While there are numerous factions throughout the 'verse, there are four primary political affiliations.
The Consortium
The corporate democracy known as the Consortium controls as much as they can. As a powerful economic conglomerate, the Consortium extends its influence through finance and trade. Expansionist in nature, the Consortium excels in propaganda, population surveillance, and control through taxation and monitoring. They tirelessly work to extend their control over all possible stations and systems through heavy economic rebuilding programs, and they believe that only complete Consortium control can protect humanity against the next major attack.
The Gaule Protectorate
It is believed that an ancient country called France led much of the early galactic exploration. What remains of them is the Gaule Protectorate, a militaristic society, bent on developing the strength of arms to defend against any possible attack; a determination which was only strengthened in the wake of the Catastrophe. As a response to the Catastrophe, the Gaule elected a Consul to command the military and to lead the government. The Gaule and the Consortium are not openly hostile with each other, but as cold war rivals, each believes the other to be incompetent and a risk the destruction of humanity. And there is always the suspicion that the other side was responsible in some way for the Catastrophe.
Independent
They just want to be left alone to govern themselves and there's not much anyone can do about it. These frontier-minded free-thinkers, who display a strange penchant for brown jackets, actively stand against control by either the Consortium or Gaule Protectorate. Not all Independent people are friendly to one-another, but most often they remain aligned to the cause of perceived freedom and liberty from the over-arching yet distant central system of control that the larger powers offer.
Notes
- The Independents' "strange penchant for brown jackets" is a reference to Firefly's browncoats.
Freebooter
A pretty word for "pirate." They live dangerous, but profitable, lives and are usually willing to do business with the lowest-bid mercenary to reach their goal. While many are well-established nomadic merchants, some are known as infamous thieves and smugglers.