Help with fictional government name?

[sozme]

So I'm having a tough time coming up with a name for my fictional government. I have tentatively called it the United Republic of Earth Colonies, but I don't think it's quite dark enough for my tastes.

So far, my favorite name (of a fictional government) is the Coalition of Ordered Governments from Gears of War.

Just a little light background - this is a central governing body of several human colonies far away from the solar system. It's about 600 years in the future and Earth has been destroyed by aliens. The resulting central government is rather authoritarian while preserving a lot of the "republican" language. The chief executive is the Most High Chancellor, who is elected for 10 year terms (and is called "His Excellency"). There is a unicameral legislature ("Senate" - although if you have some ideas for a different name, I'd love to hear them) as well as a Supreme Magistracy which functions in a similar but not identical manner to the U.S. Supreme Court but with some additional powers. The colonies themselves are spread out into 7 different star systems (hence the 7 stars). The "national mascot"/bird is the phoenix (to symbolize the rebirth of civilization following the destruction of their homeworld).

I'm also thinking of eliminating Earth from the name, as I have considered setting the background of the story in an alternate universe (but haven't fully decided). The reason for this is because I'd like there to be less of a focus on speculation of what the future might be like for specific real-life groups of people as opposed to running thematic parallels in a different universe (and readers can extrapolate for themselves whether elements of the story are based on certain real-life organizations, people, or events). To this end, I'm thinking of replacing "Earth" with "Terra" or something because while I want it to be clear that the setting takes place in a different universe, the human homeworld is still an analogue to Earth.

 

[TimothyQ]

I like the three arms of government, a proper division of powers leaves room for a lot of corruption and in fighting.

Are you sure the name needs to be that mannacing? As they use a lot of republican language they might make the 'branding' quite aspirant and inspiring, maybe taking the Commonwealth of Nations as an example?

 

[thaddeus6th]

Could have 'democratic' in the name. Some places that do (Democratic Republic of Congo, and I think North Korea's official name includes the term) are anything but.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

So had EAST Germany... So if it's not Democratic put it in the name.

 

[Ursa major]

Do any countries/political entities have names that make them look dark and nasty? (I'm not going to allow "democratic republic" as we've had to learn that those places are far from democratic.)

More likely a political entity will chose a name based on things like its geography (galactic "geography" in your case), or its origins, or its political aspirations. As only you know what these are, it's hard to suggest anything.

The obvious word to use, given the circumstances you've mentioned, is New, but then it's a bit too obvious. Perhaps there's something you could borrow from the past (specifically the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), giving the Republic of the Eight** Earths. Well perhaps not, given your aversion to the name, Earth.

EDIT: The answer is obvious, now I think about it. You want something that hints at dark. What about hinting at terror (as your subconscious mind is already suggesting to you)? Yes: the Republic/States/Commonwealth/ whatever of Terra. (If you really want to push the boat out, you could work in the Latin for 'United in Terra' as the state's motto.... )


(I have more problem with a republic that identifies itself as a group of colonies. Didn't they cease being colonies when either when Earth was destroyed or when they became a united republic, whichever came first?)


** -- Eight as there are seven colonised star systems plus the original Earth that was mother to them all.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Is it a Republic? It doesn't really sound like one. It sounds more like an empire with some nods to democracy. However I'd stay with keeping Earth in the name because the Earth having been destroyed gives such a brilliant piece of background to inspire the shape of politics in your story. It suggests a military form of government dedicated to keeping the remaining colonies together and alive. Also, though it'll sound strange, even if it's in another universe there would still be one main world and six colonies, so you just end up replacing "Earth" with another name.

Personally I'd go with something shorter, maybe United Earth. It doesn't matter that the Earth is destroyed if it is the figurehead of the empire / republic. Or you could go for something symbolic. I imagine that one of the goals of the worlds would be assuming its possible, to resettle Earth at some point in the future. And that goal might well be the focus of the collective political structures. So it could be the Restoration Government.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[thaddeus6th]

It doesn't necessarily need to be accurate. Undemocratic places call themselves democratic to sound nicer. In the same way, when we had a King-Emperor or Queen-Empress, the Prime Minister was still the most powerful man in the country despite having a much weaker title.

 

[TimothyQ]

The Union of Socialist Soviet Republics...the word republic has come to be used by virtually any country without a monarch. It might be that the nastier you want the administration to be, the nicer you should make the name sound.

 

[sozme]

Hi,

Is it a Republic? It doesn't really sound like one. It sounds more like an empire with some nods to democracy.

Yes, that is exactly the point. It is an oligarchy with an enormous military-industrial complex and politicians that stay in office virtually forever. They give themselves various titles and honors, abuse the citizenry through the tax code and onerous laws/regulations, and use the coercive powers of the state to advance themselves. Incidentally the story is not about the nature of government per say, but that's the backdrop.

