Why was Emperor Palpatine such a lousy ruler?

By RotJ, Emperor Palpatine is a Sith Master that has done little for the galaxy and amass all political power for himself and turn the Galactic Empire into a war machine. In the pt, he tells Vader that once the Jedi are removed and the Sith control the Republic there will be peace, instead a terrible insurgency developed (Rebellion) and going from the pt to ot, you see from the ot that there is a terrible drain on the galaxy, with everything looking worn and used. Palpatine was head of government for a very long time, and yet seemingly did nothing for the people. He created a huge military and death star to keep people in order, but didn't seemed enlightened in the least. He had palaces on Coruscant and was filthy rich. Why did Palpatine simply amass all power and then sit back and do nothing else? His persona doesn't seem to fit with how we see him as a politican in the pt.

 

Palpatine's concern wasn't the welfare of the people, but the amount of forces he could gather to himself. He kept the populace of the galaxy in fear of his military forces. His iron fist rule was what prompted the Rebellion to begin in the first place.

And the Empire's ships weren't exactly beat up. They may not have been spit-shiny like the ones in the PT, but that was due to designer preference, and not any wear and tear. The Rebellion, meanwhile, had to make do with whatever ships they could scrounge up.

 

The reason we see Palpatine acting like a concerned Chancellor during the Prequels is because he was planning on sitting back and doing nothing once the Empire was fully established. You said it yourself, "...Emperor Palpatine is a Sith Master that has done little for the galaxy..." Palpatine was the Dark Lord who brought about the revenge of the Sith. The Empire wasn't about bringing peace to the galaxy like you and I would think about it. It was about ending a millennia-long blood feud between the Sith and the Jedi and bringing the Sith's perversion of peace to the galaxy. Palpatine wanted peace through the Empire's Stormtroopers, Star Destroyers, and superweapons...not through diplomacy and democracy.

 

hey, it wasn't His Imperial Majesty's fault some people had to pick a fight. He wanted to rule a peaceful, secure, ordered galaxy. I'm sure that apart from criminals and those who were prosecuted for nebulous reasons everyone had quite the nice life in the cities.
The events of the CT take place in far corners of the galaxy, all of which were largely ignored by the Empire until the Rebels came along. It's all their fault, really.
Palpatine had to fight them to protect the wealth, power and decadence of ... you know... the worlds that matter. Though the war probably boosted the economy and probably gave importance to other planets, too, if only for their location.

So really, everything The Emperor did was for the good of the galaxy. Just because warmongers and (some) criminals don't agree with that, doesn't mean it's wrong. If anything it means it's right.

 

His claims to peace and justice were mere rhetoric. As a Sith ruler he was solely concerned with maintaining and consolidating his own power. To him, the rebellion was an underestimated insurgency and a tiny road bloc. He was not overly concerned with their progress. By the time we reach Return of the Jedi, Palapatine is so arrogant that he believes he can convert Luke to his side without any cultivation (turning Anakin required a great deal of work, over the span of years.) For Luke, he just expected it to naturally happen.

This was not an individual concerned for the common advantage.

-Seldon

 

I agree. We only get to see the CT from the point of view of a small group of malcontent rebels. For all we know, Palpatine may have enjoyed a 90% popularity rating overall in the GFFA. Even the new added scene at the end of ROTJ shows a teenie tiny fraction of the people inhabiting those worlds who are celebrating. For all we know, most may have been mourning and dreading the return of a non-functioning, corrupt Senate. At least with Palpatine, they only had to deal with one corrupt politian. With the old Senate, they had to deal with thousands.

 

When Palpatine said he wanted peace he meant he wanted the peace that comes with the entire galaxy being broken and subservient to his will. Palpatine's earlier more benevolent statements in front of the Senate were nothing but lies to get them to be willing to submit to his will and to willingly stay under his heel. Fortunately there were some valiant individuals who refused to kneel to the twisted despot and eventually were able to throw the yolk of his oppression from the galaxy.

