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VulcanIDIC

Vulcan IDIC Seal

The Vulcan Council was the legislature of the Confederacy of Vulcan. When the Confederacy was a Federation member the Council was noted as the smallest planetary government in the United Federation of Planets.

Overview

The Council met in the Vulcan Council Chambers. in ShiKahr, where the seven ministers could discuss issues of governance in the Hall of Debate, and had offices for each of their ministries. Elections were held once every decade, with candidates selected logically on their merit for the job by way of general elections where all adult Vulcans were entitled to vote. There had been no attempts at attempting to appeal to the voters or manipulate them in order to "buy" the elections with such an act being unheard of on the Vulcan homeworld. Following the elections, even those Vulcans that opposed the appointment of the individual into office were likely to follow such leaders due to the fact that they were placed in their position by the will of the people. Thus, any opposition to the newly elected leader would be a disruption in Vulcan society which was an act that was seen as being illogical. However, should the leader be shown to be incompetent in some manner - there were rules and procedures that were in place that needed to be followed in order to remove them. Thus, there were no open acts of rebellion with the Vulcan people simply waiting to see any act that was seen as being detrimental to their society whereupon they followed the standard impeachment procedure. In order to impeach the elected leader, the other six Councilors were required to make a unanimous vote in order to remove them from office. Whilst in place, no Vulcan Councilor had suffered such an act for seven hundred years. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The Way of Kolinahr: The Vulcans)

The Vulcan High Command's Administrator required approval from the Council to carry out their governance. (ENT episode: "Kir'Shara")

Ministries

The Council's seven ministers each controlled one of Vulcan's ministries, which in turn operated various government agencies. The ministries worked semi-autonomously, with each minister largely trusting the others to carry out their duties with expertise. The Seven ministries were (Last Unicorn RPG module: The Way of Kolinahr: The Vulcans):

History

In 2154 Minister Kuvak expressed concerns to Administrator V'Las that members of the Council were not convinced of a necessity to launch V'las' planned invasion of Andoria. At around the same time T'Pau hoped the discovery of the Kir'Shara would convince members of the Council to reconsider their stance on the invasion plans and stop backing V'Las. (ENT episode: "Kir'Shara")

Later in 2154 T'Pol of the starship Enterprise contacted the Council seeking information on the Thelasian Confederacy. (ENT novel: Rosetta)

In 2155 Captain Jonathan Archer commented that the Council was comparatively enlightened, compared to T'Pol; for it was ready to forge an alliance with Andoria, while T'Pol expressed distrust towards Shran. (ENT novel: The Good That Men Do)

This scene also appears in the ENT episode: "These Are the Voyages...", in that context referring to the Vulcans and Andorians allying to form the Federation rather than the Coalition of Planets. The Good That Men Do however reveals that the 2161 setting of "These Are the Voyages..." is falsified in historical records and that the events actually occurred in 2155.

At some point before 2279, the Vulcan Council was informed of the fate of the stolen Vulcan ships whose crews were captured by the Romulan Star Empire and placed on Hellguard. (TOS novel: The Pandora Principle) The crew of the USS Enterprise-A in 2293 fell under the protection of the Vulcan Council. TOS novel: The Captain's Doctor)

Appendices

Background

The Vulcan Council as described in The Way of Kolinahr: The Vulcans is clearly the primary governing body on Vulcan. It's role as depicted in Star Trek: Enterprise is less clear; throughout Enterprise, both before and after the Syrrannite Reformation, the Vulcan High Command is commonly referred to in a context of a governing body. However the ENT episode: "Kir'Shara" establishes that High Command's leader, the Vulcan Administrator, requires approval from the Council to govern. Additionally both before and after the reformation there is reference to the role of Vulcan First Minister as a leading political figure. The ENT novel: The Good That Men Do affirms that T'Pau is the new Vulcan head of government following the reformation. ENT novel: Kobayashi Maru then established T'Pau as First Minister, while ENT novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing later referred to her as Administrator. The Good That Men Do also establishes that T'Pau is head of both the civilian government and Vulcan military, while Beneath the Raptor's Wing later confirmed the High Command as the military branch of the government. Thus T'Pau as head of state of Vulcan appears to hold to two titles; Administrator of the High Command, and First Minister, presumably the leading figure of the Vulcan Council.

Additionally ENT novel: Kobayashi Maru refers to a High Assembly; in the context of the reference it appears to be a significant governmental body, but the reference provides no information on it’s exact role or relationship with the Council or High Command.

Connections

Government of the Confederacy of Vulcan
Governmental positions AdministratorFirst MinisterForeign MinisterMinister
Legislative bodies AssemblyCouncilExpunging GroupHigh AssemblyHigh CommandProposal GroupRectification Group
Ministries DefenseHealthInformationScienceSecurityStateThoughtTrade
Military and security Defense ForceGuardHigh CommandIntelligenceSecurityV'KetV'SharV'Kor
Other agencies Advisory CouncilArchivesBureau of Public SafetyDiplomatic CorpsGenome RegistryMining InstituteNational Merchant FleetScience AcademyScience CouncilScience DirectorateSpace CentralSpace CouncilSpace ForcesSpace InitiativeSpace Program
Legislatures
Interstellar states Detapa Council, Assembly (Cardassian Union) • Economic Congress of Advisors (Ferengi Alliance) • Federation CouncilKlingon High CouncilImperial Senate, Praetorate, Tricameron (Romulan Star Empire) • Organian Council of Elders
Federation members Parliament AndoriaChamber of Ministers (Bajor) • Quorum of Bole (Bolarus) • United Earth ParliamentMartian ParliamentZamestaad (Mestiko) • Triexian Curia (Triex) • Trill SenateGrand Moot (Vissia Prime) • Vulcan Council

External link

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