Galactic Senate - Deck Building

The latest game thought exercise, the tutorial level thing, has brought me back to an older theme: that of a Galactic senate in which culture differences and language barriers pose obstacles to the players. Overcoming these obstacles in the best way possible is how players make points and win the game.

Originally with a worker placement mechanic, I'm now mulling over deck building to tackle the theme.
One way in which it differs from Doiminion and company is that instead of purchasing cards with a hand full of treasure, you would need a card that speaks the same "language" as a card you wish to add to your deck (or a crisis to solve?)
A second difference would be programmable actions, similar to Wings of Glory, where you need to place a card in advance to determine movement, and hope it works out the way you planned.
Finally, in similar fashion to Trains, cards will give you actions (and reactions) to make changes over the player board, such as persuading representatives to your cause, to affect scoring.