The Phantom Menace may not be the greatest episode of Star Wars, but it effectively showcases a brilliant political plot.
Palpatine secretly orchestrates the Naboo crisis and exploits the Senate’s bureaucratic paralysis to discredit the Chancellor as weak. He positions himself as the decisive alternative and wins the Chancellorship by promising action over gridlock. Ultimately, he transforms the Republic into his Empire.
This follows a populist playbook: create or amplify a crisis, attack democratic institutions as slow and ineffective, offer strongman “efficiency” as a solution, and then consolidate authoritarian power while claiming that the system forced their hand.
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