What if the Klingons wanted to join the Federation?

[Arpy]

1) I think that if the Klingons wanted to join the Federation, they'd have to abandon the Klingon "Empire" - or at least imperialism if not the name.

2) Once that were done, their formerly subjugated worlds would need to each decide on whether they wanted to join the Federation as well.

3) Those that did would also need to each meet the same criteria for membership as any prospective member (i.e. entering as a united world).

4) Finally, the Klingons and however many worlds that both wanted to join and met standards for it, would have to vote on whether to join together or separately.

 

[Kelthaz]

If the powerful Klingon Empire wanted to join the Federation, I think the Federation would bend over backwards to allow them to meet the rules. Conquering other worlds? Just a peacekeeping mission. Nothing wrong there.

 

[cwl]

the Klingon Empire is just too big to join the Federation. I can't see humans wanting to be a minority in the Federation. The Klingons would have too much influence due to their size.

Humans already are a minority in the Federation - we just happen to see them more often because of real-life budgetary constricts. Humans are only one species among the 150 member species of the Federation.

As early as TOS: The Apple, Spock explicitly says that Humans are a very tiny minority.

well maybe you're right. But given the size of the Klingon Empire I still don't think the Federation would allow it to join. There are too many Klingons and the Empire is too big.

heck the KDF is probably bigger numerically than Starfleet. you might even call it a Klingon takeover of the Federation. can you imagine Klingons taking orders from other species? I doubt it.

 

[Holder]

If you're referring to the Koon-ut-kal-if-fee, it was an ancient marriage ritual that usually didn't involve a duel to the death. The kal-if-fee was also something not known to many non-Vulcans.

My point is that even after it was known of, the Federation didn't put an end to it, Because the ceromoniy was the Vulcan heart and soul. It was intergral to who the Vulcan are.

The federation adapted to the fact that some of it's members fight death duels over women. "They" didn't throw the Vulcans out.

And the Klingons, with all their bag full of "querky" customs would enjoy the same ackowledgement of their diverse ways.

Look at it this way, if say the Trill (name out of a hat) didn't agree with the concept of arranged marriages, they through the federation couldn't say boo to the Vulcan and Betazed practice. If the Betazeds (who do have arranged marriages) didn't like death duels, would have no say in Vulcans dueling. If still another federation member practiced genetic engineering, Humans with their ban on the practice couldn't make them stop.

Not acceptance, just simply tolerance.

I think the early UFP was similar to the early USA. Before the Civil War states were very different from each other and their governments were stronger than that of the USA. There was a US Army but by and large the country was defended by various state militia. After the Civil War the Federal Gov was stronger than the state gov. The Fed army was now stronger than the state militias.

I think this pattern fits well in the Trek Universe with ENT &TOS being pre civil war times and TNG and beyond being post civil war. The vulcans having their own customs that were frowned upon by Earth would not have mattered enough to get them thrown out. Just as in the USA prior to the civil war there were plenty of customs in various states that were frowned upon by other states.

 

[PsychoPere]

can you imagine Klingons taking orders from other species? I doubt it.

Not in a manner that Starfleet would expect (position dictating authority), but a Klingon would certainly follow an officer of another species who proved him or herself worthy of respect. Case in point: Riker in "A Matter of Honor."

 

[Deks]

Hm....
If what was said at one point about Klingons that they weren't always savage and whatnot... then I would imagine that integrating them into the Federation wouldn't be a problem, if they chose a less aggressive approach to things (from what we've seen though, it would probably took them a while to implement the change in question - maybe post 24th century).

On the other hand, 'Empires' such as the Klingons or Romulans might not want to be integrated into the Federation.
The Feds and Romulans will likely at some point form an alliance like they have with the Klingons and keep it at that.
The level of the alliance might also grow to the point where you could end up with a new 'Coalition'.
If what was said about the Federation in 'Enterprise' to be accurate... there should have been a UFP monument in the 31st century... that could imply that the Federation as we know it doesn't exist anymore and has 'evolved' into something else (probably into a power that encompasses a good portion of the Galaxy by then and various 'Empires' or organisations that were perceived as enemies at some point.

 

[Newton]

I can't picture the Klingon Empire wanting to do that, at least in the TNG era. Their society is fundamentally different to the Federation and I cannot imagine the circumstances in which they would want to alter their way of life so drastically.

