Politics In The SSR
Political Organisation
The SSR is based on 3 pillars: State, government and the Sirian Communist Party (SCP).
- The state consists of the people and its representatives.
- The government is the bureaucratic executive of the people.
- The party provides the state and government with ideological direction and motivation.
MALF
Similarly the Communist Parties in the quadrants and systems have the right to propose legislation and suggest policies. Naturally, there are close personal connections between the three pillars, and most government officials and state functionaries are also members of the SCP. However, this is not obligatory and these days the share of SCP members in public office is about 57%.
Sirian politics are dominated by four major factions:
Moderates - Former President Kapushinski is their present political leader. They have been in power over the last few decades and have worked towards a considerable relaxation of state intervention. Have co-operated with the Materialists to improve relations with the great corporations, civic freedoms and application and civil rights for robots. Their orientation was more outward than most other factions and they have worked hard toward interpolity co-operation in the Exterminator crisis. However, the Binni diplomatic fiasco and the economic uncertainty have swung the public's mood against internationalisation.
Orthodox - this faction wants a stricter maintenance of communist dogma, such as more State intervention. The faction is strong in the armed forces, where political education has tended to reinforce these views. General Zou En-Lai is the main spokesperson for this faction. Lately, the group has lost support to the Stalinists, but many members are able to hide their commitment as both factions use the same vocabulary. Therefore the Stalinists maintain that they can be distinguished by their actions rather than their words.
(Historical) Materialists - very much focussed on the economic issues. Wants to strengthen the economic base of the SSR. It therefore supports attempts at colonisation, integration of independents into the SSR and limits on state expenditure and intervention. Have taken a very positive position towards robots and their application. They have close connections to the corporations, especially SCC. The faction has no clear leadership, but is well organised.
Stalinists - The Stalinist have for long time been in decline. Most orthodox communists lacked their backbone for ruthless state control. Although the Stalinists agree with the Materialists on supporting the economic base of the SSR, they disagree on the role of the state. However, in the last decades the Moderate government has driven some Orthodox into the Stalinist camp. Their best known and outspoken member is Governor Fex-It of Q7, who has taken advantage of the Exterminator threat to reintroduce the commissariat and state controled production. A part of civic freedoms have been withdrawn under the state of emergency in Q7.
Recent Political History
In the last few years the tension between different factions has risen. Although the Historical Materialists and the Orthodox are generally at odds, the Stalinists have in some cases a greater dislike of the Materialists, but do have common ideas in others. The Moderates, and to a lesser extent the Orthodox, seem to be torn apart in this period of greater polarisation.
Another major distinction is between the Quadrants. While the former, with its history and mass electorate, assume that their political preponderance is natural, the colonist stress their value to the economic expansion of the SSR. In the outer quadrants social and ideological restrains have always been more relaxed, people have been more independence-minded etc. A new distinction has developed as a result of the Berserker threat. The inhabitants of Q6 and Q7 consider themselves in the frontline and therefore demand special recognition. They demand higher levels of military presence as well as higher subsidies to fund them and the rebuilding of their economies. On the other hand the 'rear' quadrants (especially Q8) increasingly resent supporting the front, which now seems no longer so heavily threatened. Because of the Exterminator attacks in Q0, the crisis in Q3 and the relative peace in the 'Eastern Marches', the distinction has worn off somewhat.
The independents are either populists, small interest groups such as the Mukulists from Cinder Seat or ideological deviants such as Bakunist, Anarchists, Anarcho-Syndicalists etc.
The government has been long dominated by the Moderates and in many aspects, Sirian society is what it is because of the Moderate faction.
In the last fifteen years, the moderates have increasingly turned to the Materialists as coalition partners, but they have always tried not to share too much of the power. They have thus also retained friendly relations with the Orthodox.
While the factional division is reasonably even at the level of system administrators, it is quite skimmed in favour of the Moderates at the governor level. Only Fex-It (mistakenly thought to be an Orthodox at the time of his appointment) is not a Moderate or Materialist.
The Cabinet is also dominated by the Moderates, with four ministerial posts out of nine. The Materialists traditionally hold Colonies and Economy.
The Orthodox have been granted the junior post of Science and robotics, while Defence and Justice are in the hands of independents.
The Orthodox dominate the highest ideological institution of the SSR, the Politburo. However, because of the Binnian fiasco and other signs of weakness and ideological indetermination of the Kapushinski administration, 'Stalinist' hardliners have gained ground in the new Diet.
The Communist Party outside the SSR
The Communist Party has branches in almost all major polities. There is considerable sympathy for communism in the Venerian systems, but due to its single party system the communist tend to form a faction within established politics. The brute rule of capitalism has created a large labour movement in Greater Federation of Asteel space and Union of Xyon with strong ties to the Party.
Wolf359 Commonwealth and Martian Association of Free Colonies less so. Earth Empire has many competing strands Bakunist, Anarchists, Anarcho-Syndicalists etc., while most Communists left Earth to Sirius in the first place.
The Centauri Conglomerate is the only place where the Communist Party has failed to make significant inroads.