The Empire Entity
One of these, to start off with a major element, is the Empire entity, or at least some kind of vast administrative form of government that forms the nucleus of power co-ordinating all the human worlds in the galaxies. Such a central concentration of control and authority stems from the modern-day perception that strong government always exists in highly sophisticated societies and of course, such a perception is translated into the possible future realm as the Empire. The Empire, being a representative of the pinnacle of human civilization across the universe, is conveyed to be "good" in Foundation. However, the fact that once reaching the peak, it had begun to crumble due to successive political struggles and a stagnating bureaucracy, shows that a "good" thing can become "bad" as the process moves in a cycle.
To correct this movement towards an era of darkness (in our historical memories, we hark back to the European Dark Ages), the Foundation, another representation of civilization and sophistication is established. Asimov does not comment on whether if such a cycle is ceaseless, that it will continue to throw in eras of progress and enlightenment, followed by periods of chaos, then back to an age of knowledge. Certainly, if one looks at history that way, it does show some trend towards this but we can never be sure.
The Star Wars trilogy incorporates this Empire entity although it is regarded as evil. Star Wars plays with the age-old struggle of good and evil, more fantasy elements, than did Foundation. The fact that the Empire is led by a power-hungry, oppressive and sorcerous Emperor, brands his form of government evil, as opposed to the Rebel Alliance in which the heroes star. However, before these dark times (note again, the dark age), there was the sparkling long era of the Republic, the utopic form of government. Cynics here can argue that utopia is only relative. In the Western mind at least, democracy, individual rights and personal freedom come very close to utopia. The Republic epitomizes all these features.
But like the Empire in Foundation, it too goes through a phase of gradual disintegration, whereby ambitious, opportunistic figures ravenous for power leap from the sidelines to finish the kill. All these elements again reflect the history of the Western sphere and how steeped in history much of our fiction is, and in scifi, all the more ironically so. The downfall of a great civilizing force, be it an Empire or a Republic, very much characterizes the fall of the Roman Empire and its division into two spheres, both later to succumb to barbaric hordes.
The rise of feudalism barely managed to maintain civilization in the Middle Ages (like the constant bickering between the Four Kingdoms in Foundation). After several centuries, the great European empires, such as the British, French, Russian and German empires attained their peak of power in the 1800s, when, under the banner of imperialism, they reached out to colonize the world. However, these great empires collapsed in the 20th century after the two World Wars. If seen in scifi (and overly simplistic) terms, then the United States can be equated with the Foundation, for it was able to maintain that high level of civilization after the empires were left broken and devastated. From then to the present day, we have seen the birthing and flourishing of republics that guarantee every human being democratic rights and recognition. This then is our era of republics. What will be the trend for the future?
But enough digression along those lines. In Dune too, we see the Empire entity. Published about a decade after Foundation, it too has similar elements although the underlying themes (appear to me), perhaps more complex, much more intricate. Frank Herbert's messages delve much deeper into political, ecological, philosophical and religious issues. What is fascinating about his work is the complicated interconnections between these four major issues. First to the political field - in Dune, we have an intergalactic Empire ruled by the Padishah Emperor, with different sectors or clusters being governed by dukes, barons and other feudal lords. The narration enters at the point in time when the Padishah dynasty is extremely weak, highly susceptible to being overthrown by the other strong, great Houses.
The Emperor's move to quell the ambitions of its greatest rival, House Atreides, led him to make a huge miscalculation. By exiling Duke Leto and his family to the remote, desert planet, Arrakis, he had literally handed the House with absolute power of the Empire. For, unknown to anyone else, Dune housed the great sandworms that were able to mass-produce spice, an item on which the entire structure of the Empire is based. Control of the spice meant control of power. Here, the power interplay is very similar to that of both Foundation and Star Wars, although with these latter two, one form of government is replaced with another on the diametrically opposed end of the political spectrum. In Dune, we see the continuation of the Empire but only the change of dynasties.
