Why was the Federation created?

[Gotham Central]

This is a production question. I'm curious as to why the United Federation of Planets was created as the authority for the Enterprise? Early in the series, the Enterprise was simply an Earth ship representing United Earth? Thus providing an excellent reason for the ship having an entirely human crew and Star Fleet always featuring humans.

I'm wondering why the decision was made to have the Enterprise serve an interstellar United Nations instead of simply representing a future Earth and the UESPA?

This then begs the question as to why we never saw any aliens serving in the Federation Starfleet?

 

[Marten]

My guess is that Roddenberry wanted to show what he wanted humanity to be like, and not going rogue was part of that.

 

[Michael]

[...] Thus providing an excellent reason for the ship having an entirely human crew and Star Fleet always featuring humans. [...]

This then begs the question as to why we never saw any aliens serving in the Federation Starfleet?

Are we not forgetting about a certain first officer?

 

[Wingsley]

I think that Spock's presence may have had something to do with it. TREK evolved into something that wasn't just about humans exploring space. We had allies: Vulcans, Andorians, etc. Another thing to consider: it was never made completely clear what the Federation was. Is it a United Nations? Or is it an actual interstellar government? Or maybe some kind of close-knit alliance-by-treaty? The term "federation" seems to indicate local governments/entities/worlds that form some kind of consortium to combine their resources, granting powers to the new central authority as they see fit. An example might be Miami-Dade, a metropolitan federation where all the local municipalities cede law enforcement powers to Miami-Dade Police. (My information on that is at least 20 years out of date, so someone can correct me on that if they wish.) I think Los Angles County may provide other examples.

So, short answer would be that the term "Federation" became a useful way to explain what Kirk & Co. represented in light of non-human Starfleet personnel, and to allow for other sisterships to the Enterprise (like the Intrepid) to be manned by non-human crews.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Plus, the whole concept of "Earth ship" was a time worn cliche even then. An interstellar alliance of some sort (again, not new, but not nearly as worn out as the idea of a ship representing only Earth) made sense; any space faring race will have to form some sort of alliance with other space faring races, or it'll just be one far-flung border dispute after another.

And it was another way to differentiate Star Trek from Lost in Space.

 

[Wingsley]

I would also speculate there's another issue that may have occured to Roddenberry, Coon and company: here you have these starships, crewed by some humans, some non-humans, and they have that big "U.S.S." painted across the hull, which Pike called United Space Ship". Note that it's not the same "U.S.S." as applied to today's naval vessels, which are "United States Ship". So if it's not the United States Navy, whose navy is it? United what?

Well, it must be something more than United Earth, and you'll notice it's not "U.E.S." So I suspect that line of discussion may have come up and it led to the Federation concept, as well as that of Starfleet.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Roddenberry probably wanted Kirk et al to be working for a more grandiose organization than just united Earth. That would permit the diplomacy part of the mission to be more interesting and involve kooky aliens like the Medusans.

 

[Admiral Shran]

This then begs the question as to why we never saw any aliens serving in the Federation Starfleet?

Aside from Spock, we did see and hear about some. Although, these were WAY too few and far between. It's one of my biggest complaints about Trek (all Trek, not just TOS). We should have seen much more alien representation within the ranks of the fleet.

Another complaint I have is that the nature of the Federation is never really explained. Is it an alliance like the United Nations? A group of nations joined by temporary treaties? A fully functional nation-state? I think as time went on the franchise came to embrace the idea that it was a fully functional nation-state in it's own right. However, it's still unclear how it all works. I would have loved to see some episodes along the way showing the governmental structure of the UFP. DS9 would have been my first choice for these episodes.

As to the original question, I think Roddenberry wanted his show to take diversity and an acceptance of others to a new level. Not only were humans able to put aside their differences amongst themselves and work together. They were also able to put aside their differences with other alien species and unite together for the common good.

 

[Hober Mallow]

My guess is that Roddenberry wanted to show what he wanted humanity to be like, and not going rogue was part of that.

So this wasn't part of Roddenberry's plan?

 

[Nerys Myk]

I assume, that like the evolution from UESPA to Starfleet, they kept changing it till they got something they liked.

 

[Timo]

Regarding that process, they got great mileage from an early episode where Kirk encountered humans from the past - "Tomorrow is Yesterday". They had a field day inventing ways in which the future could differ from the past (that is, our present), yet sadly, they wasted most of that day... They probably regretted not doing more, not getting even better mileage out of the contrast, and thus let the UESPA thing slip and adopted the fancier UFP instead...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[22 Stars]

There must be a memo laying around somewhere between Justman, Roddenberry et al. discussing this, as they did with all of the structure of TOS. Those are a great read, our 'historical documents'

 

[Wingsley]

What's wrong with the notion of UESPA and "United Earth" still existing within the context of the Federation and Starfleet? "Amok Time" showed the Enterprise contacting Vulcan Space Central upon approaching Vulcan, and the Starship Intrepid was crewed by Vulcans much as the TOS Enterprise is (apparently) staffed mostly with humans.

