CIVIL STATE OF
Pathoal
Pathoal
[The OP to this thread can be officially considered a very heavy W.I.P.
]OOC
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Pathoal Worldbuilding
- Thread starter Comfed
- Start date
[The OP to this thread can be officially considered a very heavy W.I.P.
]OOCNational Congress of Pathoal
The National Congress of Pathoal is the legislature of the government of Pathoal. It is tricameral, composed of the National Assembly, the Legislative Council and the Control Council. In addition to passing laws, the National Assembly nominates the Prime Minister and the Cabinet is responsible to the National Assembly, and the Control Council has several functions relating to executive oversight. Members of the National Assembly and the Legislative Council are chosen through direct election, while members of the Control Council are elected by the assemblies of the various prefectures. The Congress has 1050 members in total, of which 500 are in the National Assembly, 300 are in the Legislative Council, and 250 are in the Control Council. The Congress was created in 1924, replacing the Royal Diet in its legislative function.
Composition
The National Assembly is elected in general elections which must occur at least every four years but which can also be called by the Prime Minister at any time. Members of the Legislative Council are elected in fixed elections every four years, while members of the Control Council are elected when their prefecture's assemblies convene every four years. All elections occur on National Election Day, a public holiday.
The National Assembly is elected through a form of mixed-member proportional representation. Each electoral district elects one member through direct instant-runoff voting, and each prefecture additionally elects as many members of the National Assembly as it has districts to ensure that the political parties running in that prefecture are proportionally represented based on the cumulative vote shares of their candidates. In effect, this means that half the seats in the National Assembly are filled by representatives from the 250 electoral districts and the other half are filled to ensure proportionality with the political parties' vote shares in the prefectures. Unlike in most mixed-member proportional representation systems, voters do not cast votes for political parties, but rather the sum of the votes from candidates from the political parties is used to determine the parties' seat shares. In the Legislative Council, the electoral districts also elect members by instant runoff voting, but the second-place finisher with the largest sum of votes in each prefecture is also elected. In the Control Council, the prefectural assemblies elect as many members as that prefecture has electoral districts.
Members of the National Congress must be Pathoalian citizens and they must be eligible to vote in the election they are running in. Members may run an unlimited number of times unless they serve as Prime Minister, in which case they may only serve for ten years after their initial appointment to the premiership. Although only 250 members of the Congress are required to affiliate with a political party (those elected by prefecture to ensure proportionality in the National Assembly) in practice they generally all do with few independents winning election, especially outside of the Control Council.
The electoral system under which the National Congress operates has often been criticised for being gerrymandered in favour of rural districts. In particular, the frequent use of apportioning seats to prefectures as a whole means that rural prefectures are often disproportionately represented compared to urban ones.
Powers
The National Congress is described in the Constitution as the "highest organ of state power" holding "sole and supreme legislative authority". This stands in contrast to the 1856 Constitution, which described the King as exercising legislative power "on the advice of the Royal Diet". The National Congress' responsibilities are not just the passing of laws, but also the nomination of the Prime Minister, the ratification of treaties, the approval of budgets, and oversight of the government. It can also initiate constitutional amendments which must be approved in a referendum.
The Prime Minister must be nominated by the National Assembly, establishing the principle of legislative supremacy over the government. The Cabinet can also be dissolved through a motion of no confidence by the National Assembly, triggering new elections. Government officials, including the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, are required to appear before investigative committees of the Control Council or the National Assembly. Many government officials, including justices, heads of agencies, administrative Deputy Ministers and commissioned officers of the military, are required to be approved by the Control Council and can be impeached by it.
Generally, a bill must be approved by all three chambers of the Congress and then proclaimed by the King to become law. This means that the role of the King is similar to royal assent in many constitutional monarchies, however, the King cannot refuse to proclaim a bill and does so solely on the binding advice of the Prime Minister. Legally, this gives the Prime Minister a veto on most bills, although party discipline and the need for support in the National Assembly to remain in power means that bills opposed by the Prime Minister rarely pass. Thus, royal proclamation is almost always a formality.
The National Assembly is the most powerful chamber of the diet, as it is the chamber of confidence for the executive and while legislative bills can be rejected by the other chambers, only the National Assembly can reject a budget outright and no other chamber can affect the selection of the Prime Minister. The Control Council is the more powerful of the two "inferior" chambers, with the power to reject treaties and appointments as well as many executive oversight powers (although the most powerful of these, especially impeachment, generally require a two thirds majority vote).
