Government of Viresia
The politics and government of the Royal Commonwealth of Viresia takes place within the framework of a constitutional monarchy and Federation of semi-independent member states in an international union. As such, the government of Viresia is built within an unusually complex framework. None of the Commonwealth's member states are treated as independent micronations but are, for all intents and purpose, internally autonomous. At the same time, the central government of the Commonwealth has power over all affairs that effect the union as a whole. The system of government operated in Viresia is comparable to the system of government in the United Kingdom and it's constituent countries, combining such a federative system with the principles of an intermicronational organisation. The Union is also comparable to the European Union, with a number of international political parties existing, each of these parties being made up of smaller political parties from member states.
Central Government
Legislative Power
Legislative power within the Union is bicameral and operates according to the principles of proportionate representation. The larger a region is, the more representatives that nation has at the Union's legislature. The goal of this system is to ensure that all the citizens of the Commonwealth are fairly represented at a Union level. As a bicameral legislature, the Union's legislative body is divided into an elected lower house and an autocratic upper house.
General Assembly
The General Assembly of His Royal Majesty's Commonwealth is the lower house of Viresian legislature and holds considerably more general power than the upper house. According to the Commonwealth's constitution, the General Assembly consists of no more than two-hundred and fifty individual seats. These seats are assigned to individual member states according to their population. If a member state has 20% of the Union's total population within its borders, then that member state is given 20% of all available Assembly seats. Individual micronations are permitted to appoint citizens to assembly seats by any method they wish, be it through bi-elections, a general election or direct appointment by the leadership of that state. Any member of the General Assembly may propose new items of legislature. The Speaker of the General Assembly is always the standing Sectretary-General.
Rather than being termed Acts as in most other legislatures, bills proposed in the General Assembly are titled Commonwealth Resolutions, similar to policies passed by the United Nations. These resolutions are given a number for ease of identification. The constitution of the Commonwealth established the following parameters for a resolution:
- Resolutions must address matters that concern the Union as a whole, not a member state, unless the issue in that nation is directly and clearly effecting the state of the Union or other member states.
- Resolutions may only be passed if they achieve more than 50.01% of the collective vote.
- Resolutions may not alter the constitution or a nation's Royal Charter.
- Resolutions may not interfere in the internal affairs of a specific member state without exceptional cause.
- Resolutions may not overturn the results of a free and fair election in any member state.
General Assembly Central Committee
The General Assembly Central Committee, commonly abbreviated to GACC, GA-CC or simply CC, is the upper house of the Union's legislature and was established to deal with matters of constitutional reform, Secretariat elections, Union membership, Union observer status and similar functions. Unlike the General Assembly, which is a body to represent the people, the Central Committee is a body to represent member states themselves. Each member state has a single seat on the committee to which the ruling political faction must appoint a single permanent, or provisional, representative. The GACC makes it's decisions by a simple majority vote. Only the GACC may amend the constitution of the Commwealth - any resolutions of the General Assembly that require constitutional reform must be put before the GACC first. If the GACC approves such constitutional reform, then the resolution may be put to a vote of the General Assembly. The committee also votes on the creation or admission of new member states, as well as the admission of observer states. The Speaker of the GACC is the Father of the Nation, meaning that Gaffney is it's speaker until the day of his death.
Political parties
Political parties at a Union level generally consist of an association of smaller political parties from individual member states. These parties may be grouped according to nation or they may be international associations based on political ideology or socio-economc theory. Regardless of a Union level Party's ideology, it may only represent nations that it has a member poliitcal party in. A nationalist party, for example, is only likely to achieve representation in seats belonging to its own nation and as such may never become large enough to significantly influence Union politics. Common practice in democratic nations is to divide seats according to the percentage of seats that Union party controls within the member state's legislature. For example, if a political party that has 20% of that member state's seats is part of a larger Union party, that Union party may be afforded 20% of that member state's General Assembly seats. Although such parties are recommended, it is still possible for individual member state parties to stand independently.
| Union Party | Members | Seats in GA (%) | Member States | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United People's Party for Revolutionary Socialism | People's Socialist Party, Democratic Labour Party | 50.00% (last estimate) | Erusia-Bzan | ||
| Democrat Alliance | People's Democratic Front | 37.50% (last estimate) | Erusia-Bzan | ||
| Licentian Royalist Party | N/A | 12.5% | Licentia | ||
To be completed as more details become available.