Also, as has been mentioned, the Klingon Empire was founded on conquest. The Federation consists of individual member worlds that joined by choice. If the Empire did want to join the Federation each conquered world would have to make their own determination on whether they wanted to join or not. I can't picture the High Council relinquishing the power they have over a large number of conquered worlds.

 

[T'Girl]

Still think that there would be the component of, how badly does the Federation need to be more than just allies with the Empire, but be intergrated into a single whole.

The opposite too would apply. An momentous event perhaps that made the Klingons consider that merging with the Federation is more advantagious, than retaining their control of "Vassal Planets,"

 

[antiquityscion]

the Klingon Empire is just too big to join the Federation. I can't see humans wanting to be a minority in the Federation. The Klingons would have too much influence due to their size.

Humans already are a minority in the Federation - we just happen to see them more often because of real-life budgetary constricts. Humans are only one species among the 150 member species of the Federation.

As early as TOS: The Apple, Spock explicitly says that Humans are a very tiny minority.

Not to mention that there are a lot of near-human species that appear outwardly human, for example:
Aldeans
Ardanans
Angosians
Argelians
Ba'ku
Bandi
Betazoids
Capellans
Deltans
Dinaali
Edo
Ekosians
Elasians
El-Aurians
Fabrini
Gideons
Halkans
Iotians
Kalandans
Kataanians
Kohms
Ligonians
Lumerians
Magna Romans
Mari
Minarans
Minosians
Mordanans
Morg & Eymorg
Nyrians
Olympians (Apollo)
People of Duplicate Earth in "Miri"
People of "Landru"
People of Vaal
Platonians
Q
Risian
Rutians
Sarpeidonians
Scalosians
Sikarians
Tarellians
Trelaine's people
Ventaxians
Vori
Wadi
Yangs
Zeons

Did I miss anyone?

Not to mention that there are some aliens, like Bajorans, Vulcans, some subjects of the Klingon Empire (TOS: don’t know if they are Klingon, or race conquered by Klingons, but some appeared human) Romulans, & Trills, who can pass for human with proper concealment, or at quick glance.

So, while the real world explanation is budgetary constraints, people who complain about the UFP being so "top heavy" with humans really need to take this into consideration. Most aliens look exactly like humans, or close enough to not be able to tell the difference without a trained eye.

 

[Sci]

My take on it would be that if the Klingon Empire wanted to become a Federation Member State, a number of changes would need to take place.

First, the Empire would need to adopt some variant of liberal democracy. Given the resemblance between the Empire's government and the British government of the past, I imagine that something akin to a Westminster-style system would work best for them: A democratically-elected High Council, with the Chancellor being appointed by the Emperor from among the High Council on the basis of which leader commands the support of a majority of Council members.

The next question would be what to do about the Klingons' conquered worlds. I imagine that the Federation would require, as a condition of Membership, that each world be allowed to hold a referendum on either continued membership within the Empire (with their citizens being entitled to democratic representation on the High Council) or independence, with the results of each referendum being respected.

The third condition, I imagine, would be the abolition of the caste-based discrimination that is known to occur within Klingon society ("Once More Unto the Breach").

Once all those factors have been met, I suspect that the Federation would consider accepting the Klingon Empire as a Member State. The question, though, would become whether or not the Empire should be accepted given its sheer size. If the Federation Councillors from each Member State are determined on the basis of the population size of that Member (akin to the U.S. House of Representatives), that could lead to the Federation Councillors from the Klingon Empire being able to dominate the Federation Council unfairly. On the other hand, if each Federation Member State gets an equal number of Federation Councillors (as the novels tend to depict, similar to the U.S. Senate), that, too, would be unfair -- a Klingon Federate's vote would be worth considerably less than a Vulcan Federate's, for instance, because there would be so many more Klingon Federates. Either way, I suspect that the Federation may decide that the Empire needs to be broken up into smaller component states before it could be granted Membership.

Alternately, the Federation may decide that it will simply not accept the Klingon Empire as a Federation Member unless it immediately grants independence to all of their conquered planets, period, as a way of avoiding the need to break it up into multiple Klingon-dominated Federation Member States.

 

[Arpy]

The number of individuals in each Federation memberworld could vary wildly. Say there are 10 billion Tiburonians throughout the Federation. There could be 300 billion Arcturians, and only 50 million Aurellians. For that matter, could there be members with numbers in the hundreds? Say the 50 genetically engineered or eugenically bred or whatever it was members of that planet in TOS "Plato's Stepchildren" got their act together and wanted to join. Would they be considered?

