How does the Romulan government work?

[Arpy]

In TNG’s “Unification” it seemed to be controlled by a senate and lead by a proconsul. In TNG’s “Face of the Enemy,” we find out that there’s a vice-proconsul as well.

In DS9’s “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges,” it appears to have multiple branches of government including a continuing committee lead by a praetor, and on which traditionally also sits the head of the Tal Shiar.

Then in NEM, the praetor seems to lead the senate.

And once the praetor and senate are assassinated, a new praetor Shinzon seems to lead by himself.

No emperor or empress is ever mentioned or considered as a power player in Romulan governance.

Have I missed anything?

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Memory Alpha has the Proconsul being directly under the Praetor.

I suspect Shinzon lead solo as he wouldn't want to diminish his power. He wouldn't really trust Romulans politicians to follow his decrees, Tal'Aura had just shown that senators were more than happy to be party to mass assassinations. He'd have a lot of sway thanks to his military record, but I doubt the Romulan people would put up with him instilling an all-Reman government, so he could face mass rioting and civil disorder. Going solo is his safest option.

 

[matthunter]

Empire is likely a holdover term, as with the Klingons (who in TNG era at least didn't have an Emperor until clone Kahless was given the role as a figurehead).

 

[Timo]

The Roman model would not put anybody titled Praetor particularly high in the hierarchy. And indeed the TOS Praetor would better be interpreted as a Roman-style one: a semi-retiree who tries to grab additional dough by waging private wars.

Perhaps presiding over dull Senate sessions would be another plausible job for a Praetor, without implying head-of-state position?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tim Thomason]

The Empress is mentioned in Voyager, but other than that, there's no references to Imperial power outside of the Senate and its leader. Like Ancient Rome and most Empires until the modern-era, "Emperor" is a nebulous concept, derived from the Empire and not the other way around.

 

[Tim Thomason]

The Roman model would not put anybody titled Praetor particularly high in the hierarchy. And indeed the TOS Praetor would better be interpreted as a Roman-style one: a semi-retiree who tries to grab additional dough by waging private wars.

Perhaps presiding over dull Senate sessions would be another plausible job for a Praetor, without implying head-of-state position?

Timo Saloniemi

In the real world, Libya was ruled by a lowly Colonel and in Star Trek Land, the Cardassian Union was ruled by a humble Gul. I imagine the first Praetor of the Star Empire was a similar "Man of the People".

 

[The Wormhole]

How does the Romulan government work? Since 2387, it hasn't.

Too soon?

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Beat me to it. I was about to say either "Not very well" or "About as well as the Trump Administration."

 

[Arpy]

How does the Romulan government work? Since 2387, it hasn't.

Too soon?

Too soon. Too soon.
[slowly Mad World starts to play]

I’d forgotten about the VOY mention of the Romulan empress. In “The Q and the Grey,” Q says he could have mated with the Romulan Empress. I took that to mean some storied ancient one from when they first arrived on Romulus or after — their Cleopatra, or Helen, say. One who’s beauty and regal-ness has since been renowned in myth and legend.

 

[MAGolding]

Too soon. Too soon.
[slowly Mad World starts to play]

I’d forgotten about the VOY mention of the Romulan empress. In “The Q and the Grey,” Q says he could have mated with the Romulan Empress. I took that to mean some storied ancient one from when they first arrived on Romulus or after — their Cleopatra, or Helen, say. One who’s beauty and regal-ness has since been renowned in myth and legend.

To be precise the dialog is:

Q: I know that you're probably asking yourself, why would a brilliant, handsome, dashingly omnipotent being like Q want to mate with a scrawny little bipedal specimen like me?
JANEWAY: Let me guess. No one else in the universe will have you.
Q: Nonsense. I could have chosen a Klingon Targ, the Romulan empress, a Cyrillian microbe.
(Janeway puts on a dressing gown.)
JANEWAY: Really? I beat out a single-celled organism? How flattering.
Q: It's an overwhelming honour, isn't it? I can't get you out of my mind. You're confident, passionate, beautiful.