Activites
Under the Constitution, at least one session of the National Congress must be convened per year, and the National Assembly must be convened after a general election or whenever the office of the Prime Minister is vacant. The King formally summons and dismisses the Congress but must do so only on the binding advice of the Prime Minister.
A majority of the members of any chamber constitutes a quorum for that chamber. Deliberations are public unless two thirds of the membership of a chamber vote in favour of a closed session for that chamber. Each chamber elects its own officers and determines its own rules. The Congress has parliamentary immunity - members of Congress cannot be charged for words spoken or votes taken in the Congress and detained members must be permitted to attend sessions of the Congress. Members may be expelled jointly by the Control Council and the chamber to which the member belongs by two thirds majority vote of both these chambers. Each member of the Cabinet has the right to speak in every house of the Congress.
The vast majority of bills are submitted to the National Assembly by the Cabinet (which is the only body that can introduce legislation to the National Assembly) or are submitted by members of the Legislative Council. Bills are generally drafted by the relevant executive ministries or agencies and generally undergo further drafting in the legislative committees of the Legislative Council.
History
The first modern legislature in Pathoalian history was the Royal Diet established following 13 years of civil strife known as the "Bleeding Forties" culminating in the April Rebellions of 1854 leading to the abolition of feudalism and the proclamation of the 1856 Constitution. The first Royal Diet convened on November 24, 1856 following the first general elections. The early Diet was plagued by controversy and political polarisation from the still unhealed divides of the Bleeding Forties as well as rapidly growing rifts between the newly established Royal Pathoalian Armed Forces and the civilian government. As a result of these early conflicts, as well a substantial amount of corruption especially among the new political parties, severely damaged the public reputation of politicians during the early Diet.
During the late 1890s and early 1900s, the rise in popularity of authoritarian nationalist political ideologies as well as substantial collusion with the upper echelons of the military to facilitate electoral fraud led far-right authoritarian parties to dominate the Diet, and the increasing weakness of the monarchy allowed it to be controlled by advisors also on the extreme right, led to a period of authoritarian, oligarchic and militaristic rule. This period, considered the period of the late Diet, ended in 1922 with schisms in the government and the military allowing power to fall into the hands of a reformist Prince Regent who appointed a national unity cabinet to rewrite the Constitution to prevent future erosion of democracy, leading to the 1924 Constitution.
The 1856 Constitution provided for a bicameral legislature composed of a House of Peers who were appointed by the King and an elected House of Commons. The King had to approve all bills before they could become law and the House of Commons was limited in its influence over the Cabinet and the budget. These royal powers were used by the far-right coalition which took power in the late Diet period due to heavy turnover and crisis in the monarchy leading to a weak royal house which could be easily manipulated by highly placed government officials and the military. These royal powers were greatly curtailed in the 1924 Constitution to prevent future abuses and to eliminate the formal power of the unelected monarchy.
The National Congress has a history of being controlled by dominant political parties presiding over extremely long-lasting governments through most of its history. From 1924 to 1940 the National Reform Party held power until it was swept from it in the 1940 general election, losing to the left-wing Social Democratic Party which would govern from 1940 until 1961. The Social Democratic Party lost power in 1961 after economic downturn led Pathoal's at the time high tax burden to become extremely unpopular, and the centre-right National Liberal Party swept the 1961 general elections. It would govern until 1992 when mounting income inequality brought on by its economically liberal policies led the party to lose its majority in 1999, forcing it to govern in the first minority government since the 1924 Constitution. During the three years of minority government the other three parties in the Congress were the Social Democrats and the Conservative Democratic Party. The minority government then collapsed in a no-confidence vote in the wake of several corruption scandals and a sales tax hike proposed to help cover the country's increasing debt. The following general elections brought the Conservative Democratic Party to power and consigned the National Liberals' presence in the Congress to irrelevancy with dramatic seat losses. The Conservative Democrats, who have scaled back economic deregulation while continuing to support big business, have held power since 2002 and still hold power today.
