Politics in Star Trek

[Mr. Laser Beam]

People like to point to the replicator as a magical cure-all for scarcity and all the other problems, but there are problems with this:

- Not everyone has a replicator. Robert Picard, for example, refused to allow them in his family home.

- Replicators themselves need energy, bulk matter, and maintenance. Those don't come out of nowhere.

- Some things, like latinum and dilithium, can't be replicated.

- Some people will always prefer "the real thing", i.e. food.

 

[Sci]

Why did the Federation allow Cardassia to conquer and occupy Bajor?

Prime Directive. Since Bajor, technically speaking, invited the Cardassians in, the Federation was powerless to interfere, since the Prime Directive treats this as an internal matter. Once Cardassia annexed Bajor, all bets were off.

Well, I wasn't literally asking why the Federation allowed Cardassia to conquer and occupy Bajor. I was suggesting it as one of several questions that would likely be fodder for political debate within the Federation, and in particular as a follow-up question about what the boundaries of the Prime Directive actually constitute:

How does the Federation balance the need to expand and protect its interests with the need to avoid using its relative power to unofficially, and even unintentionally, dominate weaker planets? What are the boundaries of the Prime Directive, anyway? Why has the Federation of the 2360s adopted the policy of allowing natural disasters to destroy pre-warp societies? Why did the Federation allow Cardassia to conquer and occupy Bajor?

My point being that this policy choice on the Federation's part is probably not actually a matter of general consensus. There's a strong chance that there are strong disagreements within the Federation about what the Prime Directive actually requires, and thus of what the Federation government's true motivations were in allowing Bajor to fall to the Cardassians.

And considering that the Federation has sometimes intervened in the affairs of foreign states engaged in campaigns of conquest against other foreign states -- Picard against the Romulan campaign to use the House of Duras as a puppet regime on Qo'noS; Sisko against Gowron's attempt to conquer Cardassia in the wake of the overthrow of the Central Command -- I think it's clear that the Federation hasn't always behaved the same way when facing similar foreign policy dilemmas, and that thus "the Prime Directive" may not be a wholly accurate description of why it has sometimes refrained from intervening -- or that, at the least, it may be an incomplete explanation.

Can a Federation Member have an established church?

Bajor does.

Does it? Does the Bajoran Church actually receive Bajoran taxpayer funds? Is it the officially established church of the Bajoran government? Or is it just so widely followed that it holds a position of informal influence? I don't think this was ever specified onscreen.

Since the only thing that would have kept Bajor OUT of the Federation was the caste system, which was long ago abolished, we can assume that the Bajoran religion itself would not have been a problem (assuming that Bajorans who don't follow the faith were not discriminated against, and we never heard that they were).

But of course, that brings up the question of exactly what does or does not constitute discrimination, and of what kinds of actions need to be taken to protect the rights of religious minorities.

These sorts of questions get very complicated very quickly. It's unrealistic to expect the Federation to have simple answers to these questions.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Does the Bajoran Church actually receive Bajoran taxpayer funds? Is it the officially established church of the Bajoran government? Or is it just so widely followed that it holds a position of informal influence? I don't think this was ever specified onscreen.

Bajor has the Vedek Assembly. That group may not be actually part of the Bajoran government (I thought that it was, but I did some checking, and apparently it is not), but it certainly has a lot of influence. For example, the Kai can also be First Minister.

 

[T'Girl]

It is canon to say that the Federation is a democratic state, with elected members in both the executive and legislative branch of governments

Kirk did describe the Federation (to Kor) as a "democracy." But a Admiral (Ross?) said that the multiple representatives of Bajor to the Federation Council would be selected. Which could mean elected by the populace, or appointed by the assembly.

It doubtful that Ardana's representatives to the Council were elect by the general population.

no issues about [snip] bureaucracy

Captain Maxwell made some (negative) comments on bureaucrats, that was TNG. And we saw a few bothersome bureaucrats during TOS.

The term Federation indicates that it is a Federal Republic, since it is titled the United Federation of Planets it is a Federal Republic of Planets.

Federation can mean simply "coming together." So from United Federation of Planets you could get ...

The Harmonious Coming Together of Planets.

I'd guess that the member planets send representatives to the Federation ...

Yes, at least if they choose too.

