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Given the lack of a British Empire in this world, there are many fewer democracies than in the real world. Instead, there are many more autocracies of various kinds, a significant number of them with governments derived from the French system. Former and current French colonies in particular tend to have a monarchy or other absolutist form of government. Though many nations have become freer over time due to popular movements, many have also become less free.
Most political philosophies have been influenced by ideas from the UER, Rationalist, Universalist, Naturist and Naturalist philosophies. French political thinking has also been influenced its experience in India. Many eastern political philosophies have been influenced by Nayaa Rasta.
The world is largely free, but it also has much less privacy than in the real world. In many places the Nullopticon movement has ensured that this lack of privacy applies to both the governed and the government.
There is no international political body equivalent to the United Nations of the real world. The Conférence Permanente De Militaires Du Monde (Permanent World Military Conference), founded in 1953, is the nearest equivalent, although it meets irregularly and only deals with matters of military technology. The French government have attempted to extend its remit to include a ban on the genetic modification of humans, but so far unsuccessfully.
There are three main power blocs in the world:
In addition to this there are two major ideological blocs in the world:
- The Traditionalists, made up of France and the OSU, though there are problems with this given that the OSU is considerably more Progressive than France. They are conservative and oppose what they see as too much 'progress' in many areas.
- The Progressives, made up of the Union and, to a lesser extent, Russia. They consider continuing technological advancement to be the only way forward.
Significant political movements in the world include:
- SOCIALISM
This is much like socialism in the real world, though without stigma that Communism has caused to become attached to it there. The OSU is an example of a socialist state.
- BUREAUCRATIC STATES
The Union is an example of this, although most of its constituent states are not.
- ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM
Sweden is an example of this, as is Russia.
- DEMOCRACY
Such as practised in the OSU and Columbia.
- DICTATORSHIPS
Many of the nations of the world fall into this category.
- PHYSIOCRACY
Physiocracy is an economic theory that considers that the wealth of nations is derived solely from agriculture. It originated in France in the eighteenth century and was perhaps the first well developed theory of economics. The Physiocrats dislike cities for their artificiality and instead praise more 'natural' styles of living, celebrating farmers in particular. They see the true wealth of a nation as being determined by the surplus of agricultural production over and above that needed support agriculture itself. Other forms of economic activity, such as industry and manufacturing, are viewed as taking this surplus agricultural production and transforming it into new products. While these manufacturers and other non agricultural workers may be useful, they are seen as 'sterile' in that their income derives ultimately not from their own work, but from the surplus production of the agricultural sector. Physiocracy is strongly opposed to mercantilism (which emphasised the trade of goods between countries), as it pictures the peasant society as the economic foundation of a nations wealth. In addition to the French-influenced world, many Colombian and Lousianan policies are based on Physiocratic principles.
- BIPODISM
A modification of the Physiocratic system that sees that, as society evolves (advances), industry inevitably becomes as important as agriculture in underpinning society.
It has a flag that is vertically divided, with half gold (for agriculture) and half black (for the coal that powers industry).
- UTILITARIAN ECONOMIC RATIONALISM (UER)
A political/economic philosophy based on the works of Jeremy Bentham and expanding on them, particularly Utilitarianism and the Felicific Calculus. It was invented by Swedish philosopher Alberik Magnus Yngveson in 1788.
Its basic idea is that governments work best when their people are as happy as possible. Thus safety first should be their watchword. They should keep and develop what they have, and not expand until they can, with certainty. They should let go of poor investments, but ruthlessly grab certain opportunities when they arise, for the good of the people and the state. Emotion and sentiment should not be allowed to stop this from happening. The state should be strong, not just to take and hold things, but also to let them go when it is necessary. And it must be flexible and admit error, as the happiness of the state as a whole, including its people, is the essential thing. Spies and secret police are an intrinsic part of Yngveson's system - or rumours of them, which have the same sort of effect on people's behaviour. Propaganda to shape the opinions of the population towards 'ideal' ends is also considered very important, leading inevitably to a need for the country to be isolated from the 'bad' ideas of the rest of the world. However, the provision of health care, including genetic health care (and eugenics), is also considered an essential.
UER has as its vision a society of the maximum good for the maximum number, where people and things not required are let go without regret. This implies either a totally isolated state, or a world state under a UER regime, as anything else will have other nations taking things that the people of the nation require, or influencing its population, thus leading to conflict. The precise form which the government of this ultimate Rationalist state will take remains a matter for discussion, as long as it is one that maximises the happiness of the populace.
Although most people have dismissed the ideas of UER as unworkable, even treasonable, a number of UER regimes have come to power over time, including one in Russia. However, none of them have lasted long, as [like Communism in the real world] although is has had some successes, UER requires people who are not human, and who can just let go of things without emotion. There are rumours that research is being carried out somewhere in the world to modify people's minds to turn them in proper Rationalists, though without any success so far.
Most UER regimes tend to be Progressive rather than Traditionalist, although their progressiveness may not be popular with their people or the rest of the world.
