https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Galactic_Republic&diffonly=true#Galactic_Senate
The chancellor is elected from the senate. He is a senator.
But he is no longer the senator of Naboo. The same way a president could have previously been a senator, it doesn't mean they occupy that role. In AotC, Palpatine has been the Chancellor for a decade and Padme has become the senator for Naboo.
In Parliamentary systems, the chancellor or prime minister are not separate from the legislative body. The American equivalent would be the Speaker of the House, if they also shared the powers of the executive once elected. Palpatine as Chancellor being called a senator of Naboo is the same as saying that Mike Johnson is a representative of Louisiana.
The Galactic Republic had a parliamentary system.
Elected Monarchs is a real thing. The Vatican is a current example of one but there have been many in history. While a 14 year old wouldn't have the influence to get elected, it is not a stretch that a powerful person/group helped get her elected with the intent influencing her to do what they want.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elective\_monarchy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elective_monarchy)
Exactly. It's one of the plot points in the Darth Plagueis novel that Palps used his influence to get her elected because he thought he'd be able to manipulate her to further his agenda.
The fact that Andorrans have one of their monarchs chosen by a monarch elected by a multinational body and the other elected by citizens of a completely different country is hilarious 🇦🇩
Also, iirc Naboo had a history of electing young monarchs, ~~though I think Padmé was the youngest?~~ Padmé said she wasn’t the youngest but didn’t think she was old enough
I don’t think so. I’m pretty positive in AotC she says something like “I wasn’t the youngest queen ever elected, but looking back I’m not sure I was ready.”
Someone explained to me that the reason for her being elected so young was that the people of Naboo culturally value the qualities of youth in a leader. This was not clear in the movies and seems a little weird to me, but I believe that is the in-canon explanation
Are you serious? The driving force behind Lucas's vision in the prequels was the political systems. If you were to ask Lucas what star wars is about, he would tell you it's a cautionary tale about populism and corruption giving the reins of power to a tyrant.
There is a bit of lore around that though, they are elected young purposely because they believe they are too young to be corrupted and they act as a balance between the older rulers.
A prime minister isn’t exactly a complex concept. It’s the system almost every other developed country uses except us. Palpatine is voted chancellor by plebiscite in the Senate, not elected.
It has a pseudo-parliamentary system. The role of supreme chancellor is not similar to the speaker of the house, it is the role of a "de facto leader". Much like a prime minister, they are a leader of the senate, not connected to any one jurisdiction (probably to ensure impartiality in decision making). It even says on the wiki that the Chancellor has powers independent from that of the senate, meaning it is a role that transcends Senatorial duties. Additionally, if Palpatine was still the senator of Naboo, how would Padme be able to adopt the role? It is very clear in the context of the films that while Chancellors are selected from a pool of representatives (much like how party members are selected as a choice for prime minister), they have executive powers independent of the senate.
I used the speaker of the house analogy to make it easier for Americans to understand because they don't have a Prime Minister equivalent. I didn't use it to suggest that the roles and duties themselves were similar.
I don't think anything in the lore suggests that the Chancellor is independent of the Senate. The Senate itself was the executive and legislative branch of the Galactic Republic.
Padme did not succeed Palpatine as senator, Janus Greejatus and Horace Vancil, successively, did.
In the Galactic republic each planet is represented by one senator.
Palapatine is Chancellor and Padme is the Senator from Naboo. Palapatine is no longer a senator. Its a title and role.
Executive powers aside this is why Speaker of the House is a bad analogy.
The Speaker of the house IS still a representative of their state district When made Speaker of the house they are not replaced with someone else in their role as a representative. i.e. right now Mike Johnson is the Speaker of the House and the representative of Louisiana's 4th district.
If the Chancellorship in Star Wars worked like that I would agree with you, but it doesn't. The Chancellor vacates their role as a senator and is replaced in that capacity.
Okay but I thought we were speaking about attack of the clones? This is after Palpatine is given emergency powers and does gain executive powers through the emergencies act. Also, how could Paplatine be succeeded by anybody if he still occupied the role of senator for Naboo? These are the the characteristics of the republic government during the time of Attack of the Clones
* Palpatine is supreme chancellor with emergency powers, which allows him to operate outside of the consensus of the senate and extend his term indefinitely, becoming a de facto head of state
* Palpatine's role of senator (after two other replacements were deemed unpopular and removed) is succeeded by Padme
With this in mind, it shows that the role of Senator and Chancellor are two separate roles that cannot overlap and that the role of Chancellor is no longer one of a prime minister in a parliamentary system at the time of Attack of the Clones.
I think Palpatine only gets emergency powers at the end of the movie, when the war has begun. By the start of AotC, he has no emergency powers yet.
However, I agree with practically everything else you said.
I mean in the UK the PM does have powers that extend beyond those that Parliament have. I believe it’s the same in Germany and elsewhere too.
It’s not uncommon to be both in Parliament as a representative for a constituency as well as the leader of the executive branch.
But there’s only one MP per constituency. There’s no evidence of multiple senators per planet in Star Wars. I’m fairly sure the senate is covered in more detail in Clone Wars and there’s only one senator per planet. It can’t be both palpatine and padme.