... not all of these planets are necessarily democratically governed, some aren't.

Agree, the Federation Council would be run on democracy procedures, but the various Members would decide for themselves.

I believe the Federation handles exploration and defense and the planets handle everything else.

I believe the Federation would deal with "interstellar matters," but would have little or no say within the Members realms.

TOS: Journey to Babel, one of my favorite episodes, sheds at least a little light on Federation politics.

I like that it appears that the Members decide on whether to admit new members, and the Council to have no say in the matter. Later (TNG or DS9) the Council gains the power to decide, but it's not clear when they acquired this power (or how long they'll keep it).

the Federation Council is akin to the US Congress in which the chosen representatives/ambassadors for each member world ...

It would seem that Member worlds have both representatives to the Council, and their own Ambassadors independent of the Council.

... and leave foreign policy as one of a handful of issues decided directly by the UFP government.

But we also saw that at least some (or one) Federation members, Vulcan, conducting it's own foreign policy. And having it's own extra-Federation embassies.

What are the boundaries of the Prime Directive, anyway? Why has the Federation of the 2360s adopted the policy of allowing natural disasters to destroy pre-warp societies?

The out-universe explanation of the shifting Prime Directive is needs of the plot.

But in-universe, I see it as the Prime Directive does actually change over time, sometimes very rapidly, it isn't a craved in stone constitutional matter, but rather a matter of governing policy. Perhaps it is a "hot political football" of sorts. As new Members enter the Federation, composition of the Council changes and new President are elected (however THAT happens) the Prime Directive gets re-interpreted, re-worded, and aspect of it re-prioritized.

Starfleet Command may receive frequent updates on the Council policies covering the Prime Directive.

The episode Penpals shows that even senior Starfleet officers are not in total agreement on exactly what the PD is about, or what it means.

it was hard enough to get them to join together for their mutual protection after the Romulan War.

I think the opposite there, the Romulan War was likely the prime driving force behind the formation of the Federation. From a certain way of looking at it, the Romulans were the ones who created the Federation.

... but a Saurian woman who is about to lay her eggs travels to, say, Deneva in order to lay eggs on a planet which lacks laws against egg-crushing? Does the UFP have the right to ban that? Does Sauria?

Or the opposite, egg-crushing on Sauria is not only perfectly legal, but a integral part of their culture. However on Deneva, because the eggs are independent of the mother once laid, the practice is prohibited. Does the mother still stomp?

Do cultural practices and their protections, follow a member citizen from planet to planet? Can Vulcans on Earth engage in Kalifee, and not be charge subsequently with murder? After all, it is a cultural practice.

Clearly scarcity does exist, or the number of e.g. Galaxy-class starships would have been much greater. Most likely the materials important to high-end Federation technology could not be replicated.

Not just high end, in many of the series we see a lot of simply mining going on, it isn't that these thing couldn't be replicated, but there's a reason to obtain the same materials through mining.

Economics of the replicator?

The UFP courts could act as an honest broker and negotiate disputes between member planets.

One of the important reasons to have a Federation at all, is to keep the Members from going to war with each other. Not just protecting from external threats, but internal ones too.

Nope, the Saurian could also do that on a starship.

Perhaps a starship in interstellar space, the future equivalent of international waters. Registry might come into play.

All this means is that the deciding parties would be unelected Federation judges rather than elected Federation legislators.

Assumes that "Federation judges" are not elected.

Can a Federation Member have an established church?

If the modern day United Kingdom were a planet seeking admissions into the Federation, and met ALL the other criteria, would the fact it had the Church of England as the officially established church be enough all by itself to exclude them from Membership in the Federation? Bearing in mind that other religions, agnostics and atheists do exist in the UK.

 

[Sci]

Does the Bajoran Church actually receive Bajoran taxpayer funds? Is it the officially established church of the Bajoran government? Or is it just so widely followed that it holds a position of informal influence? I don't think this was ever specified onscreen.

Bajor has the Vedek Assembly. That group may not be actually part of the Bajoran government (I thought that it was, but I did some checking, and apparently it is not), but it certainly has a lot of influence. For example, the Kai can also be First Minister.

