Factions

Currently, much of human space is at peace; the cold war between the two great factions of the Federation, the oldest interstellar nation, and the Empire, born out of brutal secession from it, has thawed somewhat, but the potential for a crisis is still there.
The constant proxy and low intensity conflicts of the previous decades have now reduced in number and relations have stabilised. It’s not a total peace; here and there some conflicts smoulder. A new player has made their presence felt. In a short period of time the Alliance has expanded from a handful of worlds to a much larger coalition of systems, united politically for stability. This has forced the two older powers into realising they no longer dominate.
The independent systems still constitute the bulk of the human inhabited systems. They bring a rich tapestry of cultures and beliefs to the dark of space. From these worlds individuals and governments seek new opportunities deep in unexplored space.

— Elite: Dangerous Handbook^[1]

As it has been throughout recorded history, mankind is not very prone to agreement over ethical, political, religious, and economic views. It remains this way today in the 34th Century, with the realm of human-colonized space held by numerous groups under various ideals, some benevolent and others not quite as much.

Galactic Superpowers

There are three galactic superpowers^[2] in the human-inhabited Core Systems of the Milky Way galaxy:

• The Federation - A representative democracy based out of Sol, founded in 2242. It has the largest population (2.5 trillion), territory (5,969 systems), and GDP (gross domestic product) of the superpowers.
• The Empire - An elective monarchy based out of Achenar, founded in 2296. It has the second-largest population (1.8 trillion), territory (5,257 systems), and GDP of the superpowers.
• The Alliance - A democratic confederation based out of Alioth, founded in 3230. It has the third-largest population (491 billion), territory (847 systems), and GDP of the superpowers.

Another superpower once existed, but was disbanded before the formation of the Alliance:

• The Galactic Cooperative - An interstellar trade organization based out of Lave, founded in 2696 and dissolved in 3174.

The relationship between Federation and Empire has historically wavered between cool disdain and outright hostility, often exploding into armed conflict. Although the Alliance is the newest superpower and maintains cordial relations with the other two, a number of its member systems were the victims of past Federal or Imperial exploitation and proxy conflicts.

Another group of note is the Pilots Federation, which oversees the vast majority of the actions taken by privately-owned vessels in human space, but which does not directly involve itself in political affairs. Instead the pilots within this group hire themselves out as mercenaries or operate as benefactors to other factions, for monetary gain or otherwise.

Faction Ranks and Reputation can be increased with all of the factions at once - the player is not limited to increasing their reputation with one faction only.

The majority of human inhabited space consists of independent systems. They are self-governed, not incorporated in the Alliance, Empire or Federation.^[3]

Ranks

At this time, the Federation and the Empire both have a ranking system in place that allows for independent pilots to receive a title within their naval structure, though this does not come with much authority. Instead it offers privileges to the pilot, allowing access to otherwise restricted systems or the purchase of otherwise military-only vessels.

Faction ranks can be found on each faction page.

Powers

Powers sit between Galactic superpowers and factions. Technically they can control up to dozens, if not hundreds of systems, though they are limited by their Command Capital(CC). While many powers are aligned directly with major factions, being Imperial senators or Federal politicians, some are not, being independent entities.

Minor Factions

In addition to the 3 Galactic superpowers and the powers, there are also minor factions, up to 7 per system. The faction with the highest influence within the system will usually be the controlling faction of that system. System control falls on the faction that owns the controlling station.^[4] The government of a system is ruled by a controlling faction and if that faction is an anarchy no laws will apply in the system.

Controlling and minor stations are also owned by minor factions, which also own the station markets.^[5] Trading in said markets may give a boost for the owning faction's influence, depending on their state.^[6]

Influence

All factions in System have a combined influence of 100%, meaning every citizen is associated to one. Influence is changed by player actions done in the system. Increasing one factions influence will take away influence from other factions proportionally to the amount they have. This recalculation is done at 13:00 GMT(Server time) every day.

States

A faction can experience different states, also depending on what actions and influence players deal. It must always have the same state across all systems. For states like war which can only apply to one system all other systems will have no active state.

Reputation

The player has a reputation with every faction which by default is Neutral. On the ship's scanner neutral factions are displayed in orange, friendly and allied in green, and unfriendly and hostile in red.

Note: actions will always affect the Reputation of the faction that controls the station/system/ship.

See also

• Elite Factions Wiki
• Lave Radio : Episode 38 - a quick overview of the Factions
• Lore
• Elite BGS Guide

References