 

That's "yoke". Unless Palpatine had some kind of Sith Egg or something...

 

They did, Luke cracked it when he shot two proton torpedoes into the exhaust port.

 

The emperor cared too much, which is what led to his downfall. People in the Empire just didn't get the man. He was as great as Nixon IMO.

 

Didn't think I would get away so well with propaganda Of course everything Palpatine says is a lie, but they were effective lies because he got a lot of people to believe in them and act on them, making the galaxy the way he wants it to be. Sure, that caused a lot of problems for many people, but it brought order to plenty of places, too, if forcibly. I'm sure a great number of people approved simply because Palpatine changed something. It may have been too radical in places and the methods unethical, but surely there must have been the odd "at least he gets the job done".
I think he would have had a 70% approval rate. Sure, he's evil, but that doesn't make him a lousy ruler. Not our preferred kind of ruler, but not lousy either.

 

He knew fine well that peace was a lie.

 

I thought the cake was a lie.

 

one follows the other. I feel pretty peaceful when I have cake. not during the attempted murders while attempting to acquire said cake, but once I have it. It's so delicious and moist.

 

I guess I just thought Palpatine would be more politically enlightened once he seized control of the galaxy.

 

I can see why you would, but being on top often leads to such things atrophying as a ruler's true ugliness becomes clear because they no longer need to hide their true nature.

 

Why would a sith want democracy? He or she wants power, unlimited power, all control; he scares the people, dominates them. He sends his dark night, to slay anyone who is against him. We are talking about a man greater than Hitler. He wanted to be greatest Dark Lord of the Sith since KOTOR......

 

To me it seems like Palpatine is a person who mostly loves the planing and watching his plans unfold, but once has won and everything has fallen in to place, the game isn't as interresting anymore.


I believe he loves playing the game, but after he has won he almost looses interrest and just sits back and let's his pawns play the game.

 

The only indication you get that he was a lousy ruler was that he was so protective of his power that he used extreme force (destroying a planet) to keep it.

Reading between the lines, you can theorize that he regulated all trade routes, trying to control commerce which is why smugglers such as Han Solo were chased down by Imperial ships.

There also did not seem to be too many technological innovations between episode III and IV, suggesting that the new empire really was not prospering

 

What's there not to like?

 

How much technological innovation can we really expect in such a short time frame?

 

Oh, he had no reason to want diplomacy because as you basically spell out he's evil.

 

Because he was the blatantly evil emperor? It really is as simple as that. He has a heart 1,000 times smaller than the grinch's, he never lifts a finger to help the people because he doesn't care about anyone but himself.

 

ironically, there have been recent examples where one could at least make the argument that a dictatorship was the only way to establish peace in a country. The leaders of both Iraq and Chechoslovakia were ruthless dictators who suppressed opposition, often violently. However, once these leaders were overthrown, the various different ethnic and religious factions which existed did not embrace democracy but engaged in violent conflicts, including allegations of ethnic cleansing and other great atrocious acts.

so, was the galaxy a hotbox of conflicts between planets ready to explode when the sith came along....it wasn't very hard it seems for the emperor to forment opposition to the republic. the beurocrats had already taken control over the senate

perhaps the Jedi's true failing was not realizing that the old system had run its course

 

A major techological innovation was the bacta tank. Also, and this is from reading an interview from Lucas, he says that for the OT, he purposely made it look worn because the drain the Imperial war machine placed on the galaxy. Compare that to the PT, where it has the opposite look and feel.


Also, my arguement about feeling that Palpatine should have been more politically enlightened wasn't about democracy. But if his rule would benefit the people. Which it didn't. He held some belief that fear would keep people in line. The disconnect for me is that Palpatine plots everything so carefully, seizes political control for himself, destroys the Jedi, and for what? To sit back and chill? In the OT, it's difficult what little we see of him, but it appears he's handed the all military duties to Vader and is a political recluse.