Politics

The United Nations Council

The primary governing force among the stars is the the United Nations. The UN council has remained mostly unchanged since its creation, however its power grew exponentially. The decisions are still made by the UN member countries on Earth, although the influence of individual countries have shrunk considerably in the last few hundred years. The political climate in the UN council is dominated by a few larger groups, each made up of many countries that usually vote the same way, much like the parties in individual countries. These groups are the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the African Union, the People's Democratic Coalition and the Eastern Co-Prosperity Sphere.
These 'factions' try to wrestle control of UN politics, but they are fairly evenly matched, so the council has been at a stalemate for almost two hundred years. Naturally, this have lead to slow decision making and seemingly meaningless law suggestions.

Star Systems

It was clear to the UN council since the first permanent colony was established on Alpha Centauri that a fully centralized government is not a valid option anymore. The solution was to create small, fairly independent governments in each star system called a 'System Management Bureau', that would be able to handle localized problems. While this system proved to be a good solution for a long time, problems arose following the PBUA in 2310 and the privatization of space travel. Because the SMBs were prohibited from creating police and defense forces, the UN was forced to hold a tighter grip on the systems to protect the civilians from terrorists and criminals.

Security

Although it was proposed more than a dozen times already, the UN council never voted in favour of lifting this prohibition. Many of the UN factions proposed that certain systems should be placed under the jurisdiction of the factions so that the factions can directly help in the policing. Besides being in direct violation of the Outer Space Treaty, this had always led to heated debates between the factions, which stopped the propositions in its tracks.

The power of SMBs

The SMBs have control over every planetary and man-made object within their respective systems, excluding the SD ferries and UN military vehicles. They can make their own laws and regulations, but there are some UN laws that need to be enforced in every system. One such example is the ban on vehicles outfitted with weaponry.

Luyten

The only exceptions from the SMB system are the Solar System and the Luyten system, which quickly amassed the second largest population among the star systems. Because the system is the furthest inhabited star system, a more lenient approach was necessary. A semi-sovereign state was established on Sónar, which is able to recruit people as a police force. Any and all kind of military-grade equipment is prohibited however, so it functions more like a militia, than an established peacekeeping force.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO

Originally created as a defensive alliance against the Communist Bloc during the Cold War, NATO was always a considerable group of countries.

The number of members have diminished throughout the centuries with members coming and going. In the year 2572, NATO consists of the USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

They most often support technological advancements and modernization with a focus on robotics.

European Union - EU

Besides many hardships in the 21st century, the European Union managed to hold itself together and even expand a little bit outside of Europe.

Currently, its members are all European countries (excluding the United Kingdom and Russia), Turkey, Israel, Australia and New Zealand. Even though many of its members were originally members of NATO, the political climate of the UN council forced them to decide which group they wanted to belong to. The last country to make the decision was the United Kingdom, who were undecided until the year 2376.

This faction usually supports welfare and free social programs. They often oppose militarization of SMBs.

African Union - AU

As its name suggests, the African Union is a collective of countries of the African continent. It was originally created to help African countries break free from outside influence.

Currently, every African country is a member of the African Union, but this wasn't always the case. North African countries and South Africa regularly joined other factions for extended periods of time.

Its members mostly support egalitarian issues and the establishment of new colonies, where their experienced personnel can be put to work. They are usually against modernization and automation.

People's Democratic Coalition - PDC

This faction was established by the People's Republic of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, before their unification. It was created to secure China's interests in space.

It consists of all Asian countries east of India besides South Korea and Japan. Its members have been the 'most loyal' among the factions with no member ever leaving the faction since its creation.

Their primary concerns are the development of infrastructure, and the keeping of tradition. They are usually opposing laws that would put more responsibility on individuals.

Eastern Co-Prosperity Sphere - EC-PS

Originally created by the Russian Federation, the EC-PS became a sort of 'left-over' faction, with almost all previously unaligned countries joining this faction. In theory, every member has an equal say in this faction, but the Russian Federation clearly controls the general consensus within the faction.

As mentioned, this faction contains every 'remaining' country. This includes the Southern American countries, the Middle East, India, Mongolia and some others.

They are strong opponents of the Outer Space Treaty and seek to bring their resources directly into space and into other star systems instead of relying on intermediaries. They are also supporters of nationalistic ideals.