Well, I'm busily rebuilding the Imperium, so you can see some of my thoughts in the previous posts, especially on the question of nobles.

IMTU member worlds enjoy almost complete internal autonomy. So long as the government pays it's taxes and doesn't step outside the limits set by the Imperium, which mostly concerns interstellar relations and trade, they can do what they like.

However, the Imperium is always watching for anything the violates the supreme command of Cleon I: the trade must flow. Anything, anything at all that threatens the free flow of passengers, goods, and information is BAD. Anything that threatens the economic stability of nearby worlds is BAD. Anything that might threaten the stability of the region is REALLY BAD.

In the reworking I'm going, I've drastically reduced the role of nobles, giving each world a Consul-General and his office to handle relations between the Imperium and the member state. Most of this is facilitation of things like trade agreements, local defense, and passing Imperial funds onto the locals. But the CG is also the voice of the Emperor (or at least the local Count-Elector) and he can carry great weight in influencing the locals. If the local Religious Dictatorship declare a crusade against the heretics and starts massacring theme in industrial death camps, the Imperium will intervene because of the risk of that insanity spreading. The Church-state is free to deny non-members every civil right imaginable except for one: all Imperial citizens can obtain a passport and leave their homeworld.

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