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The Articles of the Skytopian Federation are a set of non-binding resolutions suggesting cooperation between the Skylands. They have no enforceable provisions, and the few attempts to apply them to local matters and disputes between Skylands have been largely dismissed as irrelevant.
As with any document, different, and often overlapping theories of interpretation abound. Many Skytopians read Article Fourteen's invocation of "all privileges and immunities herein written or otherwise commonly understood" (written by a young Lawrence Islo) to grant unenumerated rights to Skytopians. Sir Grotius Fex, the late legal scholar, referred to this clause as "the broad and majestic catch-all." For another view, see the Uniform Code of Military Tribunals of the Crimson Armada, which refers to Article Fourteen as "as unintelligible as an inkblot upon fine linen, and thus, without force."
One area in which a substantial majority of Skytopian representatives were able to reach an agreement was regarding the sovereign status of each Skyland. Embroiled as Skytopia was in the chaos of Svendheim's attempts to assume absolute personal authority over the Commonwealth, the representatives of the several skylands were eager to set limits on the authority of the executive. The Commonwealth had suffered from having too much power in the hands of too few, and so Article Two included the famous "independence clause" establishing that while each skyland was free to make laws and select any leader it wished to (including a citizen or even leader of another skyland), each skyland must select its leaders through an independent election.