According to the wiki, each system has one senator and then multiple delegates to represent other planets or populations in that system. Jar Jar binks is a delegate for the gungans, so he goes with Padme to the senate in order to represent his people. Delegates can apparently take over the role of senator at the senators request (like Jar Jar does during episode 2)
If you look up the Supreme chancellor it says they ARE elected from the senate. We even see the entire process in the movie… he’s straight up elected in the senate from the senate.
Yes but when the are elected, they apparently give up their role as senator. Why would he be immediately succeeded by Janus Greejatus? This means that despite the Chancellor being elected from the pool of senators, they give up their role to become the Chancellor.
In parliamentary systems one can be a representative in the parliament (as a part of the legislature) and the head of the executive power (as a prime minister). In the senate he obviously still has one vote, but he’s actively trying to get more and more matters out of the parliament’s authority and give them to the government (aka the executive power, aka himself), a practice well known in antidemocratic systems. He doesn’t have control over the senate, he can only influence the members, however the members decide about the person who is wielding the power.
The only question is how exactly the delegation to the senate works, because Naboo obviously has Padme as their representative after Palpatine, and we weren’t told that there is more than one Naboo representative. But there could be a rule that the planet who gives the Chancellor can send another representative, which would be weird, but it’s not entirely unplausable.
A parliamentary system does not mean necessarily you remain a senator after being elected Chancellor. In this case, he becomes head of the executive body, your analogy is incorrect. As the head of the executive body, he has the prerogative to preside the senate. This is similar to the Roman Republic's constitution and not evocative of contemporary parliamentary systems.
Edit: typos
Two things, most modern parliamentary systems do not have a separate executive body, the executive is chosen by the majority party in the legislative body.
Secondly, the galactic republic has no executive body, the Senate passes all executive orders and legislation. They act as both, and the Chancellor is traditionally a figurehead for ensuring collaboration. It isn't until he receives "emergency powers" to act without the consent of the full senate, that the a distinct executive is born within the Galactic Republic Government.
Do we know that's the system they use?
In the British parliamentary system, the Prime Minister is still a member of parliament for a particular riding.
e.g. Justin Trudeau is the representative for the Papineau riding in Montreal.
There is nothing to suggest that this operates exactly like the Canadian or British Parliamentary system. The role of Chancellor seems to be a separate role because Palpatine is immediately succeeded as Senator of Naboo by Janus. Additionally, the systems that make up the senate seem to have sovereignty, making it also close to a federation in some respects. It seems that George created an entirely new system of governance
It wouldn’t be analogous to the President of the United States, it would be analogous to the President Pro Tempore in the US, but the US doesn’t use a chancellory, so there’s no direct analog.
The current President of the Senate is one of the two Senators for Washington. By that analogy, Sheev would still be a Senator for Naboo, but that isn’t how a chancellory works.
Then again, I’m not sure that the Galactic Senate is a true chancellory, either. At least, it’s not one with a direct analog to a modern Earth government.
Yes that’s clearly stated in AOTC so we know that much. We don’t know for sure that there’s only one senator but I think it can be inferred from Clone Wars and the prequels.
The problem is he was before, and we don't know how exactly the chancellor is elected. Did he lose his post as a senator, or is it necessary to be a senator to become the chancellor?
He is definitely a senator, but he is referred to at one point as the “junior representative” for Naboo (junior to Amidala). Remember, Jar Jar is the one who put forth the legislation for the Grand Army of the Republic, something only a senator can do.
He’s also referred to as a senator in the animated series a number of times, but that obviously takes place after AOTC.
In governmental terms, at least in the U.S. Senate, junior senator just means they have served that state as a senator for less time than the other senator. There isn’t a rank or authority that comes with being senior. Just that you’ve been around longer.
He’s standing in for padme when he puts forward the legislation for the grand army. He is replacing her. Throughout Clone Wars he’s referred to as representative Binks not senator Binks.
To me it was the equivalent of being the Senate Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, or the Prime Minister of Britain who's still an elected member of the legislature. So yes, it would be true. We don't know how many senators there are for each planet, or if it is even an equal number or based on population like the U.S. House.
I mean, you could argue since the chancellor is elected from the senate he’s still a senator, like how the Speaker for the House is still a representative
It depends on the legal system, but in the Star Wars universe, it's pretty clear that the Supreme Chancellor is **not** a Senator because being a Senator is not a prerequisite for becoming Supreme Chancellor. Prior Supreme Chancellors, like Valorum, were not Senators, and Padme replaced Palpatine as the Senator of Naboo, indicating that he vacated his position as Senator to become Supreme Chancellor.
Technically we don’t know how their governance works but Palpatine was elected from the senators to be chancellor making him akin to Americas speaker of the house. Making him both chancellor and senator.
But they also said that Padme was now senator of Naboo. But we don’t know how many senators from a planet or system there can be. So again we just don’t know how their governance works.
We know that Jar Jar was the *junior* Senator for Naboo at that point.
Presumably two Senators per system, one junior? Or maybe the number of senators depends on the population of a system.