 

[sozme]

the problem I have with "Earth" is I think I can save myself a lot of trouble in the long-haul by working from an alternate universe perspective. I.e. in Gears of War the human homeworld was "Sera." It had a completely different geography, completely different countries, completely different history. When writing space opera that spans several centuries there is always that burden of coming up with the specifics of how humanity eventually becomes an interstellar, space-faring species. For instance, in Mass Effect, they have an entire timeline of when the first mass relay was found on Mars (2040 or something), what the various nations of the world came to look like, etc. I'd rather avoid talking about all that. I don't want to be forced to write a single thing about the United Nations, the United States, NASA, or even the history of humanity as it exists in the real-world. In fact, I'd rather use a completely different calendar.

I thought choosing something other than "Earth" for the human homeworld might make it much more clear that my story exists in a completely separate (but perhaps similar) universe. Does that make sense? What do you think?

 

[Abernovo]

Just to play Devil's Advocate, you can have Earth as a semi-mythical starting point without mentioning it much. What happened in your area, or any area, 600 years ago? Or, to put it another way, how do you know whether what you've been told about certain events is true or is a biased account, based on who paid for the history (or plays - Will Shakespeare, I'm looking at you) to be written? We depend upon the impartiality of academics and experts, and their access to artefacts and archaeology, which would not be present to any new colony.

Plus you can go the new beginning route and have the calendar starting from when they left Earth. Or finally settled, as time dilation would make the passage of time difficult to work out between two planets - not to mention the new planet will likely have a different 'year' length and day length. Or Year Zero can be when the new Empire, sorry Colonial Republic , was established. That term alone will give it some icy undertones.

Anyway, the name is reasonably unimportant. It can always be adjusted later.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Hey sozme...a few thoughts: first, there's one easy--even logical--way I can think of to eliminate Earth or Terra from the governing body's name; it seems likely that before the people of Earth are ready to colonize the stars, they would have colonized their own solar system, to some extent (bases on the moon...maybe Mars...Titan, etc; and I think these bases would become really well established in the time it would take Earth to get up to speed for a vast colonization program). So I think it's possible there would have been an organization of governing bodies within the solar system, before we were sending tens of thousands of people to the stars to colonize other worlds. So, instead of using Earth or Terra in the name you're looking for, perhaps you could use Sol; that eliminates 'Earth', and implies the colonies originated from something larger than a single planet.

Then what about a name such as 'Inheritor Republics of Sol'*? If you want to eliminate the connection to the parent solar system, you could call your coalition of worlds the Inheritor Republics** of Perseus (or some other part of the Milky Way). Just some thoughts, best of luck finding a name! CC

* IROS
** 'commonwealth' could also work.

 

[jastius]

Dominion?
Confederacy?
Confederacy of All Terra?
Dominion of Unified Terrans?

they had a neat little acronym for the worst fighting arenas of vietnam. the 'de-militarized zone', or DMZ.
So perhaps you could go the opposite. .. any do the 'anything but' type thing.
Add 'Free" to the title.
Confederation of Free Colonies, excetera.
Dominion of Unified Man
Confederacy of Unified New Terra

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Just remembered, in B5 they had a cool organisation name - "Nightwatch" - which I always liked. It said so little about the group's agenda and yet still came with dark overtones. For yours I might suggest just "The Watch". It carries no specifics but allows you to twist it in any way you like. Also it can be a great base word for so many other sub groups. The local military outpost could be "The Watchtower." The court system could be "The Watchmaker."

I think a large part of explaining your government comes down to how it was formed, and I'm guessing that that relates to one single question - how was the Earth destroyed? An alien attack would be a perfect excuse for a military command government always on the look out for threats to form, which eventually when the threats didn't show up, became this corrupt empire.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Federation of Free Planets

Generally anything to do with governments that has 'free' in the title is anything but.

And any government that was authoritarian and heavy-handed, yet showered itself with glorious titles, would make the name sound as magnanimous as possible.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Also your ideology makes it sound very US-centric ; and your emblem with the bird, stars and latin motto (don't forget if you use an alternative universe, you'll probably need to lose that motto) look very similar to the US government emblem.

 

[tinkerdan]

Supreme Republic of United Colonies

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Just a thought...we're these "aliens" who destroyed Earth wearing colonial military uniforms at the time?

Perhaps the Reign of Terra was originally established to fight off a real or perceived reign of terror from Terra, and the reason the aliens never showed up to finish off the colonies is because they did - by becoming the new military ruling elite...

 

[TimothyQ]

Or maybe the new ruling elite is propped up by fear of the Aliens? Only the military establishment can protect us from another Alien apocalypse, so what if my niece disappeared after she wrote that subversive essay?

 

[sozme]

Also your ideology makes it sound very US-centric ; and your emblem with the bird, stars and latin motto (don't forget if you use an alternative universe, you'll probably need to lose that motto) look very similar to the US government emblem.

It's not an accident that they look similar.