Just as there's a United Nations today of which the U.S.A., U.K., Canada and other nations are members, and each of those nations has their own armies, navies and other aerospace agencies, so the same could be for United Earth's part in the Federation.

 

[Timo]

Certainly. This thread doesn't appear to discuss that aspect, though - only the emergence of the UFP about one-third into TOS.

As for "Vulcan Space Central", I always thought of it as a traffic control tower of sorts, rather than the name of an entire organization. Vulcan would have its Space Central, Earth would have its own (perhaps the one mentioned in "Miri"?), Andor would have one - but they could all be part of the same monolith organization known as the UFP Transit Authority or something.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Admiral Shran]

What's wrong with the notion of UESPA and "United Earth" still existing within the context of the Federation and Starfleet? "Amok Time" showed the Enterprise contacting Vulcan Space Central upon approaching Vulcan, and the Starship Intrepid was crewed by Vulcans much as the TOS Enterprise is (apparently) staffed mostly with humans.

Just as there's a United Nations today of which the U.S.A., U.K., Canada and other nations are members, and each of those nations has their own armies, navies and other aerospace agencies, so the same could be for United Earth's part in the Federation.

That's the way I've always viewed the situation. The individual member worlds of the Federation act as something similiar to states in the United States. They each have their own authority over local matters, but give authority over certain other matters to the central government of the UFP.

In "Gambit" we see Riker contact Vulcan Security. He doesn't contact a Starfleet facility on Vulcan. So, clearly the Vulcans manage their own security and don't wholly rely on the Federation and/or Starfleet for defense. Why can't Earth, or Andoria, or Tellar, or any other member world do the same?

 

[Doug Otte]

That's the way I've always viewed the situation. The individual member worlds of the Federation act as something similiar to states in the United States. They each have their own authority over local matters, but give authority over certain other matters to the central government of the UFP.

...and that's indeed the definition of a federation, much like the USA or the EU.

In "Gambit" we see Riker contact Vulcan Security. He doesn't contact a Starfleet facility on Vulcan. So, clearly the Vulcans manage their own security and don't wholly rely on the Federation and/or Starfleet for defense. Why can't Earth, or Andoria, or Tellar, or any other member world do the same?

I think of Starfleet as a combined force for the Federation, like the United Nations' security forces, except with more muscle.

And just as UN member states contribute to the UN security forces, they still have their own militaries, AKA security forces.

Doug

 

[Sci]

In "Gambit" we see Riker contact Vulcan Security. He doesn't contact a Starfleet facility on Vulcan. So, clearly the Vulcans manage their own security and don't wholly rely on the Federation and/or Starfleet for defense. Why can't Earth, or Andoria, or Tellar, or any other member world do the same?

Well, if we look at real life, the State of Ohio maintains the Ohio Army National Guard, the Ohio Air National Guard, the Ohio Military Reserve, and the Ohio Naval Militia. There's certainly no reason to think that Federation Member States can't maintain their own armed forces in coordination with (and subordinate to) the Federation Starfleet.

I think of Starfleet as a combined force for the Federation, like the United Nations' security forces, except with more muscle.

The problem with this notion is that the United Nations doesn't have its own armed forces. It has ad hoc military units on loan from Member States that are still, ultimately, answerable to their Member State governments. Thus, for instance, if it wanted to, the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil could order Brazilian Army troops out of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

By contrast, all indications we see are that the Federation Starfleet answers to, well, the Federation and only the Federation.

 

[Admiral Shran]

By contrast, all indications we see are that the Federation Starfleet answers to, well, the Federation and only the Federation.

Which would work with my analogy of the Federation being similiar to the United States. United Earth has it's own security forces, or "National Guard," and controls it's own local affairs. Vulcan, and all other Member Worlds, do the same. Earth's "National Guard" answers to the United Earth government. Vulcan's "National Guard" answers to the Vulcan government.

Starfleet, on the other hand, it more akin to the U.S. military. It doesn't answer to the governor of Ohio (or Wyoming, or whichever state). It answers directly to the U.S. federal government. Therefore, Starfleet would not answer to the United Earth Prime Minister or the Vulcan High Command's Administrator, it answers to the UFP President.

 

[Wingsley]

It could also be that UESPA still exists in the TNG era, and that the "Mars defense perimeter" ships seen in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" were part of UESPA. That's the impression I was left with.

More importantly, during DS9 early years, I recall one of the DS9 crew made contact with a Vulcan starship while in the Gamma Quardrant. So maybe non-Federation starships from Federation worlds simply have a less military and more civilian nature to them.

 

[Doug Otte]

The problem with this notion is that the United Nations doesn't have its own armed forces. It has ad hoc military units on loan from Member States that are still, ultimately, answerable to their Member State governments. Thus, for instance, if it wanted to, the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil could order Brazilian Army troops out of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

By contrast, all indications we see are that the Federation Starfleet answers to, well, the Federation and only the Federation.

I was unaware of that. Thanks for the info.

Doug