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[National Spotlight #1] Executive Branches

#1

National Spotlight #1
Executive Branches
How is the executive branch of your nation structured? What executive agencies does your nation have? Who are its top officials? How are those officials elected or appointed? How did the executive branch attain its current structure?

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#2

Overview - The executive branch of the Empire of Valessia is structured in the following manner; The highest overall authority is the Hierarch, a semi-hereditary monarch equivalent to an Emperor. The highest civilian authority is the Heritep who is the equivalent to a Prime Minister. The Hierarch overseas what is known as the Imperial Ministry which is a catch all for anything dealing with the Imperial Family and their lives, property and affairs. Meanwhile the Heritep overseas the vast bureaucracy that makes up the various Ministries of the Empire. Together the Hierarch and the Heritep are the two leading figures in the Empire. While the Heritep handles the day to day affairs as well as spearheads policy and the enforcement of laws it is not uncommon for the Hierarch to suggest policy or laws to the legislature. 

Hierarch - The position is semi-hereditary in the fact that the Hierarch nominates a preferred heir who must be confirmed by the Succession Council (usually made up of family members) who must vote in a 2/3rds majority to approve the heir. The Hierarch has broad authorities that aren't entirely enumerated in the Imperial Charter though by precedent their intervention in politics is limited so as to allow the government of the day to handle the running of the Empire. The current Hierarch is Nesea Loxias who assumed the Mantle of the Empire fifteen years prior. Under her direction the Hierarch and the Imperial Ministry have been responsible for pushing the legislature to adopt more militarist policy in response to stellar affairs. 

Heritep - The position of Heritep is an elected position from within whatever party or coalition of parties can command a governing majority in the legislature. It is tradition for the head of the party or coalition to become the Heritep though there are examples of other members being put forward from within a party rather than the party head. The Heritep is expected to handle the day to day affairs of the Empire and to appoint the heads of the various Ministries that oversee the Empire. The current Heritep is Osrei Seten who hails from the Hedj-Khem (White and Black) party which is mostly centrist but has accepted the mandate to pursue a more militarist policy headed by the Hierarch. 

Executive Agencies - The various agencies of the Empire's sprawling bureaucracy are numerous and have competing interests from time to time. The heads of each Agency or Ministry as they are called is a Minister. Each Minister is appointed by the sitting Heritep and confirmed both by the Legislature and the Hierarch. Throughout the Empire's history various ministries and ministers have risen in prominence and power but today four ministries are collectively known as "The Brokers" for their sway on policy making, they are the Ministries of State Security, Aerospace and Defense, Foreign Affairs and Commerce. 

Current Major Agencies (Cabinet Level) - 
  • Ministry of State Security*
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs*
  • Ministry of Commerce and Economic Development*
  • Ministry of Aerospace and Defense*
  • Ministry of Offworld Affairs
  • Ministry of Science and Technology
  • Ministry of Culture
  • Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry
  • Ministry of Justice
  • Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation
  • Ministry of Energy
  • Ministry of Labor and Social Policy
  • Ministry of Education
  • Ministry of Health
*Ministries that are collectively known as "The Brokers"

The Top Officials - The top officials are widely regarded to be dually led by the Hierarch and the Heritep though the following are those that are also seen as incredibly important to the running of the nation. The four are also all apart of Heritep Seten's Hedj-Khem party. 
  • Phylas Axias - Ministry of State Security
  • Thrasymedes Oropheus - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Timais Xethe - Ministry of Commerce and Economic Development
  • Egina Koritto - Ministry of Aerospace and Defense 
Modern Appearance - The current shape of the Executive Branch of the Empire started to form in the 17th Century when the first Heritep's were given day to day authority by the Hierarchs of the time. Over the following centuries those Heriteps were able to slow but surely develop the Ministries to oversee the Empire as it grew and it's power became supreme. Following a civil war in the mid-20th Century the Heriteps were able to formally codify the current structure of the Empire and for the most part the Ministries have been the same. The newest Ministry would be that of State Security which was formally the Ministries of the Interior, National Security and National Intelligence.
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#3

[Image: sketch-1597878402849.png]
The Executive Branch of the Empire of Fornoire

The Empire of Fornoire is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy officially composed of the Emperor, the Prime Minister, the President of the Council of Ministers and the Imperial Cabinet.

