NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: How do your country's elections work? Specifically, I'm interested in your parliamentary elections (or closest equivalent). Is it first-past-the-post? Proportional representation? Preferential voting? A mix, or something else entirely? Does each electoral district elect its own representative(s) to Parliament, or are there national party lists to choose from, or some other system? Are elections full or partial renewals? And any other information you want to provide.

In Ariddia, the People's Prime Parliament (99 seats) is fully renewed every five years. The election is simultaneous with the election of the Prime Secretary (head of State & of government). Each party presents a list of 99 prospective MPs. Each list is a national list: there is no parliamentary representation of electoral districts. This means that every MP is elected by the nation as a whole, and his or her mandate is to represent the whole nation.

To be allowed to vote, you must be an Ariddian citizen, aged 16 or above, who is living in Ariddia. Ariddians living overseas are not allowed to vote, for two reasons: first, it is felt that it would not be legitimate for them to elect a government when they're not going to have to live under that government; and second (the unofficial reason), their political allegiance may be suspect if they've left the country to settle abroad.

There is also a second Parliament, the Wehela Iolih, exclusively for Indigenous Ariddians (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Wymgani) (Wymgani, i.e., about 30% or 35% of the population). The electoral system is exactly the same, but you must be registered as an Indigenous voter to be allowed to vote. To be recognised officially as Wymgani, a person must be of at least partial Wymgani ethnic / genealogical descent, must be recognised by a Wymgani community, and must declare him- or herself to be a Wymgani. The Wehela Iolih is empowered to review any law passed by the People's Prime Parliament, and state whether special provisions are required for its application to Wymgani people, based on Wymgani customs, local Wymgani laws, or related issues. Decisions by the Wehela Iolih on such matters are binding on Parliament. Indigenous voters also vote to elect the members of the People's Prime Parliament, of course.

There is some mild controversy over the fact that overseas territories (most notably the Ariddian Arctic Islands) have no special representation in the PPP. There have been some talks of allowing Ariddian Arctic Islanders to have one or two special seats of their own in the PPP, but the Arctic Islanders already have their own semi-autonomous Council of Chiefs. Some members of the Council are members by virtue of Islander tradition; others are elected by the Arctic Islander citizens; others still are appointed by the Council itself. (I have yet to work out more specific details on this point.)

So... How does it all work in your nation? ;)

[IC:] Basically:

All those registered to vote, vote for one candidate (though there is no legal requirement to either register or to vote), plus a second choice for ONLY IN THE EVENT OF A TIE.

The votes are counted.

Whoever has the largest number of votes wins.

In the event of a tie, the second-choice person with the most votes wins.

The current Taraskovyan electoral system is very federalised and varies from the Grand Duchy (the imperial metropoly) to the Dominions. As such, I shall go territory by territory, listing the legislative bodies of the major dependencies.

Grand Ducal Parliament: Duma and Senate

The Grand Duchy of Taraskovya accounts for about 80% of the “imperial” population. Currently, as there is no “empire” officially, the Grand Duchy is also the decision centre for both itself and the dominions, dependencies, protectorates. However, the latter are not represented in the Parliament. Only the 28 Fiefdoms comprising the Grand Duchy proper are represented.

The Grand Ducal Parliament is bicameral.

The lower house is called the Duma. It consists of 400 Deputies, elected by the people for a mandate of four years. Each Fiefdom is a constituency that is guaranteed at least one seat and sends a number of Deputies proportional to its population.

The election of Deputies happens largely along the proportional basis within the constituency (=Fiefdom). Each party puts forward a list of candidates that the voters can then modify by striking out the names of candidates they do not like or replacing them with candidates from other parties. Each unamended party list nets that party a total of 100 points, and each candidate on that list gets 1 point. If the list is amended, the party loses 1 point for each candidate that the voter strikes out. However, each party also gets 1 point for each of its candidates added to the list of another party.

From there on, the seats are attributed accordingly. All Party Points are counted and each party gets the percentage of Fiefdom seats proportional to its points. From there on, the seats are attributed to the candidates with the most personal points.

Example: Fiefdom Superland sends 50 deputies to the Duma. Party A put forward a list with 40 candidates and gets a total 50% of the vote, all points counted. It, thus, shall take 25 of the seats. These 25 seats shall in turn be taken by the Party candidates that totaled the most personal points. The other 15 do not get the seats, but are on “reserve” if one of the 25 Deputies is no longer capable of fulfilling his or her duties.

The upper house is called the Senate. It consists of 58 Senators, elected by the people for a mandate of four years, too. Each Fiefdom sends 2 senators, with exception for the High Fiefdom of Vigvar that sends 4 Senators.

Only those bearing a title of nobility of Count and higher may be candidates for Senatorial elections. Senators are elected on the same day by the people of their respective Fiefdoms, with the two candidates with the most votes (four in the case of Vigvar) getting the seats.

Unlike with the Duma, there are no lists and the candidate present themselves individually, whether they are members of a party or not. This explains the high proportion of indendent Senators in the body. In practice, the two major Taraskovyan parties that are the Conservative Party and the National Patriotic Christian Alliance put forward de facto lists, promoting several candidates and hinting which candidate is the preferable one and which is the “back up”.

Royal Parliament of Nyi-Gardarika

The Kingdom of Nyi-Gardarika is a Dominion of the Grand Duchy. It is a federally organized entity, consisting of five Provinces and two Crown Territories.

The Royal Parliament of Nyi-Gardarika is bicameral.

The National Council of Nyi-Gardarika is the lower house of the Royal Parliament of Nyi-Gardarika, and it mimics the Grand Ducal Duma.

The election system is the same as for the Grand Ducal Duma, with no legal electoral difference in between the Provinces and the Crown Territories. The practical difference is that the Crown Territories are only sparsely populated and, thus, are bound to send much fewer delegates than the Provinces.

The Federal Council of Nyi-Gardarika is the upper house of the parliament. It generally mimics the Grand Ducal Senate.

Unlike with the Grand Ducal Senate, there are no “nobility” requirement for candidates. From there on, each Province sends six Federal Councillors, each Crown Territory sends two. As is the case with the Grand Ducal Senate, each candidate presents himself or herself individually, albeit the de facto lists are more firmly established than in the metropoly to the point that there is talk about reforming the electoral process to proportional representation from party lists.

Legislative Assembly of Dreamreach, Legislative Assembly of Zoria

The Kingdom of Dreamreach and the Duchy of Zoria are two other Taraskovyan Dominions that are organized along unitarian lines.

Both Assemblies are unicameral. Deputies are elected from single-member constituencies and the candidate with the most votes wins, even if he does not have an outright majority.

Eduskunta of Sortavala

The Grand Duchy of Sortavala is, as nobody would guess, yet another Taraskovyan Dominion. It is also organized along Unitarian lines and its Parliament consists of one chamber.

Election is done on a proportional basis, with the territory divided into 20 electoral districts. From there on, elections are similar to those for the Grand Ducal Duma.

United Assembly of Tavaroth

The United Provinces of Tavaroth are a loosely federally organized Dominion of the Grand Duchy. The joint parliament was set up as an umbrella organization, but in effect does not have a lot of powers as every constituent Province enjoys the autonomy similar to other Dominions and has its own Grand Ducal Overseers.

The United Assembly of Tavaroth is not elected directly by the people, but by the Parliaments of the constituent Provinces. Each province sends 25 members. The Speaker of the United Assembly is always appointed by the Grand Ducal Senate and acts in the capacity of an Overseer.

Congress of Atlantic Island

The Autonomous Republic of the Island of Atlantic is a curious federal entity under Taraskovyan rule.

The Congress is bicameral.

The House of Representatives is the lower house of Congress and comprises directly elected representatives from single-member constituencies, with the total number of representatives being fixed to 200.

Elections are the same as for the Legislative Assemblies of Dreamreach and Zoria. One constituency, one candidate, the one with the most votes takes it all.


The Council of States is the upper house of Congress and comprises three representatives from each of the States composing the Autonomous Republic. The Councillors of States are elected directly by the population of their states. There are currently 24 Senators in all.

Elections as for the Grand Ducal Senate. However, no nobility requirement.

_________________________________________________

I think this concludes the major legislative bodies. There are also Provincial and Fiefdom legislative bodies, then there are some little dependencies here and their with their own system. Yay neo-feudal monarchial federalism!

The system shall be complemented with an Imperial Parliament (still have to figure its details out) as the Imperial Reform [tm] takes place. But this is a story for another day.

Tarasovka: 1905 called; it wants its revolution back.

Tarasovka: 1905 called; it wants its revolution back.

First strike. Two more, and you're out!

This has nothing to do with the 1905 revolution attempt. It has more to do with the birth of the Swiss Federal state in 1848 and the mixing in of a few elements of neo-feodalism that I am famous for. All in all, while having minimal real life anchors, Taraskovya is a story apart. And it's a damn good story, as everybody has been telling me.