Oh, yes, no one contests that the Bajoran Church and its Vedek Assembly carries a lot of influence. But just as the existence of the General Convention does not make the Episcopal Church the established church of the United States, the Vedek Assembly isn't necessarily evidence that the Bajoran Church is the established church of the Republic of Bajor.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Not just high end, in many of the series we see a lot of simply mining going on, it isn't that these thing couldn't be replicated, but there's a reason to obtain the same materials through mining.

Yes.

Often the materials that need to be mined are exotic/transuranic elements necessary for high-end Federation technology. In that case, I think it's reasonable to assume a scarcity in the galaxy of planets with such elements, e.g. as (di)lithium (cf Mudd's Women), in suitable quantities and with accessibility suitable for mining.

On the other hand, sometimes (cf The Devil in the Dark), elements that are mined are not transuranic. That would seem to imply that the cost of replication, while small, does add up, especially for some materials (which presumably can be replicated), to the point that mining those materials is more cost-effective than actually replicating them.

If I were to make up a reason, it would have to do with nuclear mass and possibly also nuclear structure. The elements in organic materials have lightweight nuclei, which would explain why it's so cheap to replicate food.

 

[timmy84]

The Seventh Guarantee of the Constitution of the UFP protects Federation citizens from being compelled to give self-incriminating testimony in legal proceedings. I mention that one because it shows that at the start concerns about universal rights was considered. So the Federation Constitution already guarantees which shows that it was debated before at an interstellar level (which means not all five founding members had this right. Maybe Vulcans didn't have this right because it was illogical to keep any evidence from the court and that meant an Andorian could be compelled to testify against himself in a Vulcan court).

Of course not all issues were dealt with at its founding. Like today not all issues were issues (although I would like to think that because computers have always been around for the Federation, interpretation debates on laws don't exist since the debates were well documented).

I really enjoyed the book "Articles of Federation" since it provided a look at the politics of the Federation, but at the same time I didn't like it. The way I've always viewed the Federation was a strong UN (or even closer to a modern EU). Having a strong president like that I don't think works for something like the Federation. But thats just a tangent.

 

[Mars]

The Federation President is commander in chief of Star Fleet, I think that is his main role, and why that office exists. The Federation has to be strong enough to fight toe to toe with the Klingons and the Romulan Star Empire, if it was as weak as the UN is today, it would not have lasted. But the Federation is also not another United States as it is today, it is more of a frontier government, it doesn't get involved in minute detail of the life of every Federation Citizen on every member planet. There are agreements on civil rights, but those agreements are fairly fuzzy I think and flexible because there are many species involved. A reptilian species that decides whether to allow egg clutches to hatch or not are given the leeway to do so, if another planet wants to outlaw abortion, the Federation probably won't interfere with that either. The Federation is a compromise, something all the 150 member planets have to live with, therefore it is obligated not to get too intrusive in planetary affairs, as I see it. The Federation is fairly libertarian if anything, its government is just large enough to fund Starfleet and to provide a proper defense and explore the galaxy with an eye towards contacting new civilizations and perhaps accepting new member planets when they are ready, or finding new planets that are suitable for colonization and future member status as well.

 

[T'Girl]

The Federation President is commander in chief of Star Fleet, I think that is his main role, and why that office exists.

The thing there is this, whenever Starfleet got their marching order from the Federation government, the order seem to come from the Council, and not from the President. It's possible that the Federation doesn't have the political equivalent of "Commander in Chief," the only time we heard that term, it referred to a top Starfleet Admiral.

The Federation has to be strong enough to fight toe to toe with the Klingons and the Romulan Star Empire, if it was as weak as the UN is today, it would not have lasted.

The UN charter does provide for a United Nations military, but the the UN membership has always refused to allow it, preferring to donate their own militaries to UN peacekeeping missions, or just take care of things themselves.

There are agreements on civil rights, but those agreements are fairly fuzzy I think and flexible because there are many species involved.

It would probably be pretty wicked to reconcile all the Member's historically differing view on what constitutes a "civil right." It sounds strange, but all the species in the Federation might not enjoy the same rights. One of the rights I would personally want is to not have my mind casually read, you would need my express permission, or a court order. Okay, how would that work with Betazeds? Not to be forced into a arranged marriage, you know who would have a problem with that.

