General

Known as the 'Esteelers': the polity has existed for over 200 years, since it broke away from the Martian Association. The GFA is one of the so-called 'Big Four' powers (along with Earth, Mars and Venus) and is militarily fairly powerful, having a considerable fleet based on interstellar carriers.
Culturally, Esteelers are tolerant and hedonistic, with a strong commitment to individual rights. They are often stereotyped as being frivolous and a bit vulgar, but they are also respected for their kindness and hospitality. The people are pleasure-loving and friendly (if a little flaky) and very concerned about rights and freedom. They are slow to anger and very relaxed, but will dig in their heels on points they see as important. Militarily their forces are tough and well-equipped.

Notes on current Esteeler politics from 'Bluffer's Guide to Galactic Politics' [Second Edition, 3202]
Political Structure
Politically, Asteel is democratic, capitalist and fairly decentralised. The President, who is directly elected by universal suffrage, is very influential in the Esteeler Senate which runs Quadrant Zero, (he or she is ex officio Senator of the Asteel system) but has only limited powers over the semi-independent Quadrants which make up the GFA. This Federal structure is a source of strength as local leaders (frequently business people) are able to act for local reasons, in theory resulting in high efficiency and dynamism. The Esteeler citizenship have a high level of satisfaction with their government and are often surprisingly proud and patriotic.
However, the central power (the Presidential Office is known as The Hexagon) lacking strong disciplinary measures, sometimes has difficulty preventing corruption and cronyism in distant Quadrants. Generally, the highly democratic Esteeler governmental structures tend to be slow in operation, and in a bid to please everyone, end up with messy compromises. In addition, Esteelers have a habit of expecting quick results and failing to plan for the long haul. A typical example is the Esteeler political tendency to see only as far as the next election!
As a political entity, the GFA has strong views about the Constitutional obligations and rights of being a member system. In summary, these are as follows:

1. Every member system must pay taxes (i.e. support value) to the central government and must obey all legal orders of the duly constituted Federal authorities.
2. Every member system must guarantee a basic level of democracy, freedom and human rights to all citizens.
3. Every member system must guarantee free trade and the untrammelled practice of commerce by all legally constituted corporations.
4. No member system will be unfairly expelled from the Federation.
5. The Federation undertakes to protect to the best of its ability the citizens of all member systems from any and all interference, from whatever source, with their rights to life, liberty and the peaceful enjoyment of their property.
6. The Federation guarantees that it will not permit any Esteeler citizen to be subjected to cruel or unusual treatment; nor will the Federation allow any Esteeler to be tried by any other Polity for crimes committed in Esteeler space.

Current Domestic Policy issues
1. The Economy
The Esteeler economy is efficient, regarded by the Major Corporations as 'business-friendly' and most Esteeler citizens enjoy a very high standard of living. The economy is overwhelmingly capitalist, with light regulation and a highly-developed legal system where litigation is often used to settle disputes. Typically, the Esteeler citizen is well-educated and has the chance to progress in a meritocratic and socially mobile society. The Esteelers have social problems too; economic inequality, crime and disorder plague many of their worlds. Figures show that despite the high per capita gross polity product, about 10% of the GFA's citizens live below the official poverty line. In addition, there is a continuing problem with corruption; while most Esteelers are honest, at the senior echelons of business and politics there is sometimes a temptation to use power for self-enrichment.
2. Citizenship.
The GFA is unusually flexible in its citizenship laws and is happy to allow large-scale immigration to many of its worlds, as long as minimum guarantees are kept about human rights etc. The major problem the GFA has is about the relative economic and social positions of genetic naturals and genetic perfects. While it is debatable whether Esteeler naturals are actually any worse off than the naturals of any other polity, they perceive themselves to be so, and this has led to the GFA being host to a particularly violent and extremist branch of DAFT (Democracy and Freedom Today, the naturals-rights terrorist pressure group). The GFA Government has recently begun a programme to guarantee fair treatment for naturals, including new laws banning unfair discrimination, but there are major barriers to progress, not least the strong beliefs among Esteeler perfects that the naturals are already given plenty of opportunities and are just complaining about their own inevitable biological destiny: to be inferior.
3. The Exterminator War and the GFA Military
Since the number of attacks by the Exterminators has fallen recently, this topic too has been falling down the list of concerns, but remains important, especially since the GFA remains the only polity to have suffered an attack on a Home World (Disney World). Generally, the GFA is content with the performance of its military. The strict subordination of the military to political control remains agreed policy, though frequently retired military officers move into politics.

