Cardassian Union

The Cardassian Union is the current government of the Cardassian people. Based on the Cardassian homeworld of Cardassia Prime, the Cardassian Union is one of the main strategic rivals of the United Federation of Planets. First contact between the Union and the UFP occurred in 2304.Q4, on Stardate 21683.6. The Cardassian Union is a fascist police state, with almost all power residing with the Central Command and Obsidian Order. The Union is notable for its severe resource limitations, not helped by its fascist economic policies. In the years following Federation contact, it was known that Cardassian military vessels were somewhat frequently used as cargo vessels. The Union is extremely conservative, and carefully monitors all societal output for signs of sedition. Supreme importance is placed on the power of the state, and on the traditional Cardassian family arrangement as fundamental to that state.

Government Structure
The structure of the Cardassian government is not particularly well-known. However, it is clear that the military and secret police hold immense power. In general, it is notable that Cardassian gender politics has resulted in there being many women among the Detapa Council, few among the Obsidian Order, and very few indeed in the Central Command.

Detapa Council
The Detapa Council is the notional ruling body of the Cardassian Union, though its power over policy waxes and wanes. The Council presides over the massive Cardassian state apparatus, which reaches into every aspect of Cardassian personal life. The Union engages in massive censorship of literary and artistic work in an attempt to prevent the weakening of the state apparatus. The Detapa Council is responsible both for general ideological output, and for Cardassian industry. They maintain much of their power by caring enough about resource allocations to tell members of the Obsidian Order and the Central Command that certain actions are impossible. The Council believes, with some reason, that they are the only thing preventing the Cardassian military from permanently overstretching the resources of the Union. They also provide the Cardassian non-familial social safety net, such as it is.

Ministry of Justice
The Cardassian justice system, is, from the Federation perspective, not. Verdicts are pre-determined (frequently by the Obsidian Order, despite the ministry being overseen by the Detapa Council), with lawyers existing only to extract confessions from the "guilty". In some cases, this has resulted in sentences being mitigated, if the apology is deemed sufficient.

Obsidian Order
The Obsidian Order is the Cardassian secret police force. They hold a great deal of power in the Cardassian government, continuously monitoring the public and the rest of the government on ideological grounds. They also serve as the Cardassian foreign intelligence service, where they are rightly known and feared for their ruthlessness and prowess. The Obsidian Order sees the prevention of extreme nepotism as one of its primary roles, even as they themselves encourage allegiance to the family. The Obsidian Order gained its role as the premier Cardassian foreign intelligence agency sometime after contact, much to the dismay of Central Command, as it meant increased Obsidian Order influence over foreign policy. Interestingly, it is believed by Federation historians that the Obsidian Order is an outgrowth of a pre-Union religious order. Now, however, the Obsidian Order acts with supreme loyalty to their ideal of the state instead.

Cardassian Defense Forces
The Cardassian Defense Forces are the military arm of the Cardassian Union. Organized into Orders, such as the 3rd, the Cardassian military appears to have no high level distinctions between fleet groupings and planetary forces. The Cardassian fleet is powerful, though not nearly as strong as that of the Federation.

Central Command
The Central Command is the general staff of the CDF. They battle constantly with the Detapa Council and the Obsidian Order for influence and control over resource allocations. They, like the Council, are forced to pay slightly more attention to what is physically possible than the Obsidian Order. The Central Command has a great deal of influence over foreign policy especially, but regularly leverage their control over the Cardassian space fleet into power over other areas of government. The Central Command also notionally controls the Cardassian merchant marine, but here, for once, it is the Detapa Council which emerges as the power behind the scenes, controlling their shipping schedules and routes.