The Cerberus Files: Historical Analysis of Citadel and Terminus Space
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DAEDALUS-SEVEN-NINE-TWO
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To the Three:
Asari government is both extremely transparent and extremely corrupt. a juxtaposition in human concepts but fitting for the asari. Their government is barely more than a conceptual agreement between leaders with very different visions beholden to a mob that emotes more than it understands, and is underlain with the true leadership that drives the asari race. Only the asari could craft a government that is little more than a sham and a distraction, and yet have more effective control over every aspect of their civilization than the most repressive dictator could dream of.
Cerberus Thought for the Day: To embrace the alien is to embrace that which is inhuman, to reject what you are for what you should never be. Oil and water do not mix for a reason.
Asari Government Structures
On paper, and on the lips of the average asari or outside observer, the asari government functions on but three levels – interstellar, embodied by the Republic; regional, embodied by the city-state or colony-state, and clan, embodied by the iron-fisted whim of the Matriarchy. There is very little administrative depth of the government on asari lives, and it's light foot is supposedly a demonstration of the unity of the asari race.
As with most of the truth behind these witches, that statement may be the most damnable lie ever uttered by a sentient being. The asari government that is seen is near upon to powerless, little more than a clearinghouse and coordination center for moving resources whence they should go. Asari do not need but a handful of laws, and to violate the least of them is death at the hands of a Justicar. Rather, asari unity (read, brainwashed idiocy) can be laid at the feet of the Thirty, who have masterfully ensnared their entire race and themselves in a fantasy story of who leads what.
As I have touched on in both the history and psychology sections, strong leaders that act by fiat rather than with unity end up falling to bad ends. Asari psychology does not – indeed, cannot – truly fathom that one being can command, that the input of the many is not somehow valuable. The rare asari outcast that operates beyond the light of the asari culture is so cold, icy, brutal and efficient in such leadership because they doubt all other beings. And the asari who lead the Republic are simply not cut of the same cloth.
Asari government operates in layers – a surface layer, to confuse and mislead, a middle layer, to coordinate and compel, and a final, hard layer, to restrain and discipline.
Asari Government : Clan Councils
For those asari in the Clans, it is the clan council that rules and guides their lives. Comprised of the matriarchs of the clan, gathered together on regular intervals, the council acts as a primitive, relationship and sex-based version of the more robust e-democracy system. Matriarchs know the whims and pulse of their children, their children's lovers and allies, and their followers. Each acts as a sort of group adviser and mediator, sifting through issues, spats, feuds, gossip. information and ideas to bring forth the balance of what that matriarch's followers desire, filtered through the experience and judgment of the matriarch. A cynical observer might doubt such impartiality, seeing the matriarchs as playing their own hand and paying but lip service to the wishes of their followers, but this does not seem to be the case.
These councils meet within the many clans, arguing, gossiping, cajoling and plying influence in information, memories, ideas and the swapping of young, promising maidens, business contracts, cash, favors or even an afternoon of sexual bliss, coming to a slow consensus that is at best the lower denominator of all needs. Humans would call it the worst kind of political gridlock, as such decision making is always slow, but combined with the conservative nature and long life of the asari, even the most minute decisions can take months, years, even decades.
As clan councils decide, they push representative matriarchs up to the Grand Clan Council, that makes decisions that affect all clans within that specialty. These are but the smaller councils writ large and with a pomp and gaiety that makes them seem akin more to a riotous party or orgy than a meeting of leading asari. Conducted once a decade, the Grand Clan Councils have the potential to shift the course of tens of millions of clan members and billions of affiliated asari. As such, issues brought to the Grand Council take even longer to decide – they have been arguing over whether clans should license their works within Thessian law or Citadel law for over five hundred years with no decisions in sight.
The spectacle of clan council is grist for rumor mills, information brokers, and the media, attracting great amounts of attention while granting remarkably little insight into true results. For in the aftermath of every Grand Council, the Clan Matriarchs report to a meeting of the Thirty, and the real decisions are made swiftly and quietly. Our discovery of this was a happy accident, brought about when a matriarch we bugged to determine if she knew information on a target ended up in this meeting with every House Matriarch, rattling off issues of real import and not bringing up trivial ones, and with the House Matriarchs swiftly saying yay or nay to each issue.
The clan members can be secure that their trivial desires do indeed receive a great deal of attention, but only those matters that impact the Republic or the Thirty are resolved with any real speed, the rest are allowed to languish or be buffered in endless debate until the issue dies or influence is brought to bear for one outcome or the other.'
