The Universal Alliance is a slang term for the Union of Allied Planets. It is a corporate authoritarian government and law-enforcement organization that controls the majority of territory within The ‘Verse. Originally composed solely of a number of “Core worlds”, the Alliance fought the Unification War to bring all colonized worlds under its control. The Independent Faction [Browncoats] wanted the outer worlds to remain autonomous and attempted to resist Alliance control. The war raged for several years, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides, until the Alliance emerged victorious. An armistice was signed between the Alliance and the Independent Faction, thus ending the war and securing Alliance control over the entirety of the galaxy.
The Alliance is a totalitarian-appearing government, controlled by a Parliament and a concordance of worlds who maintain control over those worlds using a rigid, authoritarian government linked to an oppressive military force.
The two main worlds of the Alliance are Londinium and Sihnon. The Alliance supposedly leads a multi-racial, multicultural and multi-religious universe. It has strong overtones of Corpocracy, since advertising and media are pervasive and mostly done by the omnipresent “Blue Sun Corporation.”
Most people of the Alliance are allowed a say in their government. Anyone can stand for a seat in the Parliament and be voted in by their home planet or moon. But the credits required to run a campaign generally prevents the common man from ever winning a governmental position. To raise the necessary funds, one must make deals with businesses, guilds, and private interest groups. As to voting, only those who are “full citizens of the Alliance” actually get a vote. Folk who fought in or supported the Independents are not considered “full citizens.”
Individual worlds are governed by planetary Governors, Barons, Prefects or Magistrates. The Alliance has given guidelines on how such a person is elected, but out of respect for the sovereignty of each world policies vary from place to place. Some Core worlds are fairly ruled by honest folk. On others, local political machines or long-standing family dynasties rule. But in any large bureaucracy, there will be a failure to communicate. This led to the formation of the Parliment to oversee such matters.
In practice, although the Parliament seems to be an elected body, we have seen that there are slave-holding societies and indentured worker societies. Some worlds, like Persephone have an aristocracy. It is possible that not every world allows universal suffrage. It is possible that each world sets its own standards for voters.
Blue Sun Corporation is a vast and almost monopolistic organization. Again, in any large bureaucracy there are going to be outliers who have their own projects, unnoticed by the central authority. Some will be benign, even useful to the company and the general public, others will be dangerous.
This brings us to the projects funded by megacorporations like Blue Sun Corporation under governmental contract. This includes, but is not limited to Area 54, The Academy, The Institute, and Project Oracle.
Return: CONFLICT
Alliance Officer Uniforms
FIREFLY: LIBERATION TALES 