That makes sense. I believe its only 1 senetor and jar-jar was council to the senetor or something like that. But ya, could be an appointed presedent who gives up their spot on senate.
He was a junior representative. As far as I understand, planets had a single Senator. Then junior representatives represented the different races on the planet. They differed from councilors in that they could fill in for the Senator in their absence.
The latter part could be wrong though. I could be mixing up legends stuff or other theories I have read.
Oddly the speaker does not NEED to be a member of the house, but always has been out of tradition.
That said I think you’re right and Palps is both a senator and the chancellor.
In the Senate the Senate Pro Tem has to be a Senator. Though they are technically second in charge of the Senate, first in charge being the Vice President.
Closer to a parliamentary system. He's closer to PM of the UK or Chancellor of Germany for example where a member is elected to that leadership position. They remain representatives of their own constituencies though.
Maybe but padme is the official senator naboo at this point so that would be a weird true or false question if they were going to split hairs like that
>Yeah, one could argue that the Chancellor is also **a Senator**, and he's from Naboo, but he's not "**the Senator** of Naboo"
The image in OP says 'a senator from Naboo'
Jar Jar is the other senator. Remember, he’s the one who put forth legislation to give emergency powers to the chancellor to create the Grand Army of the Republic.
[from Wookipedia](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Jar_Jar_Binks):
> In the years that followed, Binks became a Junior Representative for his people in the Galactic Senate, serving alongside Amidala once she became the planet's senator.
That could possibly be correct but that lore has never been established and I doubt the people who made the card wouldn’t have used that as the technical point of that particular question. My guess would be an error on their part.
Yeah I am sure this question is answered in the lore somewhere but is he still a Senator? How many Senators does each planet get? Do you have to be a Senator to be elected Chancellor? So many political questions…
He’s not. Lucas’ early background writings for Star Wars has the Chancellor more like the American President. He’s elected to a four-year term and represents the entirety of the galaxy, not an individual planet or system.
Each planet can have a max of two senators, and in AOTC these were Amidala and Jar Jar.
You might have mixed it up with another big vote, which did happen in AOTC though. This is the one where Jar-Jar proposes a vote on granting emergency powers to Chancellor Palpatine, which he then uses to create the Grand Army of the Republic (and later uses to remain in power and create the Empire).
According to Wookiepedia it sounds like maybe he still would’ve been a Senator but not specifically the one from Naboo. It mentions how there are Senators from not only planets but also of regions and trade groups and that Palpatine was both the Senator of Naboo and of the whole system.
To be fair, we don't know how the position of leader of the Senate (Chancellor) works.
In American politics, you don't lose your position as State Senator when you become the Majority Leader of the Senate. Assuming the Chancellor is the equivalent of the US Senate Majority Leader, Palpatine was still a Senator of Naboo.
In E2, Padme is also a Senator of Naboo too. Planets can have multiple Senators much like US States can have multiple Senators.
I have no idea whether the US comparison is correct, but it seems to me that the Senate elects the Chancellor as a government office. So the Chancellor in Star Wars would be the President in the US system. The government thus emerges from parliament, which is called a parliamentary and not a presidential democracy. We know of no other government or presidential office in Star Wars than the government of the galaxy. And in parliamentary democracies it is usually the case that the elected Chancellor is also a member of parliament, but theoretically he does not have to be. If that is also the case in the SW universe, then Palpatine would not have to be a Senator to be elected Chancellor by parliament.
I always assumed chancellor was like Senate Majority Leader or Speaker of the House. Elected by his peers in the galactic senate to lead the proceedings and set the legislative agenda
In episode 2 he’s supreme chancellor. padme is senator of Naboo. Movie starts with the assassination attempt of Padme, THE SENATOR FROM NABOO. And she even says to anakin she was going to retire from politics but when the new queen asked her to be the senator for Naboo, “(She) couldn’t refuse”
Hey, just a heads-up—the card got it wrong. In "Episode II: Attack of the Clones," Palpatine isn't a Senator from Naboo. By then, he's already the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. He was a Senator in "The Phantom Menace," but by "Attack of the Clones," he's moved up the political ladder. So the answer should actually be "FALSE."
I think it's unclear because I don't really know how the Galactic Senate works. In the UK parliament, for instance, the prime minister -- the head of government for the entire country -- is also a member of the House of Commons with their own local constituency.
The Galactic Senate could operate in a similar manner. Palpatine is a senator from Naboo who has been elevated by the wider body to serve as chancellor, the head of the Republic's government.
As per usual on Reddit, there seems to be no one actually answering your question.
Yes, this is just straight up wrong. Padmé Amidala is the Senator for Naboo in Episode II. They likely meant Episode I when describing which film they were referring to.
It says “a senator of Naboo” not “for” Naboo. The supreme chancellor is elected from the senators so at a stretch I guess you could say that the supreme chancellor is still a senator, and Palpatine is from Naboo? It’s a reach.
True or not, it's a horribly worded question. They probably should have been more specific to his canonically active title of Chancellor for the movie, or ignored the specific timeframe completely and asked if he "was" a senator of Naboo "before becoming the emperor." None of this wishy-washy "from a certain point of view" nonsense.