The Emperor

The Emperor is a ceremonial figurehead elected for a lengthy period of 28 years, without the ability to seek re-election. By ceremonial custom, the Emperor officially appoints the Imperial Cabinet, albeit this must be done with the "advice and consent" of the Imperial Congress, which in reality means that it is the legislature which elects the government.

The Emperor can also grant titles of nobility, also known as peerages. These may be hereditary, but in practice most ennoblements are only life nobles without the ability of passing down their titles to their descendants.

After their retirement (officially referred to as an "stately abdication"), an outgoing Emperor is granted a high-ranking, hereditary title of nobility to recognize their service as a monarch. The only person to hold such a title is the Duchess of Aryeux, Virutia Arugenitas (or Virutia I), the first Empress of the Empire of Fornoire. There is a way for an outgoing Emperor to be named "King" of a constituent country, and that is if 60% of both Imperial voters and those voters of the constituent country agree to grant the outgoing Emperor this non-hereditary title in a separate ballot on election day. The first Empress, Virutia I, actually refused to accept this peerage after the voters elected to name her Queen of Fornoire with 63% of the votes, as she wished to return to having a private life away from the public eye.

Elections for the monarch are non-partisan, as mandated by the Imperial Constitution. No candidate can campaign in any political or partisan manner, and thus political parties tend to not nominate any candidates whatsoever. Instead, organizations of great renown, such as associations of intellectuals and other sectors of society (Lawyers' Associations, Doctors' Associations, Trade Unions, Cultural Associations, Teachers' Associations, you get the idea) field their own nominees. The current Emperor of the Empire of Fornoire, Alexanderus I, was previously a neurosurgeon that was nominated by the Imperial Association of Surgeons. Virutia I was a literature professor from the Imperial University of Catherine before becoming Empress.

The Prime Minister

The Prime Minister is, ceremonially, appointed by the Emperor to lead the government in their name. In practice, the Prime Minister is the Head of Government, and thus they practically nominate all candidates for the Imperial Cabinet for the Imperial Congress to approve and fire any they wish.

The Prime Minister is itself elected by the Imperial Congress, often by a negotiated coalition of political parties. The current Prime Minister is Sanuvun Petage of the centre-left and unionist Azurian Union party, who is the leading party in a coalition of leftist parties that include the centre-left and autonomist Popular Coalition, the centre-left to left and environmentally-concerned Azurian Greens, and the centrist to centre-left Liberal Democrats. Despite being nominally independent of each other, the Azurian Union and the Popular Coalition are semi-integrated sister parties that campaign united on economic and social stances, but they differ on whether to grant more or less authority to the Imperial central government. There is an informal agreement between them that the party who wins the most seats is the one that gets to lead any coalition they form with other political forces, no matter what.

The President of the Council of Ministers

Unlike many other countries with the title of "Prime Minister" for their Heads of Government, the President of the Council of Ministers is a separate office in the Empire of Fornoire. It is the only unelected office in the Imperial Cabinet that neither the Prime Minister nor the Imperial Congress can control, as the President of the Council of Ministers is appointed by a constituent country on a rotational basis every year.

The President of the Council of Ministers nominally heads the reunions of the Imperial Cabinet as a sort of Speaker-type officer, but their real power - and thus purpose - lies in their veto of any executive or legislative action that only affects the constituent country that appointed them (say, for example, that a railroad expansion funded by the Imperial government is to pass through the constituent country of Arcaea, which appointed the President of the Council of Ministers for this year. The President of the Council of Ministers can veto the section of the railroad that passes through Arcaea). This veto power is not absolute, however, as the constituent country that appointed them can overrule them, as well as a 60% vote by the Imperial Congress.

The position of the President of the Council of Ministers arose from the previous Council of Nations of the previous EU-style Azurian Union, a body whose Councilmen had the ability to veto any legislation passed by the previous Azurian Congress that concerned the countries that appointed them. When the nations unified into the Azurian Federation (which would later become the Empire of Fornoire), the President of the Council of Ministers was created as a compromise between the unionist and autonomist factions of the new superstate. Unionist politicians have called for the abolition of the post, but as the position of the President of the Council of Ministers is enshrined in the Imperial Constitution, it requires a two-thirds vote to be abolished. As the unionist factions of the country have not gained such a monumental victory as of yet, they remain powerless to amend the Imperial Constitution.

