Unified Planetary Alliance

The Unified Planetary Alliance, or UPA, is the name of the sprawling constitutional monarchy that controls the vast majority of human controlled space. Each of its 96 systems are non-voluntary members and are represented by their own Deputations, diplomatic enclaves from member planets that vote on issues within the High Galactic Council. For the past two centuries the head of state of the UPA has been an Emperor/Empress and the Lord of Admirals as their second in command. The current empress, Annabelle Aracena, is the first to not act almost entirely as a puppet of Balterion Yldonneo, the only serving Lord of Admirals to date.

High Galactic Council
The High Galactic Council is a collection of Deputations that vote on and submit new laws and legislation. It is the highest power within the UPA, ranking just below the Empress and Lord of Admirals. Unless overruled by one of the heads of state, their word is final. The bulk of political and economic power falls to Core Worlds, those closest to Infinity, while the Rim Worlds at the edge of human controlled space are often forgotten in the political machinations of the HGC.

Deputations
A Deputation is a delegation of ambassadors from a UPA controlled star system. Each Deputation consists of the Governor of each habited object within the system, along with the military commanders assigned to guarding said system and their entire political retinue.

Voting System
Voting power is given to Deputations depending on what kinds of colonies they consist of, and the population of said colonies. While Governors can cast their territory's vote alone, this is incredibly uncommon and usually only done when they drastically disagree with the rest of their Deputation. That is due to the fact that the voting power of an individual planet is almost useless in the HGC, and thus Deputations usually vote as a single block.

Population and Voting Power

 * Space Stations - 1 Vote, Regardless of Population
 * Moons
 * Population less than 500,000 - 1 Vote
 * Population less than 1,000,000 - 2 Votes
 * Population greater than 1,000,000 - 4 Votes
 * Population greater than 5,000,000 - 6 Votes
 * Population 10,000,000 or greater - 10 Votes
 * Planets
 * Population less than 500,000 - 2 Votes
 * Population less than 1,000,000 - 3 Votes
 * Population greater than 1,000,000 - 5 Votes
 * Population greater than 7,500,000 - 8 Votes
 * Population greater than 10,000,000 - 10 Votes
 * Population greater than 60,000,000 - 20 Votes
 * Population greater than 100,000,000 - 30 Votes
 * Population greater than 500,000,000 - 50 Votes
 * Population greater than 1,000,000,000 - 70 Votes
 * Population greater than 5,000,000,000 - 80 Votes
 * Population greater than 10,000,000,000 - 100 Votes