© 1975-1979, 2008 Robert A. Freitas Jr. All Rights Reserved.

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Xenology: An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intelligence, and Civilization, First Edition, Xenology Research Institute, Sacramento, CA, 1979; http://www.xenology.info/Xeno.htm

21.2.5  Xenopolitics:  Tentative Conclusions

It must be reemphasized that all of the conclusions reached in this section regarding extraterrestrial systems of governance are speculative and theoretical. No alien polities have yet been discovered or observed, and human political scientists cannot agree as to the pertinent dimensions of government. There is no consensus on which factors are most important or exactly how they affect social organization. Significant factors may have been omitted from the above analysis, and there is no guarantee that factors and dimensions are absolutely additive as we have assumed -- there may exist synergistic effects of which we are unaware.

It is in this spirit of tentativeness and uncertainty that the two tables comprising Table 21.2 are offered. These represent a cautious compilation of our xenopolitical analysis up to this point. The topmost table permits the reader to select various factors, and then to read off which form of governance has the highest probability given those factors. The table at bottom is just the first table turned inside out: The desired governmental form may be selected, and the conditions most likely to give rise to such a system may then be read off by the reader.

In making a determination using these tools, the various measures frequently conflict. When this occurs, more weight should be given those probabilities associated with the more important factors. In the formulation presented here, sentience is considered most significant, followed, in order, by dispersion, size, and finally heritage.

Suppose we want to know what kind of government a race of genetic sentients is most likely to have, given that their transportation and communication technology is fairly primitive (high dispersion), huge populations are involved (vast size), and all organisms share a common heritage. We go to the topmost table of Table 21.2. On the dimension of cultural scale, we find the following. Sentience factor: All scales. Dispersion factor: Type I or II only. Size factor: Type III or IV only. Heritage factor: All scales. Since two of the factors conflict, we weight the more important one more heavily and conclude that a Type II stellar culture is the most probable result. Similarly, for the other dimensions of governance we conclude: Chaotic leadership; total organizational centralization; a watered-down communism such as socialism or perhaps even welfarism; little or no reciprocity; and very little sociopolitical freedom, most probably authoritarian.

Conversely, let’s assume we’re trying to find a galactic democratic libertarian corporate empire. From the bottom table of Table 21.2, such a government is most probable among extraterrestrial creatures with minds roughly resembling our own (brain sentients), having either hyperoptic transportation or communication or both (low to moderate dispersion), and involving a large population with common or similar heritage.

Last updated on 6 December 2008