Immediately following Cheron, ambassadors of surrounding star nations met to discuss the idea of a grand unification. Delegations composed of Andorians, Humans, Tellarites, and Vulcans came together for a historic seminar. What emerged after the seven day meeting in the San Francisco Conference Centre was the blueprint constitution for the United Federation of Planets; a body dedicated to research, understanding and cooperation, with the exciting mandate for the mass exploration of space, supported by a specialist Starfleet agency, that, as well as being a defence mechanism for the federation, would conduct missions of discovery, with the ideal goal of contact with new worlds.

After the earlier paper work, diplomacy, and red tape had commenced to sort out the multi-facetted architecture needed for such a union to work, the United Federation of Planets was founded. First and foremost was the formation of a centralized Supreme Assembly. Employing a full presidential system, the Federation Council would be the diplomatic, organizing and presiding governing body in control of federation affairs. The organization's headquarters location was voted as being San Francisco, which had for a century been the principal administrative centre of Earth affairs.

The president, meanwhile, taking control of the Council for no more than two four year terms, was elected from Federation Council member ambassadors on a rotational basis. The first president, being Vulcan remarked on the aesthetically agreeable surroundings of the ancient European city of Paris, took residence there. As a tradition, the president of the Federation always resides in Paris.

The Federation's guidelines were set about in the Articles of the United Federation of Planets; the organisation's constitution. This historic document, written in 2161, outlined the framework by which the Federation was to be governed - based upon the Constitution of the United States of America, Earth (first written in 1775 and adopted in 1776), the Fundamental Declarations of the Colonies of Mars, and the Statutes of Alpha III. The following chapter regarding the establishment of the Federation's principal agencies was written:

Chapter III, Article 7: "...There are established as the principal agencies of the United Federation of Planets: a Supreme Assembly, a Federation Council, an Economic and Social Council, a Trusteeship Council, an Interplanetary Supreme Court of Justice, a Star Fleet combined peace-keeping force, and a Secretariat..."

Chapter IV, Articles 9-22: The Supreme Assembly.

The Supreme Assembly consists of all members of the Federation. Each member is entitled to have not more than five representatives in this body. The Supreme Assembly initiates studies and makes recommendations for the purpose of:

- promoting interplanetary cooperation in political fields and encouraging the progressive development of interplanetary law and its codification;

- promoting interplanetary cooperation in the economical, social, cultural, educational, and health fields, and assisting in the realization of intelligent life-form rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to culture, sex, language, or religion.

When decisions are to be made by the assembly, each member of the Federation has one vote in election. The following matters are discussed by the Supreme Assembly:

- recommendations to the maintenance of interplanetary peace;
- the election of non-permanent members to the Federation Council;
- the election of members to the Trusteeship Council;
- the admission of new members to the Federation;
- the suspension of rights and privileges of membership;
- the expulsion of members;
- questions relating to the operation of the trusteeship system;
- budgetary questions;
- questions proposed as matters of substance.

The Supreme Assembly meets in regular periodic sessions and in such special sessions as occasion may require. Special sessions shall be convoked by the Supreme Secretariat at the request of the Federation Council or of a majority of the members of the federation.

Chapter V, Articles 23-32: The Federation Council.

The Federation Council consists of eleven members of the Federation. The United Nations of the Planet Earth, the Planetary Confederation of 40 Eridani (the Planetary Union of Vulcan), the United Planets of 61 Cygni (the United Alliance of Tellar), the Star Empire of Epsilon Indii (the Andorian Sovereignty), and the Alpha Centauri Concordium of Planets are permanent members of the council. The Supreme Assembly elects six other members to be non-permanent members every four years.

Decisions of the Federation Council on all matters shall be made by an vote of seven members. Each member of the council has one vote.

In order to promote the establishment and maintenance of interplanetary peace and security with the lease diversion of the Federation's life-forms, as well as economic resources for armaments, the Federation Council shall be responsible for formulating, with the assistance of Star Fleet Headquarters Staff, plans to be submitted to the members of the United Federation of Planets for the establishment of a system for the regulation of armaments.

