Urum Hierarchy

The Urum Hierarchy is a structure that orders and ranks the urums of humanity. Depending on their position within the hiearchy, an urum will have a certain set of rights and responsibilities.

Origins
When the urums were first developed at the end of the 22nd century, online registries tracked the formation and dissolution of new monoculture states. This transitional period was unstable - many urums had false starts, and others grouped together to form larger, broader states. Planetwide migrations to cultural hubs resulted in major demographic shifts, new urums had to build infrastructure, and new legal systems had to be developed. Over the next few hundred years, major powers distiguished themselves from lesser states, and a growing arms race prompted world leaders to bring order to the chaos.

Historians recognized natural patterns of influence that emerged during the age of nations. Before the rise of a single global state, there had been different types of countries. A superpower held considerable sway over all other nations and world events. A great power was able to dominate lesser states, but, on its own, could not rival a superpower. A minor power was ultimately subservient to the whims of the elite nations. These had been informal terms, subject to constant change, and there had been no system in place to prevent the strong from extorting the weak. As such, developing nations had been continually abused by the world's dominant powers.

Urum leaders sought to embrace this natural division of influence, but desired to refine it and create a formal system to prevent extortion. The hierarchy was developed to rank the urums. Each rank was given a set of rights and responsibilities. Failure to adhere to either would result in sanctions and, potentially, military action. The new ranks were modeled after the national divisions: The creation of a stable hierarchy eliminated much of the tension that had been created in the wake of the fall of nations, and order was restored. The rules which govern the hierarchy have allowed for extended periods of peace and prosperity.
 * High Urum: National Superpower
 * Ruling Urums: National Great Powers
 * Dependent Urums: National Minor Powers

Hierarchical Ranks
An urum can hold one of three possible ranks. Each rank has its own set of rights and responsibilities, and even the most powerful urums are vulnerable to a sudden loss of power if they fall out of favor with those lower in the hierarchy. This encourages the leaders of humanity to be fair and just, and provides humble urums with a means to demand proper treatment

The High Urum
The High Urum is the top rank within the hierarchy - the equivalent of a old-world superpower. The High Urum's responsibilities include: The rights of the High Urum include:
 * Enforcing pan-urum laws
 * Eliminating rogue criminal organizations and interplanetary terrorists
 * Spearheading colonization and exploration efforts
 * Maintaining the stability of the hierarchy
 * Fair treatment and guardianship of all affiliated dependents
 * Can demote ineffective ruling urums and nominate replacements.
 * May possess a military without restrictions.
 * Has limited power to veto pan-urum proposals.

If the current High Urum falls out of favor, or makes a string of controversial decisions, the ruling urums have the authority to hold a vote of no-confidence. The High Urum is then obligated to step down. A successor is then elected. While this transition is almost always peaceful, devastating wars have been fought over the rank of High Urum - all caused by a refusal to resign.

The Ruling Urums
[The five most influential states beneath the High Urum are known as the ruling urums. more soon.]

Dependent Urums
[There are lots of them.]

Extent of Influence
The hierarchy is not a sovereign, third-party entity - it is simply the organizational framework keeping humanity's many states in order. Referring to 'the hierarchy' in conversation is the equivalent of referring to all of civilized humanity.

Representatives from every urum assemble in the city of Anduruna - located on the homeworld - to discuss politics and territorial affairs. While all urums retain their own political and legal systems, there are a handful of 'pan-urum' laws that extend over the entire hierarchy. Examples would include rules of formal war and the methods used to establish urum rankings within the hierarchy.

The hierarchy is not a hegemony.

The Current Hierarchy
The present hiearchy is listed below. As there are thousands of dependent urums, only the most influential member states have been listed.
 * The High Urum
 * Urum Sakir
 * The Ruling Urums
 * Urum Kankal
 * Urum Iduz
 * Urum Zalag
 * Urum Midnum
 * Urum Enasa
 * Dependent Urums (limited list)
 * Urum Nimurx
 * Urum Mir
 * Urum Zani
 * Urum Udilum
 * Urum Kirisag
 * Urum Husig
 * Urum Enkara
 * Urum Abima
 * Urum Taluma
 * Urum Niskuzid
 * Urum Kuruz