Or setting aside separate bodies, what if there was an insectoid species of 100 billion drones but only a few distinct personalities at the top? Or a species like the Changelings - would they count as one vote or many?

I think that realistically, the Federation would have to factor in biological as well as geographic and population variables in its decision-making processes. Our human form of government works as it does because "all men are created equal." But how many humanoids are we really likely to find out there? The Federation probably believes all men, all persons, are created equal too, but the definition of a person would probably also need to be established at the time of membership too. This could be difficult I imagine. We counted black people as 3/5ths a vote here in the US at the time of our founding, and we're all the same species.

 

[Sci]

The number of individuals in each Federation memberworld could very wildly.

Maybe. Or maybe the Federation requires that a potential Member State to have a population within a certain range. Maybe a potential Member State can't join unless it is a united planetary state with a minimum of 3 billion, and maybe its other colony worlds have to be separated from it to become their own new Member State if the total Member State population exceeds, say, 20 billion.

Say there are 10 billion Tiburonians throughout the Federation

Well, if they're not living within the borders of the Tiburonian state, then they wouldn't be Tiburonian citizens (even if they're of Tiburonian descent), now would they? If there are 2 million Tiburonians living on Tellar Prime, they're probably considered Tellarite citizens, not Tiburonian citizens. After all, I'm considered a citizen of the State of Maryland, even though I'm descended from Ohioans.

For that matter, could there be members with numbers in the hundreds? Say the 50 genetically engineered or eugenically bred or whatever it was members of that planet in TOS "Plato's Stepchildren" got their act together and wanted to join. Could they be considered?

I really don't think it's reasonable for a world with a lower population than a small city to be given Federation Membership.

Or setting aside separate bodies, what if there was an insectoid species of 100 billion drones but only a few distinct personalities at the top?

Well, in that instance, I think it would depend on the definition of personhood for that species. Are those drones sentient, or are they, in essence, empty shells?

Or a species like the Changelings - do they count as one vote or many?

I think it's pretty clear that Changelings retain their own separate identities even when they join in the Great Link.

I think that realistically, the Federation factors in biological as well as geographic and population variables in its decision-making processes. Our human form of government works as it does because "all men are created equal." The Federation probably believes all men, all persons, are created equal too, but the definition of a person needs to be established before membership is established.

Agreed. But I do think that the Federation would insist that it have the chance to decide if the definition of personhood in the cultures of potential Members is fair and accurate, because there is, of course, a long history in real life of denying the personhood of people the elites wanted to oppress.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

I don't think the Federation has an open-door policy where they'll just accept anyone who has starfaring capability. I think all Federation member worlds must meet other criteria for admission, and it probably forbids duels to the death and the occasional assassination of your boss as acceptable forms of promotion in a workplace.

Actually, I think the Federation doesn't give a damn what you do within your own borders, it's what you do to your neighbors that counts (ritual combat is still allowed on Vulcan, for instance, and arranged marriages are allowable). As long as you're not doing something really obscene like enslaving all your brown people or mutilating your daughters to keep them chaste, they'll pretty much leave you alone.

The appeal of membership appears to be that you are now part of a community that can and will come to your aid--economically, politically, socially, militarily--if you ever really need it.

the Klingon Empire is just too big to join the Federation. I can't see humans wanting to be a minority in the Federation.

Humans ARE a minority in the Federation. Anyway, just because the Klingons control a huge empire doesn't mean they have a huge population. One billion Klingons could manage a pretty huge turf if a third of them are part of the warrior caste.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

My take on it would be that if the Klingon Empire wanted to become a Federation Member State, a number of changes would need to take place.

First, the Empire would need to adopt some variant of liberal democracy. Given the resemblance between the Empire's government and the British government of the past, I imagine that something akin to a Westminster-style system would work best for them: A democratically-elected High Council, with the Chancellor being appointed by the Emperor from among the High Council on the basis of which leader commands the support of a majority of Council members.

The next question would be what to do about the Klingons' conquered worlds. I imagine that the Federation would require, as a condition of Membership, that each world be allowed to hold a referendum on either continued membership within the Empire (with their citizens being entitled to democratic representation on the High Council) or independence, with the results of each referendum being respected.

The third condition, I imagine, would be the abolition of the caste-based discrimination that is known to occur within Klingon society ("Once More Unto the Breach").