But this thread concentrates only on the legislative electoral procedures, not on other things. As such, you are welcome to post your own legislative elections for all to see and admire. I am sure you have something completely original and innovative to offer, which has no reference to real life what so ever and that is completely apart and unique in all aspects.

Well we have a Bi-cameral Parliament that is renewed every 3 years.

The Prime Minister is elected for one term of 6 years and no Prime Minister relection, however Parliament members can be relected.
Each parliament member is voted by the state or region he represents.

The are 3 basic political parties that are economically dependant from the government but there are regional parties.

No private funding allowed.

Voting is for citizens above 18 years old.

In Uiri because of a large lack of literacy the ballots have boxes with the colour of the corresponding party instead of names.

On the first of April or March, which ever one easter doesn't fall in, every five years there is one big voting across the country. Everyone who is 19 years of age may vote. The votes are tallied up according to which colour( the party which uses it as its colour) gets the most votes. They are also tallied as to which party got the majority at each group of two voting centers. These are then applied to elect people to the Representative Assembly and the Senate.

In Uiri there is a law in the constitution stating that there must be at least three political parties and that one party must use blue, one party must use green and one party must use orange. Each of these three parties have become known as the [insert their respective colour] party.

For the Representative Assembly the total number of votes are divided by 100. The number of hundredths of votes + 1 = the number of seats that party gets in the Representative Assembly. This gives between 100 and 100+total number of parties possible seats. Usually there are 103.

For the senate the voting centers are grouped into 50 groups of two. The majority party of each group gets one seat in the senate giving fifty senators.

The leader of the majority party in the Representative Assembly becomes the Prime Minister who deals with the internal affairs of the country. The leader of the majority party of the senate becomes President who attends diplomatic functions and manges the military.

If a party shares a majority in both Houses then they may take on the functions of Presient and Prime Minister, taking on the title Minister-President or they may hire a close assistant to take one of these functions who may be replaced at anytime.

Cafundéu has two elections:

1st Election: City Elections

The city elections happen each 4 years (two years after/before the State/National elections). In the City Elections, the citizens choose the city mayor (just one) and his aldermen (they stay in their jobs for 4 years). The number of aldermen depends on the size of the city, so big cities like Lasft can have much more aldermen than a small city like Fronteira, for example.

In most of the cities, the procedure of the elections is simple: everyone older than 18 years can vote for one mayor and one aldermen (men and women), and they use the voting machines. The candidates have specific numbers, most difficult to remember and very similar from their opponents' ones. The votes are counted (no vote is valued higher than other). The most voted aldermen are elected. But the mayor must receive more than 50% of the votes to be automatically elected. If not, another election between the first and second placed candidates happen two months after. Then, the most voted wins.

A candidate must know to read and write and to be older than 18 years. In the biggest city of a region (a minor part of a state), the city mayor often works as a regional leader too. In some cities, the voting procedure is a bit different. The citizens choose an aldermen of their neighbourhood, and a mayor. This way, these cities can have aldermen of all neighbourhoods. These elections aren't really important.

2nd Election: State/National Elections

The State and National elections are the most important of the country. They happen each four years (two years after/before the City Elections). In the State elections, the citizens choose the Parliament Members, the Senators and the State Governor. The "National" election is the election of the Head Counselor, who will be the main assistant of the Emperor.

All citizens older than 18 years can vote (men and women), but this time the elections are a bit different. Once again they use voting machines, and the candidates have specific numbers too (not in the Head Counselor election), but now they'll choose the politicians that will have more influence in the country, so it's more important.

First, they have to choose three of the candidates for Parliament Member (nearly 300 members). The first choice vote will be valued higher than the other two (which will have the same value). Normally, the voters like to choose candidates of their own state, so you'll see Parliament Members from all the states. Once again, the most voted candidates are elected for the job for 4 years. Then, the voters choose a Senator to represent their state (just one, and he must be from the voter's state). The number of Senators is different from state to state, and the number of Senators elected in each election varies. See:

Juta State - 4 Senators - 2 per election
Central State - 4 Senators - 2 per election
Titã State - 4 Senators - 2 per election
Dunboor State - 3 Senators - 1 or 2 per election
Lasft State - 3 Senators - 1 or 2 per election
Old Cities State - 3 Senators - 1 or 2 per election
Espinal State - 2 Senators - 1 per election
Coast State - 2 Senators - 1 per election
------------------------------
Country - 25 Senators

The Senators represent the state for 8 years.

To end the State Elections, the citizens choose a State Governor. It's a very important title. They are free to choose any of the candidates of their state. A Governor is only automatically elected if he receives more than 50% of the votes. If not, another election between the first and second placed candidates happen two months later, and then the most voted one wins.

The candidates for all the previous titles follow the same rules for candidates for mayor and alderman.

Finally, the Head Counselor. All the Counselor-Ministers are automatically candidates. The Counselor-Ministers (there are 20) are chosen by the Emperor, who can substitute one of them anytime. But the Head Counselor is the only one that can't be substituted. The procedure is the same of the State Governor's one (the Head Counselor needs to be elected by the majority of votes).

The Emperor is the most important politician of the country, and he isn't elected. The current Emperor is Hector Van Tocco (56 years old), the third Emperor of the country. He has three sons (Alicia, Ana Luísa and Rogério), and the older one (in this case, the Princess Alicia Van Tocco) will be the next Emperor when Hector dies or resigns.

The Emperor can fire Parliament Members and Senators any time he wants. He can ask to fire a mayor, but the Parliament must accept. Aldermen can be fired by State Governors (the mayor can ask, but the State Parliament (composed by the Parliament Members of the respective state) must approve). State Governors and the Head Counselor can't be fired, even by the Emperor.

The Grand Duchy of Fidgetia

The Grand Duchy is a Bicameral system divided into an upper and lower house. The upper house is the Senate, while the lower house comprises the House of Commons. Laws can be presented in both Houses, however those submitted in the lower house require the consent of that house as well as the upper house. Those presented by the upper house do not require the consent of the lower house.

All new laws are approved by the Grand Duke who has a veto on all issues.

The House of Commons:

Consists of 316 delegates chosen by a proportional system by the electorate within their constituency. Parties are represented, with the exception of communists who are considered enemies of the state. Each constituency is allotted a share of the seats within the House based on its population relative to the overall national population. Terms in the House of Commons are limited to 2 terms per candidate and last for 3 years. All citizens over the age of 18 qualify to vote for members of this house.

The Senate:

Consists of 76 Senators who are chosen by direct voting of the population within their province. Representation within the Senate is determined based on the population within the province relative to the national population. Terms last for 8 years and there is no limitation on how many terms a Senator may serve. Only citizens who own at least a 50% share in either a business or property that has been registered with the government may vote in senate elections.

The Grand Dukes Council.

This is not an elected body but is chosen by the Grand Duke himself. They act as an advisory body on all state issues. Although members of this body can be chosen from either the Senate or the House of Commons, the precedent is that it is only members with a noble title from the Senate who make up this body.

A Prime Minister is chosen from the representatives in the Senate, however he also requires the consent of the House of Commons and must be a member of the party of majority within the House. The Prime Minister is automatically a member of the Grand Dukes Council.


Local and Provincial Governments

Chosen through elections within the province and consist of only a lower house. Term limitations are in place and consist of 2 terms per member. The office of the regional governor does not have a term limit and holding that office does not count toward the term limit. The size of Provincial governments is determined within the province. Voting is limited to all citizens over the age of 18.

Protectorates and colonies have a nominal national representation (currently 6 senators, and 36 members of the house of commons). However governors of protectorates and colonies are appointed by the Senate and Grand Duke. All other aspects of local government within colonies and protectorates are as per the standard provincial model.

Political Parties:

All parties must have the approval of the Grand Duke to be recognized as official parties. All members seeking election must be a member of a recognized party.

Officially recognized parties are:

-Tory (currently in power)
-Democratic Nationalists
-Labour
-Green

Note: Communism is illegal within the Duchy, any citizen convicted of being a member of the communist party is subject to a sentence of no less than 20 years of hard labour. Anyone seeking to create a party without filing the proper forms and seeking approval of both local and national officials caught by the security services will risk conviction of both subversion and treason. The penalty for which is at minimum 30 years hard labour.

It did not. During the RP "Sir, on election day, anything can happen" the country disolved due to being unsatisfied with the entire process and th feeling of not being represented by the politicians well. The new 1024 nations have a lot of different types of electoral systems. General traits of many of these systems are kalesicality (the respective nation is split up into a number of kalesa, who have elections at different dates), lisidic affiliation (candidates do not belong to partiesbut to single-issue groups and run as member of several of those instead as party member), representative inequality (when a kalesa is represented by several politicians, the vote is split by the percentage of votes the representative has received).