Q does say "the Romulan empress" instead of "a Romulan empress".

Does that mean "the one and only Romulan empress ever", or "the Romulan empress I met one time", or "the only Romulan empress who was a ruler in her own right instead of the spouse of a Romulan emperor", or "the.one Romulan empress who is so famous that she is the only one that people think of when they hear the phrase", or "the Romulan empress who is reignng at this moment in your mortal time", or some other possible meaning of "the Romulan empress"?

 

[Arpy]

^ right. I took it to be like when one mentions “Caesar.” They usually mean Julius, or one of the old caesars, or as a euphemism for someone in charge. But it’s not of an actual Caesar/caesar there now.

I took it to mean this given that “The Q and the Grey” aired in ‘96 and there was no mention or consideration of an empress or emperor in “Unification” in ‘91, or previously in TOS when the head honcho seemed to be the praetor. The praetor was seen in “Intern Arma...” in ‘99 and with the senate’s and his death in NEM in 2002, Shinzon seemed to reign supreme.

Also, when TNG’s “Righful Heir” aired in ‘93, no mention was made of installing Kahless as a figurehead emperor “like the one in the Romulan government,” if we want to keep the empress current if ultimately powerless. Again for me that relegates her to the past. If Q’s implication was that the Romulan empress was more than a figurehead, this was not the case by NEM.

I like the idea of the Empress being a figure from the Romulan past. It makes her mysterious and intriguing to me like Cleopatra, T’Plana-Hath, Surak, and (in the Rihannsu series) the Ruling Queen.

 

[NCC-73515]

He probably said empress cause BermanTrek wasn't ready for a bi Q

 

[Arpy]

He probably said empress cause BermanTrek wasn't ready for a bi Q

I mean, he is Q...he could have mated with anyone, regardless of gender...other contenders were a Klingon targ and a single-celled Cyrillian microbe. Bow-chicka-wow-wow.

 

[FederationHistorian]

I think it works as:

Emperor/Empress (ceremonial position only)
Emperor's Legate (according to the Star Trek novel Probe; never been confirmed on screen)
Praetor (Head of both the Senate and the Continuing Committee; the most powerful member of the Romulan government)
Proconsul
Vice Proconsul
Senators
Romulan military = Tal Shiar

What is of question is if the Proconsul is the first in the succession if the Praetor dies. And how long someone is allow to serve as Praetor, Proconsul, Vice Proconsul and Senator? And we don't know if they have a designated survivor position either. We do know from ENT that Senators oversee projects involving the Romulan military, and that Senators could be expelled from the Senate if they questioned government policy.

The Continuing Committee is supposed to confirm a new Praetor, can be used as a court if necessary, and seats on it can be vied by both the Chairman of the Tal Shiar and members of the Romulan Senate.

 

[Anthony Williams]

However the Romulan Government is structured the end outcome for it's people is pretty draconian. We saw in Unification how life on the ground was similar to the old East Germany where citizens were encouraged to spy on each other and report anything out of order

 

[FederationHistorian]

However the Romulan Government is structured the end outcome for it's people is pretty draconian. We saw in Unification how life on the ground was similar to the old East Germany where citizens were encouraged to spy on each other and report anything out of order

That behavior seems to go back centuries, as even soldiers reported other soldiers to higher up authorities like Senators. A deleted scene in ENT shows Admiral Valore & Senator Vrax getting arrested after their plot to divide the future founders of the Federation fell apart. The Remans that were Varx's bodyguards served as the authorities that arrested them both. I don’t know how long Valdore’s name was sullied on Romulus - since he was clearly dishonoured for his failure, as well as for questioning the expansionist policies of Romulus - as he has whole ship class named after him by the time of NEM. And Romulans are wearing the uniform that Valdore used to wear two centuries earlier. So, it appears that a name on Romulus can either be sullied or restored, depending on the era/generation. But there is a clear difference between 200+ years of secret police on Romulus and 40+ years of secret police in East Germany and 70 years for the wider Soviet Union. That behaviour on Romulus is clearly entrenched in their society.

