Coronae
07-03-2004, 09:26
The Federation of Coronae, as a newly-created nation, wishes to announce its presence before the world and communicate its desire to conduct formal relations forthwith. This Federation was born of an age-old alliance of constitutional monarchies and absolutist kingships who have decided it would be the best for them and their people to join together in a new nation. There was much unrest in some domains at the birth of our country, which has hurt our police forces considerably. All foreign dignitaries visiting Coronae are assigned a military detachment for their protection, as some of the more ruthless elements of the resistance (consisting mainly of disaffected nobles and their supporters who wish to maintain absolute rule in their old domains) are fiercely xenophobic. The following is a brief introduction to the governmental system in Coronae.
The legislative body of Coronae is a representative body elected by the citizens of the several domains of the Old Alliance and contains a mix of nobles and commoners. Representation of a domain is determined by the population of that domain (the Federal Parliament currently contains 100 seats). Parliamentary elections occur every year. The chief executive of Coronae (called the Grand Prince) is elected by the noble classes from the Old Alliance. The Grand Prince must be a member of the nobility and serves a five-year term. The nobility from each domain are given one collective vote and are free to use their vote based on any criteria they wish. Several of the nobility defer to their populace when making their decision (this mostly occurs in domains whose citizens have had voting rights of some kind for some time), but most exercise their elective prerogative themselves. No term limits are in place for the legislative or executive branch, though no executive may serve for two consecutive terms. In addition, to curb "regional nepotism", candidates must be a member of a federally recognized political party and each party may have only one candidate. A system of checks and balances as well as a judicial branch appointed by the executive and approved by the legislature ensures that neither the legislative nor executive branch gain too much power. Members of the judiciary may be either commoners or nobles and are appointed for terms that end either with their resignation, death or impeachment and expulsion. The "upper" judiciary handles disputes between branches of the federal or Dominion governments, disputes between different Dominion governments and disputes between individuals and the federal or Dominion governments (often relating to issues of civil rights). The "lower" judiciary handles criminal and civil proceedings at the Dominion and federal level. A civil or criminal case may be moved to the upper judiciary if it satisfies certain criteria.
Military service in Coronae is not required for commoners but those who choose to join are highly respected by the government and receive pensions upon retirement from the workforce. Members of the nobility are required to serve in the military in some form (this was a concession to the more militant and absolutist nobles), be it active service (3 years min.), a position in the reserves (4 years min.), or service in the Federal Military Police Force (6 years min.). Nobles may also choose to serve in their respective Dominion Police Forces if they wish (10 years min.). Failure of a noble to serve in any of these capacities may result in confiscation of a large percentage of their wealth as well as being barred from governmental service, being stripped of their status, imprisonment, or a combination thereof.
Our national animal is the penguin, known for its endurance in the face of harsh conditions. The unit of currency in Coronae is the quatlu, which is derived from an ancient word meaning "compulsive gambler", as many members of the nobility historically are known to bet on anything (gambling is discouraged for commoners, as they often don't have personal wealth to fall back on, but it is not illegal for them to do so).
The legislative body of Coronae is a representative body elected by the citizens of the several domains of the Old Alliance and contains a mix of nobles and commoners. Representation of a domain is determined by the population of that domain (the Federal Parliament currently contains 100 seats). Parliamentary elections occur every year. The chief executive of Coronae (called the Grand Prince) is elected by the noble classes from the Old Alliance. The Grand Prince must be a member of the nobility and serves a five-year term. The nobility from each domain are given one collective vote and are free to use their vote based on any criteria they wish. Several of the nobility defer to their populace when making their decision (this mostly occurs in domains whose citizens have had voting rights of some kind for some time), but most exercise their elective prerogative themselves. No term limits are in place for the legislative or executive branch, though no executive may serve for two consecutive terms. In addition, to curb "regional nepotism", candidates must be a member of a federally recognized political party and each party may have only one candidate. A system of checks and balances as well as a judicial branch appointed by the executive and approved by the legislature ensures that neither the legislative nor executive branch gain too much power. Members of the judiciary may be either commoners or nobles and are appointed for terms that end either with their resignation, death or impeachment and expulsion. The "upper" judiciary handles disputes between branches of the federal or Dominion governments, disputes between different Dominion governments and disputes between individuals and the federal or Dominion governments (often relating to issues of civil rights). The "lower" judiciary handles criminal and civil proceedings at the Dominion and federal level. A civil or criminal case may be moved to the upper judiciary if it satisfies certain criteria.
Military service in Coronae is not required for commoners but those who choose to join are highly respected by the government and receive pensions upon retirement from the workforce. Members of the nobility are required to serve in the military in some form (this was a concession to the more militant and absolutist nobles), be it active service (3 years min.), a position in the reserves (4 years min.), or service in the Federal Military Police Force (6 years min.). Nobles may also choose to serve in their respective Dominion Police Forces if they wish (10 years min.). Failure of a noble to serve in any of these capacities may result in confiscation of a large percentage of their wealth as well as being barred from governmental service, being stripped of their status, imprisonment, or a combination thereof.
Our national animal is the penguin, known for its endurance in the face of harsh conditions. The unit of currency in Coronae is the quatlu, which is derived from an ancient word meaning "compulsive gambler", as many members of the nobility historically are known to bet on anything (gambling is discouraged for commoners, as they often don't have personal wealth to fall back on, but it is not illegal for them to do so).