First of all, a little background explanations of Oliverrian politics might have to be done. As said on the Wiki, Olivery is a Federal Semi-Presidential System. That means the 11 provinces of Oliverry have governments guaranteed by the constitution, which have their own powers and priviledges. All that to permit a region to have its own laws based on its own situation. There is also a municipal level of government, which rules are granted by the provincial governments.

Now on to the institutions of the federal government:

1) Presidency: Head-of-State of Oliverry. Its role is to agree on any bill he sees fit to agree on. He can also create bills, but these must be voted upon by the houses of the parliament. He can also decree laws, after the Senate allow him to do so. The only one allowed to call for new elections. Officially nominates the cabinet, but has never fully used this prerogative, prefering nominating a Prime Minister and let him govern over the internal affairs of the nation. The president is elected in a multi-round election. In a result of no candidate having a clear majority (50%+1), another round, comprising of all the candidates with at least 20% of the vote, will be held. The process repeats until someone with a clear majority appears. President elected to the national vote, not with an electoral college (OOC thought: such a thing should never exist)

2) Assemblée Nationale/National Assembly: The Lower House of Oliverry. This House grants the government with its confidence. When it is lost, the government must either work something in order to stay in power or resign to the president. The president has the choice to nominate a new cabinet or to call for new elections. Its 400 members are elected through a First-past-the-post system.

3) Sénat/Senate: The Higher House of the Parliament. This house has the final decision on any law created, as it is the only one abled to give it to the president for a sanction. Historically unexisting, it was created with the constitution of 2016. There are 10 senators for each province, making the total amount of members to 110 senators. Half of them are nominated by the provincial governments (5 per province), while the other half is elected through a pure proportional representation votation. The only special rule to be elected to senate is for their party to have at least a member in the National Assembly.

So, I'm going to now explain how work elections at the federal level. There are two ways an election can be called upon:



An election gets called automatically every 4 years on the first monday of October;
The President calls an election to rule problems in the house, be it a minority government losing the confidence of the house, or a government can't be agreed on. This option has never been used so far, as governments usually can be agreed on after the previous government loses the confidence of the house.

When an election is called upon, the presidency, the National Assembly and the elected Senators are all cleared. Three votes are needed from the voter: President, Senator, Prefered candidate for National Assembly.

Situation is similar in the provinces, but each province has its own rules, which can be modified without any interference from the federal government.

Citizens need to be 16 or more to vote.

Kahanistanian Elections:

(Note: This deals solely with national elections, not city elections.)

The President is elected by direct vote of the people, none of this Electoral College bullshit (if you're American, you'll understand, if not, go to Wikipedia) and serves a six-year term. If the President dies or resigns, the Vice President takes office and appoints someone, generally a Cabinet minister, to serve as VP for the remainder of the term.

Senators are elected from districts to serve in the national legislature. These districts are drawn by census figures so that each district has the same population, to within 1% tolerance. Each district elects one senator.

Supreme power:

Head of state- The Grand Viceroy must be elected by the Council of Viceroys for a 15-years long term. After 15-years passed, another person must be elected as Grand Viceroy, previous one can't be elected as said in the Codex of the Borderlands.

Head of council- Senior viceroy must be elected for 5-years long term. A person can be Senior viceroy only 3 times.

Viceroys- Viceroys are elected by military office and committee of traders for 5-years long term. There can be only 6 Viceroys. A person can be come a Viceroy termless.

Restrictions:
Candidate must be male, 15 or older, have at least secondary-level education and at least 2 years experience of commercial and military activity.
-----
Main power:
Military office is a main martial authority in the state. It's members can't be elected. Office's system is very strict, only persons with rank higher than Lt.General can enter office. The head of office is Grand General, it is a lifetime term. Any person with ranks Lt.General or higher are considered to be parts of office.

Committee of traders:
One of most influential organisations in country. It consists of 140 members which are traders with at least 3 years of trade and bussiness experience. The head of committee is a president. President of Committee of traders is a lifetime term, though any president, whatever his status is, can be dissmissed by Grand Viceroy. The President of Committee of traders must be elected by majority of it's members. If President wasn't elected 2 times, Viceroys appoint candidate without advise from Committee.

Civilians don't have the right to vote, though they can enter the The Committee if there is a vacancy. Or they can enter army and be promoted to the rank of Lt.General.

All decisions made by Military office and Committee of traders must be overviewed by Viceroys and proceeded, unwanted or unacceptable decisions must be blocked.

All decisions and resolutions made by Viceroys are crucial and should be obeyed by all means.

This is the electorial system of The Borderlands of Northern Simber.

The Parliament of Kelssek is biamercal. The upper house is called the Congress of Lords (Chambre des seigneurs) and doesn't really have anything to do with legislation besides rubber-stamping bills passed by the lower house, the House of Commons (Chambre des communes). It can veto bills but that hasn't happened for a while now. Frankly I'm still figuring out what to do with them, but 25 of them represent each province and they're elected by popular vote in a first-past-the-post manner

The House is where all the action happens. The current one was elected by first-past-the-post but the next election will see a switch to mixed-member proportional, whereby parties which end up with fewer seats proportionally than their share of the popular vote will be topped up with members from a party list. Voters will make two votes in the booth, one for a member to represent their riding, and one for their preferred party.

Elections for the figurehead, ceremonial, reserve-power-wielding president are every 5 years (unless there's a recall referendum). There are multiple rounds of voting; at least (and usually) two. At each round a quota of votes based on the total number of votes cast is set and candidates falling below the cut-off are eliminated from the next round. Once a candidate gets a majority of the votes in one round they are the winner.

Individual provinces can each determine their own electoral laws for provincial legislatures, as well as that for municipalities under their jurisdiction. One province uses mixed-member proportional, the rest use first past the post.

Any citizen who will be 17 or older on December 31st of the year the election is held in can vote, and can be elected.

Presidential Elections in Maineiacs occur every four years. Each of the major political parties (there are 4) chooses a nominee, who face each other in the general election. The nominees for President are often, but need not be, Senators. There are often independent candidates as well, but none has ever received more than 0.5% of the vote (these are usually "fringe" candidates with unorthodox personal agendas). The Senate is a unicameral legislature of 600 members elected every 6 years by districts apportioned by population. The party that gains a majority chooses one of their number to be Speaker, who has much influence on what business the Senate does. If no party has a majority, a coalition must be made. Special elections can be held for the Senate if a coalition collapses, but this has only happened twice in Maineiacs' history. The President's party generally ends up with a Sentorial majority about 75% of the time. The President selects the heads of various governmental departments and agencies, names ambassadors, and is the nation's chief diplomat. The president has veto power, but the Senate may override with a 2/3 majority. The Senate has sole power to create and pass laws, and to write the budget. The Maineiacs Constitution sets strict term limits for both President and Senators. Both the President and Sentors have a term limit of two. Furthermore, although one may run for President even if one has served two terms as Senator, no one who has served as President may run for another office, even if they served only one Presidential term. Those who have served as Senator also may not run for a Provincial or local office (but those who have served at the local or Provincial level may, and often do, run for Senate). The only qualifications for office are that candidates must be citizens (native-born or naturalized) with a minmum age of 30 for Senator and 35 for President. Provincial Legislatures generally have a minimum age of 25.

Errinundera is a highly decentralised, communitarian nation. This is reflected in its political structures. National parliament is chaotic and, for the most part, ineffectual; and provincial governance almost non-existentent; whereas local governing structures are vibrant and progressive.

Mayors and Magistrates

Political power lies largely with local Mayors and Magistrates. There is one to each political district. At one end of the scale, large cities have many districts whereas, at the other end, a village has, by definition, one. With a population of over 5½ billion, Errinundera has several thousand Mayors and Magistrates.

The Constitution requires that Mayors be elected at least once every three years. This is the maximum length: some districts hold elections as frequently as every six months. Everyone from the age of 12 onwards is entitled to a vote. Voting is voluntary, however corporate donations and political advertising are not permitted. The role of the Mayor is to lead an elected group of councillors in determining local issues. The Mayor also presides over all official functions.

The Constitution allows the district to select their Magistrate in any way they see fit, however the successful applicant must have graduated from one of the nation's accredited Magistracy Academies. The Magistrate presides over local legal issues and can make legal interprations.

Community Activism

The Mayor and Magistrate have less power than this arrangement may indicate. As mentioned earlier, Errinundera is a communitarian nation so almost all adults are members of several local collectives, boards or unions. These voluntary organisations are responsible for almost all day to day activities from sewerage to electricity to food distribution to family welfare to wage determination. Mayors are almost always people who are respected for their community involvement.

Provincial Arrangements

Beyond the local level things start to get messy. Issues involving more than one political district are dealt with by ad hoc committees. They are effective sometimes. For example, the cities of Murrindal and Yalmy are without rail connection as they cannot reach agreement with the city of Rodger River about construction. In Yalmy's case the rail line ends in the middle of a forest because the local residents refuse to permit any clearing.