National Assembly | 
Legislative Council | 
Control Council | 
Total |
Conservative Democratic Party [CDP]
Social Democratic Party [SDP]
Constitutional Liberal Party [CLP]
Pathoal Socialist Party [PSP]
National Reform Revival [NRR]
Party for Popular Force [PPF]
Communist Party of Pathoal [CPP]
Independents [IND]
Social Democratic Party [SDP]
Constitutional Liberal Party [CLP]
Pathoal Socialist Party [PSP]
National Reform Revival [NRR]
Party for Popular Force [PPF]
Communist Party of Pathoal [CPP]
Independents [IND]
The National Congress of Pathoal is the legislature of the government of Pathoal. It is tricameral, composed of the National Assembly, the Legislative Council and the Control Council. In addition to passing laws, the National Assembly nominates the Prime Minister and the Cabinet is responsible to the National Assembly, and the Control Council has several functions relating to executive oversight. Members of the National Assembly and the Legislative Council are chosen through direct election, while members of the Control Council are elected by the assemblies of the various prefectures. The Congress has 1050 members in total, of which 500 are in the National Assembly, 300 are in the Legislative Council, and 250 are in the Control Council. The Congress was created in 1924, replacing the Royal Diet in its legislative function.
Composition
The National Assembly is elected in general elections which must occur at least every four years but which can also be called by the Prime Minister at any time. Members of the Legislative Council are elected in fixed elections every four years, while members of the Control Council are elected when their prefecture's assemblies convene every four years. All elections occur on National Election Day, a public holiday.
The National Assembly is elected through a form of mixed-member proportional representation. Each electoral district elects one member through direct instant-runoff voting, and each prefecture additionally elects as many members of the National Assembly as it has districts to ensure that the political parties running in that prefecture are proportionally represented based on the cumulative vote shares of their candidates. In effect, this means that half the seats in the National Assembly are filled by representatives from the 250 electoral districts and the other half are filled to ensure proportionality with the political parties' vote shares in the prefectures. Unlike in most mixed-member proportional representation systems, voters do not cast votes for political parties, but rather the sum of the votes from candidates from the political parties is used to determine the parties' seat shares. In the Legislative Council, the electoral districts also elect members by instant runoff voting, but the second-place finisher with the largest sum of votes in each prefecture is also elected. In the Control Council, the prefectural assemblies elect as many members as that prefecture has electoral districts.
Members of the National Congress must be Pathoalian citizens and they must be eligible to vote in the election they are running in. Members may run an unlimited number of times unless they serve as Prime Minister, in which case they may only serve for ten years after their initial appointment to the premiership. Although only 250 members of the Congress are required to affiliate with a political party (those elected by prefecture to ensure proportionality in the National Assembly) in practice they generally all do with few independents winning election, especially outside of the Control Council.
The electoral system under which the National Congress operates has often been criticised for being gerrymandered in favour of rural districts. In particular, the frequent use of apportioning seats to prefectures as a whole means that rural prefectures are often disproportionately represented compared to urban ones.
Powers
The National Congress is described in the Constitution as the "highest organ of state power" holding "sole and supreme legislative authority". This stands in contrast to the 1856 Constitution, which described the King as exercising legislative power "on the advice of the Royal Diet". The National Congress' responsibilities are not just the passing of laws, but also the nomination of the Prime Minister, the ratification of treaties, the approval of budgets, and oversight of the government. It can also initiate constitutional amendments which must be approved in a referendum.
The Prime Minister must be nominated by the National Assembly, establishing the principle of legislative supremacy over the government. The Cabinet can also be dissolved through a motion of no confidence by the National Assembly, triggering new elections. Government officials, including the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, are required to appear before investigative committees of the Control Council or the National Assembly. Many government officials, including justices, heads of agencies, administrative Deputy Ministers and commissioned officers of the military, are required to be approved by the Control Council and can be impeached by it.
Generally, a bill must be approved by all three chambers of the Congress and then proclaimed by the King to become law. This means that the role of the King is similar to royal assent in many constitutional monarchies, however, the King cannot refuse to proclaim a bill and does so solely on the binding advice of the Prime Minister. Legally, this gives the Prime Minister a veto on most bills, although party discipline and the need for support in the National Assembly to remain in power means that bills opposed by the Prime Minister rarely pass. Thus, royal proclamation is almost always a formality.
The National Assembly is the most powerful chamber of the diet, as it is the chamber of confidence for the executive and while legislative bills can be rejected by the other chambers, only the National Assembly can reject a budget outright and no other chamber can affect the selection of the Prime Minister. The Control Council is the more powerful of the two "inferior" chambers, with the power to reject treaties and appointments as well as many executive oversight powers (although the most powerful of these, especially impeachment, generally require a two thirds majority vote).
Activites
Under the Constitution, at least one session of the National Congress must be convened per year, and the National Assembly must be convened after a general election or whenever the office of the Prime Minister is vacant. The King formally summons and dismisses the Congress but must do so only on the binding advice of the Prime Minister.