 

[MacLeod]

The Federation President is commander in chief of Star Fleet, I think that is his main role, and why that office exists. The Federation has to be strong enough to fight toe to toe with the Klingons and the Romulan Star Empire, if it was as weak as the UN is today, it would not have lasted. But the Federation is also not another United States as it is today, it is more of a frontier government, it doesn't get involved in minute detail of the life of every Federation Citizen on every member planet. There are agreements on civil rights, but those agreements are fairly fuzzy I think and flexible because there are many species involved. A reptilian species that decides whether to allow egg clutches to hatch or not are given the leeway to do so, if another planet wants to outlaw abortion, the Federation probably won't interfere with that either. The Federation is a compromise, something all the 150 member planets have to live with, therefore it is obligated not to get too intrusive in planetary affairs, as I see it. The Federation is fairly libertarian if anything, its government is just large enough to fund Starfleet and to provide a proper defense and explore the galaxy with an eye towards contacting new civilizations and perhaps accepting new member planets when they are ready, or finding new planets that are suitable for colonization and future member status as well.

The only time we saw a referrence to Commander in Chief was in TUC, in which it was a Starfleet Admiral and not a Politician, not the President etc..

 

[Sci]

The Federation President is commander in chief of Star Fleet, I think that is his main role, and why that office exists.

The thing there is this, whenever Starfleet got their marching order from the Federation government, the order seem to come from the Council, and not from the President. It's possible that the Federation doesn't have the political equivalent of "Commander in Chief," the only time we heard that term, it referred to a top Starfleet Admiral.

The Federation President is commander in chief of Star Fleet, I think that is his main role, and why that office exists.

The only time we saw a referrence to Commander in Chief was in TUC, in which it was a Starfleet Admiral and not a Politician, not the President etc..

This is false. Federation President Jaresh-Inyo was explicitly referred to as the commander-in-chief in DS9's "Paradise Lost."

JARESH-INYO
Your story has a certain logic to it, gentlemen. But what it lacks so far is proof.

SISKO
You want proof... Order Admiral Leyton to withdraw his troops from the streets... see what he does.

JARESH-INYO
You think he would refuse a direct order from his commander-in-chief?

SISKOIf he orders his troops to stand down, then I'm wrong and I'll offer my resignation. But I don't think that's going to happen. With those troops in place, Admiral Leyton controls Earth. And he's not going to give up that control until he's convinced he's ended the Dominion threat.

It is true that the Starfleet admiral seen in Star Trek VI was referred to as "the C-in-C." This isn't necessarily a contradiction, though. Up until the George W. Bush Administration, the commanding officers of the U.S. Armed Forces's Unified Combatant Commands were referred to as the commanders-in-chief of that combatant command. So, for instance, the commanding officer of Central Command was known as the Commander-in-Chief, United States Central Command -- or, more succinctly, as CINC CENTCOM. In 2002, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld changed the titles of the combatant command commanders-in-chief to "combatant commander," in order to reserve the phrase "commander-in-chief" for the President for propaganda purposes.

But either way, the term "commander-in-chief" can exist at multiple levels within a military hierarchy. The U.S. President is commander-in-chief of all U.S. military forces; the commanding officers of the Unified Combatant Commands were the commanders-in-chief of all U.S. military forces within their region; etc. and so on down the line.

So there's no contradiction between the Federation President being the commander-in-chief as established in DS9 and a Starfleet admiral also being a commander-in-chief as established in STVI. It just depends upon what they are commanders-in-chief of. It's pretty clear that whatever the Federation President is commander-in-chief of, it includes Starfleet. Sinice we know from VOY's "Thirty Days" that there exists at least one other military force within the Federation government, something called the Federation Naval Patrol, I would hypothesize that the Federation President is commander-in-chief of all UFP military services, and that the admiral seen in STVI was commander-in-chief of Starfleet only. Thus, as C-in-C of all military services, the President can issue an order to the C-in-C of Starfleet and to the C-in-C of the Federation Naval Patrol.

The UN charter does provide for a United Nations military,

If I understand Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, it does not do so. Rather, it allows United Nations Security Council to make use of national forces the Member States have placed at the service of the United Nations, and allows for the Military Staff Committee (comprised of the chiefs of staff of the armed forces of the permanent Security Council Member States) to coordinate those "loaned" forces.