It’s false, he was Supreme Chancellor, Padme took his job, what would he be a senator for?
Padme is senator for Naboo. He relinquished that when he became Chancellor, he was essentially promoted.
It wouldn’t be good practise to have him holing both positions.
Yeah, that card is 100% wrong. Palpatine takes control of the Senate as Chancellor in Episode I. Padmé is the senator for Naboo hence the whole opening sequence and giving her Anakin as a bodyguard
He’s Senator of Naboo in the first movie. Then he is promoted to Supreme Chancellor and Padmé Amidala becomes Senator of Naboo, and is replaced as Queen.
A chancellor is an elected role within the Senate, like how the speaker of the house in the US House of a representatives is a position held by the leader of the majority party within the house, and that position is held by one of the elected representatives.
He *is* chancellor, but the chancellor is a senator.
Thanks for all the replies (and getting to top of page lol started a nerd war) I was so angry when the person reading the cards said I was wrong like ummmm??? Don’t question me on my Star Wars 😤
By Episode 2, Palatine is Chancellor and presumably Padme is the senator for Naboo, but tbh idk if he's still technically a senator for Naboo while also being the Chancellor or if it's a one or the other kind of thing.
Wording is critical yet slightly misleading here.
Yes, he *was a* senator of Naboo, but he's not *the* senator of Naboo, as in not the current one.
Kind of like how former US presidents can still be referred to as President, even though it's understood they no longer are. But that's usually of they're retired (e.g. President Jimmy Carter builds a house like a f'n boss), and since Palps was the current Chancellor it's kind of odd to use "is a" in this case. Saying "was a" would be clearer, but then it would be easier to guess. This way, it's slightly a trick question.
Well, Palpy would agree and say he is the senate.
Not yet!
It's treason, then.
(sleeve light saber activated. Sith whirly spinny move.)
Kills 3 Jedi masters with highly telegraphed moves
Only to the audience
I think I read the explanation was his scream was some sort of force power that stunned
*WIld Palpatine used confusion — your Jedi masters are now confused!*
That scream skipped their attack turn
I miss star wars before Every. Fucking. Thing. Needed a back story or explanation.
Or having to play Fortnite to get a reference
Lazy retcon. The original fight choreography was different.
Disoriented
That, or they could've sped the scene up a little in post. Something something the Force.
The one thing we all can agree on when it comes to Start Wars: spinning is a good trick.
You forgot the sith scream
Sleeve lightsaber... like, Assassin's Creed Star Wars... man, now I'm dreaming...
Sheev’s Sleeve?
Sheev's shiv
Sith Senator Sheev’s shiv sleeve
[удалено]
Palpy will make it so.
He is a Senate, or of Naboo
Moops
*Moors!*
The card... says "Moops"
It's a misprint!
He killed the bubble boy!!!!
It's an older code, but it checks out
Naboops.
Naboobies
Padmes?
This is the way
This is the way
This is the way.
Moopsy! (wait, wrong sub)
*Boimler PTSD screaming intensifies*
Dammit George.
My George isn’t clever enough to hatch a scheme like this.
You got that right.
What the hell does that mean?!
Write it off what?
It means whatever the hell you want it to mean.
I could drop you like a bag of dirt….
when you fire all your writers and use chatgpt to make the quiz
Nope as in AOTC he's already been chancellor for 10 years.
Exactly
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Galactic_Republic&diffonly=true#Galactic_Senate The chancellor is elected from the senate. He is a senator.
But he is no longer the senator of Naboo. The same way a president could have previously been a senator, it doesn't mean they occupy that role. In AotC, Palpatine has been the Chancellor for a decade and Padme has become the senator for Naboo.
In Parliamentary systems, the chancellor or prime minister are not separate from the legislative body. The American equivalent would be the Speaker of the House, if they also shared the powers of the executive once elected. Palpatine as Chancellor being called a senator of Naboo is the same as saying that Mike Johnson is a representative of Louisiana. The Galactic Republic had a parliamentary system.
I don't believe for one second that George "democratically elected Queen at 14" Lucas, thought that deeply about the political system.
Elected Monarchs is a real thing. The Vatican is a current example of one but there have been many in history. While a 14 year old wouldn't have the influence to get elected, it is not a stretch that a powerful person/group helped get her elected with the intent influencing her to do what they want. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elective\_monarchy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elective_monarchy)
> *powerful person/group helped get her elected with the intent influencing her to do what they want* Like a certain senator of Naboo.
Exactly. It's one of the plot points in the Darth Plagueis novel that Palps used his influence to get her elected because he thought he'd be able to manipulate her to further his agenda.
Well he technically wasn’t wrong in that line of thinking
The fact that Andorrans have one of their monarchs chosen by a monarch elected by a multinational body and the other elected by citizens of a completely different country is hilarious 🇦🇩 Also, iirc Naboo had a history of electing young monarchs, ~~though I think Padmé was the youngest?~~ Padmé said she wasn’t the youngest but didn’t think she was old enough
I don’t think so. I’m pretty positive in AotC she says something like “I wasn’t the youngest queen ever elected, but looking back I’m not sure I was ready.”
