two nor more than five solar systems In fact, only a very few districts included only two solar systems, especially after die rise of die feudal states Since solar systems rarely had more than two habitable planets (usually under the control of one government), constituting dis tncts from only two systems was generally inefficient District meetings were empowered to decide matters affecting their own members and to mediate their disputes If such mediation faitedv the appropriate Sysselraad would arbitrate Occasionally a district would be large enough to be divided into sub-districts composed of one or more systems These entities met only to decide agendas Their deliberations were semi formal Matters not discussed at a sub-district gathering could still be submitted to a district session Sub-district bodies, where they existed, met annually District meetings were held every two years while meetings of the Sysselraads were convened every five years, one year before the meet ing of the entire Landsraad, also held every five years Hie last step between the Sysselraads and the Landsraad itseif was the Landsraad High Council Presiding officers were elected by each session from the delegates but the secretaries were bureaucrats employees of the Landsraad and served at the pleasure of the Landsraad The best of them remained in these posts for several years The Landsraad High Council was composed of both these officials and the voting members of the High Council who numbered 100 The Sysseiraad secretaries served as advisors to the voting members, who were selected by lot from the delegates to die most recent Landsraad session This body set the agenda for each meeting of the entire Landsraad Any legal dispute between worlds not under the same govern ment could be referred to the Landsraad if the issue in question had not been decided at a lower level In addition, the Landsraad took up certain cases as a matter of course including changes ot government by revolu tton or invasion by a foreign interstellar government The Landsraad s rules ignore rebellion, defined as a change m the identity of the governing officials without a shift m the governing system this was conceived as an internal matter An attempt was also made to distinguish between wars of reasonable cause and simple imperialistic expansion the Landsraad tried to discourage the latter but was not always successful Such was the structure and function of the Landsraad prior to the Great Revolt The Jihad did not destroy the Landsraad nor did it work major changes in the structure of the organization It did however change the nature of most of the participating govern ments Historical study of the Jihad has concentrated attention upon the movement as a religious phenomenon and tended to over look the political results of this sweeping sword of death and destruction The loss of life due to starvation disease and other causes which resulted from the destruction of computers and thinking ma chines was impossible to assess But the carnage did not end with the cessation of fighting Government medicine business and the trading enterprises of affected worlds had come to depend on computers and thinking machines for their ve*" existence All the \anous aspects of government from voting to san tation could be traced finally to the thinking machines which the crusaders de LANDSRAAD 364 LANDSRAAD stroyed.