In other words, the United Nations Charter allows the U.N. to use forces which have been loaned to it but whose ultimate loyalty remains to their national government -- not to raise its own military. Indeed, the U.N. cannot raise its own military, because the United Nations is not a sovereign state -- it is an association of sovereign states.

There are agreements on civil rights, but those agreements are fairly fuzzy I think and flexible because there are many species involved.

It would probably be pretty wicked to reconcile all the Member's historically differing view on what constitutes a "civil right." It sounds strange, but all the species in the Federation might not enjoy the same rights. One of the rights I would personally want is to not have my mind casually read, you would need my express permission, or a court order. Okay, how would that work with Betazeds? Not to be forced into a arranged marriage, you know who would have a problem with that.

I agree that it would be hard to reconcile contradictory legal rights -- which is why I suspect that even if the Federation intended to stay out of that at first, it would inevitably end up becoming the final arbiter of citizens' rights. Because otherwise, the whole system would probably fall apart in the long run.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Since we know from VOY's "Thirty Days" that there exists at least one other military force within the Federation government, something called the Federation Naval Patrol, I would hypothesize that the Federation President is commander-in-chief of all UFP military services, and that the admiral seen in STVI was commander-in-chief of Starfleet only.

And if you believe in the concept of a Starfleet Marine Corps (which I do ), then there would be a General who is the C-in-C of only *that* organization; all three of those C-in-C's (Starfleet, FNP, SF Marines) would then report directly to the president.

 

[neozeks]

Since we know from VOY's "Thirty Days" that there exists at least one other military force within the Federation government, something called the Federation Naval Patrol, I would hypothesize that the Federation President is commander-in-chief of all UFP military services, and that the admiral seen in STVI was commander-in-chief of Starfleet only.

And if you believe in the concept of a Starfleet Marine Corps (which I do ), then there would be a General who is the C-in-C of only *that* organization; all three of those C-in-C's (Starfleet, FNP, SF Marines) would then report directly to the president.

Well, unless if the Marine Corps was an integral part of Starfleet (as it seems to be) and not a separate service like the USMC. But yeah, the general point stands.

 

[Mars]

The Federation President is commander in chief of Star Fleet, I think that is his main role, and why that office exists.

The thing there is this, whenever Starfleet got their marching order from the Federation government, the order seem to come from the Council, and not from the President. It's possible that the Federation doesn't have the political equivalent of "Commander in Chief," the only time we heard that term, it referred to a top Starfleet Admiral.

In Star Trek IV there was a Federation President. I don't think a council can direct a military force with any effectiveness, because every time to agreement is reached the military is paralyzed. You can't expect a council to act as one person, unless it is the Borg.

The Federation has to be strong enough to fight toe to toe with the Klingons and the Romulan Star Empire, if it was as weak as the UN is today, it would not have lasted.

The UN charter does provide for a United Nations military, but the the UN membership has always refused to allow it, preferring to donate their own militaries to UN peacekeeping missions, or just take care of things themselves.

There is no one outside the UN, but the Federation has to deal with outsiders so it needs to be more cohesive than the UN and its military needs to be more effective.

There are agreements on civil rights, but those agreements are fairly fuzzy I think and flexible because there are many species involved.

It would probably be pretty wicked to reconcile all the Member's historically differing view on what constitutes a "civil right." It sounds strange, but all the species in the Federation might not enjoy the same rights. One of the rights I would personally want is to not have my mind casually read, you would need my express permission, or a court order. Okay, how would that work with Betazeds? Not to be forced into a arranged marriage, you know who would have a problem with that.

The Federation does not meddle, its "citizens" are worlds not people. Each world organizes itself according to its own prerogatives. Some difficult and awkward compromises are often made to have 150 worlds as members of the Federation, and sometimes individual civil rights might get lost in the shuffle.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

And if you believe in the concept of a Starfleet Marine Corps (which I do ), then there would be a General who is the C-in-C of only *that* organization; all three of those C-in-C's (Starfleet, FNP, SF Marines) would then report directly to the president.

Well, unless if the Marine Corps was an integral part of Starfleet (as it seems to be) and not a separate service like the USMC. But yeah, the general point stands.