Once all those factors have been met, I suspect that the Federation would consider accepting the Klingon Empire as a Member State. The question, though, would become whether or not the Empire should be accepted given its sheer size. If the Federation Councillors from each Member State are determined on the basis of the population size of that Member (akin to the U.S. House of Representatives), that could lead to the Federation Councillors from the Klingon Empire being able to dominate the Federation Council unfairly. On the other hand, if each Federation Member State gets an equal number of Federation Councillors (as the novels tend to depict, similar to the U.S. Senate), that, too, would be unfair -- a Klingon Federate's vote would be worth considerably less than a Vulcan Federate's, for instance, because there would be so many more Klingon Federates. Either way, I suspect that the Federation may decide that the Empire needs to be broken up into smaller component states before it could be granted Membership.

Alternately, the Federation may decide that it will simply not accept the Klingon Empire as a Federation Member unless it immediately grants independence to all of their conquered planets, period, as a way of avoiding the need to break it up into multiple Klingon-dominated Federation Member States.

I think alot of these are probably nonstarters. For one thing, Klingons in general hate democracy, and given their passionate and volatile nature this is probably justified. I would imagine that getting five thousand Klingons to settle a dispute through peaceful democracy is a little like trying to get a pack of wolves to herd sheep. It's just contrary to their nature, to their experience, to their whole way of being.

OTOH, the transition from wolves to sheepdogs is just a couple generations of selective breeding, and in this case I think we have to consider the impossibility of the Klingon monoculture as we've seen it. Somewhere within the empire MUST exist a minority of Klingons who do not share the more general social/philosophical characteristics of the empire as a whole. It may be a matter of a whole separate race that is mysteriously under-represented in their society (much like China on Earth) or it could be a religious tradition parallel and separate from Khaless. This sub-group of Klingons would probably be reminiscent of, say, the Minbari (Babylon 5) or the Elites (Halo), in that they still possess an innate predatory nature, but expressed in different ways and with different standards of acceptable behavior and social values. THIS group would probably apply for Federation membership independent of the Klingon Empire, and the benefits of that membership would lead them to become a force to be reconed with in their own right.

Which would still suck for Worf, though. It would be like Will Riker being the only human serving in the Klingon Empire and then one day the Empire is joined by a Confederation of human colonies that are populated entirely by Chinese Muslims.

 

[Arpy]

For that matter, could there be members with numbers in the hundreds? Say the 50 genetically engineered or eugenically bred or whatever it was members of that planet in TOS "Plato's Stepchildren" got their act together and wanted to join. Could they be considered?

I really don't think it's reasonable for a world with a lower population than a small city to be given Federation Membership.

Why not? Because the circumstances are unusual we're not going to make the most of their potential? Infinite diversity and all that – it's a matter of figuring out a way to make it happen. Otherwise, you're looking at perpetual division and making an inroad for discord and war.

Or a species like the Changelings - do they count as one vote or many?

I think it's pretty clear that Changelings retain their own separate identities even when they join in the Great Link.

Don't take the easy route. "The ocean becomes the drop and the drop the ocean." What if Changelings are different after each linking? What if Odo was never the same Odo after each linking? What if most Changelings are rarely as close to how they were before returning the Great Link as say Odo or the Female Founder?

My point is that political unions with truly strange new worlds will require strange new laws. The greatest difficulty with strange new worlds will be the same as it is ordinary known worlds – making good new laws.

It's often at times of uncertainty that divisive, selfish, and negative forces find footing.

 

[cwl]

The next question would be what to do about the Klingons' conquered worlds. I imagine that the Federation would require, as a condition of Membership, that each world be allowed to hold a referendum on either continued membership within the Empire (with their citizens being entitled to democratic representation on the High Council) or independence, with the results of each referendum being respected.

Once all those factors have been met, I suspect that the Federation would consider accepting the Klingon Empire as a Member State. The question, though, would become whether or not the Empire should be accepted given its sheer size. If the Federation Councillors from each Member State are determined on the basis of the population size of that Member (akin to the U.S. House of Representatives), that could lead to the Federation Councillors from the Klingon Empire being able to dominate the Federation Council unfairly. On the other hand, if each Federation Member State gets an equal number of Federation Councillors (as the novels tend to depict, similar to the U.S. Senate), that, too, would be unfair -- a Klingon Federate's vote would be worth considerably less than a Vulcan Federate's, for instance, because there would be so many more Klingon Federates. Either way, I suspect that the Federation may decide that the Empire needs to be broken up into smaller component states before it could be granted Membership.

Alternately, the Federation may decide that it will simply not accept the Klingon Empire as a Federation Member unless it immediately grants independence to all of their conquered planets, period, as a way of avoiding the need to break it up into multiple Klingon-dominated Federation Member States.

