The UPF's jurisdiction does not extend to the surface of its member planets. In addition, it is forbidden from influencing or manipulating the internal affairs of a member government. As a result, its members range from utopian democracies and corporate-controlled worlds all the way to totalitarian dictatorships and criminal-ruled near-anarchies. The UPF and its agents are free to make contact, trade, and help primitive civilizations, usually to protect them against the Sathar.