Cantons of Francisville

Cantons of Francisville
New Scireland United States Wasserbrueck United Kingdom Rudno Germany North Llabdey
Category	Federated State
Location	Francisville
Found in	Federal Republic
Created by	Federal Constitution of Francisville, 2012
Created	21 August 2012
Abolished by	Dissolution of the Federation
Abolished	8 November 2014
Number	4 (as of 2014)
Populations	1-7
Areas	0.002 km2 - 0.67 km2
Government	Citizens Council (New Scireland) Sammleng (North Llabdey) Versammelong (Rudno) Landsgeméng (Wasserbrueck)
Subdivisions	Districts

The cantons of Francisville were the federated constituent states of the Federal Republic of Francisville. Francisville was divided into the four cantons of New Scireland, North Llabdey, Rudno, and Wasserbrueck. The cantons were sovereign insofar as their powers were not limited by the constitution and federal law, and they adopted their own constitutions and political systems accordingly. Francillians were citizens of both their canton and the federation as a whole. The last functioning canton was Wasserbrueck, which dissolved along with the Federal Republic in November 2014. Rudno, a former canton, continues to exist as the independent Commonwealth of Rudno.

History

Cantons originated in the Democratic Duchy of Francisville where they existed as non-territorial communities of citizens. The Duchy was divided into the three cantons of South Francisville, North Francisville, and West Francisville. Cantons served as the basic areas of local government and each canton was governed by an annually elected Cantonal Council. A provost elected by each council served as the directer of local government and the principal representative of each canton.

The future structure of the state was a key consideration during the June Convention. The first national survey, held on 5–7 June 2011, proposed a choice between a unitary state with strong devolution along the British model, a federation with defined division of powers between the federation and the states (German model), or a federation where the cantons remained fundamentally autonomous except where the constitution explicitly limited their sovereignty by reserving powers to the federal government (Swiss model). The result was a tie between the two forms of federalism with the unitary state option receiving no votes. The survey also proposed a choice between "states" or "cantons", resulting in a tie. As the cantons had formed administrative divisions within the Democratic Duchy of Francisville, this title was selected following further discussion and received no objections or revision during subsequent proposals.

The constituent cantons were determined by a consultative referendum held on 13–16 January 2012. The referendum addressed the question of what was to be done about the pre-existing territory claims and local authorities of the Democratic Duchy of Francisville. Federalism abolished the original distinction between territorial and non-territorial entities to be replaced by a system of cantons with both territorial residents and non-territorial citizens. It was proposed that the territory and population of the Democratic Duchy of Francisville be divided into two cantons; Wasserbrueck and New Scireland. The latter had existed as an independent state since January 2011 but had become inactive. Given that most of New Scireland's citizens were also citizens of Francisville, the division proposal would revive New Scireland by incorporating it as a canton. Citizens holding dual citizenship would thereby become citizens of the Canton of New Scireland. Citizens also approved the requests of North Llabdey and Rudno to be integrated into the Federal Republic, resulting in a total of four cantons.

North Llabdey declared independence from the Federal Republic on 3 June 2014. On the same day, Rudnan governor Sebastian Linden issued a statement promising a referendum on Rudnan independence. Rudno declared independence on 8 November 2014. Following a lack of response to these events, Francisville was considered defunct by the intermicronational community.

Status and powers

Francillian citizens were subject to three levels of legal jurisdiction: the federal, the cantonal, and district level. The cantons had a guaranteed permanent constitutional status and a high degree of political independence. The cantons had the right to determine their own political systems with the stipulation that this should be in the form of a secular, democratic republic. Cantonal political systems typically followed a similar structure to the federal government. Each canton had a direct democratic citizens assembly as its legislature, alongside its own judiciary. Three cantons elected a governor (also known as a landsmann or president) as their executive branches. The exception was Wasserbrueck which elected a collegiate Executive Council, presided over by the First Minister of Wasserbrueck in a similar structure to the Federal Council.

The cantons were considered autonomous entities in their own right and they maintained jurisdiction over all matters which were not explicitly delegated to the federation by the constitution or federal law. Whilst the balance of powers favoured the cantons over the federation through the principles of cantonal sovereignty and subsidiarity, responsibilities were broadly divided between federal competencies (foreign affairs, defense, monetary policy, criminal and civil law), cantonal competencies (courts, law enforcement, infrastructure, social security, general education), and shared competencies (higher education, culture, environmental protection):

Responsibility	Cantonal	Federal	Shared
Foreign affairs
Military and defense
Currency and monetary policy
Criminal and civil law
Judiciary
Policing
General education
Higher education
Social welfare
Environmental protection
Infrastructure
Local government

Cantons

Francisville comprises four cantons across non-contiguous geographical locations. The cantons of New Scireland and Wasserbrueck were formed through the division of territory and population of the Democratic Duchy of Francisville, whereas North Lladbey and Rudno were integrated into the federation during the June Convention:

Flag	Canton	Capital	Area (km²)	Population	Official language(s)	Executive
	New Scireland	Castle Hesperus	0.002	4	English	President
	North Llabdey	Sycamore Booker	0.02	1	English, Francillish	Landsmann
	Rudno	Uferbach	0.3	2	German, Ripuarian	Governor
	Wasserbrueck	Kirkburgh	0.67	7	English, Francillian, French	First Minister (Executive Council)
	Federal Republic of Francisville	Kirkburgh(de facto)	0.992	14	English	Federal Council

Districts

Main article: Districts of Francisville

The cantons had the right to determine their own internal structure and the authority of local government varied considerably between the cantons. The cantons of Wasserbrueck and Rudno had a district level of government whilst New Scireland and North Llabdey were unitary states.

Admission of new cantons

According to the Constitution of Francisville, the admission of new cantons required a constitutional amendment and a popular vote in the region concerned. There was otherwise no established procedure for the enlargement of Francisville by means of integrating new cantons into the federation. Although this was legally possible, it was neither sought nor encouraged. In November 2012, discussions emerged about Nemkhavia joining Francisville as a canton but the plans were subsequently dropped. The creation of further cantons was therefore only likely to happen as a result of internal secession and reorganisation.

See also

• Federal Republic of Francisville
• Districts of Francisville