Asari Government : The Republic
The asari republic is a construct, not a true government. It has no head of state, no senate, and no structure. There is no capital building, nor is there a civil service. Indeed, the very concept of "working for the government" was such an alien idea that the asari word for "civil servant" is a borrowing from salarian.
The Republic is an organization that functions much like a logistical resource center. As issues of importance to the entire race are brought to the attention of data management analysts known as Seekers, they prioritize each one. A request for new ships is balanced against the cost and benefits of additional funds for road construction on Illum or research into a disease on Panji. The Seekers will try to eliminate projects or requests that are too partisan, narrow in scope, or those better handled by clan actions or appeals to the Thirty. In order to make it past the Seekers, the asari bringing forth the project plan must be able to rapidly convince the Seeker that the goal is both public in scope and in the rewards it brings.
Seekers have wide latitude in determining an initial categorization, which is then moved up to a circle of matriarchs, who are chosen randomly during each election. The matriarchs have their own staff of information brokers, data analysts, financial advisory specialists, lawyers and public relations types. They carefully research each issue for exactly five days before rendering a decision. This period, called the Review, is never shortened, and lengthened only if absolutely necessary.
During the Review, the matriarchs in question can be lobbied intensely – indeed, this is expected. Bribery, seduction, the trade of opportunities and secrets, clan maneuvering and more all are both allowed and even approved of. The more effort spent in trying to convince the matriarch, the more influence and support must have been brought to bear and thus the more important the project obviously is.
Finally, spending and other financial requests are approved or denied, with resources and money routed to the correct clans or businesses. Military decisions are forwarded to the Hunter Circle for execution, while new laws or legal challenges to existing laws pushed to the open Democracy for e-voting.
That is, very literally, it. There are no ministries, no departments of war or the interior, no vast numbers of government workers rushing about, no budget negotiations, nothing but a few thousand data engineers, and a few hundred specialists working under a handful of matriarch's chosen utterly at random. The system ensures that no clan, or even the Thirty, can acquire any permanent advantage, that no political theory can hold sway for long, that no party politics or dictator can seize power. There isn't even a building to meet in – most of the participants work from their homes, or from small offices they share with clan officials. Some years the government has even met out in a park, tapping away on haptic screens while splashing in fountains.
It's quite a shock for alien lobbyists. a shift of thinking that most of them can't make. So used to politicians who rely on the goodwill of their subjects and being bound to campaign promises and the usual wheeling and dealing, they don't know how to handle hard-nosed and tired matrons who give them little give when inquiring as to the value or use of their proposals. The Seekers are chosen from the clanless solely, while the matriarchs that stand for office are all of the Thirty and their support staff from the Clans, so not even one segment of government can said to be ascendant.
Of course, this puts matriarchs of the Thirty in the ultimate position of saying "yes" or "no", which should shock no one. Asari insist these matriarchs, chosen at random, have little to no stake in what issues they usually vote one. And they may be right. But it is no government as we see it. The only asari who is a career politician in the entire race may be the Citadel Councilor.
Asari Government : Hunter Circle
Just as there is no unified government, military command is also not unified. Each city-state and colony raises it's own militia, formed by clanless maiden hunters, with matrons as NCO's and officers and commanded by the fierce asari commandos, paladins, or even matriarchs.
The closest thing to a central military command is called the Hunter's Circle. Here, in times of true interstellar war, will the military commanders of the Thirty take council and discuss strategy with the militia commanders of city-states and colonies.
The asari military is bizarre (see the military section). but it's command structure above the rank of Telsharess (roughly, war-princess) is truly baffling. The circle usually consists of a matriarch from each of the so-called "Guardian" houses, which are responsible for the Calling, a levy of militia conscripted from their affiliated Lesser Houses, city populations, and allies. These war-princesses do not coordinate their forces to attack an enemy, but to mislead him while each defends her own city or colony primarily.
The battle leaders of the High and Greater Houses, on the other hand, are there solely to plan strategy of a large-scale interstellar nature. For the Asari Navy is little more than the combined private fleets of the Thirty, along with a handful of ships built by and maintained by the Republic for planetary defense. This fleet is large – dwarfing that of the Systems Alliance – and supremely well equipped, but has no internal command structure. Rather, the leaders plot and work hard to ensure there is a strategy for every ship and fighter, so everyone has their own place.
Killing asari military leaders is utterly useless. They do not become demoralized, and their high command gives each one such wide authority that even the most fierce assault would result in asari units coming together and renewing the attack or defense.
Asari Government : Legislative e-democracy
The selection of the Governing Matriarchs, the Judges, and the slate of candidates for the Citadel Councilor are all decided upon by race-wide vote. Every asari that is an adult (as well as aliens who are bondmates of asari) gets one vote. These votes fall into two categories – votes on approved actions from the Republic, in terms of laws, or votes on which matriarchs can take which offices.