National Parliament

All Mayors are entitled to a seat in the lower house of the national Parliament. All Magistrates are entitled to a seat in the upper house. The varying terms of each makes for an extremely anarchic Parliament where the political alliances are shifting daily and political parties are ineffectual.

The national Parliament tends to do very little which suits Errinundrians well. Their loathing of the institution is demonstrated in the frequency with which the Parliament House is burnt down then rebuilt. There are no armed forces or police, secret or otherwise, in Errinundera, so burning down the premises of egregious organisations, political and corporate, is a time-honoured affair.

The lower house introduces new legislation and debates matters of national importance. The upper house can adjudicate on the validity or interpretation of a bill in relation to the constitution, previous legislation and common law.

Protectors

Parliament appoints, from its ranks, various "Protectors", sort of like ministers, who are responsible for their particular policy area. The senior position is "Protector of Civic Choice, Economic Participation and the Natural Environment". This pompous title was chosen by a famous satirist many years ago and is usually shortened to the equally ridiculous "Protector of Blah, Blah, Blah" by pissed-off Errinundrians. It would not be accurate to describe this person as the leader of the nation. Spokesperson would be a more appropriate description.

The Ultimate Magistracy

Seven Magistrates are chosen as members of the "Ulimate Magistracy", equivalent to a High Court. They must resign all other positions and only leave the position in one of four ways: resignation, death, retirement at the age of 70, or dismissal for misconduct. There have been few dismissals, all instances being due to financial shenanigans.

Conclusion

In summary, local institutions are revered and almost everyone is involved in the running of their local communities. The more distant the institution, the more contempt in which it is held.

I too have to explain a little of my nations background and origins. Tanaara was created and settled as a nation in one fell swoop, by descendants of Earth that weren't going to leave their Earth until 2175...and founded Tanar, the original nation/ empire and have a 1700 year plus tradition of modified, some what athenian style democracy ( they only decided to change over to being a modified Monarchal style Empire some sixty years ago ).

Tanaara has been a nation for over 225 years.

All Citizen's can vote, indeed must vote as part of their citizenly duties unless they are in active Military or Federal Service - then it is optional and indeed in Military Service it is traditional Not to vote save over matters that directly pertain to the military.

Native born residents ( adult children of also native born residents ) who are not citizens can vote, they get a single vote. They can also undertake Federal Service and become Citizens.

Citizens who have completed the active part of their Federal Service - also known as FS ( which is not necessarily military service but military service is chosen by over 75% of those doing their FS) have two votes. Citizens have a single vote during their active Federal Service. Citizens can earn more votes. These additional votes can not be bought, traded, inherited ( save under very specific circumstances) or given away.

Legal resident aliens and guest workers are not allowed to vote.

Just over 20 years ago they chose to go to a modified monarchal system, after a devestating coup attempt highlighted some severe flaws in the then currant system. At that time voting was not mandatory, but they had a turn out of over 98% and of that over 98% that voted, they chose - with over a 96% majority - to become a Monarchy - in their own unique way.

They elected Mercedez Merrideath Hexx, to be their first Queen, and she is not a figurehead - she is a working monarch who regularly puts in 18 hour days. Her son Robert Ryan Fortier Hexx may become King after her, but only if the citizens approve him.

Tanaara does not have political parties as such. There are some broad and narrow interest groups, but they are more to form committies to look into problems that need solving, and presenting various solutions to the studied problem. Once a month these problems are presented to the electorate via TanaaraNet - internet connections either at home, work or many free public locations. Citizens, who are expected to be informed on current situations and are required to take roughly an hour or two to look over the presented precis and chose the options they consider the best, or write in their suggestions. These are not binding resolutions, more of an over view of how the Citizenry feel about the issues. Born as I was the citizen of a free state…., the very right to vote imposes on me the duty to instruct myself in public affairs, however little influence my voice may have in them.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract

There has never been a "Constitution" as such. What there has always been the Bill of Duties, Priviledges and Rights - with strong emphasis on a citizens duties to their fellow citizens - as individuals, and to the state- as a collective coming second.

"Glory to the Race, Service to the State" and in that very specific order. The people come first - government and bureaucracy a distant second and kept as minimal and non invasive as possible.

There is a tricameral advisory body - the nation has always granted 'peerages' for exceptional people, and they form the House of Peers. However no Peer is forced to join the House of Peers.

Then there is the National Council , and the District Council - whose Councillors are elected from the whole - i.e. at large so to speak - for the National and from specific districts ( postal codes ) for the District.

Any citizen with three votes can nominate any other citizen who holds a minimum of two votes to the ballot. The only way you can get off the ballot is by medical necessity ( canidate or immediate family) being recalled/ reentering active Military Service; or pending loss of Citizenship.

Some of the antics that have been tried to get off the ballot have provided the entire nation much entertainment.

The Councillors, on the whole, follow the Jeffersonian ideal- they take their duty seriously, work hard and run home with unabashed relief once their term is up.

Terms are 6 years long though the Citizenry have the right of Recall, and have not hesitated to use it to remove those who have shirked their duty. A citizen can be nominated for multiple terms, but they then need to recieve a minimum of 70% of the votes in disctict for the Lower, and over a specific number of votes for the Upper. That percentage goes up to 75% after the second term, and up to 80% after the third, and so on. The number for the Upper goes up as well.

Councillors are not paid a salary, they get a cost of living stippend, transportation to and frrom the Capitol, and a few other relatively modest perks.

The Queen can remove an Peer or Councillor, at will, though she might have to provide proof and explaination of the trangsression(s) that brought about said removal.

She can also impliment laws without the consent of the House and Senate, but then again the Queen can always be recalled by popular vote. This is also an armed society, and dueling is legal. That tends to solve differences of opinion in a small scale manner, rather than letting them become widespread or wholesale. The Citizens have the ability to bring about 'a crisis in agreement', a revolution in fact.

However the Citizens of Tanaara tend to hold generally similar view points on life and on the whole work harmoniously with one another.

Qazox' Electoral System:

NATIONAL ELECTIONS:

FOR PRESIDENT:
Each election year in May, the 3 major political parties The Oxian Party (RL equivalent=Democrats), The Jovian Party (RL Equivalent=Republicans) , and the Minsk Party (RL Equivalent=Socialists) each hold their Nomination conventions. The candidates are voted upon in multiple rounds with the lowest nominee dropped after each round. If no canidate has recieved a 52% majority of the votes in the final round, then the nominee with the most votes will be the canidate. In the Oxian Party there are 38 Delegates, meaning 20 votes ensures nomination. In the Jovian Party, there are 35 delegates, with 19 votes ensuring nomination. In the Minsk Party, there are 41 delegates, requiring 22 votes to clinch the nomination.

On the 3rd Wednesday in September is election day. There 17 regions in Qazox, and the canidate that recieve the most votes in each region earns 50% of the Commoners' votes from that region. The 2nd place canidate recieves 33%, while the 3rd place recieves 17%. The percentages are counted up and the canidate with either 50.1% (157) of the 313 total Commoners or the highest % of total Commoners wins the election. Only once has the delegate with the highest % of Commoners not won the presidency (The 1900 election), but recent consitutional admendments have voided that particular flaw. Originally, the president had a 5 year term in office and could run up to 3 times for a maximum of 15 years in office. In 1900 this was abolished and the president was goven a single 15-yr term. In 1927, this was reduced to a single 8-yr term. Since 1900, a president cannot be re-elected. The President was inaugrated on April 1st until 1800, when it was moved to October 15th, approximately 1 month after the election.

CURRENT BREAK DOWN OF REGIONAL COMMONERS(Based on Population)
AXEN REGION- 17 Commoners
BRUXEN REGION- 20 Commoners
CHUIA REGION- 18 Commoners
GRAV REGION- 16 Commoners
GUANIA REGION- 16 Commoners
JOEDA REGION- 18 Commoners
KIBNASH REGION- 19 Commoners
PORTER REGION- 20 Commoners
QAZIA REGION- 23 Commoners
RECIFE REGION- 14 Commoners
REDINA REGION- 19 Commoners
RINAKE REGION- 18 Commoners
SAXER REGION- 19 Commoners
VALHALLA REGION- 23 Commoners
VITALIA REGION- 19 Commoners
VOGGIA REGION- 18 Commoners
YORK REGION- 16 Commoners
TOTAL DELEGATES: 313 Commoners


SENATE:
The Qazoxian Senate is comprised of 51 members. 17 are elected from each of the 17 regions called Regional Senators, the 17 regional Governors and 17 clergymen appointed by the Holy Oxen of Qazox. The governors of each region are elected to a 4 year term and can be re-elected up to 3 times for a 12 year max. The Senators are voted upon every 7 years and can only be in office for 2 terms. The Clergy serve for the lifetime of the Holy Ox who appointed them to the Senate. When the Holy Ox dies, the new Holy Ox must appoint 17 new Clergy to the Senate within 40 days of his ascending the Oxency. All members of the Senate start their term on October 16th, except for the clergymen who start their term on the 50th day after the passing of the Holy Ox.