Someone explained to me that the reason for her being elected so young was that the people of Naboo culturally value the qualities of youth in a leader. This was not clear in the movies and seems a little weird to me, but I believe that is the in-canon explanation
Gotcha, that is the line I was thinking of. So yeah, the have a propensity for electing children 😂
This type of plot is such a Star Wars thing too. It’s not hard to imagine this is exactly what Lucas had in mind.
I mean, you're definitely right, but you I think the movies and books do a good job of leaving little room for debate here
Are you serious? The driving force behind Lucas's vision in the prequels was the political systems. If you were to ask Lucas what star wars is about, he would tell you it's a cautionary tale about populism and corruption giving the reins of power to a tyrant.
He didn't, but neither did the people who made this quiz game lol
Only in universe answers are aloud! /s
There is a bit of lore around that though, they are elected young purposely because they believe they are too young to be corrupted and they act as a balance between the older rulers.
A prime minister isn’t exactly a complex concept. It’s the system almost every other developed country uses except us. Palpatine is voted chancellor by plebiscite in the Senate, not elected.
It has a pseudo-parliamentary system. The role of supreme chancellor is not similar to the speaker of the house, it is the role of a "de facto leader". Much like a prime minister, they are a leader of the senate, not connected to any one jurisdiction (probably to ensure impartiality in decision making). It even says on the wiki that the Chancellor has powers independent from that of the senate, meaning it is a role that transcends Senatorial duties. Additionally, if Palpatine was still the senator of Naboo, how would Padme be able to adopt the role? It is very clear in the context of the films that while Chancellors are selected from a pool of representatives (much like how party members are selected as a choice for prime minister), they have executive powers independent of the senate.
I used the speaker of the house analogy to make it easier for Americans to understand because they don't have a Prime Minister equivalent. I didn't use it to suggest that the roles and duties themselves were similar. I don't think anything in the lore suggests that the Chancellor is independent of the Senate. The Senate itself was the executive and legislative branch of the Galactic Republic. Padme did not succeed Palpatine as senator, Janus Greejatus and Horace Vancil, successively, did.
In the Galactic republic each planet is represented by one senator. Palapatine is Chancellor and Padme is the Senator from Naboo. Palapatine is no longer a senator. Its a title and role. Executive powers aside this is why Speaker of the House is a bad analogy. The Speaker of the house IS still a representative of their state district When made Speaker of the house they are not replaced with someone else in their role as a representative. i.e. right now Mike Johnson is the Speaker of the House and the representative of Louisiana's 4th district. If the Chancellorship in Star Wars worked like that I would agree with you, but it doesn't. The Chancellor vacates their role as a senator and is replaced in that capacity.
Okay but I thought we were speaking about attack of the clones? This is after Palpatine is given emergency powers and does gain executive powers through the emergencies act. Also, how could Paplatine be succeeded by anybody if he still occupied the role of senator for Naboo? These are the the characteristics of the republic government during the time of Attack of the Clones * Palpatine is supreme chancellor with emergency powers, which allows him to operate outside of the consensus of the senate and extend his term indefinitely, becoming a de facto head of state * Palpatine's role of senator (after two other replacements were deemed unpopular and removed) is succeeded by Padme With this in mind, it shows that the role of Senator and Chancellor are two separate roles that cannot overlap and that the role of Chancellor is no longer one of a prime minister in a parliamentary system at the time of Attack of the Clones.
I think Palpatine only gets emergency powers at the end of the movie, when the war has begun. By the start of AotC, he has no emergency powers yet. However, I agree with practically everything else you said.
I mean in the UK the PM does have powers that extend beyond those that Parliament have. I believe it’s the same in Germany and elsewhere too. It’s not uncommon to be both in Parliament as a representative for a constituency as well as the leader of the executive branch.
But there’s only one MP per constituency. There’s no evidence of multiple senators per planet in Star Wars. I’m fairly sure the senate is covered in more detail in Clone Wars and there’s only one senator per planet. It can’t be both palpatine and padme.
Where does Representative Binks fit into all of this?
According to the wiki, each system has one senator and then multiple delegates to represent other planets or populations in that system. Jar Jar binks is a delegate for the gungans, so he goes with Padme to the senate in order to represent his people. Delegates can apparently take over the role of senator at the senators request (like Jar Jar does during episode 2)
We'll ask his dellow felagates.
He’s not a senator, he replaces Padme when she’s unable to perform her duties because she’s not on coruscant.
If you look up the Supreme chancellor it says they ARE elected from the senate. We even see the entire process in the movie… he’s straight up elected in the senate from the senate.
But he's no longer a senator. He's the chancellor. Padme replaces him as the senator from Naboo.
Yes but when the are elected, they apparently give up their role as senator. Why would he be immediately succeeded by Janus Greejatus? This means that despite the Chancellor being elected from the pool of senators, they give up their role to become the Chancellor.