Many aliens see the e-democracy as the true asari government, and again they would be wrong. The issues are only decided upon by the masses once they have been vetted, altered, researched, and cleared by the Thirty. There is no such concept as populism or catering to the needs of the masses – these are usually defined by the Thirty.
That being said, the e-democracy is very robust when it comes to demonstrating the shifting nature of asari mindsets as a whole. Over time, asari governance has become less bound in tradition and focused on Thessia, and increasingly focused on expansion, economic dominance, and legislation empowering the clanless. The Clans have seen their powers and numbers erode sharply over the past two centuries, to the point where they represent less than 5% of the asari population, and while they remain important to the asari economy and culture, they are increasingly being sidelined as the average asari wishes more of a say in the events that affect their daily lives.
Asari Government: The Justicars and the Law
Asari law is very compact, with the exception of Illum, which is devoted to interaction with alien corporation and has thousands of laws designed to protect the asari and foster investment. For most asari worlds, the law is a handful of prohibited actions, all of which are punishable by the justicars.
Murder (premeditated or not, manslaughter is not a concept the asari recognize, nor is temporary insanity), rape (physical or mental), collusion against the government, fraud of any amount, theft of any amount, the sale of narcotics that can lead to mental damage, the enslavement of asari, and betrayal of the race are all punishable by death. The idea that an asari who steals an apple being put to death is probably shocking to many, but consider the unified asari culture. There are no asari homeless – the unemployed are given some level of work, either by the Thirty, the Lesser Houses, or the Clans, to ensure that no asari suffers. The only reason to steal becomes greed, and an asari who is willing to put her own desires ahead of other asari is seen as a danger. Likewise, fraud and drug dealing are also unacceptable as they injure the many for the benefit of the one.
Asari lawyers are quite common, although the vast majority deal with alien laws. not asari ones. There is no such thing as a trial in asari culture. Potential lawbreakers are detained and a link is forced, which allows no questions – innocence or guilt is known immediately. Incorrectly detained suspects who are innocent are let go immediately with apologies, the guilty are (depending on the offense) either fined heavily or given to the Justicar Order for execution.
Asari are inherently law abiding when surrounded by other asari, but most of the laws only apply to asari themselves. An asari who defrauds aliens is merely seen as clever, one who enslaves aliens as distasteful. Some crimes (rape, murder) are given no such exoneration because taking advantage of or even ruining an alien (a lesser being in the asari mindset) does not mean the asari would do so to another asari, but murder and the like imply a disregard for life itself, which is unacceptable.
Asari have a regular police force, which investigates crimes and regulates public safety. They have Clans that handle this, as well as smaller legal issues. The offenders against the primary laws, however, must deal with the Justicar Order.
Justicars enforce the law according to the Code, a long poetic document memorized by each Justicar. These asari several all familial connections, taking no permanent mates nor bearing more children, devoting themselves utterly to justice in the asari eyes. They do not have mercy, pity, or hesitation, they kill quickly and without malice. Their power is utterly absolute. While the Code limits the actions they can take against the Thirty and government in general, violation of the law puts every asari under their jurisdiction.
It's important to note the Justicars do not take note of, or care about, minor crimes, or the criminality of aliens. An asari who speeds her aircar through a restricted speed zone is going to get a ticket from the local police, not be murdered by a Justicar. Justicars only act when they know of a crime, one is reported to them, or they identify a potential ardat-yakshi.
Asari Government: the Thirty and the Citadel Council
The true organs of government, the Thirty meets four times a year in a vast conclave known as the Council of Matriarchs. Other than that, the Thirty spend most of their time maneuvering around one another in the other government arenas, manipulating and cajoling the asari to the outcomes they desire. The Thirty are the absolute rulers of their own domains, but the e-democracy means that they often end up having to work through various proxies. other members of the Thirty, or even the Clans.
The position of Citadel Councilor is made available to any matron or matriarch of the Thirty every ten years, along with the position of asari ambassador. The two work together to exemplify the will of the Thirty, often having weekly teleconference meetings with the gathering of House Matriarchs to discuss talking points and petitions placed before the Council.
The Thirty see the Citadel Council and all of Citadel governance as a game, a way to advance in stature and influence while aiding the power of the asari. Those asari with strong tendencies towards personal advancement and ambition often gravitate towards such positions.