FOREIGN POLICY
The Greater Federation of Asteel (GFA) had adopted an aggressively expansionist policy in many areas for many decades up to 3150. There did not seem to be any underlying pattern to this expansion, and it seemed largely driven by wealth creation. In recent years the GFA has been much more cautious and expansion has been much slower. Generally, the GFA attitude seems to be 'why can't we all get along' with an emphasis on seeking common ground and consensus; though the GFA can be fierce in defence of what it sees as its crucial interests and is irritated by other polities who refuse to treat the Federation with respect. Here are the current attitudes of the GFA to other polities:
Union of Xyon: genuine warmth and friendliness at every level from Government to individual citizens, dating back at least 200 years. Currently in Alliance.
Earth Empire [Solar Republic]: mostly, wary friendship based on mutual respect, though a significant minority of Esteelers dislike Earther foreign policy as duplicitous and aggressive. Currently in Alliance.
Republic of New Venus: Esteelers have a major problem with Venerian quasi-democracy and attitudes to human rights and the rule of law. This tends to make relations awkward, though there is a popular respect for their stern attitude to corruption. Currently in Non-Aggression Pact.
Martian Union/Association: for historical reasons ordinary Esteelers find the Martian state difficult to like and the perceived arrogance and senseless aggression of the Martian military makes them highly unpopular. In return, the Martians are notoriously rude and dismissive towards Esteelers. All this makes it very hard for Esteeler diplomacy to make any friendly headway. This is odd, as culturally the two peoples are surprisingly similar and many retain family and other links despite the political coldness.
Wolfer Commonwealth: Esteelers are friendly and respectful, if a little patronising, and puzzled by the odd political structure [monarchy!]. Currently in Alliance.
Sirian Socialist Republic: general attitude is one of amused contempt for these oddball lefties, though there is a lot of interest in their robot-intensive culture which appeals to many rich and lazy Esteelers.
Mald Foundation: profound respect and perhaps a little awe of this mysterious polity.
Independent worlds and local alliances: GFA diplomacy generally hopes to build friendly links at all such systems and groups as they become rich enough to consider membership of a polity. Will act to encourage democracy, human rights etc but a relaxed attitude to expansion of the Federation.
Note on Presidential Succession: if the President becomes unable to carry out his function, the Presidency devolves as follows: Vice-President; then Senators of Q0 in alphabetical order of system name; then Governors in Quadrant number reverse order.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON THE CURRENT PRESIDENT

The presidential election of 3200 was won by the controversial Star Party candidate, Alphonse Z.Potato
Alphie was formerly the Governor of Quadrant Five where he was involved in several scandals, including the infamous Over Incident during which he was accused of involvement with a criminal gang who had created an illegal Artificially Intelligent computer; though Alphie was cleared of all charges.
Potato's choice of friends, and the colourful behaviour of his family and associates, continue to cause unease.
Since his election victory Potato has, surprisingly, avoided major controversy At least, so far he has. In domestic affairs he appointed a wide range of corporate talent to his cabinet, many eccentric and lively characters. Most of them seem to have performed well, despite the misgivings of some commentators; in particular about the choice of Stan Morgan of the Independent Traders' Association as Secretary of Defence. The GFA economy is performing reasonably well.
In foreign affairs Potato has followed a policy of close alliance with the Earth Empire, which has caused some clashes within the Government with those more sceptical of Imperial intentions, such as Secretary of State O'Brien. The GFA Navy, under the recently centralised command of Admiral Stipes, played a major role in winning the Exterminator War.
President Potato has stated his intention to lead an expansion of Esteeler colonisation into the Sectors, though what form this will take and how it will be financed remains unclear.