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Galactic Senate

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this was the term used to describe the galaxy-spanning Senate of the Old Republic. There were 1,024 seats available in the Senate Rotunda on Coruscant, meaning that many systems formed alliances in order to obtain a single vote. The Senate was presided over by the Supreme Chancellor, and for many generations was served by the Jedi Order. During the last decades of the Old Republic, the Senate became increasingly populated by greedy, squabbling delegates whose only concern was for the benefit of their own systems, rather than the good of the galaxy. These Senators became targets of opportunity for Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who was actually the Sith Lord Darth Sidious in disguise. When Palpatine was elected Chancellor, many Senators voted for him in order to receive certain considerations. Many others were bribed or coerced to vote for Palpatine, ensuring his rise to power. Palpatine was re-elected once more, and then was voted an unprecedented third term as the Confederacy of Independent Systems threatened to cause trouble. With the onset of the Clone Wars, many Senators decided to abandon their selfish ways, but instead chose to avoid the issue of the war whenever possible. The Senate voted many amendments to the Constitution that ceded powers of government to Palpatine himself, claiming that it was "safer" for all power to rest in a single being. Of course, this allowed Palpatine to enact his own agenda of laws, including the appointing of regional governors to oversee large portions of the galaxy. Only a handful of Senators saw this as a way to eliminate the Senate entirely, since Senatorial decisions were often ignored in favor of regional policies. Naturally, many of these regional policies came from Palpatine himself, including the Sector Governance Decree that all but eliminated the need for the Senate itself. In the wake of the Clone Wars, the Galactic Senate was renamed to the Imperial Senate as soon as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declared himself Emperor. Over time, Palpatine shifted more and more control to the regional governors, and dissolved the Senate shortly before the Battle of Yavin.