How is the leader of the federation lected in the Trekverse?
- Thread starter Yevetha
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^ How so? The Federation is a democracy, and a fairly effective one at that. Not perfect, but then no government ever is, has been, or will be. The office of President of the Federation is probably the most powerful in the entire Alpha Quadrant.
^ The Constitution of the United States sets out qualifications that anyone wishing to run for President of the US must have. Same story here, really.
We don't know exactly what the qualifications *are* to run for Federation President, but they probably aren't too terribly harsh. I don't find it that unusual that the Federation Council would be tasked with sifting through candidates in this way. When the leadership of the Federation is at stake, the Council has every right to decide who is qualified.
And remember, the actual *election* of Federation President is by direct popular vote. So I don't see any problem here.
It shouldn't be up to the Federation Council to decide whose qualified. The qualifications for the office should be plainly spelled out in the charter.
The way it is explained makes it sound like the Federation Council decides on candidates who are politically acceptable to them. Which to me sounds like they're stacking the deck before the populace gets to make a decision.
It'd be like a Republican or Democrat controlled congress deciding on who gets to run for President.
Yevetha
Commodore
I think the fderation leadership is pretty damm perfect.
They live in a socialist utopia anyway so till the leader is relativly competent everything will be more or less fine.
More depressing than depending on much money a potential leader gets from big companies?
Like I said, we don't know what the qualifications for the office of Federation President actually ARE. They could be, and probably are, just as innocuous as those for President of the United States. Things like, must be a certain age, must be a native born citizen of the Federation, etc. Probably takes the Council a minute or less to sift through that.
^ Indeed. Supreme Federation executive power is derived from a mandate of the masses. 
I seem to remember one of the leading candidates for American President in 2008 being pull off the campaign trail for a full day, just so the opposition party's elected officials (who controlled both houses of Congress) could preform a hearing as to whether he could legally one day be President of the United States.
They (mysteriously) didn't do the same with their own party's candidate.
Oxymoron?
This would have to be a variable, based on species. If someone like (hypothetically) a Ocampa were running, their minimum age would be set much lower than someone from a species that reaches intellectually maturity and hopefully obtains wisdom at a more advanced age. The minimal age within their originating civilization could come into play.
If the potential candidate were of mixed species heritage, figuring the minimal age might take some careful consideration.
But if their birth predates their civilizations entry into the Federation, would that disqualify them? Or would it be enough that they were native born (or natural born) on a planet that was subsequently admitted.
I would imagine that none of the first several Presidents of the Federation were actually born "in the Federation."
I'm reminded of a science fiction novel I once read (title escapes me), where one of the criteria for high office was that no could be "President" who actual wanted the job!
It was thought that anyone who had a psychological desire for such a position of power would be unsuited for it.
They probably are, and the Federation Council's job is probably to simply confirm that a given candidate fits the qualifications.
For example, if you're dealing with a Federation with many different species, it's probably important to have a system in place to verify that one of the requirements of the Presidency, that the candidate be of the age of majority, be met. Why? Because otherwise if you're a 75-Earth-year-old Zog from the planet Zog, Humans and Andorians might assume that you're of the age of majority (and thus a legal adult) even though Zogs aren't considered to be legal adults until the age of 127 Earth years. And you can't very well list the ages of majority of every single Federation Member world out there (especially since members of one species might live on the homeworld of an entirely different species) in the Federation Constitution.
So having the Federation Council there to confirm that a candidate meets all legal requirements for the Presidency isn't oppressive or inappropriate. It's really no different than Congress voting to confirm the electoral college count (which it does every four years, thereby giving final legal confirmation to who's going to be President) or than a local board of election determining that a candidate hasn't provided sufficient information to qualify for candidacy in that state.
The mention of legal qualifications is very vague, but it's clear from the novel that no such thing occurs. It's a matter of simply determining who is legally qualified, not who is politically acceptable.
I'm sorry, but that's just absurd. The Federation isn't a utopia, it's just more enlightened than our society today, but it faces numerous problems that require good judgment.
What happens when Qo'noS blows up? When an independent world gets conquered by Cardassians and its political dissidents ask the Federation to save them (but not its actual government, which has been subverted by the invaders)? What happens when the Romulan Senate up and gets overthrown by a Reman-identified biological Human? What happens when the Klingons start invading Cardassia and demand that the Federation join them? What happens when the lights all go out on Earth and everyone thinks the Dominion did it? What happens when Federation worlds that weren't affected by the Dominion War start threatening to secede if the Federation forces them to send resources to those that were devastated by the war? Etc., Etc., Etc.
Society doesn't run itself, and decisions have to be made. What decisions get made depends on who's sitting behind the desk.
Excellent point! Determining just what the age of majority is for, say, a Federate whose heritage is 1/4th Human, 1/4th Vulcan, 1/4th Rhaandarite, and 1/4th Ocampa, might indeed require some consideration.