I think alot of these are probably nonstarters. For one thing, Klingons in general hate democracy, and given their passionate and volatile nature this is probably justified. I would imagine that getting five thousand Klingons to settle a dispute through peaceful democracy is a little like trying to get a pack of wolves to herd sheep. It's just contrary to their nature, to their experience, to their whole way of being.

OTOH, the transition from wolves to sheepdogs is just a couple generations of selective breeding, and in this case I think we have to consider the impossibility of the Klingon monoculture as we've seen it. Somewhere within the empire MUST exist a minority of Klingons who do not share the more general social/philosophical characteristics of the empire as a whole. It may be a matter of a whole separate race that is mysteriously under-represented in their society (much like China on Earth) or it could be a religious tradition parallel and separate from Khaless. This sub-group of Klingons would probably be reminiscent of, say, the Minbari (Babylon 5) or the Elites (Halo), in that they still possess an innate predatory nature, but expressed in different ways and with different standards of acceptable behavior and social values. THIS group would probably apply for Federation membership independent of the Klingon Empire, and the benefits of that membership would lead them to become a force to be reconed with in their own right.

Which would still suck for Worf, though. It would be like Will Riker being the only human serving in the Klingon Empire and then one day the Empire is joined by a Confederation of human colonies that are populated entirely by Chinese Muslims.

Well what the Klingons do with conquered Worlds may not be up for debate. what is the definition of a conquered world? The Klingons policies of settlement and colonisation may mean that many conquered worlds have been in klingon control for centuries and could well be populated by a majority of Klingons. a recently conquered planet where the majority of people are not Klingons is another matter entirely.

Personally I dont think the Federation would accept the Klingons as a member. They are too big and too different culturally to be assimilated by the Federation. Any prospect of breaking the Klingon Empire up would be unacceptable to the people of the Klingon Empire anyway.

Now obviously not all Klingons adhere to the Klingon views on Empire and martial life but I imagine these Klingons are the doctors, scientists and engineers that actually power the Empire. Given the size and technological advancement of the Klingon Empire they are far more than a bunch of space thugs flying around the galaxy. They are a major galactic power with major tracts of territory in both Alpha and Beta quadrants. Technologically speaking they are comparable to other Galactic powers such as the Romulan Star Empire and United Federation of Planets. Their ships may at times seem antiquated and primitive but technologically speaking they are up there with the other races. Klingon ships are very competitive against others and are actually very good considering they tend to deploy smaller sized ships than their adversaries.

Personally I do not see what the Klingons would gain by joining the UFP. They are a major power in their own right. They have a loose system of government which does allow people a degree of freedom even if it is not a democratic freedom. Militarily speaking they are very powerful and the Klingon Defense Forces have a strong say in Klingon government. Can you imagine the KDF being scrapped and joining starfleet???

can you imagine Klingon officers joining starfleet? there would surely be a clash of cultures.

what happens to all the Klingon ship builders, designers and shipyards?

 

[T'Girl]

what is the definition of a conquered world? The Klingons policies of settlement and colonisation may mean that many conquered worlds have been in klingon control for centuries and could well be populated by a majority of Klingons

This, at what point is it too late for the Celts to politely ask the English to leave?

 

[Keith1701]

^ Why not? Andorians did it.

this is true, of course.....

 

[Crazy Eddie]

The next question would be what to do about the Klingons' conquered worlds. I imagine that the Federation would require, as a condition of Membership, that each world be allowed to hold a referendum on either continued membership within the Empire (with their citizens being entitled to democratic representation on the High Council) or independence, with the results of each referendum being respected.

Once all those factors have been met, I suspect that the Federation would consider accepting the Klingon Empire as a Member State. The question, though, would become whether or not the Empire should be accepted given its sheer size. If the Federation Councillors from each Member State are determined on the basis of the population size of that Member (akin to the U.S. House of Representatives), that could lead to the Federation Councillors from the Klingon Empire being able to dominate the Federation Council unfairly. On the other hand, if each Federation Member State gets an equal number of Federation Councillors (as the novels tend to depict, similar to the U.S. Senate), that, too, would be unfair -- a Klingon Federate's vote would be worth considerably less than a Vulcan Federate's, for instance, because there would be so many more Klingon Federates. Either way, I suspect that the Federation may decide that the Empire needs to be broken up into smaller component states before it could be granted Membership.