The symbol of UER is a white flag representing the pure light of Rationalism.
- RATIONALISM
An idealistic offshoot of UER, a 'universal' version rather than a utilitarian one. To this school of thought, 'our people' is all of humanity, so all the world should be united under the Rationalist banner, so that everyone can be helped.
- UNIVERSALISM
An offshoot of UER that takes an even wider view than Rationalism, considering all life to be of 'our kind', and thus the world as a whole should be helped and protected. Although initially rejected by most thinkers, in later decades this philosophy has formed the basis for many of the eco-friendly policies found around the world.
- TRIBALISM
A variant of UER that takes a narrow view, that 'our people' is only ones immediate family, and proposes a return to the 'natural' tribal society of cave-man times. This movement has never really become popular.
- NATURALISM
A socialist anti-cities movement, which became known as the Naturalists, evolved out of the French Physiocratic system of economics. Naturalists think that the nations of the world should adjust. That they should spread the factories and so on of the cities across all of the villages of the nation. They realise that industry is essential for the modern world, but insist that it is secondary to agriculture.
The Holy Roman Empire was ruled by a Naturalist regime following a coup in 1880; the Naturalist regime was overthrown in 1894. Most Naturalist regimes fall into the Traditionalist bloc.
This movement has a golden flag, symbolising grain and agriculture.
- NATURISM
Opposed to what they see as un-natural changes to society arising from UER, eugenics, Selección Natural Social and technological advancement, the various Naturist movements wish to return humanity to its proper 'natural' state and society, though precisely what is meant by that varies from group to group. Some of them are religiously-based, others are entirely secular; many include Luddite elements. Most Naturist regimes fall into the Traditionalist bloc.
- THE PANOPTICON MOVEMENT
A political philosophy based on the assumption that the social order is best served and preserved by the observation of everyone, all the time, or at least the possibility that anyone could be observed at any time. It grew out of the work of Jeremy Bentham in the 1780s, and is an ancestor to UER, although it takes a different view to it. Many nations adopted Panopticon-based systems in the nineteenth century, and although these did have many successes they also led to the growth of the Nullopticon movement and the Societal Wars that resulted in much of them being dismantled.
Most of the thinkers involved in the Panopticon Movement have had a vision of a final ordered, lawful society created not through the expectation or hope of people acting rightly, but because they are constantly observed and will be punished if they deviate from the law. Some optimistic thinkers have speculated that in the far future, as
people and society have had this idea become deeply rooted in them, actual surveillance might be phased out, leaving only a 'policeman in every head'. Others, more cynical, believe that this will never happen as long as people remain human.
As part of this eventual aim of putting a 'policeman into every head', some philosophers of the Panopticon Movement have investigated the creation of artificial Panopticon languages, the very structure of which prohibits lying or evasion. Others have proposed the surgical or genetic modification of the human brain to the same end. So far, although some research into these possibilities has been conducted, neither idea is anything more than a hope for the future.
- THE NULLOPTICON MOVEMENT
The Nullopticon movement (un-seeing as opposed to all-seeing) grew up as a reaction to people against the use of Panopticon-based surveillance, and covers a broad range of groups and responses to it. As such it is not a unified front or set of beliefs, but includes:
- The use of slang languages.
- Code Clubs, as interest in cryptography increases.
- An increased interest in artificial and constructed languages.
- The growth of secret societies and what become known as Free Speech Clubs.
- Public Speaking Clubs.
- Exhibitionists.
- NAYAA RASTA (THE NEW WAY)
A religion and political philosophy founded in 1894 by Prajesh Badri d'Agartala, a Franco-Indian administrator from the city of Agartala in French India and working in one of the major agricultural universities near Pondicherry. This linked the then-new science of ecology with evolution and Hinduism, particularly the Karmic cycle, to create what he called Nayaa Rasta (the New Way) and which non-Hindi speakers generally refer to as Physio-Indouism (contracted to Phyndouism) or Badri-ism [as ignorant non-Muslims sometimes refer to Islam as Mohammedism].
Nayaa Rasta is based on the linkage of every living thing together into an overall living world, through which souls and spirits move by the dictates of Karma. Only right living can raise up the world and improve it, and people's lot, in the longer term by improving everything as people live their lives in many different forms and rise up the Karmic ladder [this is a religious form of Orthogenesis]. What is perceived as evolution is the result of this long-term improvement in universal Karma. As such people should live morally, in tune with society and the living world around them, nurturing them both to improve everything over many Karmic cycles.
A number of the Indian states are now run by regimes founded on the principles of Nayaa Rasta.
There has been very little de-colonisation in the post-Economic Collapse period, due to the problems arising after de- and re-colonisation during that time. This has led nations to tend to see that getting rid of colonies leads to more problems later. However, the colonial powers do try to do things as efficiently as possible so there is light control and a Dominion-like status in many colonies.
However, the longer ago the Economic Collapse becomes, the more effort and expense is being put into colonies as people forget the lessons learned during it.
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