Chapter X, Articles 60-71: The Economic and Social Council.

The Economic and Social Council consists of eighteen members as elected by the Supreme Assembly. The Council makes or initiates studies and reports with respect to interplanetary economic, social, cultural, educational, health and related matters and may make recommendations with respect to any such such matters to the Supreme Assembly.

Decisions of the Economic and Social Council are made by a majority of the members present and voting. Each member of the council has one vote.

The council can set up commissions in economic and social fields and for the promotion of intelligent life-form rights, and such other commissions as may be required for the performance of its functions.

Chapter XIII, Articles 85-90: The Trusteeship Council.

When the Federation was founded, an interplanetary trusteeship system was established for the administration and supervision of such regions. Such regions are hereinafter referred to as trust regions, controlled by the Trusteeship Council.

The Trusteeship Council consist of the following members of the federation:

- those members administering trust regions;
- as many other members elected by the Supreme Assembly.

The Supreme Assembly and, under its authority, the Trusteeship Council, in carrying out their functions, may:

- consider reports submitted by the administering authority;
- accept petitions and examine them;
- provided for periodic visits to the respective trust regions;
- take these and other action in conformity with the trusteeship agreement.

Decisions of the Trusteeship Council are made by a majority of the members present and voting. Each member of the council has one vote.

The Trusteeship Council, when appropriate, avails itself of the assistance of the Economic and Social Council and of the specialized agencies in regard to matters with which they are respectively concerned.

Chapter XIV, Articles 91-95: The Interplanetary Supreme Court of Justice.

The Interplanetary Supreme Court of Justice is the principal judicial instrument of the Federation. It functions in accordance with the appended statute, which is based upon the statute of the tribunals of Alpha III, and forms an integral part of the Articles of the Federation.

All members of the Federation are ipso facto parties to the stature of the Interplanetary Supreme Court of Justice. Each members of the Federation undertakes to comply with the decisions of the court in any case to which it is a party. 

The Supreme Assembly or the Federation Council may request the court to give an advisory opinion on any legal question. Other bodies of the federation and the specialized agencies may also request advisory opinions of the court on legal questions within the scope of their activities.

Chapter VIII, Articles 52-53: The Star Fleet.

Star Fleet is established as the armed peace-keeping forces of the Federation, its operations and actions are at all times under the direct cognizance of the Federation Council and Starfleet Command which shall also prepare and approve the budget for Star Fleet operations.

The training of Starfleet officers and personnel includes all fields of science and technology as well as the military arts in Starfleet. The purpose of this organization is to conduct missions of scientific exploration and investigation within the treaty exploration territory wherever its services are not required in the maintenance of interplanetary peace and security.

Chapter XV, Articles 96-100: The Supreme Secretariat.

The Supreme Secretariat is appointed by the Supreme Assembly upon the recommendation of the Federation Council, and is the Chief Administrative Officer of the Federation.

The Supreme Secretariat acts in that capacity in all meetings of the Supreme Assembly, of the Federation Council, of the Economic and Social Council, and of the Trusteeship Council, and the secretariat performs such other functions as are entrusted to the secretariat by the Articles of the Federation.

In the performance of their duties the Supreme Secretariat and the staff may not seek or receive instruction from any government external to the United Federation of Planets. The secretariat refrains from any action which might reflect on their position as interplanetary officials.

Sources for this information include ENT: "Zero Hour" and DSN: "Home Front", the Star Trek Starfleet Technical Manual and the "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" novelization by Gene Roddenberry.

In this new era of peaceful exploration of the galaxy, Earth was turned into a paradise by its inhabitants; underground construction preserved the natural greenery of the planet's surface. Society itself was evolving to a point where large numbers of new humans, telepathically linked as a group mind, represented a sizeable portion of human society. Although more intelligent then normal humans, these people proved incapable of deep space exploration, lacking the ability to bear encounters with more advanced beings then themselves - for all their intelligence, aloofness was a hindrance to them.