Senator Tal’Aura, if she wasn’t implicated in the Shinzon coup, theoretically should have become the next Praetor, since she was the sole surviving member of the Romulan Senate and Shinzon was dead. With the rest of the senate being filled out with many members of the Romulan military. But that would mean she likely was in charge during the impended Romulan supernova in the first half of the 2380s and did not seem to do much about it. And we have no idea if Romulan Senators can pass on being Praetor, although I’m not sure why they would, due to the amount of power and influence they seem to hold.

Just realized we never covered where Ambassadors fit within the Romulan government structure. Since they have to be operating under the orders of the Praetor.

 

[Sci]

In TNG’s “Unification” it seemed to be controlled by a senate and lead by a proconsul. In TNG’s “Face of the Enemy,” we find out that there’s a vice-proconsul as well.

In DS9’s “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges,” it appears to have multiple branches of government including a continuing committee lead by a praetor, and on which traditionally also sits the head of the Tal Shiar.

I would quibble with the idea that "Unification II" portrayed the Proconsul as the Star Empire's head of government. We see Proconsul Neral organizing the invasion of Vulcan and as an influential figure, but nothing indicates he's head of government. (The amount of security around him is not very high, either.)

"Balance of Terror" was the first episode to imply that the Romulan Star Empire's head of government is called the Praetor; "Inter Arma" was the episode that explicitly established it. And interestingly, they establish that it's Neral who has recently become Praetor!

* * *

Anyway, the basic org chart seems to be:

Head of State: Emperor/Empress (ceremonial)
Head of Government: Praetor
High-Ranking Official: Proconsul, Vice-Proconsul -- their exact roles are unclear, but they seem to be the equivalent of a Cabinet-level position
High-Level Body: Continuing Committee -- seems to include the Praetor, the Tal Shiar Chair, and high-ranking Senators. I would assume it also includes the Proconsul and Vice Proconsul. I wonder if the Continuing Committee is essentially the equivalent of a Cabinet?
Legislature: Senate

Interestingly, "Unification I & II" seem to imply that Senators represent specific constituencies in the Star Empire and are elected by residents of those constituencies. It's possible the Romulan Star Empire is actually a democracy (for Romulans, anyway -- so an apartheid democracy).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Continuing Committee -- seems to include the Praetor, the Tal Shiar Chair, and high-ranking Senators. I would assume it also includes the Proconsul and Vice Proconsul.

The Praetor is the only one who is guaranteed a seat on the CC. All others - even the chair of the Tal Shiar - have to compete to be allowed in. (Very Romulan thing to do, that. )

Although I agree that the CC does seem to fulfill the role of a Cabinet.

 

[Arpy]

The empress could be ceremonial, but then why should Q care to mate with her? She’d be a curiosity more than a marvel.

I like to think of the Romulans less sentimental than that. Prouder. More sophisticated. Per Senator Letant in DS9’s “Tears of the Prophets,” “Romulans don’t believe in luck.”They have their democratic senate, believe in individual rights like that “of statement,” and seem to be an advanced modern society for all their Roman trappings.

For me, the empress/emperors are figures from antiquity before their modern era. I’d love to read (or watch) the tale of that change. Maybe it would be some grand Antony & Cleopatra epic.

Or it could be one of gradual reforms...TOS’s Samuel T. Cogley quoted documents I imagine each had great stories behind them: “The Bible. The Code of Hammurabi, and of Justinian. The Magna Carta. The Constitution of the United States. The Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies. The Statutes of Alpha III.”

There could be a rich history of Romulan struggles and reforms that elevated them to their advanced society capable of competing with something like the Federation.

 

[Tim Thomason]

The empress could be ceremonial, but then why should Q care to mate with her?

Why should Q care to mate with a targ and a microbe?