In Star Wars, two main political groups exist within the Republic: the Galactic Senate and the Jedi Council. The Galactic Senate is made up of political figures who reside in the Republic\u2019s domain, while the Jedi Council is made up of the elite Jedi masters. The Jedi, a group of force-wielding do-gooders, are known for their passiveness and purity. They abhor violence and any personal relationships besides those between Master and Padawan. The Jedi hold power over the Senate. They have the ability to rule over everyone in the Galaxy because they have the ability to wield the Force and have extremely high combat skills, whereas all the senators have is money and POLITICAL \u201cpower.\u201d The Senate, however, holds authority over the Jedi. The Senate\u2019s authority stems from its legislative and governmental powers. In the main canon, the Senate has the power to create laws, declare war, recognize Free Trade Zones, and have the ability to pressure the Jedi into carrying out their directives, even though the Jedi Council doesn\u2019t necessarily answer directly to them. The Senate takes advantage of the Jedi\u2019s passiveness and holds control over them, as the Jedi Council does the senate\u2019s bidding. In the end, the Senate\u2019s authority is what resulted in the destruction of the Republic itself. In a way, the fall of the Republic mirrors the fall of Ancient Rome. This comparison to Ancient Rome is extremely important because the Roman Empire was similar in cultural scope as was the Galactic Republic was in the context of their respective universe. In Rome, there was a senate made up of elected officials, and then ten \u201cTribunes of the People,\u201d who were known for being pure and looking out for the greater good instead of their own personal good. Eventually, the senate grew more and more powerful, and the idea of having a top position became extremely appealing. Men would work towards becoming an emperor, and the Tribunes began to suffer at the hand of the emperor.<\/p>\n
Another way that Star Wars<\/em> follows ancient history is the tale of the Trojan horse. The Trojan horse was a large wooden horse used by the Greeks to sneakily invade Troy. In a way, Anakin Skywalker was the Jedi\u2019s Trojan horse. After becoming increasingly powerful and gaining a good relationship with Senator Palpatine, the Jedi sent him in to spy on Palpatine to provide the Jedi with knowledge on his doings. They wanted to understand why the Chancellor was taking specific actions, as they had become suspicious that he had been corrupted somehow. That tactic ended up backfiring, as Anakin became Palpatine\u2019s<\/em> Trojan horse. Palpatine convinced Anakin that joining the Dark side of the force would provide him with great powers, including saving his dying wife. Cloaked in a Jedi robe, Anakin stormed the Jedi temple with a Clone army, killing all of the Jedi Padawans and ending the Jedi Order for the time being with the carrying out of Order 66.<\/p>\n Anakin, the Force-Wielding double Trojan Horse.<\/p><\/div>\n One important idea Arendt argues in What Is Authority<\/em> is the concept of totalitarianism and tyranny. According to Arendt, \u201cthe difference between tyranny and authoritarian government has been that the tyrant rules in accordance with his own will and interest, whereas even the most draconic authoritarian government is bound by laws\u201d (Arendt 97). Palpatine, oddly, has characteristics of both tyrants and authoritarians. Palpatine is acting in his own interests, which is a characteristic of a tyrant. However, Palpatine also cleverly manipulates the law in order to advance his power. For example, in The Phantom Menace<\/em>, Palpatine calls for a \u201cvote of no confidence\u201d for the current chancellor, which is the Star Wars equivalent to an impeachment. Another example is when Palpatine has Jar-Jar act as a substitute for Senator Amidala in Attack of the Clones<\/em>. There is one main thing that makes Palpatine more of an authoritarian than a tyrant: his source of authority. According to Arendt, \u201cthe source of authority in an authoritarian government is always a force external and superior to its own power.\u201d Palpatine\u2019s external source of power happens to be his force wielding ability. As stated earlier, the Jedi have power over the senate because they have the ability to control the force. An interesting parallel could be drawn again with the Roman empire. The Roman Empire was located in Western Europe, and had an official state church: Christianity. The church often could overrule decisions made by the Romans\u2019 actual state government. Interestingly enough, Christianity plays a huge part in the story of Star Wars. Anakin is basically scene as a Christ figure, someone who is the son of God himself and holds enormous power, only to die and eventually come back to life, reborn. (Anakin never properly died, but his transtition from Anakin to Darth Vader could be seen as the death of his character.) \u00a0Therefore, Palpatine, who is also a force-wielder, is also more powerful than the senate, along with holding authority over both the senate and the Jedi Council.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/postcolonialstarwars\/files\/2017\/12\/Badass-Anakin-300x128.png\")