Declaration of a New Order

Although the speech received unanimous signatures in support of transitioning the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire, the speech itself had mixed reception. Several of the senators were in support of it because it meant a chance at a time of peace after three years of the Clone Wars and the carnage that occurred. Several of these senators also felt it would solidify their power base. Others, notably the senators who signed the Delegation of 2000, personally disagreed with the speech, but felt the need to support it for their own safety, because of armed men inside the room who would shoot if they dared speak out. During the speech, the Naboo senator representing the Chommell sector, Padmé Amidala, mused that "to thunderous applause" was "how liberty dies". Mon Mothma, the Chandrilan senator and later one of the top leaders of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, also reflected later on that she never believed a word of Palpatine's speech, especially his remarks about the Jedi trying to commit treason against him, and also expressed disgust at the fellow senators applauding Palpatine's "silver lies." The full text of the speech was eventually printed out during the Republic HoloNet News Special Inaugural Edition 16:5:241, which was ultimately the last HoloNews broadcast. The speech was also frequently excerpted within the official field guide for the Imperial Military, the Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide, released nineteen years after the Declaration. Palpatine, in his introduction to the Imperial Handbook, likewise admitted that the Declaration of a New Order and likewise the resulting shift from the Republic to the Empire was an unprecedented shift of power in galactic history, but also mentioned the people had been desperate and that the Republic could not continue on its current course, and also implied that he acted on the people's behalf when he made the decision for the Senate.

Some elements of this text contradict the text found in the novelization of the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, such as the "Safety, security, justice and peace!" chant. The author of the Insider article admitted that he had forgotten to check the novelization before writing his article. In addition, some parts of the text were switched around from the film (for example, in the article, the phrase "And the Jedi rebellion has been foiled." took place after "The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated." In the film, it was in reverse order).

It should be noted, however, that the novelization text differs from what is seen in the film. The segment seen in the novel goes as follows:

The film version of this text goes as follows:

In the DVD commentary of Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas stated that the interwoven scenes of the Declaration of a New Order and the Mission to Mustafar was an homage to the christening and assassination sequence of the 1972 classic film The Godfather, directed by his friend Francis Ford Coppola.

According to Lucas, the declaration, as well as Padmé Amidala's comment about liberty dying being "from thunderous applause", was intended to reference the rise of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in Germany. Similarly, Palpatine's line in both the novelization and the full speech included in Star Wars Insider about his new Empire lasting 10,000 years was similar to Hitler's vow of a "Thousand-year Reich", while in the end, both the Galactic Empire and the Third Reich were relatively short-lived (though the Galactic Empire actually lasted longer than the Third Reich).

In the novelization, during his speech, Palpatine stated that it's "Morning in the Republic", which was similar to president Ronald Reagan's 1984 campaign ad "Morning in America."