The Federation does have ground troops, we've seen and heard of them. Indeed, they must exist - you can't just take any random Starfleet naval crewpeople and put them on the front lines. There must always be specialization. Ground troops must always be ground troops. You wouldn't take a security guard at Wal-Mart and send him to Afghanistan, would you? Same story here.

What these troops are actually called, on the other hand, is open for debate. They may be "Starfleet Marines" (my favorite term), they may be another service (MACOS might still exist, for example, or a 'Federation Marine Corps'). But whatever service they are, they must have a commanding General, and so yes, the point does stand.

 

[Sci]

The Federation does not meddle, its "citizens" are worlds not people.

False. There have been numerous references to individual persons as Federation citizenship throughout Star Trek. Further, the TNG episodes "The Drumhead" and "The Perfect Mate" explicitly established the existence of a Federation Constitution that guaranteed certain civil rights and liberties to Federation citizens.

 

[iguana_tonante]

It seems Mars is watching something inside his head instead of the actual episodes of Star Trek.

 

[stj]

Sometimes aliens in Trek series are real aliens, but more often they are just symbols for different races/cultures. (Because of the US tradition of slavery and the racist ideology propagated to defend it, there is a sharp distinction drawn between the two that does not really exist.) This renders all depictions of politics in Trek hopelessly inconsistent.

For instance, the Prime Directive is sometimes an acknowledgement of the inability of the human to genuinely understand the alien. This is particularly true I think of the versions that emphasize no contact with pre-warp species. Other times, the PD is some sort of postmodernist BS about the equality of all cultures opposed to the equality of all people.

A couple of nitpicks on odd points through the thread: The state does not create classes by imposing inequality. Inequality creates classes to defend the social order. Also, "bureaucracy" is a pseudoconcept, a cliche which has no meaning. Sometimes it expresses resentment of government officials who act to help the privileged instead of fulfilling the rational needs of the whole. Other times, it means the opposite, a resentment of government officials interfering with privileges on behalf of the whole.

 

[T'Girl]

The UN charter does provide for a United Nations military, but the the UN membership has always refused to allow it, preferring to donate their own militaries to UN peacekeeping missions, or just take care of things themselves.

If I understand Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, it does not do so.

United Nations Charter. Article 43

All Members of the United Nations, in order to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security, undertake to make available to the Security Council, on its call and in accordance with a special agreement or agreements, armed forces, assistance, and facilities, including rights of passage, necessary for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security.

The original idea was that the United Nations Organization would have it's own military. No UN member was stupid enough to actually negotiated the required agreements to empower article 43, and give the UN direct control over a military forces.

It's possible that the Federation doesn't have the political equivalent of "Commander in Chief ...

This is false. Federation President Jaresh-Inyo was explicitly referred to as the commander-in-chief ...

I miss that one, and yes he does carry the title. But I stand by what I said, when the governing body of the Federation tells Starfleet what to do, it is the Council, and not the President, that is the source of those instructions.

The body of evidence is that the Council exercises the powers of "commander in chief," even if the title sits with the President.

It sounds strange, but all the species in the Federation might not enjoy the same rights

The Federation does not meddle, its "citizens" are worlds not people. Each world organizes itself according to its own prerogatives.

For the most part I think this would be the way it would be. As I stated before, the Federation would see to interstellar matters outside of the Members sovereign spaces, and also mediate disputes between Members (and individuals/businesses on interstellar issues) when they came into conflict.

 

[Sci]

The UN charter does provide for a United Nations military, but the the UN membership has always refused to allow it, preferring to donate their own militaries to UN peacekeeping missions, or just take care of things themselves.

If I understand Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, it does not do so.

United Nations Charter. Article 43

All Members of the United Nations, in order to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security, undertake to make available to the Security Council, on its call and in accordance with a special agreement or agreements, armed forces, assistance, and facilities, including rights of passage, necessary for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security.

Right, but that's not the United Nations raising its own military, that's sovereign states "lending" their own militaries to the U.N. temporarily on the basis of treaty agreement. That is not the same thing as the U.N. raising its own military.

I miss that one, and yes he does carry the title. But I stand by what I said, when the governing body of the Federation tells Starfleet what to do, it is the Council, and not the President, that is the source of those instructions.

We've seen both the Federation President issue direct orders (ST6, DS9) and the Federation Council issue orders (TNG's "The Defector").