Maybe I need to rewatch the films but it seemed more like the Empire was just evil for the sake of being evil without showing why it was actually doing anything other than quashing a rebellion. It's probably because there was greater emphasis on the POV of the Rebellion itself whose goals seemed to be vague (freedom, justice, etc) and Luke's perspective which was initially untainted by the politics (:grillman: ) and perhaps the Jedi parts muddied what would've been clearer political-economic dynamics, at least for me.

idk just my thoughts