HOUSE OF COMMONS:
Originally consisting of 300 members, in 1927 the number was increased to 313, to match the number of Presisdential Delegates. Each of the Commoners (as they are called) serve a 3 year term with a maximum of 15 years to serve. The House of Commons were directly voted upon by the people them selves with no regard to region. But in 1927 this was scraped and the number of presidential delegates is now the number of Commoners for each region. The House of Commons in fact votes for the president, according to the votes of the region they are elected from. By law no person with a yearly income of over 40,000 Zaqs can be elected to the House, truly making it a House of Commons. All members of the Hous of Commons start their term on October 16th.

In the Empire, people only vote for governors; everyone else is either appointed by the Emperor, the Governors, or a combination of the two. If people want a democratic voice, they can submit a petition through the Imperial Assembly, where every citizen has the opportunity to sign/write a petition/legislative offer.

In gubernatorial elections, people vote for one candidate in the first round. If a candidate achieves a 50% majority, they are confirmed as the next governor. If not, the top two contenders enter a second round, where one or the other will win a majority vote.

Democracy in action... ^_^

While many dispute the actual democratic value of the Gull Flag Republic, the new Constitution of 1959 does provide for allegedly fair elections. The President of the Republic is elected every six years by a nation-wide popular vote (in the first elections, Major General Nicodemo Ranalte (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Nicodemo_Ranalte) (running unopposed) won by a margin officially reported as ~44,000,000 to ~84,000).

Iansisle also has a bicameral legislature, with the upper house known as the Chamber of Fifty and the lower as the National Assembly. The Chamber is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Assembly. The Assembly is elected in first-past-the-post elections held every other year in the two hundred and twenty-five electoral districts across the Shield, Sentry Island, and Gadsan. Elections are not held in areas claimed by Iansisle as 'colonial dependencies', including Gallaga and Dianatran.

Suffurage is limited to adults over twenty-one years of age (an interesting fact: during the Effitian war, boys as young as sixteen were conscripted), which is a fair increase over the electoral laws of the ancien régime, which restricted the vote to white, land-owning males. However, many raise objections to the franchise, including the drafting of those who cannot vote, the exclusion of colonial citizens, and the unfair distribution of electoral districts (drawn up along geographic lines, there are large discrepancies: St Martin, a district in rural Pentonshire, counts one Assemblyman for 18,451 registered voters whereas Tenneban, in industrial Ianapalis, has one Assemblyman for 452,550 registered voters).

There are also many who question the accuracy of official numbers released by the Republic, theorizing everything from widespread corruption to deliberate misrepresentation by the government.

Qazox' Electoral System:

REGIONAL ELECTIONS:

For Regional Governor:
A regional governor is elected to a 4 year term and can be re-elected up to 3 times for a 12 year max. The election usually takes place on the 1st Monday in October, with the exception being the PORTER REGION, which holds all of its elections, except for the Presidential Election on the 3rd Wednesday in September. All governors take office on October 16th, the day after the Presidential Inaugration.

For Regional Senate:
Each region in Qazox has a Senate that usually consists of 45 members. Currently the QAZIA REGION and the RECIFE REGION each have Senates that consist of 55 members, and the BRUXEN REGION has a Senate of 39 members. The dates vary from region to region as to the date of the election, but all elections take place in August and the Senators usually start their term on September 1st. By Federal law, a Regional Senator is limited to a 3-yr term and to a maximum of 12 yrs of service.

Other Regional Elections:
Each region has certain elections and term limits for varied posts, judges and other offices. Most regional elected posts start on July 1st, contact your local election place for exact dates for your region. A list of the most common ones are below:


Regional Court Judges: Election Date: June 15th (by national law). Term limits: 10 years, re-electable in the AXEN, BRUXEN, CHUIA, GRAV, GUANIA Regions. 15 years non-re-electable all other Regions.
Regional Attorney: Election Dates: First Monday in June in most regions. First Monday in May in the Qazia Region. Second Wednesday in June in the York Region. Term limits: 5 yrs re-electable (Qazia, Axen and Guania Regions). 5-yrs Non-re-electable (SAXER, VALHALLA, VITALIA REGION, VOGGIA REGION, and YORK Regions). 7-yrs non-re-electable all other regions.
Regional Commandant (The Leader of the Regional National Guard): Election Dates: First Monday in June in most regions. First Monday in May in the Qazia Region. Second Wednesday in June in the York Region. Term Limits: In the Axen, Bruxen, Saxer, Vallhalla and Voggia Regions: 4-yr re-electable term. In all other Regions: 3-yr Re-electable term.


LOCAL ELECTIONS:

There are too many local elections to name here, but the most common ones are: Mayor, City Council, Town Council, District Attorney and Sheriff. Contact your local election office for the dates of each election and for the term limits and term start dates:

For Example Qazox City' election dates, term limits and term start dates:
Qazox City Mayoral Election: May 15th, unless that day is a Sunday, then it is May 16th.
Qazox City Mayoral Term Limits: 4-yr term, Maximum of 8 years served
Qazox City Mayoral Term Start: June 1st.

Qazox City Council (9 members): May 15th, unless that day is a Sunday, then it is May 16th.
Qazox City Council Term Limits: 2-yr term, maximum of 10 years served
Qazox City Council Term Start: June 1st.

Qazia County District Attorney: February 9th, unless that day is a Sunday, then it is February 10th.
Qazia County District Attorney Term Limits: 5-yr non-re-electable term
Qazia County District Attorney Term Start: March 1st.

Qazia County Sheriff: First Tuesday of March
Qazia County Sheriff Term Limits: 6-yr term, maximum of 18 years served
Qazia County Sheriff Term Start: March 27th.

The Empress can only be suceeded by a young girl who is chosen to become her princess. If the Empress decides not to send her to a youth house when she is 16 she will be sent away to the countryside to live with royal educators who will train her in the royal ways and prepare her to become Empress. She will live in the countryside with the educators until it is time for the Empress to hand over the throne i.e. when she is too old to rule (40) the Empress must be a beautiful young girl. Her parliament of officials is renewed by general election by the people every 10 years.

Zwangzug is divided into several dozen administrative districts. (There were supposed to be sixty-four, but due to surveyors that were mischievous, fuddled, lazy, or more than one of the above, that didn't quite work out.) Each district elects a representative to the Parliament that serves a fairly long term. However, the elections are staggered, so there will be several every year.

In all of these elections, parties nominate single candidates (every party will be stronger in certain districts than others). The elections are held under a preferential/instant-runoff voting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting) system: candidates are ranked in order of preference, with the candidate who receives the least number of first-place votes being eliminated and votes for them instead counting towards the voters' second-choice candidate, a process repeated until only one candidate remains.

Because of the tedious amount of time it would take to do the above manually, computerized systems are used.

The winner then becomes the representative for that specific district. Most of the districts have a Parliament of their own, with generally similar voting systems but various differences.

Voting is open to residents 16 and older that pass a (relatively stringent) intelligence test. "Citizenship" is perhaps too murky to be defined: suffice it to say that being integrated into the economy (which involves being registered with the government so that one's work can go towards the common center and one can receive the products of others) is sufficient to allow someone to vote if they meet the above criteria, regardless of national origin.

The only requirement existing for election to any position, however, is that of humanity, which means someone can be elected without being able to vote for themselves.

From its establishment as a semi-autonomous state in 1885, the Candelarias’ legislative chamber was the House of Representatives (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php?title=Candelaria_And_Marquez_House_of_Representatives). The number of seats varied wildly throughout the country’s early history, from around fifty seats to four-hundred; the current figure of 260 not settled upon until 1960. Seats were first-past-the-post constituencies, with as equal a population in each as possible.

The British monarch’s official representative on the islands invited the leader of the largest party to form a government as Prime Minister, the PM having a maximum of five years in a term, though a new Parliament could be called at any time.

The situation changed little following the granting of full independence in 1947; the only major addition being the creation of a 100-member Senate, with around half the seats given on a proportional representation basis, reflecting the actual vote count of the General Election for the House, the others appointed by the PM from judicial, religious and minority socio-cultural sources. The Senate Leader acted as President, replacing the British monarch.

The first set of major changes to this easy-to-follow picture occurred following the brief but nasty Civil War of 1959-60. In the temporary government following the end of the War, the frankly rather awful Second Constitution allowed for the creation of a dual executive, with a popularly-elected President acting alongside the Prime Minister. However in 1964, the election of David Clarke to the office of President, and the success of his Clarke Unionist Party in the House polls effectively allowed him to take both rolls. Subsequently, in 1968, Clarke banned the Presidential election on rather spurious grounds, a situation which has remained in place ever since. The House elections however still follow the pattern of Presidential elections, meaning that all terms of Parliament last four years exactly, which elections on May 12th.