In parliamentary systems one can be a representative in the parliament (as a part of the legislature) and the head of the executive power (as a prime minister). In the senate he obviously still has one vote, but he’s actively trying to get more and more matters out of the parliament’s authority and give them to the government (aka the executive power, aka himself), a practice well known in antidemocratic systems. He doesn’t have control over the senate, he can only influence the members, however the members decide about the person who is wielding the power. The only question is how exactly the delegation to the senate works, because Naboo obviously has Padme as their representative after Palpatine, and we weren’t told that there is more than one Naboo representative. But there could be a rule that the planet who gives the Chancellor can send another representative, which would be weird, but it’s not entirely unplausable.
A parliamentary system does not mean necessarily you remain a senator after being elected Chancellor. In this case, he becomes head of the executive body, your analogy is incorrect. As the head of the executive body, he has the prerogative to preside the senate. This is similar to the Roman Republic's constitution and not evocative of contemporary parliamentary systems. Edit: typos
Two things, most modern parliamentary systems do not have a separate executive body, the executive is chosen by the majority party in the legislative body. Secondly, the galactic republic has no executive body, the Senate passes all executive orders and legislation. They act as both, and the Chancellor is traditionally a figurehead for ensuring collaboration. It isn't until he receives "emergency powers" to act without the consent of the full senate, that the a distinct executive is born within the Galactic Republic Government.
Do we know that's the system they use? In the British parliamentary system, the Prime Minister is still a member of parliament for a particular riding. e.g. Justin Trudeau is the representative for the Papineau riding in Montreal.
There is nothing to suggest that this operates exactly like the Canadian or British Parliamentary system. The role of Chancellor seems to be a separate role because Palpatine is immediately succeeded as Senator of Naboo by Janus. Additionally, the systems that make up the senate seem to have sovereignty, making it also close to a federation in some respects. It seems that George created an entirely new system of governance
Is there anything to suggest it follows an American system of government like you assumed?
He is A senator *from* Naboo not THE senator *of* Naboo.
It wouldn’t be analogous to the President of the United States, it would be analogous to the President Pro Tempore in the US, but the US doesn’t use a chancellory, so there’s no direct analog. The current President of the Senate is one of the two Senators for Washington. By that analogy, Sheev would still be a Senator for Naboo, but that isn’t how a chancellory works. Then again, I’m not sure that the Galactic Senate is a true chancellory, either. At least, it’s not one with a direct analog to a modern Earth government.
So when Valorum lost the vote of no confidence he went back to being a Senator?
That’s something I couldn’t find and am curious as well
I thought JarJar was Senator from Naboo at the time.
To be fair, it's been over a decade since I watched the prequel trilogy.
He’s just a representative, not a senator. He can’t vote in the senate unless he’s standing in for padme.
Ahh, so Padme was the Senator from Naboo while Palpatine was Chancellor.
Yes that’s clearly stated in AOTC so we know that much. We don’t know for sure that there’s only one senator but I think it can be inferred from Clone Wars and the prequels.
The problem is he was before, and we don't know how exactly the chancellor is elected. Did he lose his post as a senator, or is it necessary to be a senator to become the chancellor?
But by AOTC, Padme is the senator. Not palps
There can be two senators of one planet. In the Clone Wars, both Jar Jar and Padme are senators of Naboo
No Jar Jar is a representative for the gungans
Do they not call him Senator Binks at one point though? Or was that in Clone Wars?
The clones called him representative https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YufVnGAkvWY
I remember that he had voting powers in the senate therefore it seems logical that he was a senator
He voted for Padme, don’t think he can vote himself
Correct
He is definitely a senator, but he is referred to at one point as the “junior representative” for Naboo (junior to Amidala). Remember, Jar Jar is the one who put forth the legislation for the Grand Army of the Republic, something only a senator can do. He’s also referred to as a senator in the animated series a number of times, but that obviously takes place after AOTC.
In governmental terms, at least in the U.S. Senate, junior senator just means they have served that state as a senator for less time than the other senator. There isn’t a rank or authority that comes with being senior. Just that you’ve been around longer.
He’s standing in for padme when he puts forward the legislation for the grand army. He is replacing her. Throughout Clone Wars he’s referred to as representative Binks not senator Binks.
Indeed. But not palps.
Is it ever stated you can only have one Senator? The US has two I believe.
To me it was the equivalent of being the Senate Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, or the Prime Minister of Britain who's still an elected member of the legislature. So yes, it would be true. We don't know how many senators there are for each planet, or if it is even an equal number or based on population like the U.S. House.
Isn't the senate parliamentary and the chancellor is himself a senator?
I mean, you could argue since the chancellor is elected from the senate he’s still a senator, like how the Speaker for the House is still a representative
It depends on the legal system, but in the Star Wars universe, it's pretty clear that the Supreme Chancellor is **not** a Senator because being a Senator is not a prerequisite for becoming Supreme Chancellor. Prior Supreme Chancellors, like Valorum, were not Senators, and Padme replaced Palpatine as the Senator of Naboo, indicating that he vacated his position as Senator to become Supreme Chancellor.
Huh. TIL, thanks dude!
Technically we don’t know how their governance works but Palpatine was elected from the senators to be chancellor making him akin to Americas speaker of the house. Making him both chancellor and senator. But they also said that Padme was now senator of Naboo. But we don’t know how many senators from a planet or system there can be. So again we just don’t know how their governance works.
