Retrogression

Retrogression is a term used by political observers throughout the Galaxy, but especially in the Gorf People's Republic, to describe the apparent decline of democratic and republican forms of government across the Galaxy, typically considered an effect of the defeat of the Republic in the Third Shantarak War, and the subsequent coup of the Supremacy Movement in 2299.

First coined by a Gorf political commentator in 2298 as a prediction of "widespread galactic democratic retrogression" following the imminent defeat of Shantarak forces in the Third Shantarak War, it was shortly after adopted widely in Gorf political circles, and to a lesser degree in other democratic states elsewhere in the Galaxy.

The Shantarak Republic was, for more than two centuries, the Galaxy's largest sponsor of democratic and egalitarian political movements. With its defeat and subsequent overthrow, many fledgling and vulnerable egalitarian movements across the Galaxy expected that their positions would weaken significantly against their political opponents.

Many in the Gorf People's Republic identified the Supremacy Movement's coup in 2299 as the beginning of this retrogression. Recent historical comparisons by historians and political commentators, including mostly Gorf, but also exiled Shantarak, K'Taknor, Mekh'LeSth, and Emorian observers, have identified many contemporaneous developments as instances of retrogression. Some commenters consider the Volkar Revolution in 2328 to mark the end of a so-called "Age of Retrogression", or "Great Backslide".

In the K'Taknor Republic, a series of internal purges of "heretics" against the state religion were carried out between 2302 and 2328. These purges were characterized by many observers as politically motivated, and targeted at political opponents rather than "heretics". The purges were ended as a result of the Coup of 2328.

In the League of Proval, non-citizen residents were subjected to increasing state surveillance and control beginning in 2301. In 2307, approximately 250 million citizens of non-Provalguvor origin (mostly Sirgogg) had their citizenship revoked. In 2311, many of these former citizens were forcibly expelled from the League, with those who remained largely being confined to detainment camps. In 2313, a large purge of opposition political parties was carried out, with many Provalguvor having their citizenship revoked and being confined to detainment camps. Between 2313 and 2315, the League began a military build-up, before beginning the Sirgogg War in 2315. Following the League's defeat in 2317, the militarist government was forced out, being replaced by a government that closed the detainment camps and restored citizenship to all former citizens by 2319.

In the Renjath Grand Republic, between 2299 and 2308, a large-scale build-up of "protectionist forces" was carried out, ostensibly in order to fend off pirates throughout the Renjath Trade Network. Some observers accused the Grand Republic of using this excuse to militarize what was constitutionally bound to be a demilitarized state. In 2308, a large-scale scheme of corruption in the Renjath Grand Parliament was revealed, including a united corporate plan to subvert the Parliament and take direct control of the new "protectionist forces". New regulations against corporate influence in Grand Republic politics were passed in late 2308, and large numbers of politicians and corporate administrators were removed from office and jailed. The "protectionist forces" were entirely scuttled by 2315.

In the Mekh'LeSth United Planetary Republic, reactionary political movements were successful in elections in 2299 and 2302, pushing the Planetary Republic into a more isolationist foreign policy. In 2308, government officials were accused of targeting political opponents for harassment and official censorship. In 2314, reactionary movements gained a total majority in the Planetary Congress, and passed several laws which observers decried as intended to solidify political power in the reactionary movements. In 2317, the reactionary movements were largely defeated in elections.