Heirarchy of the Empire

I am interested to know what the exact heirarchy of the Galactic Empire is. Is the Empire organized in a family tree like structure / pyramid structure like most modern corporations are? Is the structure similar to the United States, with a Cabinet, department heads, etc.

I do have the old WEG Imperial Sourcebook, and that had a few organizational charts, but that sourcebook is about over a decade old now. Especially now with the prequel trilogy complete, and all the added information throughout the Expanded Universe since the old WEG sourcebooks have been released, what would the Empire's organizational chart look like now?

What are the main branches of government, of the Empire... both public and private (Sith)?

So, lets look at the Sith aspect:

Dark Lord of the Sith - Master (Darth Sidious)
Dark Lord of the Sith - Apprentice (Darth Vader)
Dark Jedi
Inquisitors
Executors
Prophets
Etc.

Then there's the Political side:

Grand Moff
Moff
Regional Governors
Etc.

Then there's the Military side:

Grand Admiral
Admiral
Etc.

So where do people like Sate Pestage, Kinman Doriana, etc. fit in?

How does Imperial Intelligence, COMPNOR, etc. fit in?

How does the SENATE fit in, before it was abolished?

And if it was in a heirarchial tree like strucutre, which levels are equal across branches? Ie: is a Grand Admiral equal to a Grand Moff? Darth Vader seemed insubordinate to Grand Moff Tarken, so how does that fit in the scheme of things?

 

Pesatge is Grand Visier. Baggins, Tooks, Brandywines, Bolgers---the whole sorry lot answer to him through Palpatine.

 

So the prologue to 'A New Hope', ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster is true, from a certain point of view?

Another thing I forgot... the Emperor's Hands. Where do they fit into the hierarchy?

 

Aren't Emperors Hands directly answerable to Palpatine. Especially considering Mara Jade felt she was the only one and acted as a personal assasin

 

One of the main points with the Hands are that they are outside the hierarchy and answer only to Palpatine himself.



/Charlii

 

So, if Vader is subordinate to Tarkin, and everyone has to go through Pestage, does it go something like this?

Palpatine
|
Pestage
|
Tarkin
|
Vader

 

Domus Publica Best place for the organization of the Empire.

 

OMG! Thanks for the link, looks like it has some great info there. Looks like plenty hours of reading of those essay's for me!

 

Hmm. link didn't quite come out.

there's also a great novelization of Dark Empire, and some really interesting short stories. The only annoyance is the addition of names to some characters, including Palpatine.

 

Tarkin was in charge of the battle station, but Vader didn't answer to him. He may have released an Admiral from the choke hold at Tarkin's behest, but that was it. It's not like Vader was trying to kill him - just proving a point.

 

There are various organizations mentioned - COMPNOR, the Cultural Ministry, the Procurator of Justice - that are probably "Cabinet-level" and whose leaders are probably on the Inner Circle. It would actually make there a reason for the Circle to exist, since almost nowhere have we seen them doing or being responsible for anything.

 

Palpatine went to great lengths, it seems, for the hierarchy of the Empire to be as unclear as possible, which of course made Palpatine himself the most indispensible person in the system.

 

What I would like to know though, is the Empire's hierarchy from PALPATINE'S POV.

 

Emperor Hands are undercover operatives. They are private Intell agents to all extents and purposes.

Ian had one in Starfighter Command. The Imperial Court. Night Side cadres. Goverment and military commands.

 

I was under the impression that the Empire's political heirarchy was structured like this:

Emperor (Head of State)
|
Grand Vizier (Head of Government)
|
Imperial Ruling Council
|
Grand Moffs
|
Moffs
|
Planetary Governors

The council is comprised of both the Emperor's advisors and the various leaders who control organizations like COMPNOR and the Imperial ministries (collectively, these organizations are known as the Imperial bureaucracy). This bureaucracy isn't something that can be placed on a chain-of-command as it's disseminated throughout the government and maintained by the council, moffs, and governors on different levels in different regions of the galaxy.

If you wanted to include the Imperial Senate, then that could be considered the Empire's legislative branch with all of the above being the executive branch. However, the Senate was just an unspoken formality as it was stripped of most of it's power and eventually dissolved.

 

Who formed the Imperial Ruling Council? Who were the members? What was their role?

 

You also need to consider that the hierarchy doesn't necessarily go:

Grand Moff
|
Moff

Grand Moffs could just as easily be in charge of a small sector, a la a Moff, if the Emperor/Empire deemed it a "priority sector." I think that we too often associate Grand Moff with Tarkin and assume that it is the next layer of bureaucracy on a Regional basis (Outer Rim, Expansion Region, etc.). But in many areas, it is just a Moff with no superior Grand Moff, and they report directly to the Counil or some other bureaucrat. I would probably have a hirearchy go:

Ruling Council
|
(Grand Moff)- in some circumstances
|
Moff
|
Planetary Governor

 

Palpatine did. Basically, whoever he wants to be on it is; it's essentially a group of his closest advisors, many of whom were theer since his days as senator/chancellor. The guys with the funny hats on the Death Star in ROTJ were members of the council. It's not really clear what powers or responsibities they held.

 

The council is essentially the Empire's equivalent of the President's cabinet. The cabinet is comprised of the President's advisors and the department heads (i.e. Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Education, etc). It's the same with the Empire; the council is comprised of the Emperor's advisors and the guys running the various parts of the Imperial bureaucracy.

As for what the council does, they advise the Emperor on what to do (regarding political matters) and regulate the Imperial bureaucracy on a galactic level.

 

So, it must be confusing, because the Hierarchy seems to criss-cross.

For example, Grand Moffs are nominally politicians, however, they also are a military rank as well. (ie: Tarkin wears an Imperial rank and uniform).

According to...

Rank_Insignia_of_the_Galactic_Empire

Grand Admirals rank higher than Grand Moffs?

 

The military is assigned to patrol and enforce the different sectors in the galaxy, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Moffs. However, Grand Generals (highest rank in the Imperial Army and Stormtrooper Corps) and Grand Admirals (highest rank in the Imperial Navy) outrank the Moffs and as such can take control of the military at their discretion.

I forgot you asked about the military as well, so here is (to the best of knowledge) the Imperial military's heirarchy:

Military Executor (Commander-in-Chief)
|
Imperial High Command
|
Imperial Army - Imperial Navy - Imperial Intelligence - Stormtrooper Corps - Royal Guard

^That last line isn't a chain-of-command, it just shows that the different groups run parallel to each other in the overall heirarchy. Also, the Royal Guard doesn't have to answer to High Command or the Executor, mainly just the Emperor.

 

Is Military Executor the same position that Sedriss held? I thought he was Dark Side Executor, or some-such.

 

Yeah. It was originally Vader's position, but when he died and Palpatine was reborn, Sedriss became the new Executor.

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Imagergempire.gif

 

So, in other words, Military Executor is just the public title for Dark Lord of the Sith (Apprentice)?