Lucy Droege ’26

by Lucy Droege ’26 on November 20, 2025

As many have written about and discussed over the years, the Star Wars franchise is a story (albeit long and winding) about politics. Like all good political narratives, there is drama, love, disagreement, deception, civil war, and countless limbs chopped off. As a political science major watching the Star Wars series for the first time, the line that stopped me in my tracks was Padmé’s famous line in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), “So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause.” That’s not really something you throw in lightly in an action film set in outer space. However, the international context in which the Star Wars movies were released explains many of the political nuances and portrayals in the films. The Vietnam War, the Cold War, and American politics of the early 2000s significantly influence the themes throughout the films. What I failed to recognize before watching the movies is just how closely tied the series is to politics back here on Earth. 

The setting of Star Wars in an intergalactic system of order makes it easy for the viewer to sit back and watch the series as an action-packed escape from the very real politics on Earth. Despite the futuristic droids, clones, and other extraterrestrial creatures that make up the Star Wars universe, there still remains familiar political systems and intergalactic agreements in order for this universe to function. The breakdown of these agreements that make up the democratic order governing the Star Wars universe is the driving plot point of the series. In Revenge of the Sith, the democracy of the Republic is less forcibly overthrown than its destruction is willingly voted in favor of. With democratic backsliding back in vogue recently, the breakdown of the democratic experiment in Star Wars hits close to home. Much like in the real world, a state of emergency (whether real or manufactured), where states and individuals with power feel threatened, creates an opportunity to consolidate power in the hands of a select few. This shiny and dangling allure of unlimited power is often impossible not to snatch up. The dark side of the Force and of politics will always be an enticing option. Greed for power, money, recognition, and respect is inside every single lifeform. The alternative, to pursue the common good no matter the personal sacrifice, will always be the most honorable choice. The temptation of the dark side is precisely what makes the pursuit of goodness so admirable both in Star Wars and in reality.