A majority of the members of any chamber constitutes a quorum for that chamber. Deliberations are public unless two thirds of the membership of a chamber vote in favour of a closed session for that chamber. Each chamber elects its own officers and determines its own rules. The Congress has parliamentary immunity - members of Congress cannot be charged for words spoken or votes taken in the Congress and detained members must be permitted to attend sessions of the Congress. Members may be expelled jointly by the Control Council and the chamber to which the member belongs by two thirds majority vote of both these chambers. Each member of the Cabinet has the right to speak in every house of the Congress.
The vast majority of bills are submitted to the National Assembly by the Cabinet (which is the only body that can introduce legislation to the National Assembly) or are submitted by members of the Legislative Council. Bills are generally drafted by the relevant executive ministries or agencies and generally undergo further drafting in the legislative committees of the Legislative Council.
History
The first modern legislature in Pathoalian history was the Royal Diet established following 13 years of civil strife known as the "Bleeding Forties" culminating in the April Rebellions of 1854 leading to the abolition of feudalism and the proclamation of the 1856 Constitution. The first Royal Diet convened on November 24, 1856 following the first general elections. The early Diet was plagued by controversy and political polarisation from the still unhealed divides of the Bleeding Forties as well as rapidly growing rifts between the newly established Royal Pathoalian Armed Forces and the civilian government. As a result of these early conflicts, as well a substantial amount of corruption especially among the new political parties, severely damaged the public reputation of politicians during the early Diet.
During the late 1890s and early 1900s, the rise in popularity of authoritarian nationalist political ideologies as well as substantial collusion with the upper echelons of the military to facilitate electoral fraud led far-right authoritarian parties to dominate the Diet, and the increasing weakness of the monarchy allowed it to be controlled by advisors also on the extreme right, led to a period of authoritarian, oligarchic and militaristic rule. This period, considered the period of the late Diet, ended in 1922 with schisms in the government and the military allowing power to fall into the hands of a reformist Prince Regent who appointed a national unity cabinet to rewrite the Constitution to prevent future erosion of democracy, leading to the 1924 Constitution.
The 1856 Constitution provided for a bicameral legislature composed of a House of Peers who were appointed by the King and an elected House of Commons. The King had to approve all bills before they could become law and the House of Commons was limited in its influence over the Cabinet and the budget. These royal powers were used by the far-right coalition which took power in the late Diet period due to heavy turnover and crisis in the monarchy leading to a weak royal house which could be easily manipulated by highly placed government officials and the military. These royal powers were greatly curtailed in the 1924 Constitution to prevent future abuses and to eliminate the formal power of the unelected monarchy.
The National Congress has a history of being controlled by dominant political parties presiding over extremely long-lasting governments through most of its history. From 1924 to 1940 the National Reform Party held power until it was swept from it in the 1940 general election, losing to the left-wing Social Democratic Party which would govern from 1940 until 1961. The Social Democratic Party lost power in 1961 after economic downturn led Pathoal's at the time high tax burden to become extremely unpopular, and the centre-right National Liberal Party swept the 1961 general elections. It would govern until 1992 when mounting income inequality brought on by its economically liberal policies led the party to lose its majority in 1999, forcing it to govern in the first minority government since the 1924 Constitution. During the three years of minority government the other three parties in the Congress were the Social Democrats and the Conservative Democratic Party. The minority government then collapsed in a no-confidence vote in the wake of several corruption scandals and a sales tax hike proposed to help cover the country's increasing debt. The following general elections brought the Conservative Democratic Party to power and consigned the National Liberals' presence in the Congress to irrelevancy with dramatic seat losses. The Conservative Democrats, who have scaled back economic deregulation while continuing to support big business, have held power since 2002 and still hold power today.
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Prefectural and Local Government in Pathoal
Pathoal is divided into 50 prefectures, which form the highest level of government, jurisdiction and administration below the national government. Of these prefectures, 3 are metropolitan prefectures (Kadtna, Onshall, Port Hall) and the rest are general prefectures. In 1855, the abolition of feudalism which followed the Bleeding Forties led to a consolidation of the various domains run by feudal lords into the prefectures which exist today.
Each prefecture's chief executive is a prefect directly elected by the residents of the prefecture, and each prefecture has an assembly with the ability to pass certain ordinances and the prefectural budget whose members are directly elected every four years. Although the prefectures are established in Pathoal's Constitution, they are not federal subdivisions as they can be created and abolished by the national government and their organisation is also controlled at the national level.