Since ’68, the leader of the largest party in the House is immediately appointed President, an office he retains for the next four years except in cases of death, resignation or forced removal by the Senate. Indeed, he can retain the position regardless of party support, as was the case in the first half of 1983 when President E.H. Kyle, having been deposed as leader of the Unionist Party by George Nikolov, continued as an Independent premier, with only half a dozen parliamentary supporters.

As should be apparent, the four-year parliamentary system can lead to horrendous political deadlock, particularly now that C&M has several political parties, none commanding overwhelming support at any one time. In does however force a certain amount of consensus and cooperation among otherwise conflicting parties. Although Presidents are under no obligation to; it is clearly necessary on most occasions to form a coalition government. These have varied over the years in their make-up, often including by necessity one or more parties of wildly different political outlooks than the President’s, as witnessed by the current alliance of the economically socialist, socially conservative Unionist Party of President James Anderson with the Conservative Party and the UP’s almost diametric opposite, the Libertarians.

For the record, the office of Prime Minister is still retained, being usually combined with that of the Speaker of the House and/or the largely ceremonial Minister for Candelaria. Usually, either the job of PM or Vice-President (and sometimes both) are given to coalition partners.

In 1992, the House underwent its most dramatic change in years, when the constituency seats were reduced to just sixty, with a bias in favour of mid-sized towns for tedious political reasons, with the remaining twenty appointed on a PR basis. As a result, C&M citizens now have two votes at a General Election, one for their constituency and one for the 200 seats (the incongruously-named ‘Presidential Vote’). In the Presidential Vote, parties must provide a list of two hundred members. There is no threshold for representation, potentially allowing parties with as little as 0.3% of the popular vote to gain a seat.

The President must appoint his ministers from the House, usually from the 200 party-list seats though President Anderson has also chosen widely from the Unionists’ constituency members.

In 1994, the Senate was wound-up and replaced by a largely advisory, 12 member, National Council (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php?title=Candelaria_And_Marquez_National_Council).

Traditionally, local government was organised by population size, with evenly sized councils in the same way as the House. Today, however, they reflect the size of settlements, with both the largest cities and smallest villages having their own councils.

Exceptions are the Outlying Islands, who supply ⅛ of the country’s population. The largest of these (Green, Fallon, Sloane, Knee, Pranschke and Blackwell) followed the country’s second island of Marquez in declaring independence from the civil war-era government on the island that has become known as Candelaria. Although in practise they are an integral part of modern Candelaria And Marquez, are governed from the national capital Albrecht (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php?title=Albrecht) and return members to the House; each also retains its own Island Government with a Prime Minister.

Military dictatorship, there are no elections. The leader is basically who has the highest rank in the military, an equivalent to the US Five-Star General would rule. If the ruler steps down or dies, the next highest ranking officer takes his/her place.

There are only two positions in the government that are up to vote. Local judges and Senators. The country is divided into twenty-five different districts, with each district electing two Senators to represent their district in the Senate. The Senate then drafts laws, ammendants, and appeals to laws before sending them to the Great Leader for approval, denial, or sent back for further revision. All registered citizens over the age of 20 are allowed to vote as long as they registered three months prior the election date. In order to be eligable to run for Senator, you must first have served as a judge for twelve years, over the age of 800, and be a registered citizen of the nation. In order to run for a local judge you must have served as a lawyer for seven years and have two nominations from either the Senate or other judges. There are no political parties inside the ESF and thus there can be any number of canidates for the election so long as they meet the requirements.

Senator Elections are held every five years
Local Judge Elections are held every two years

National level - The Imperial Parliament
The Pantocratorian Imperial Parliament sits in the Palais du Parlement in New Rome. It is unicameral. There are 540 Members of Parliament, each elected to represent geographic electorates of approximately the same population (within a small margin to allow electorates to reflect actual communities). The Emperor appoints the Imperial Chancellor and Ministers of the Crown from the MPs; it is not legally necessary that the Cabinet thus appointed needs the confidence of the Parliament, but it is the normally understood practice. When the Parliament is dissolved, it is dissolved in full - elections are held for every seat.

Voting is optional and is open to all Imperial Citizens aged 18 or over. Only registered political parties may nominate candidates for parliamentary elections. Candidates do not need to reside in their electorate in order to be nominated - voters may only vote in elections for the electorate in which they reside. There are no term limits for MPs. On election day, voters go to polling booths held in public buildings and fill in a paper ballot. These polling booths are evenly and frequently distributed, however, and preliminary counts are conducted on the night after polls close at each polling booth, which allows for results to be determined in a few hours regardless of the paper-based system used.

MPs are elected via a compulsory preferential ballot, whereby electors must number the names of all candidates in order of their preference. In order to be elected, a candidate must have 50% of the vote. If no candidate is elected on the basis of primary votes (i.e. first preference votes), then the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and their votes are distributed amongst the other candidates according to the preferences marked on the card. This process is repeated until a candidate has 50% of the votes.

Electorate boundaries are defined by the Imperial Electoral Authority, which reconsiders the boundaries every three years, or after ever general election, whichever is first. Boundaries are changed if the voting population of a seat is significantly over quota, so as to ensure that each electorate has approximately the same population. The population of an electorate may be as much as 5% over or under the quota, however, in the interests of ensuring that as far as is possible, the electorate corresponds to an actual community, and to ensure that communities aren't split between two electorates.

The Imperial Parliament has no fixed terms. The Emperor dissolves the Imperial Parliament upon the advice of the Imperial Chancellor, although such advice isn't required. The Imperial Government is presently negotiating a mutually agreeable maximum term length with the Opposition to be proposed to the Emperor, who has expressed that he will only consent to a fixed maximum term if all major parties agree to it. If an MP resigns, dies, or is found guilty of a criminal offence, then his or her legal heir assumes his seat in the Parliament. However, the recent resignation from the Parliament of Princess Irene led to a by-election rather than a legal succession to the seat (as Her Highness had no legal heirs who desired to take the seat). The process of holding a by-election for a vacant electorate is understood to be part of the negotiations between the Government and Opposition involving fixed terms and other parliamentary reforms.

Note: Until 2005, the Imperial Electoral Authority did not exist and its functions were performed by the Pantocratorian Congregation for the Protection of the Creed (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Pantocratorian_Congregation_for_the_Protection_of_the_Creed). Polling booths were established in churches not in public buildings, and electorates boundaries were set at the ecclesiastical division which corresponded nearest to the quota. This explains why electorates are generally named after prominent churches or abbeys in the electorate, or after bishoprics.

Provincial Legislature of the Exarchate of New Jerusalem - The New Jerusalem Council of Ministers
The Council of Ministers is a unicameral legislature established in the Exarchate of New Jerusalem, which is the only Pantocratorian province to have its own legislature. The province is also subject to the authority of the Imperial Parliament - its provincial government restricts itself to local matters. Every member of the legislature is described as a minister, and the legislature is headed by the Exarch of New Jerusalem, who is the hereditary governor of the province.

The Council of Ministers is elected every five years, with all ministers re-elected. It is composed of sixty District Ministers, ten Church Ministers, and thirty Indian Ministers. (100 Ministers in total). It elects the various office holders of the provincial government, almost always from its own members.

District Ministers are elected to represent local communities. Every Imperial Citizen who is a resident of a district and is over the age of twenty one is allowed to vote for their district minister. Voting is optional, and is conducted at temporary polling booths established in easily accessible places, like school halls and churches. Candidates must be citizens of the district. Voting is compulsory preferential. Forty district ministers are elected from the city of New Jerusalem itself, representing districts with approximately equal populations. The districts are referred to by number only, and are redistributed every ten years, ensuring that they all have the same population (within a margin of 5% on either side). Twenty ministers are elected from the rest of the province, once again representing districts with approximately equal populations. These rural districts are referred to by name, usually of the largest town in the district. Redistribution of rural districts occurs every ten years, ensuring that the population is more or less equal between each rural district (within a margin of 10% on either side).

Church Ministers are appointed by the Archbishop of New Jerusalem, who advises the Exarch of his selections before any counting of votes has started but after polls have closed on election day. Church ministers must all be lay people - they cannot belong to any religious or lay order. They must be Imperial Citizens, and they must be residents of the Exarchate in order to be eligible. If the Archbishop nominates somebody ineligible, then no minister is appointed in his or her place until the next election.