But if their birth predates their civilizations entry into the Federation, would that disqualify them? Or would it be enough that they were native born (or natural born) on a planet that was subsequently admitted.[/quote]
It would almost certainly need to be that, but, personally, I don't think the Federation ought to be discriminating against Federation citizens who were born on foreign worlds and emigrated to the UFP later. A length of citizenship and residency sounds more reasonable to me, then.
True -- it would be at least 18 years before there could be any legal adult Human, for instance, capable of running for President who had been born a Federation citizen rather than just a United Earth citizen. And it wasn't until 1837, with Martin Van Buren, that the United States had a President who had been born a citizen of the United States -- every President before then had been born a citizen of the Kingdom of Great Britain. So the Federation might not see a "natural-born Federate" until upwards of 60 years after its founding.
They spout a Patrick Stewart Speech, leaving the dealer so dazed, confused and mind blown that they can just take 'em ;P
That actually depends upon which part of the canon you're looking at.
As the website Ex Astris Scientia points out, there are numerous pieces of evidence both for the idea that there is no money and for the idea that there is money. (In fact, we can be certain, at the very least, that there's money during the TOS era, as the plots of numerous TOS episodes, from "Mudd's Women" to "Journey to Babel" to "The Devil in the Dark," make no sense if money does not exist.)
My hypothesis is something similar to EAS's: That there is money, but that the Federation has something roughly akin to an economy in a state of abundance. The Federation has accumulated or learned how to accumulate so much wealth, and its resources are so vast, that the cost of living has actually become so cheap that it's not even worth measuring anymore. By the 24th Century, anyone who wants to live for free, in essence, can do so -- they can get a free apartment and a free hovercar and a free newsfeed and free food and free shelter and free medical care. Everyone can live a healthy lifestyle because resources are so abundant. Money is no longer required for our day-to-day lives.
But, I also imagine that anyone who wants to accomplish more or accumulate more would need to get a job and earn money. Not everyone can live in a sea-side mansion. Not everyone can own their own private spaceship. Etc. So those who want more have to earn it. This would keep those resources that don't exist in a state of abundance still rationed as they are today.
And, because I'm a bleeding-heart progressive, I'd personally theorize that the Federation and/or United Earth has some mechanism in place to eliminate inherited wealth in order to prevent the evolution of any sort of Federation aristocracy, be it an official one like in Britain or an unofficial one like the one in the United States that supports the aristocratic families that live on vast inherited wealth. There may be a Federation Steve Jobs or J.K. Rowling, but there are no Federation Paris Hiltons or Donald Trumps.
^Lovely post. Couldn't agree more.
Both Captain Picard's brother and Captain Sisko's father would fit that bill. I know that some this board have posted that their businesses are actual own by the state (United Earth) and both of those men are just being permitted to operate them. But I believe they both outright own their respective commercial businesses.
In fact, I also believe that part of Captain Picard's attitude concerning money and "we seek to improve ourselves" comes from his adversarial relationship with his brother, who is a successful and talented business man who has become quite wealthy.
Erzi Dax's mother was a successful entrepreneur, while not the nicest person ever to appear on Star Trek, she wasn't a ogre either.
Richard Daystrom could also be seen as a successful entrepreneur, at least up through the events of Ultimate Computer.
There's Neelix prior to joining Voyager's company too, although "successful" is debatable.
In fact, I also believe that part of Captain Picard's attitude concerning money and "we seek to improve ourselves" comes from his adversarial relationship with his brother, who is a successful and talented business man who has become quite wealthy.
Erzi Dax's mother was a successful entrepreneur, while not the nicest person ever to appear on Star Trek, she wasn't a ogre either.
Richard Daystrom could also be seen as a successful entrepreneur, at least up through the events of Ultimate Computer.
There's Neelix prior to joining Voyager's company too, although "successful" is debatable.
I don't understand why they don't have economy in the future. 
If you have some talent or something somebody wants, you want to offer your service or goods in exchange for something that you can use to help better your life. It's not fair for people who worked hard to produce something if you are giving them away to people who just sit on their asses all day; what would be the point of hard work and sweat if you can't reap the reward of success. Instead of going to a med school for 10 years, I might as well stay home because there is no point in studying for something I'm not even going to benefit from it. What am I going to the med school for...a hobby? 
If you have some talent or something somebody wants, you want to offer your service or goods in exchange for something that you can use to help better your life. It's not fair for people who worked hard to produce something if you are giving them away to people who just sit on their asses all day; what would be the point of hard work and sweat if you can't reap the reward of success. Instead of going to a med school for 10 years, I might as well stay home because there is no point in studying for something I'm not even going to benefit from it. What am I going to the med school for...a hobby?
How would that jibe with the Picard vineyard? I impression I got was that it, house and lands, were inherited by Robert Picard. Land is of course a form of wealth.
My extended families farms in Brazil have been in our family since the mid-nineteenth century, why would your vision of the Federation seek to take away that achievement? Some of my ancestors literally died bringing those farms into existence, they were passed (inherited) from generation to generation, each building on the efforts of the previous.
You seem to be suggesting that each generation should begin from scratch.
And the thousands of people who work for the Hilton's and Trump's? Fresh, start-up businesses don't always employ very many people.
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