#makiruz

Don’t forget Amazon also has a seat in Congress. No seriously, why does the Trade Federation has a seat in the Senate?

Corruption!

Everyone (not necessarily you) likes to say “ohhhh the politics are so boring” and “lol remember when it was about trade disputes?” and then say “haha, a corporation has a seat in the Senate” and yes. That’s one of the problems.

Honestly, it’s like what we have now in the US, but more transparent; I would imagine that there was a bill passed prohibiting corporations from funding Senatorial campaigns, and in exchange, wealthy corporate planets like Muunilist and Neimoidia were able to secure direct representation for interplanetary corporations (probably running on logic similar to “The Hosnian system has five inhabited planets under its representation, so clearly interested parties can be spaced between worlds, therefore a corporate alliance can represent similar elements”). 

Of course, then that gives the Trade Federation direct access to silence worlds they disagree with and interfere with their affairs. Especially because the delegates for the Trade Federation would have a lot more influence over other senators and systems than Naboo (imagine if Amazon did have a seat in the House of Representatives and it turned into a bickering match between a county in North Dakota and Amazon...are you going to side with Hilly Farmville or the organization that has fifty warehouses and three corporate tech centers scattered throughout your state?). Also, Palpatine points out that Valorum’s advisers are in the pockets of the Trade Federation (stock! shares! What happens if the Federation is exposed and the value plummets? They’ll have to sell their house on some planet in the galaxy, and then how can they have Perfect Weather no matter what season they choose to vacation during?), so the moment they whisper in his ear, any resolve will shatter.

I’m sure the Space Stock Market also soared many years prior when it was announced that the Trade Federation would get involved; Senators probably invested in Federation stock before the deal went through, then voted for it and increased their value and personal wealth. And when it started to become apparent that the Federation had a chance of getting that seat, what were the senators who were opposed to the initiation going to do? Sell their shares in Federation stock, right before the value spikes? No...let’s keep that and reap some benefits.