The current Councilor, Tevos T'Sael, and the ambassador, Irrissa Te'Shora (an adoptee, hence the altered name) demonstrate this perfectly. Tevos is from a very minor house of the Thirty, one that one had less than 20 main members and under 200 affiliates, but she has parlayed her impressive skills at manipulation and persuasion into the chance to be one of the rulers of the galaxy, and as a result her House has grown tenfold. Irrissa. a recent addition to House T'Shora, one of the High Houses, is there to make sure Tevos does not act counter to the House of Storms and the wishes of the great Houses of Thessia, while making a name for herself to justify her own ascension.
Asari Government: The Council of Matriarchs
As mentioned in the last section, it is the Council of Matriarchs that is the closest thing we can find to actual governance. This shadowy conclave, comprised of the House Matriarchs and their advisers, meets four times a year in a highly secured fortress on Thessia, either directly or via heavily encrypted teleconference. The average asari sees rumors of the Council in the same way humans once thought of the Trilateral Commission or the Bilderburger Group, a consortium of elites operating in the shadows. But for asari, the concept that the mighty of the Houses meets to determine the course of the race is comforting and proper.
The Council acts with a haste and directness that is almost un-asari, eschewing the usual sexcapades and endless social games to work with admirable speed, directness, and ruthlessness. The Thirty do not trust one another, and in the modern era each has their own agenda, so when the Council meets only the most urgent and dangerous issues are discussed and plans put in place to nullify them.
Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to penetrate the security that surrounds such meetings. The Hall of the Matriarchs is guarded at all times by military security and Justicars, not to mention the private security forces of the Thirty themselves. Scans for bugs and other surveillance devices occur hourly, and the encrypted transmissions that link far away Matriarchs are done with one-time pads using keys in the hundreds of trillions of digits, sourced based on random background radiation from some arbitrary direction in the sky.
Nor can we dare attempt to kidnap and interrogate a House Matriarch – that would be tantamount to a declaration of war on all asari. The best information we have on how the Council operates is from rumor, hearsay, and the occasional rapid action taken by the Republic when no such issue has been put before the e-Democracy.
There are many unanswered questions as to why the Council meets in the Hall, which is a Temple of Athame, and why the Council is solely comprised of matriarchs who have lost a bondmate. We are not sure if such is some arcane requirement or a custom, although the Thirty are usually dismissive of such limits. Further investigation is required.
Asari Political Parties:
It surprised me and others. given the nature of government, that asari could have political parties, but on further reflection this is not so strange. These parties are less like organizations and more like loose mindsets and customs, designed to place asari thinking in lockstep with one another.
The parties do not operate as political parties in human government do. Rather, they are very loose social structures that define a framework of beliefs and proper actions to improve the unity of the race.
As such, there are only three political parties, each named on the core of it's beliefs. The first, the Collective Clans, focus on the output (and influence) of the Clans. Conservative, financially careful, and focused on the long term, the Collective Clans are the least reactionary of the political parties, and the most inward looking. When they ascend to power, the asari retreat, regardless of the cost. The party focuses on driving the Clans as the primary force behind asari industry and expansion, reining in the power of the clanless and rejecting new approaches and alien influences. While the Collective is not xenophobic, they are not very impressed with aliens and are the most outspoken in their belief that the asari are strongest when they focus first on asari matters and only then on aliens. The Collective submits grudgingly to the Thirty, but sees the future as being with the Clans, and the return to older values, and not in outward expansion.
The second party, the Hope, is both more liberal and yet somehow more cautious than the Collective. They are the party of the lesser houses, far flung and distant from Thessia. Cosmopolitan, in touch with alien cultures and sensitive to galactic events, they are very liberal when it comes to social issues, embracing change and incorporating (or perverting) alien cultures whenever they can. Yet. much like the Collective Clans, they also remain focused on the long-term and see alien influence as less of a opportunity for the asari to grow and more as a buffer for the protection of the asari. The Hope's caution is in the realm of changes to the structure of society – they are strong supporters of the Thirty, rejecting any idea that goes against the wishes of the Thirty and implying that without that divine leadership, the asari are lost.
The last party, the Vision, is the party that best represents the wishes of the clanless masses. Reactionary and often vitriolic, it rejects Clan influence and House manipulation in favor of a further leveling of society. The primary drivers of most colony expansions, the Vision's stance is one of accommodation and flexing the asari economic muscle to spread asari values. They prize aliens, seeking to use and manipulate them rather than merely profit off of them as the Hope suggests, or to ignore them as the Clans would. The Vision has no use for the older methods of asari collectivism, suggesting the best way to implement siari is to suffuse asari throughout the various races until each is little more than a different flavor of asari-dominated control. Thankfully, the reactionary nature of this party is not supported by the movers and shakers of asari society, only the powerless clanless.