Indian Ministers are elected by the Aboriginal Pantocratorian residents (citizen or not) of the Exarchate. Aboriginal Pantocratorians are also eligible to elect district ministers just as any other citizen would be, and thus have extra representation in the Council of Ministers. Any person who is at least one eighth Aboriginal Pantocratorian is eligible to cast an "Indian ballot" in addition to their district ballot at their polling place. Any citizen who meets the same qualifications may stand as a candidate on the Indian ballot. The thirty Indian ministers are elected according to proportional representation. Parties and candidates form lists, and are declared elected if they receive a number of votes greater than the quota necessary to be elected (which is equal to the total number of votes cast divided by thirty). Any votes they received in excess of the quota are passed on to the next candidate on their list at a lesser value. The ballot is also conducted according to affirmative action rules, so that twelve men are elected, twelve women, and six candidates of either gender - the affirmative action rule was instituted in the late 1970s after widespread criticism that Indian women were vastly underrepresented in the Council of Ministers.

OOC - oh well, might as well follow one Byzantium-inspired nation with another. Much of the below is edited from the Holy Empire wiki page (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Alasdair_I_Frosticus). The Imperial constitution is intended to reflect my imagining of how the RL Byzantine government might have evolved into a partially representative government had Manzikert been avoided, but the Holy Empire itself is obviously entirely fictional.


The nation known as The Holy Empire of Alasdair I Frosticus exists in the Dreamed Realm, a mysterious plane of existence capable of intersecting with what Imperial citizens know as Ordinary Reality, and is ruled by its namesake Emperor (or Basileus).

The nation is apparently continually dreamed into existence by the meditating monks of the Imperial Monastery attached to the Imperial Basilica of The Holy Wisdom in the capital city of Alasdairopolis. It is rumoured that should the monks be woken, the entire nation would crash out of the Dreamed Realm, killing untold millions. Reality within the Holy Empire is said to be not only malleable, but also actively manipulated in the service of the State and its citizens. While a stable reality is clearly preferred, this malleability leads to occurrences that may be considered strange - or in some cases downright impossible - to visitors from Ordinary Reality. The study of the Dreamed Realm and the science of dream reality is referred to as oneirology.

Much of what is known about the Holy Empire comes from the arcane tome the Codex Frosticus, which exists in several different versions (the A, B, C, D and E texts). The reliability of sections of the Codex has been called into question by several Ordinary Reality scholars, but few can agree on which parts are reliable and which are a tissue of myth and fabrication.

Government Structure
All of the Codex Frosticus texts agree on how the government of the Holy Empire is structured. The Codex A and B texts further agree that the Holy Empire is modelled on the theoretical ideal of the Byzantine state - a single universal empire with a single universal church.

The Head of State, founder, and ruler of the Holy Empire is the Basileus, Alasdair I Frosticus.

In theory, the Emperor’s power is supreme, but in practice the government features constitutional checks on that power that have led to the Holy Empire being better known for its extraordinary political freedoms and civil rights than for autocratic imperial rule. These constitutional checks recognise the power of four other elements in the State: the Court, the people of Alasdairopolis, the provinces, and - to a lesser degree - the Orthodox Church of the Holy Empire. These elements are each represented by councils with certain powers; the first three are referred to as the Senatorial Councils or State Councils, the latter as the Church Council. The Senatorial Councils are collectively considered to be the Imperial Senate.

The Court is represented by the Great Council. This body of approximately 50 members includes most of the High Ministers of State, representatives of the military leaders, and a selection of the City and Provincial aristocracy. Members are appointed by the Emperor, subject to approval by both the Great Council and one of the other two State Councils. Ministers of State and military representatives only serve while they hold their post, but the other members are appointed for life, and can only be removed if they retire, die, or through the request of the Emperor followed by a majority vote of the Council. The head of the Great Council – and the closest thing the Holy Empire has to a Prime Minister – is traditionally titled the Keeper of the Imperial Purple Inkwell.

The Little Council, consisting of some 150 members, initially evolved as as a means through which the merchant and professional classes of Alasdairopolis could be represented through their purchase of Senatorial rank, though it has since become more broad-based. Suffrage is available to all registered adult residents of the capital who either meet certain property requirements or who practice certain protected professions (mostly medical and educational). Soldiers, clergy, and monks are specifically excluded from the suffrage. Members are elected every 2 years through first past the post elections.

The Provincial Council (which meets in Alasdairopolis) represents the interests of the Themes (or provinces) of the Empire, and evolved as a response to the dominance of the capital, partially through the purchase (again) of Senatorial rank by Imperial residents outside the capital, and partially through the auspices of the landed classes. It is a bicameral legislature. Members of the Noble Provincial House are appointed by the Strategos (or governor) of the relevant theme, five per theme. The 333 members of the Common Provincial House are elected by Theme, broadly proportional by Theme, with additional members for certain important cities. Suffrage is near-universal, only excluding clergy and monks (and residents of Alasdairopolis excluded from Little Council suffrage vote in Provincial Council elections). Decisions must pass both the Noble and Common Houses to take effect. Members are elected for 5 year terms. As with the Little Council, elections are first-past-the-post.

Legislation may be proposed by any of the three Senatorial Councils, or the Emperor personally, and must pass both the Great Council and one of the other two State Councils to be presented to the Emperor, who maintains the power of veto (though vetoing a law passed by all three Councils would be unprecedented). The power to propose legislation affecting the Imperial purse is reserved to the Great Council and the Emperor. Members of any Council are automatically granted Senatorial rank. In theory, all three Councils could sit together in a single body as the collected Senate, but in practice this would only happen to acclaim a new Emperor.

The Church Council, called by the Patriarch of Alasdairopolis (head of the Orthodox Church of the Holy Empire) at his discretion, and representing the Dioceses and major monasteries of the Empire, may not propose legislation, but it may rule on the theological soundess thereof. If the Council finds against a law in this regard, it is returned to the Great Council, and will become law if it passes a second time. Since the threat of excommunication is a powerful weapon, this power is open to abuse, and is the major area of potential contention in the constitution. Most meetings of the Church Council, however, only rule on directly theological matters – only under strong (or obstinate) Patriarchs does it enter politics. The Church Council may also be asked for its opinion on legislation before voting; this is usually little more than a courtesy, but the Imperial government takes matters of courtesy extremely seriously.

Mayors and City Officals


At present time these are the only free elections in Kurona. People can chose mayors and other officals of their local cities by one person one vote secret ballot. At this level all officals are called Parliamenters, (The national legislative body is called the Cabinate) there are 35 Parliamenters at the City level and may be chosen only by the mayor or ruling Prince or Princess if desired. Elections for Mayor are held every 5 years unless the ruling Prince or Princess deems it undeeded or if the election day falls on a Sunday.

Several kinds of elections exist in the United States of Allanea on many levels.

Let me demonstrate:

The President: The Presidency operates close to the US Presidency, but using six-year terms. The electoral college is elected via a first-past-the-post method, but it is possible for it to elect a President different from the one they were expected to elect, though that has not so far happened.

The Federal Senate: There are about 300 Senators (the number flexes about as I annex more and more territories), with 2 Senators per state. They are not elected, but appointed by the state legislatures (more on these later).

The House of Representatives: Here’s an ancient post of mine, verbatim, that explains te system:


This report is the result of studies, made by the Helmgoltz Committee at the request of Chief Justice Narragansett, President for Life Alexander Kazansky, the League of Concerned Allaneans, and the Libertarian Party of Allanea National Committee. With the funds provided by Congress under the 2006 budget, we have been able to establish this draft for a Potential New Voting System.

Upon the establishment of the Potential New Voting System (hereafter PNVS) outlined below, any kind of elections to the Allanean House of Representatives will be permanently ended.

While this may sound contradictory in nature, we posit a system where elections to the House of Representatives will be ended, and yet voting will still occur.

Visualize, if you will, a set of powerful and secure computers, running some version of the Linux Operating System (our research recommends some variant of Linspire, however SuSE may also turn out to be modifiable for these purposes). Significantly, this computer, or set of computers, will house personal accounts of approximately six billion Allaneans (every Freeman aged sixteen or over).

Under the new system, any person, at any time, can walk into the House of Congress and become a Congressman. However, he will have only one vote – his own. Using the accounts, Freeman will be able to log in at any time, and add their votes or withdraw them from any Congressman. The salaries of the Congressmen will be proportional to the amount of people endorsing them.

Such a system will eliminate the ‘post-election syndrome’, where Congressmen are seen as performing differently from what they promised in their campaigns, due to either coalition politics or another reason. It will also allow all the Freemen, including those in the minority, to be represented – whereas in the current system, members of small, ‘fringe’ parties, or people whose candidate has lost are no longer relevant for six years until the next election.

More interestingly, it will make the Representatives pay much, much more attention to the opinion of the voters, all the time, rather then just before an election.

While the security concerns exist, we believe there is no reason to believe this system is not secure – not any less secure then the online banking, money-transfer, and stock-dealing software people trust with their livelihood on a daily basis. However, the question of voter privacy remains unresolved by this report.

Note two things about this:

Anybody can become a Representative, you just need to walk into the Congress building. However, until you accumulate endorsements, you will have only one vote (your own) and very limited floor time (as in non-existent). There are several dozen city drunks that camp out on the Congress floor, and also are Representatives. One of them even has 450,000 endorsements.