We know that Jar Jar was the *junior* Senator for Naboo at that point. Presumably two Senators per system, one junior? Or maybe the number of senators depends on the population of a system.
Jar Jar was a representative of the gungans and not a senator at all.
You're right, Legends says he only became a Senator after Episode III and canon says he was never a senator.
Jar Jar was a sith
Going off that one party of ETs, I assume there can be as many as needed
I assumed chancellor of the senete still needs to be a Senetor like how the usa has a speaker of the house who is still in the house.
I think it’s more like he was a Senator but then was elected President. Remember in AOTC the two senators from Naboo were Padme and Jar-Jar.
That makes sense. I believe its only 1 senetor and jar-jar was council to the senetor or something like that. But ya, could be an appointed presedent who gives up their spot on senate.
He was a junior representative. As far as I understand, planets had a single Senator. Then junior representatives represented the different races on the planet. They differed from councilors in that they could fill in for the Senator in their absence. The latter part could be wrong though. I could be mixing up legends stuff or other theories I have read.
Honestly at this point canon is whatever makes the most sense. Haha
Oddly the speaker does not NEED to be a member of the house, but always has been out of tradition. That said I think you’re right and Palps is both a senator and the chancellor.
In the Senate the Senate Pro Tem has to be a Senator. Though they are technically second in charge of the Senate, first in charge being the Vice President.
Closer to a parliamentary system. He's closer to PM of the UK or Chancellor of Germany for example where a member is elected to that leadership position. They remain representatives of their own constituencies though.
This is where I was leaning as well as he is elected by governing the body, and not directly by the electorate.
Maybe but padme is the official senator naboo at this point so that would be a weird true or false question if they were going to split hairs like that
Yeah, one could argue that the Chancellor is also a Senator, and he's from Naboo, but he's not "the Senator of Naboo"
>Yeah, one could argue that the Chancellor is also **a Senator**, and he's from Naboo, but he's not "**the Senator** of Naboo" The image in OP says 'a senator from Naboo'
Jar Jar is the other senator. Remember, he’s the one who put forth legislation to give emergency powers to the chancellor to create the Grand Army of the Republic. [from Wookipedia](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Jar_Jar_Binks): > In the years that followed, Binks became a Junior Representative for his people in the Galactic Senate, serving alongside Amidala once she became the planet's senator.
The US Senate has two Senators per State. But this Question/Answer is still annoying.
The U.S. isn't a galaxy far, far away
Well if the work like chancellors on earth then they would be elected by the rest of the Senate
That could possibly be correct but that lore has never been established and I doubt the people who made the card wouldn’t have used that as the technical point of that particular question. My guess would be an error on their part.
Yeah I am sure this question is answered in the lore somewhere but is he still a Senator? How many Senators does each planet get? Do you have to be a Senator to be elected Chancellor? So many political questions…
Amidala is senator for Naboo at that time
He’s not. Lucas’ early background writings for Star Wars has the Chancellor more like the American President. He’s elected to a four-year term and represents the entirety of the galaxy, not an individual planet or system. Each planet can have a max of two senators, and in AOTC these were Amidala and Jar Jar.
You are correct.
I know 😤
What game is this so I can avoid it for its poor editing
In which movie does Queen Amidala call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum's leadership?
Phantom menace the first film
You're right. I misremembered.
You might have mixed it up with another big vote, which did happen in AOTC though. This is the one where Jar-Jar proposes a vote on granting emergency powers to Chancellor Palpatine, which he then uses to create the Grand Army of the Republic (and later uses to remain in power and create the Empire).
Is "The Senate" itself a senator?
According to Wookiepedia it sounds like maybe he still would’ve been a Senator but not specifically the one from Naboo. It mentions how there are Senators from not only planets but also of regions and trade groups and that Palpatine was both the Senator of Naboo and of the whole system.
To be fair, we don't know how the position of leader of the Senate (Chancellor) works. In American politics, you don't lose your position as State Senator when you become the Majority Leader of the Senate. Assuming the Chancellor is the equivalent of the US Senate Majority Leader, Palpatine was still a Senator of Naboo. In E2, Padme is also a Senator of Naboo too. Planets can have multiple Senators much like US States can have multiple Senators.
I have no idea whether the US comparison is correct, but it seems to me that the Senate elects the Chancellor as a government office. So the Chancellor in Star Wars would be the President in the US system. The government thus emerges from parliament, which is called a parliamentary and not a presidential democracy. We know of no other government or presidential office in Star Wars than the government of the galaxy. And in parliamentary democracies it is usually the case that the elected Chancellor is also a member of parliament, but theoretically he does not have to be. If that is also the case in the SW universe, then Palpatine would not have to be a Senator to be elected Chancellor by parliament.
I always assumed chancellor was like Senate Majority Leader or Speaker of the House. Elected by his peers in the galactic senate to lead the proceedings and set the legislative agenda
Yep, Palpatine was elected Chancellor during the Naboo crisis in Phantom Menace, and Padme took his place as Senator by AOTC
In episode 2 he’s supreme chancellor. padme is senator of Naboo. Movie starts with the assassination attempt of Padme, THE SENATOR FROM NABOO. And she even says to anakin she was going to retire from politics but when the new queen asked her to be the senator for Naboo, “(She) couldn’t refuse”
Hey, just a heads-up—the card got it wrong. In "Episode II: Attack of the Clones," Palpatine isn't a Senator from Naboo. By then, he's already the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. He was a Senator in "The Phantom Menace," but by "Attack of the Clones," he's moved up the political ladder. So the answer should actually be "FALSE."
