I personally think it works to The Force Awakens favor that we aren’t treated to prequel-esque scenes explaining the minutiae of the current political climate, but it is a lot of information to take in very quickly. This seems to be an intentional mirroring of Episode IV, which tossed around concepts like the Empire, the Galactic Senate, Alderaanian royalty, and a Rebel Alliance without much set up or explanation.
Despite being separated from the last Star Wars trilogy by nearly 30 years, The Force Awakens really hits the ground running without a ton of exposition.