Alternately, the Federation may decide that it will simply not accept the Klingon Empire as a Federation Member unless it immediately grants independence to all of their conquered planets, period, as a way of avoiding the need to break it up into multiple Klingon-dominated Federation Member States.

I think alot of these are probably nonstarters. For one thing, Klingons in general hate democracy, and given their passionate and volatile nature this is probably justified. I would imagine that getting five thousand Klingons to settle a dispute through peaceful democracy is a little like trying to get a pack of wolves to herd sheep. It's just contrary to their nature, to their experience, to their whole way of being.

OTOH, the transition from wolves to sheepdogs is just a couple generations of selective breeding, and in this case I think we have to consider the impossibility of the Klingon monoculture as we've seen it. Somewhere within the empire MUST exist a minority of Klingons who do not share the more general social/philosophical characteristics of the empire as a whole. It may be a matter of a whole separate race that is mysteriously under-represented in their society (much like China on Earth) or it could be a religious tradition parallel and separate from Khaless. This sub-group of Klingons would probably be reminiscent of, say, the Minbari (Babylon 5) or the Elites (Halo), in that they still possess an innate predatory nature, but expressed in different ways and with different standards of acceptable behavior and social values. THIS group would probably apply for Federation membership independent of the Klingon Empire, and the benefits of that membership would lead them to become a force to be reconed with in their own right.

Which would still suck for Worf, though. It would be like Will Riker being the only human serving in the Klingon Empire and then one day the Empire is joined by a Confederation of human colonies that are populated entirely by Chinese Muslims.

Well what the Klingons do with conquered Worlds may not be up for debate. what is the definition of a conquered world? The Klingons policies of settlement and colonisation may mean that many conquered worlds have been in klingon control for centuries and could well be populated by a majority of Klingons. a recently conquered planet where the majority of people are not Klingons is another matter entirely.

Personally I dont think the Federation would accept the Klingons as a member. They are too big and too different culturally to be assimilated by the Federation. Any prospect of breaking the Klingon Empire up would be unacceptable to the people of the Klingon Empire anyway.

Now obviously not all Klingons adhere to the Klingon views on Empire and martial life but I imagine these Klingons are the doctors, scientists and engineers that actually power the Empire. Given the size and technological advancement of the Klingon Empire they are far more than a bunch of space thugs flying around the galaxy. They are a major galactic power with major tracts of territory in both Alpha and Beta quadrants. Technologically speaking they are comparable to other Galactic powers such as the Romulan Star Empire and United Federation of Planets. Their ships may at times seem antiquated and primitive but technologically speaking they are up there with the other races. Klingon ships are very competitive against others and are actually very good considering they tend to deploy smaller sized ships than their adversaries.

Personally I do not see what the Klingons would gain by joining the UFP. They are a major power in their own right. They have a loose system of government which does allow people a degree of freedom even if it is not a democratic freedom. Militarily speaking they are very powerful and the Klingon Defense Forces have a strong say in Klingon government. Can you imagine the KDF being scrapped and joining starfleet???

can you imagine Klingon officers joining starfleet? there would surely be a clash of cultures.

what happens to all the Klingon ship builders, designers and shipyards?

Did you quote the wrong post or what? Did you entirely miss this big important point about the fact that the Klingon race probably is NOT a monoculture and that somewhere there exists a sub-set of the Klingon species that WOULD fit well with Federation membership? IOW, it really isn't about "the Klingons," it's about WHICH Klingons and how many?

 

[Timo]

For one thing, Klingons in general hate democracy

How so? They are BIG on the idea of the representatives of major demographic groups coming to a decision via voting.

How the representatives in turn get elected is unclear in both Klingon and UFP circles. Might have nothing to do with today's standards of representative democracy, and most probably has nothing to do with the concept of republic. Doesn't mean it wouldn't all be awfully democratic, though.

I think that realistically, the Federation would have to factor in biological as well as geographic and population variables in its decision-making processes.

I'm not sure why. If there are a zillion billion Zaranite clones and just a billion humans, then the Zaranites outvote the humans - and there's nothing wrong with that. The majority decides. Separate mechanisms, unrelated to voting, would have to be erected to protect the minorities in case the majority decided the minorities required protection.

Also, it's rather unlikely that all Zaranites would vote for the Zaranite block. Or that all humans would vote for Earth. Much more probably, there would be political parties just like today, and it wouldn't matter if you were black or left-handed or pointy-eared or only manifesting out of protoplasm on moonless nights, you could freely vote whichever party you wanted.

Timo Saloniemi