United Nations

The United Nations (U.N.) is the central governing authority in the post-apocalyptic world of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, orchestrating the colonization of Mars and other planets as a solution to Earth's devastation after World War Terminus. It administers a system that combines the carrot of android servants with the stick of radioactive fallout, compelling emigration while managing the biological and social classification of those who remain. The U.N.'s policies shape the lives of every character, from bounty hunters to specials, and underpin the novel's exploration of empathy, humanity, and power.

Colonization and Emigration Policy

The U.N. made emigration easy and staying on Earth difficult, if not impossible. Under U.N. law, each emigrant automatically received possession of an android subtype of their choice, a program that had been modified from a wartime weapon, the Synthetic Freedom Fighter, to serve as the "mobile donkey engine of the colonization program" . This was the ultimate incentive: the android servant as carrot, the radioactive fallout as stick . The U.N. also sponsored the colonization program through nationalized television channels, broadcasting propaganda such as interviews with emigrants like Mrs. Maggie Klugman, who praised the dignity of having a dependable servant on Mars . The slogan "Emigrate or degenerate! The choice is yours!" was blared by posters, TV ads, and government junk mail, reinforcing the U.N.'s message that staying on Earth meant inevitable biological decline .

Biological Classification and Control

The U.N. enforced a system of biological classification that determined who could emigrate and who was condemned to remain on Earth. Those who failed to pass the minimum mental faculties test were classified as "specials" or "chickenheads," and were barred from emigration . The U.N. also regulated reproduction through monthly medical checkups that confirmed a citizen's status as a "regular"—someone who could reproduce within the tolerances set by law . Those pegged as "special" dropped out of history, ceasing to be part of mankind, even if they accepted sterilization . This system created a hierarchy where the U.N. determined who was fit to live and who was not, a power that extended to the classification of androids as legal property rather than living beings.

Relationship with the Rosen Association

The U.N.'s colonization program was deeply intertwined with the Rosen Association, the system's largest manufacturer of humanoid robots. The Rosen Association produced what the colonists wanted, following the time-honored principle of commercial venture . The U.N. approved of Mercerism, which reduced crime by making citizens more concerned about their neighbors, and the American and Soviet police publicly stated this benefit . However, the U.N.'s laws also prohibited certain acts, such as abortion, which was a life sentence with police always watching . The U.N.'s legal framework thus created a world where androids were property, specials were outcasts, and the only escape was emigration to a harsh colony world.

Impact on Earth's Remaining Population

The U.N.'s policies had a devastating effect on those who remained on Earth. The radioactive dust, which had originated in no country and no one had planned on, contaminated most of the planet's surface . The U.N. made it difficult to stay, and those who did not emigrate faced a slow decline into special status. The dust eroded people physically and mentally, as seen in Hannibal Sloat, who was too old to emigrate and was doomed to creep out his remaining life on Earth, his features gray, his thoughts gray, his legs spindly . The loss of living animals was a constant tragedy, as when a real cat died in the care of the Van Ness Pet Hospital, and Sloat cursed the waste of one more living creature . The U.N.'s system, while ostensibly offering a better life on Mars, left Earth a decaying, kipple-ized wasteland where the remaining population struggled to survive.