This is an outline of the authority and political structure of the alliance.

House of Mercury Management

A council for the House exists to advise and direct.  The Council will ultimately consist of 12 representatives, elected from two streams:
1.    Honorary lifetime members – these will be the initial founders of the alliance, and will keep this position for the time they are members of the alliance, or a unanimous vote (excluding them) by the council to remove them, or the executor elects to remove them in cases where they pose a threat to the alliance
2.    Level 2 member corporation representative – these corporations will be trusted members of the alliance and will be given the opportunity to have a representative on the council of their choosing.  This representative is chosen by the CEO of the corporation and may be changed at any time.

The alliance council will serve as the directors of the House, discussing actions to be taken, making decisions about the direction, applications, expulsions, disciplines, etc.  The decisions of the council will be evaluated by the executor and then announced to the House of Mercury family members.

Military Wing

In times of conflict the House itself will work to hire protection to defend, and diplomatically will attempt to resolve and end those wars as quickly as possible in a way that is favourable to both parties - not paying a ransom, but receiving something in return.  The more resources that the alliance has, the greater it will be able to protect its interests.  However, hired forces will not be sufficient.

There will be established a single official military organization inside the alliance, which will exist on top of the corporations that make up our number.  Members may not all be interested in industry exclusively, so this will give opportunity for pvp as well.  The military structure’s goal is to defend the House's trade routes, and mining operations, to protect interests we might have in low-sec, and to capture and hold 0.0 territory when we are ready.  This organization will receive help from the alliance to provide it with the ships and equipment necessary to fulfill its duties where extra help is needed.  As a result it will have strict rules on operation, and any members who are not happy with them will not be admitted.

This organisation will not replace the role of other member corporations to participate in pvp when the time is needed, so all corporations will be expected (though not required) to be at least partially pvp ready.  This will become especially important when we have 0.0 systems to defend.  Military readiness is important to our longevity.

Generals of the alliance will sit on the Council to give advice and be kept informed, but will not have voting rights.

Executor Corp

Gateway Industries is the Executor corp and also the first point of contact for new members who come individually rather than through the alliance.  Members will eventually have access to some of the House's POS's and the opportunity to participate in House operations managed by the executor corp or others.  The primary advantages for members will be:
•    Easy entry
•    Help – members will cover a wide variety of experience and should be able to help each other out, both with information and resources
•    Great opportunities – this corporation will give the players a good taste of EVE, as well as the alliance activities.  Mining, missions, manufacturing – and pvp whenever there is war.
•    Room for advancement – members will be able to advance in the corporation itself and help make decisions about the alliance direction when they are appropriately trusted.  More importantly, they will find they have a ready inroad to join other more specialized member corporations that might otherwise be inaccessible to outsiders
•    Alliance membership – you get access to the alliance for little cost.

Members are expected to uphold the neutrality expected by the alliance, and will be removed if found to be provoking anyone to violence, taking sides, or generally talking inappropriately to others.

This corporation may be in many ways the center of activity for the alliance, because we anticipate that it will have the largest membership.  However, other members of other member corporations will be treated equally in terms of having input into the direction the House takes.  Usually this will take the form of communication from the CEO (or chosen representative) of those corporations who have level 2 membership.