Yeah, it wasn't a well thought out example - the entire thing was unedited and written in a single go, so... My bad.Do we even have any examples of distant empires in our history?On Tue, Mar 13, 2018, 9:33 PM Richard Aiken <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:On Sat, Mar 10, 2018 at 9:50 PM, Cian Witherspoon <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:Distant empires don't interfere with local matters at all - sort of like the relationship between the US Congress and the town council of some place out in the middle of Wyoming. All the empire cares about is that the taxes come in and the planet doesn't rebel. The Third Imperium is a Distant empire in some interpretations.Close empires usually leave local affairs to the localsI think your first example is a bit off. The U.S. federal government is a "close empire," rather than a "distant empire," at least as regards states and large cities (a better equivalent for planets than towns). The federal Constitution says flat out that state constitutions (and by implication all lesser laws based upon these) can't violate what it's requirements. While actual federal control is usually enforced economically ("If you don't behave, you won't get your share of the tax money provided by this program."), it's not impossible for the feds to enforce control through the courts. Consider the current lawsuit by the Trump administration against California's new laws that effectively regulate immigration (something reserved to the federal government by the Constitution).--Richard Aiken
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