethora of ideas about exactly this. Unfortunately, many of them are less than perfect, either being to vague or idealistic, or being so specific that they do not apply to the situation of the Imperial Governor. Therefore, there is one in particular we will focus on, and its theories on the elements of Imperial government, nature of “the people”, and finally the role and disposition of a governor.

To understand how to act as a good Imperial Governor, it is first necessary to know what to be an Imperial. Seeing the faults of the Old Republic, Emperor Palpatine devised the Empire to eliminate its weaknesses, while capitalizing on its strengths. Two primary pillars of an Imperial government are a strong centralized government led by one being (an Emperor/king/ruler) and a strong military. However, the Imperial government also has one other interesting aspect that characterizes it. That aspect is that Imperial governments are always meritocracies as well. Time and time again the Emperor proved in his own policies that if you had skills or talents, you would be elevated to a position where they could be put to their best use. It is this aspect that is redeeming to the more democratic minded beings of the universe. After all, the ability to be rewarded for your efforts is all the liberty anyone has ever really wanted.

The other important thing a Governor needs to understand is his clientele, in other words, his citizens. As many an Imperial sociologist has observed, the most intelligent beings have a herd instinct. They rally around a few figurehead leaders, act as a mob, and are very fickle in their feelings and opinions. There are both benefits and drawbacks to their being this way. Among the benefits are the fact that obedience is easily inspired with the mere presentation of authority, they can easily be cowed, and can generally be distracted from important issues when provided with the proper distractions and creature comforts. However, though herds can be peaceful and docile, when frightened or upset they can stampede, causing tremendous damage. In the same way, a populace can very quickly become dangerous and irrational if the situation becomes unstable. Be it taxes are too high, the police handle a volatile situation in the wrong way, or a scandal erupts, anything could set them off. And with the ratio of citizens to military that we have currently, it could likely end in the governor being driven off world. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a healthy respect for the populous, never underestimating them. For silence about government issues is not just passive acceptance, it is active acceptance. Anyone that believes otherwise will meander their way into a riot of epic proportions.

Now that you have an overview of the two groups with which a governor interacts, understand that the role of Governor is to assimilate the populace into the Imperial government. This means that first and foremost, a governor’s primary loyalties should be to the Imperial Directorate, not the planet on which they serve. But a governor should not consider the populace as chattel. Rather, they are human capital that will replenish and support the Imperial Directorate. In this way, they are our future, a kind of children, if you will. As such, they should be nurtured and protected, and decisions should be made on their behalf that are to their greatest benefit. In the same way, the good governor should ignore their childish tantrums of “the taxes are too high” or “I don’t like seeing Stormtroopers around the city”. What this means is that the good governor should not take these claims as things that seriously harm the citizens. The good governor will however, coax the people back into peace, lest they aggravate themselves and cause mutual harm. Finally, in everything that they do, the Imperial governor should consider himself a living example and advertisement of what it is to be Imperial; arbitrate between the government and the people, merging them together until they are entirely inseparable.

The Defensive Position

Though it is not often discussed, the reality of our situation is that the Imperial Directorate is weak, and somewhat insignificant in the larger scheme of things. Possessing only a handful of systems, there are pirates and crime lords that are more influential than our small fleet. Still, considering our size, we are only one of a great many Imperial factions vying for power against the Rebels, who now possess over half of the galaxy. Moreover, the systems we do possess are not casual possessions, but rather, we depend on them for the continued sustenance of our fleet. This condition sets a precedent that is very important for governors to understand: the necessity of the defensive position.

The defensive position, taken literally is the need to keep our world’s secure. The most obvious way to do this is to secure it from external forces. This means maintaining a strong military that is geared particularly towards defense. It means seeing that the architecture of your cities are easily defensible, and that they (along with your planet as a whole) are fairly self-sufficient, in case of a siege. Yet, as many a mighty military empire has found, the greatest danger is not from without, but from within.

The second threat you must defend against is that from within. Admittedly, one dimension of this is again very practical. That is assuring you have a proper police force, that you keep violence to a minimum, et cetera. But we are not so much concerned with specific measures as we are with the principles of policy making. And the principal dictated by the defensive position is that the good governor should never leave himself in an indefensible position. Far beyond securing their personage, it means that they should not do something for which they have no justification (defense). For one, this could mean not doing something overly extravagant, because there is no justification. However, it also means don’t do anything that while having justification, is not good justification in the eyes of the people. For instance, while there may be ample justification for a seven day work week, if the people feel overwhelmingly it has no justification, then to enact the policy would be just as bad as doing something which truly does have no justification. Or if the people’s trust would be irrevocably betrayed by the presence of a secret police, you must either simply do without one, or use every resource available to you to make sure its existence is never known of by anyone. Because engaging in policies which destroy the trust that the people put in you is next to committing treason and allying your planet with the Rebel Alliance itself. For by driving them away from our arms, that is essentially what you have done.

In conclusion, it is important that every governor keep the defensive position in mind. Every policy enacted should ensure that the planet is more internally and externally more secure, or at least not more dangerous. Furthermore, the good governor should make a conscious effort to protect the trust which the people have placed in him, trying never to betray it.

Major Theorists

Though time is constantly changing the conditions of the galaxy we live in, it seems that all intelligent beings always find themselves in one of only a few kinds of situations. This tendency for history to repeat itself makes the past a good template for what type of dilemmas one would should expect to face in the future. As ethical theory is little more than a template for successful behavior, our perception of administrative ethics is derived from the history of administrators. In particular, the policies, memoirs, and outlooks of our greatest leaders have helped to form administrative theory. Some major contributors are:

Grand Moff Tarkin- Grand Moff Tarkin is one of the largest contributors to the theory of administrative ethics. The policy known as the “Tarkin Doctrine”, besides earning him a promotion, is one of the central pieces of Imperial literature. Its essence is that it is better to rule by fear of force than by actual force itself. The most famous example of this policy is when Moff Tarkin landed his tax-collecting ship on top of a group of peaceful protestors that were complaining about the tax rate being too high. That world certainly didn’t stage any more protests of that sort. This relates directly to the theories laid out in this course for several reasons. First, it is easier to fight an enemy that is frightened of you, and second, the more people that are not willing to fight you (because of fear), the less of an armament you need to fight.

Emperor Palpatine- Though he did not release his work to the public, a review of his personal writings and memoirs. Building on the Tarkin Doctrine, it goes on to expound on the nature of humanity. It concludes that intelligent beings are herd organisms best ruled by a strong, centralized government.