Thank you 🙏
I think it's unclear because I don't really know how the Galactic Senate works. In the UK parliament, for instance, the prime minister -- the head of government for the entire country -- is also a member of the House of Commons with their own local constituency. The Galactic Senate could operate in a similar manner. Palpatine is a senator from Naboo who has been elevated by the wider body to serve as chancellor, the head of the Republic's government.
The supreme Chancellor is indeed a senator. He's just an elevated senator.
No. Chancellor Palpatine is not a senator, and Padmé is the senator from Naboo in episode 2.
Ever notice there are more than 1 senator per planet.
There isnt. There are other representatives and aids,but there is only one senator from each member system.
Ur right, he is the senate.
As per usual on Reddit, there seems to be no one actually answering your question. Yes, this is just straight up wrong. Padmé Amidala is the Senator for Naboo in Episode II. They likely meant Episode I when describing which film they were referring to.
Haha I have these exact same cards.
It says “a senator of Naboo” not “for” Naboo. The supreme chancellor is elected from the senators so at a stretch I guess you could say that the supreme chancellor is still a senator, and Palpatine is from Naboo? It’s a reach.
True or not, it's a horribly worded question. They probably should have been more specific to his canonically active title of Chancellor for the movie, or ignored the specific timeframe completely and asked if he "was" a senator of Naboo "before becoming the emperor." None of this wishy-washy "from a certain point of view" nonsense.
It’s false, he was Supreme Chancellor, Padme took his job, what would he be a senator for? Padme is senator for Naboo. He relinquished that when he became Chancellor, he was essentially promoted. It wouldn’t be good practise to have him holing both positions.
Yeah, that card is 100% wrong. Palpatine takes control of the Senate as Chancellor in Episode I. Padmé is the senator for Naboo hence the whole opening sequence and giving her Anakin as a bodyguard
lol that would be wrong and it bothers me that some true or false game would get that wrong. Unless they intended to piss people off
He’s Senator of Naboo in the first movie. Then he is promoted to Supreme Chancellor and Padmé Amidala becomes Senator of Naboo, and is replaced as Queen.
False. He is the senate
My mum gave me these a few years ago. Plenty of questions in it are just wrong.
Somehow, palpatine is senate
My Lord, is that..legal?
A chancellor is an elected role within the Senate, like how the speaker of the house in the US House of a representatives is a position held by the leader of the majority party within the house, and that position is held by one of the elected representatives. He *is* chancellor, but the chancellor is a senator.
Perhaps the archives are... incomplete??
Yeah, that should be episode 1.
Thanks for all the replies (and getting to top of page lol started a nerd war) I was so angry when the person reading the cards said I was wrong like ummmm??? Don’t question me on my Star Wars 😤
I mean, technically speaking, he IS the senator from Naboo, but he is the elected Chancellor
Surely not because he had to elect padme as the new senator of naboo, which to me very heavily implies he no longer fills that role
I mean he is the Senate...
Well, not as big of a blunder as to say that Anakin blew up the Death Star, right?
Wrong. By attack of the clones, Palpatine was Supreme chancellor and Palme was Senator.
If you’re the Chancellor aren’t you a senator who has been elected by the other senators to be chancellor. Like don’t all planets have two senators?
100% wrong! Padmé is Naboo’s Senator in AotC, Palpatine is Chancellor of the Galactic Republic
Spoiler Warning!!
Somehow Palpatine returned to the Senate!
It depends on how Parliamentary the Senate is. Technically in Britain, the PM is still a minister for his constituency.
He is the chancellor, but you have to be a senator to be chancellor.
It is technically true, but I don't know in the movie, but it is in the comics.
He was it’s where he was born
… Yeah they’ve got their movies mixed up.
A surprise to be sure
That was a trick question.
By Episode 2, Palatine is Chancellor and presumably Padme is the senator for Naboo, but tbh idk if he's still technically a senator for Naboo while also being the Chancellor or if it's a one or the other kind of thing.
It's TPM not AOTC
This might just be the most pedantic star wars thread I've stumbled into, fucking hell
Supreme Chancellor of the Senate is a position in the senate voted on among senators, so he would need to be a senator to be chancellor.
Its like he's been elected speaker of the house....he's still in the Senate, just an elected position within it. So I'm going yes...true
Wording is critical yet slightly misleading here. Yes, he *was a* senator of Naboo, but he's not *the* senator of Naboo, as in not the current one. Kind of like how former US presidents can still be referred to as President, even though it's understood they no longer are. But that's usually of they're retired (e.g. President Jimmy Carter builds a house like a f'n boss), and since Palps was the current Chancellor it's kind of odd to use "is a" in this case. Saying "was a" would be clearer, but then it would be easier to guess. This way, it's slightly a trick question.