Each prefecture is divided into cities and counties with the exception of the capital and metropolitan prefectures which function as city and prefecture. The other two types of municipalities, towns and villages, are contained within counties and have certain municipal powers. Prefectures often have branch offices of the national government which carry out functions of the national government outside the capital; this is true of all the metropolitan prefectures. Some prefectures also contain special districts which are administered directly by the national government, which are used for many purposes including national parks and conservation areas, military bases, and some prisons.
Powers
Pathoal is a unitary state. The national government delegates many functions, including education, policing, and administration, to the prefectures and municipalities but maintains the right to control them and the delegation of these powers is not guaranteed in the Constitution. Although local governments account for a majority of Pathoalian national expenditure, the national government has overall control over budgets, tax rates, and borrowing, and most local government money comes from grants from the national government.
Prefectural responsibilities include maintaining local roads and infrastructure, overseeing schools and hospitals, supervising watersays, and urban planning. Prefectures also organise the local branches of the police force. Their responsibilities include whatever policies are delegated to them by the national governments and coordination with municipal governments. In practice, prefectures and municipalities have little autonomy because the vast majority of their funding is provided by the national government and their freedom of action is constrained by nationally imposed frameworks.
List of Prefectures
Pathoalian prefectures are typically sorted into ten regions.These regions are not formally specified, nor do they have administrative or elected officials, nor are they corporate bodies. However, dividing Pathoal into its regions is traditional. Clockwise from the far northwest on the Auburn Coast, the prefectures of Pathoal's typical regions are:
Pathoal is divided into 50 prefectures, which form the highest level of government, jurisdiction and administration below the national government. Of these prefectures, 3 are metropolitan prefectures (Kadtna, Onshall, Port Hall) and the rest are general prefectures. In 1855, the abolition of feudalism which followed the Bleeding Forties led to a consolidation of the various domains run by feudal lords into the prefectures which exist today.
Each prefecture's chief executive is a prefect directly elected by the residents of the prefecture, and each prefecture has an assembly with the ability to pass certain ordinances and the prefectural budget whose members are directly elected every four years. Although the prefectures are established in Pathoal's Constitution, they are not federal subdivisions as they can be created and abolished by the national government and their organisation is also controlled at the national level.
Each prefecture is divided into cities and counties with the exception of the capital and metropolitan prefectures which function as city and prefecture. The other two types of municipalities, towns and villages, are contained within counties and have certain municipal powers. Prefectures often have branch offices of the national government which carry out functions of the national government outside the capital; this is true of all the metropolitan prefectures. Some prefectures also contain special districts which are administered directly by the national government, which are used for many purposes including national parks and conservation areas, military bases, and some prisons.
Powers
Pathoal is a unitary state. The national government delegates many functions, including education, policing, and administration, to the prefectures and municipalities but maintains the right to control them and the delegation of these powers is not guaranteed in the Constitution. Although local governments account for a majority of Pathoalian national expenditure, the national government has overall control over budgets, tax rates, and borrowing, and most local government money comes from grants from the national government.
Prefectural responsibilities include maintaining local roads and infrastructure, overseeing schools and hospitals, supervising watersays, and urban planning. Prefectures also organise the local branches of the police force. Their responsibilities include whatever policies are delegated to them by the national governments and coordination with municipal governments. In practice, prefectures and municipalities have little autonomy because the vast majority of their funding is provided by the national government and their freedom of action is constrained by nationally imposed frameworks.
List of Prefectures
Pathoalian prefectures are typically sorted into ten regions.These regions are not formally specified, nor do they have administrative or elected officials, nor are they corporate bodies. However, dividing Pathoal into its regions is traditional. Clockwise from the far northwest on the Auburn Coast, the prefectures of Pathoal's typical regions are:
- Auburn North
- Cloves
- Ryett
- Glall
- Sasset
- Shuala
- Northwest
- Okres
- Lathelle
- Franaw
- Deep North
- Morlant
- Levoira
- Alboro
- Lorest
- Northeast
- Canlon
- Bellow Sound
- Leanah
- Upper South
- Dewilla
- Antiga
- Pyota
- Farnoy
- Silver Wood
- Brusset
- Kadtna Bay
- Sabiner
- Atline
- Fairban
- Encey
- Kadtna
- West Kadtna
- Bellory
- East Kadtna
- Selford
- Deep South
- Tuckey
- Nordwood
- Clovene
- Auburn South
- Willer
- Naomar
- Masarago
- Onshall
- Clatan
- Port Hall
- Mansome
- Ravale
- Sturayre
- Auburn West
- Ariplest
- Renhegik
- Wringand
- Sager
- Abbona
- Midcountry
- Saconite
- Elbin
- Pelansas
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