History

The Galactic Senate was a place where all the Republic's elected and appointed senators and representatives from the farthest reaches of the galaxy would discuss major problems and come to decisions. The Galactic Constitution invested the Senate with the power to regulate trade, maintain maps of the galaxy's hyperspace routes, and to maintain the Republic's military. It was still a relatively weak body at the end of the Old Sith Wars. Following the Ruusan Reformation, a large amount of power was removed from the Supreme Chancellor and granted to the Senate, which although resulting in greater regional involvement in galactic politics, also resulted in increased gridlock and corruption. One of the privileges a Supreme Chancellor still possessed was his or her ability to call an Extraordinary Session.

Before the start of the Clone Wars, the Senate suffered a shutdown, with corporations controlling it. The majority of the senators around the time of the Invasion of Naboo became corrupt, changing their affiliations based on their own interests in mind. Eventually, through a series of various organizational reforms in response to the Separatist threat, the charismatic Palpatine took control of the Senate.

POWERS

The Senate was the legislative and executive power of the Republic (although at various times by the end of the Republic's existence, the Office of the Supreme Chancellor held supreme dictator Legislative, Executive, and Judicial authority). It also had limited judicial authority, presumably for high-profile plaintiffs or cases too controversial for (or tied in) the Supreme Court. Such cases included trying senators for treason; crimes against civilization; and presumably corruption and treason of the Supreme Chancellor.

The Senate's role changed somewhat over the centuries. As of the Old Sith Wars it played a slightly more passive role regarding internal affairs. While recognized as the central government of the Republic and deferred to in matters of galactic policy, the Senate's power over many members was more that of a mediator than a ruling body. Negotiation and coercion were staples of its activities.