Democracy / Legends Democracy was a form of government . In this form of government , decisions were made by a vote of the people , though in some cases , representatives might be elected to conduct a democratic vote of such issues . One type of democracy was direct democracy . A dictatorship is usually considered the direct opposite of a democracy in terms of overall ruling philosophy , although it should be noted that democracies sometimes ironically turn into dictatorships via a vote . History . The Galactic Republic was a democracy with power entrusted to the Galactic Senate . Throughout its existence , it became increasingly corrupt , the Senators elected to represent the interests of their people beholden to powerful organizations and individuals who controlled events behind the scenes . During the Clone Wars , the Senate ceded increasingly greater powers to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine , who eventually created the Galactic Empire out of the ashes of Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems that had split from it , and claimed the title of Galactic Emperor . The Galactic Senate was allowed continued existence as a sham of democracy , becoming the Imperial Senate , until it was finally dissolved in 0 BBY . As Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and Anakin Skywalker discussed the nature of the Jedi , Anakin tried to argue that the Jedi weren ' t political , but Palpatine felt that any organization that existed in a democracy was political in some way . As the Delegation of 2000 discussed their growing concern over Palpatine ' s power grab , Bail Organa expressed that they could not let a thousand years of democracy disappear without a fight , and Mon Mothma that Palpatine had become an enemy of democracy . Padmé Amidala , the wife of Skywalker , then explained that she was involved in the Delegation of 2000 ' s activities , including denouncing the Supreme Chancellor as a threat to Democracy . Skywalker then explained it was all behind them , although Padmé questioned whether he meant what she had done , or democracy itself . Later , Palpatine expressed to Skywalker that the Jedi did not trust him , the Senate , the Republic or even democracy itself . When speaking with Anakin Skywalker regarding her growing concerns about the direction of the Clone Wars , Padmé Amidala worried that the democracy they were fighting for no longer existed . Later , when Amidala stated that the Jedi Council was the bedrock of the Republic , he replied that its bedrock was democracy , something that the Council didn ' t like . After Anakin fell to the dark side of the Force and came to visit her , she wondered if democracy was something that was now in the past . As Palpatine gave a speech swearing himself in as Galactic Emperor , he declared " Now is the time ! Now we will strike back ! Now we will " destroy the destroyers ! Death to the enemies of democracy ! " " Behind the scenes . A Democracy is derived from a real world political and economic philosophy that generally entails a country or a group of countries ruled by the people via votes , and power is exercised via elections and votes from the various people . The concept of democracy , in particular their relation to dictatorships played a large role in the creation of the prequel trilogy for Star Wars , and to a lesser extent the original trilogy . George Lucas , when discussing the political elements behind " Attack of the Clones " , explained that , due to his upbringing in the 1960s , he saw it as democracies devolving into dictatorships due to their being voted in by the people , and cited examples in history such as regarding the , regarding Revolutionary France , and regarding the . During the 2005 Cannes Film Festival showing of " Star Wars " : Episode III " Revenge of the Sith " , George Lucas reiterated his statement , although he also implied that George W . Bush ' s War in Iraq was one of the first signs of the United States transforming from a democracy into a dictatorship .