Salaries only begin to be paid to those with over 1 million endorsements and are proportional to one’s popularity.

Other levels of government:

The following government positions in Allanea are filled with directly elected officials. The method of elections is always personal (party-list elections are not used anywhere in Allanea), and often FPTP though sometimes Allaneans use instant run-off voting.

The positions are:

State governors and lieutenant governors, state legislators, state and local judges, federal judges below the supreme court, officers in the state guard and commanders of ships in the state navies, city and county council members, district and state attorneys, sheriffs, school boards (sometimes public school headmasters), water management and wildlife management officials.

Direct initiative ballots and referenda are also often conducted on the state level. On the Federal level they are unneeded.

Federal Elections
The United Kingdom of Brutland and Norden has a parliamentary form of government. Every four years, or whenever Parliament is dissolved, a new Parliament is voted in.

The Nord-Brutlandese Parliament (Parlimento) is actually composed of two houses, the General Court (Corteso Jenerala) and the House of Lords (Caso di Paggionnu).

All of the General Court's 150 seats are up every time a Parliamentary election is held. It is constitutionally apportioned as follows: 70 from Brutland; 70 from Norden; and 10 from the Union Territories. They are elected in single-member districts in a first past the post system. Currently a bill is pending in Parliament allocating a new seat for the Nord-Brutlandese abroad.

The House of Lords' membership of 24 erratically changes. Constitutionally, 11 lords should come from the province of Brutland, 11 from the province of Norden, and 2 from the Union Territories.
Only 3 of the provincial lords and all of the Union Territories' lords are royally appointed.
Two provincial lords are appointed by the provincial governor (in Norden) or the premier (in Brutland) and 2 by the provincial legislatures. Thus, the Brute appointive seats may be replaced every time a provincial election takes place in Brutland; and two Nordener appointive seats may be replaced every two years (the governor and legislature are elected in staggered years, see below).
One provincial seat is appointed by the provincial caucus in the federal General Court - ie. all the Brute members of the General Court select a Brute member they will elevate to the House of Lords. So technically, this MP sits in both houses of Parliament (Setoci in Casu Doza).
The remaining three are again selected differently between the provinces. Brutland has hereditary seats; there are 9 recognized hereditary seats that can be elevated to the House of Lords: The Duchies of Padania, Seppa, Trascara, Trazio, Nicoletano, Capitanata, Imperio, Arcadia, and Toscaria; one is replaced every year. A hereditary seat can be elevated to the House of Lords by a royal decree. Norden, with its republican history, popularly elects its lords every two years.

Provincial Elections
Brutland
Brutland has a parliamentary form of government; its government is voted every three years or until it loses a vote of confidence. Executive power is vested in a royally-appointed governor; the premier exercises real power.

Grant Council (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Grattio#Brutland)elections are held every two years.

Norden
Norden has a unique form of government, it has separate executive and legislative powers. Executive power is exercised by the governor, elected by a province-wide popular vote every four years. The legislature is also elected every four years but legislative elections do not coincide with gubernatorial elections. A governor thus serves with two different legislatures; and a legislature may serve under two different governors. A legislative election is currently scheduled for 2008.

The Nordener Legislature is composed of two houses: a House of Commons, with 500 members elected in single-member districts; and a Senate, elected from 35 senatorial districts.

Grant Council (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Grattio#Norden)elections are also held every two years.

The government consists of 15 elected Members of the House. Each is an independent, political parties are not illegal but the islanders just don't trust them. Each of the 15 members are elected from there own County of which they must be resident. These 15 members then determine who should be leader of the Island by way of secret ballots. Of course this probably involves a lot of wheeling and dealing and is open to corruptness. To combat this each Member of the House must consult his or her own County Council. The size of the Council is dependant upon the population size of the county. Again each of these is elected in separate elections. A by-election can be called by the councillors if they have a vote of no confidence of which 67% vote against the current Member of the House. Obviously Members of the House need to be considerate in the views of the councillors who are the voice of the people. Many people say the real power lies within the County Councils. Any person above the age of 18 can vote and become a member of the house or council.

Elections are held every three years and election days are national holidays and times of great celebrations and partying. Members of the House are elected one year, the councillors are elected the next and on the third year there are elections for the Village Elders (who don't have to be old). The village elders are only responsible for minor village matters. Many see this as a natural stepping stone to a further political career or a role in the magistrates.

Voting is voluntary in Hart Island, but it is such a big part of society that people have been known to get up of their death beds to vote and stick around for a couple of days just to see who won.

At the national level there is a unicameral Senate of 693 members, elected for two year terms. The Presidency is a 5 year term, with a limit of two consecutive terms.

All elections are first past the post.

Next election: Presidential, September 17, 2007.

My people shall have no choice in determining their leader, I was here first so I don't see why I should be taken out of power. This is my statement regarding such.

Mmm. This is difficult, due to the...interesting system of the established Dersconi Empire.

At the Imperial level, it is an autocratic, divine right monarchy, which can overrule any of the lower levels of government.

From there downward, the general trend is that the smaller the constituency, the more democratic it is, going from Imperial --- > State --- > Province --- > County --- > city/borough/etc

And from there, the States have pretty much full autonomy in choosing their political system, but most are ruled as a constitutional monarchy (with one being a triumveratal dictatorship and another being a republic, Roman-style) with typically unicameral legislatures, and it goes on from there, differing too much to really be able to list here.

Everyone over age 16 is required to vote.

The may Parliament is set up is interesting. There are 351 seats, ten for each province and one for the capital. However, the seats are apportioned nationally based on how a party does in an election, and not by province.

The Chancellor election was a national first past the post, but that will change for the next election in 2012.

The Federal Republic does not have a parliamentary system; the executive and legislative branches are elected separately. The Constitution requires that all born or naturalized citizens age 18 and up (excepting convicts, etc.) must be afforded the right to vote, but in most states the age of consent is 17. Voting-age laws are rather controversial in some states because the Xt'Tapolopaquetl, the militant natives of Omigodtheykilledkenny, are afforded citizenship, and breed like jackrabbits, so the large numbers of Xt'Tap youth coming of age may influence the outcome of elections. Spineless politicians from the Liberal Party have proposed lowering the voting age to 16 in some states, since the Xt'Tap historically vote for their party. Another fear is that fringe Xt'Tap candidates may start winning seats in Congress and statehouses if the voting age is too low. This fear has assured that the citizens of the federal district, heavily Xt'Tapolopaquetl, cannot vote for president or elect members of Congress -- though many bypass this rule by declaring their official residence to be in the neighboring state of Thorland.

The electoral system itself is rather boring: it's just a carbon copy of that of the Untied States: in most states, people vote in districts for the 650-member Assembly, or lower house, and the citizens at large of a state elect the Senate delegation, which is actually somewhat different from the U.S. Senate: instead of two senators, each state elects between three and five members, who as a whole cast a single vote on the Senate floor. In some states, the voters choose a single slate of candidates from either party; in others, senators are elected separately. In the latter states the minority party will occasionally propose adding a member of the Senate delegation, if they feel they can win the extra seat and gain more influence, or possibly seize control of the delegation. Assemblymen serve 2½-year terms; senators for seven years. This year the congressional elections fall on Sept. 4.

The president and vice president are chosen every five years by an electoral college, which again is similar to the U.S. system with some differences. The president and vice president are actually elected separately, so presidential candidates can endorse their preferred vice president to assure that they too will win in the electoral college. Usually the presidential candidates from the Liberal and Conservative parties pick the VP candidate from their own party, but on rare occasion they'll endorse someone else, as the current president did when he chose independent candidate Antigone Morgan. Usually there are only candidates from the two major parties (Liberal and Conservative) in the national elections, and one or two independent candidates. Third parties do not traditionally fare well on the national stage.

A lot of these details are missing from my wiki entry (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Omigodtheykilledkenny#Federal_Congress), but may be edited in later.

The Chamber of Deputies is elected according to proportional representation by Member provided that every Member has at least one seat. The Senate is elected through staggered first-past-the-post elections with each Member electing one to three Senators depending on population. The President, Vice President and Confederal Council are elected by the Confederal Assembly which consists of the Chamber and the Senate. The Head of the Commonwealth is not elected.

On a related topic, this (http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2183/arigvt2iw1.png) shows you how government works in Ariddia.

Cookesland's electoral system is a carbon copy of the U.S.A.'s

Dellschau is a city-state that elect district officials for a term of one year and state officials for three years. Everyone can vote, but we put gunsels or, uh, electoral adviser committees at all election centers to ensure a safe, fair and unbiased voting process. If for some reason a person of "questionable" moral fiber is elected into a position their reputation is slandered and they are pressured by the "conservative" majority to skip town. One way or another they do, though one or two have been found floating face down in the Sonora river. What can I say, some people can't take the emotional burden (of a fifty pound weight around their legs in freezing water).