Politics of Minkowski
Political Factions
Minkowski is not a democracy. Political parties do not compete for votes. Nevertheless like any large organisation it has its own societies, factions and cliques of varying degrees of coherence and formality, that jostle for influence over policy and media.
Foreign Policy
Detente Lobby
The Detente Lobby is a minor faction in foreign policy that advocates outreach to the 'reasonable' Magnate states such as More and Hyperborea, in order to minimise the chance of future hostilities and isolate the warmongers. Predictably, they spend at least as much time defending themselves against accusations of naivete or treason as they do advocating for their position.
European Lobby
Europe was the Core power with best access to the Sea of Solomon, and kept the peace in that distant frontier for many decades. Minkowski itself had its economy buoyed during the colonisation era by the salaries and pensions of the 'space gurkhas' that served in the DSF. And the EU is without a doubt the staunchest opponent among the other great powers of Magnate genetic tyranny. The European Lobby recognises these facts and thinks the League should revive old ties, this time as equal partners. This lobby held the advantage for a while over the Zodiacs due to the EU's advantage in proximity and power, but has been thrown into disarray by the resolution of the ZOCU war.
Militant Lobby
The Militants draw mostly on War veterans and younger priests for support. Their goal is simple: The destruction of the Magnate Continuum, as soon as possible, by any means necessary. The militants are a heavy influence on most discussions of policy but cooler heads have so far prevailed, not least because the Technocrats are generally hostile to restarting the War.
Rim Lobby
The Rim Lobby holds that for the League to remain powerful and independent, it must expand. The League is excellently placed to influence Rim states and provide them with security, technology and developmental aid, and in exchange receive resources and manpower to fortify its position and stand at the top table of national blocs.
Zodiac Lobby
The greatest long-term threat to the League and to Minkowski is the billions of people on Earth, who will flood outwards and overwhelm the current states of the Expanse. Some will be able to accept and integrate immigrants, but others like Minkowski will not. The Zodiac Lobby espouses this position and advocates that the League forge links with ZOCU and the new Taiwans to resist the threat of 'Core Imperialism'. They are regarded as somewhat radical and ideological by their fellows, but their rhetoric speaks to sore wounds from the Tereshkova Rebellion and deep-seated anxieties about the eventual fate of Cavor's project. This lobby has become sharply more fashionable in the wake of the ZOCU War.
Domestic Policy
Liberal
The establishment never managed to contain the cultural explosion of the Colonisation Era, until the breakdown and the bloody Tereshkova Rebellion. Now that there is another 'Renaissance' the Liberals say that it shouldn't try, but should instead embrace and direct it to strengthen Minkowski's soft power and cultural fabric. Unfortunately, while they have managed to block Orthodox attempts to limit freedom of expression, prying funding away from the military and the technocrats has proven almost impossible.
Orthodox
Since the Breakdown ended Minkowski has been exposed once more to all the influences of the Sphere. Some in the government remember or have studied the social problems that arose last time this happened after the Recontact, and advise that the government take a stern line on anti-establishment and un-Minkowskan activity.
Reform
The Reform faction is a loose accumulation of advocates of transforming the Minkowskan state, often by distancing religion from government and adopting an open market economy. Some have more radical proposals to adopt multiparty democracy or various 'new economy' concepts, or secularise completely. Taken all together they constitute a minor but not ignorable faction, but are too divided to achieve effective action.
Technocrats
Minkowski is the most advanced power of the League, but it still lags behind the Magnates, to say nothing of ZOCU or the Core powers. Attempting to reverse this consumes enormous amounts of funding, which has in turn given the 'Research-Industrial Complex' significant clout, which it uses unreservedly to appropriate more resources, exalt itself in the media, and move alumni into favourable positions.
The 'Technocrats', as a whole, constitute the most powerful and untouchable lobby on Minkowski. But they are not a united body, and the competition inside can be cutthroat.
Apollo Society
The Apollo Society was founded by Cavor in the early days of Minkowski, with a commission to design and develop the craft that would carry humanity through space. It continued ably in this remit for many decades as an idealistic academic enterprise, but the Magnate war changed it forever. Now it is a vast and anonymous organisation, fused at the hip to the naval and shipyard bureaucracies, but which still trades on its august reputation and hopes to recapture its old idealism. The Apollo Society's authorities are mostly supporters of the Rim Lobby.
Dust Engineers Association
The Dust Engineers are responsible for designing, manufacturing and programming jumpdrives, bubble fields and all other forms of dust-based technology. As a political entity, they point to the successes of ZOCU in developing advanced technology independently of the Core, and advocate leveraging the League's theta dust supplies to follow in their footsteps. Together with some in the New Paradigm Group they lobby for scientific exchanges and closer partnership with ZOCU.
Exhumanists
The Exhumanists are found scattered throughout the medical, xenological and astronautical professions. They hold that the century since the introduction of the homo caelum genetic template is a century wasted. Minkowskans should continue to embrace and invest in genetic and cybernetic augmentation until they can live in free space as the Drones do, and only then will they truly inhabit the new world. The Exhuman tendency is not large or formalised, but has important friends among powerful bureaucrats and and the priesthood.
New Paradigm Group
The New Paradigm Group is an organisation of convenience that exists to oppose the Minkowskan orthodoxy and status quo, which they see as dangerously overspecialised and heading down potential dead-ends. Their main advocacy concerns investment in alternative weapon concepts and mecha, but they also have close links with the Dust Engineers.
Xenologists
Without a doubt, the most prestigious and most self-important of the scientific fields on Minkowski is Xenology. The amount humankind has still to learn from the Velans is vast, and most Xenologists maintain that no better method exists of closing the technical gap between the League and the Inner Sphere. They have a number of professional bodies with various remits, some dating all the way back to first contact, and all seeking to ensure that Xenology continues to attract funding and expertise.