The Imperial Cabinet

The Imperial Cabinet is the term used to refer to the various Ministers who lead the Ministries that compose the Executive Branch. The Imperial Cabinet's most prominent Ministries are the following:

Ministry of Finance - controls and sets the Empire's fiscal policies.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - deals with foreign affairs and international relations, including those offworld.
Ministry of Defense - the Executive's organ to deal with the military.
Ministry of the Interior - controls all Imperial law enforcement agencies. It has recently officially acquired control of the law enforcement agencies of constituent countries as well, albeit these largely retain their previous autonomy.
Ministry of Justice - controls the administration of justice except in special cases.
Ministry of Space - controls civilian space explorations made by the government, as well as all civilian-run space bases. This Ministry has gradually gained importance due to the evolving space travel technologies of the present.

Non-Executive Agencies Dealing with the Executive

There are several agencies that exercise certain executive powers despite being largely outside of the Executive's control. As a result, they are independent from whatever political leaders there are in the present. Some of these are:

Imperial Auditory of the Empire of Fornoire - this agency scrutinizes and investigates the finances of all the branches of government and their members, as well being tasked with watching out for any abuses of power. Their task is to investigate corruption in the Empire, as well as publish reports on the condition of sapient rights, the economic situation of the country and of bureaucratic efficiency across the Empire.
Imperial Financial Council - this agency reviews any budget proposed by the Imperial government and approved by the Imperial Congress. They have the ability to veto any budget approved by the legislature, but the Congress can overrule them with a 60% majority to avoid a shutdown. They also publish reports on the national debt situation of the Empire. Their members are elected by the certified economists of the Empire, and to avoid voter suppression or a lack of different economic perspectives, all the economists of the Empire are forced by law to participate in these elections which take place once every ten years.
Imperial Special Prosecutor's Office - this agency deals with prosecuting cases involving politicians and politics in general, often involving corruption. They can investigate cases independently or they prosecute cases brought to them by the Imperial Auditory. They are independent from the Ministry of Justice, which is controlled by the Executive.
Imperial Special Environmental Council - this agency publishes reports on the state of the environment of the Empire and, with an unanimous vote by all of its members, can take control of the country's environmental policies for a year. Its members are elected by the certified environmental scientists of the Empire, and in order to prevent voter suppression, all the environmental scientists of the Empire are forced by law to participate in these elections which take place once every ten years.
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#4

Sartoria


President
The President of Sartoria is the head of state of the Republic of Sartoria. Under the parliamentary system the President is allowed to exercise most of their power only upon the advice of the Privy Council, which makes them a mostly ceremonial leader meant to safeguard the integrity and unity of Sartoria. The President does have a number of reserve powers that may be used in times of urgency, though their use is rare in recent decades. The President is the historical successor of the Prince of Sartoria and the Princes of the United Realms, from whom it derives its role as an apolitical figure.

The incumbent President is Silvia Leggièri, a retired clarinetist, former Governor of Verale and former Senator. Leggièri was elected on 42 AFC and re-elected to a second term on 49 AFC, both times with large majorities, marking only the third time, after Mafalda Schifani and Xavier Solé, that a President has been re-elected to a second term.

Election
The President is elected by the Congress of Electors for a term of seven years and is limited to a single re-election. Nominees must be members of the Congress who are also at least 45 years old and have been a citizen or permanent resident of Sartoria for at least 15 years. Under the terms of the Grand Compromise, there is an informal rotation in the election of the President, so that no single historical region -Bertuccia, Vasaria, Latmeria, Giaronia- will be represented by two or more consecutive Presidents.

The Congress meets no earlier than 15 days before a scheduled vacancy -resignation or conclusion of term- or no later than 15 days after an unscheduled vacancy -death or removal from office-. Each realm is entitled to appoint a number of electors equal to twice the amount of senators and councillors that it elects to Parliament. Appointment is done by the executive with the advice and consent of the legislature, from a list presented by independent nonpartisan commissions. Electors must be eligible for election to the House of Councillors and must be notable members of society with distinguished records in their respective fields.

Once a vacancy occurs or is expected to occur, the Speaker of the Senate convenes the Congress and presides over its sessions. The Speaker instructs electors to submit nominations and only accepts for inclusion in the ballot those electors who have nominations from at least 5% of the Congress. Electors cast secret ballots following the Instant-Runoff Vote method; ballots are then counted and certified by the Speaker. Upon the certification of the result, the Speaker asked the elector if they consent to their election. If the elector accepts, they are sworn in by the Speaker, who then declares the Congress adjourned sine die. If the elector declines, the Speaker re-opens the floor

Responsibilities
-WIP-
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