Edury

Edury, officially known as the Grand Commonwealth of Edury, is a in the north eastern corner of Alutra. Located on the northern coast of the bay that shares its name, Edury is bordered by Gladomyr to the east, Ordrey to the south-east, and Ecoralia to the west. Edury has a population around 30 million people, an occupies a space of around 380,000 km2. Its capital and largest city is Godenhaven, while its second city and original capital is Eduvesting. The nation is historically centered around the Edu river, which together with its valley and floodplain makes up the core of the country. Almost the entire nation, except the province of Penninsulaplace and the southwestern corner of the country, drains into the basin of the Edu river.

The nation has its beginnings in the first meetings of the Senate, which was initially a group of nobles representing different cities which traded along the Edu river. Over time, these cities became the medieval Confederation, a loose union of cities and provinces. As time went on, the confederation centralized somewhat, and the state expanded to fill the valley and floodplain, as well as the VERWVRW peninsula. A moderate colonial empire was established, which persisted until [time]. in the early 1800's, the Revolution of 1799 overthrew the status quo, reducing the Senate to an upper house with very little power, and replaced the elected near-monarchial Daar with the Lord-Magistrate, and turned the Assembly of the Estates into the powerful lower house of the Diet.

Edury is a parliamentary republic, with the Lord-Magistrate being directly elected by the people but subject to parliamentary confidence. It is nominally a unitary state, but with many powers devolved to its provincial governments, it is in effect a semi-federal nation. The state is run under the Constitution of VRWRGEB, which lays out the powers, responsibilities, and checks on the four branches of the Eduran government: the moderating branch, the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch.

Etymology
The native word for the nation, Edurijk, means "Realm of the Edu river".

Early history
Unlike other countries, humanity did not exist in Edury since neolithic times.

Confederation era
The early confederation of Edury evolved from several agreements, alliances, and other word for the same thing between the central states on the foothills of the Penguinne mountains and in the central Edu river valley. The earliest entity that could be called an early form of the confederation was the first meeting of the Senate, although they did not call it that in those days. At the time, it was simply a committee of representatives of four central Eduran cities and states, of which were governed by the Aykist church. Eventually, this committee became permanent, and transferred into being a legislative body to deal with issues governing the shared realms of these states.

Government
The government is a de facto federal parliamentary presidential republic. Aside from the Daar, the government resides in Godenhaven, meeting in the Palace of the Republic.

Daar
The Daar was originally the executive of the old Eduran Confederation, who was in charge of the military and officiating the laws made by the Senate, and defending the independence of the confederate member-states. In the 1500s-1600s, they were often the principal actors of the Senatorial Wars, a series of civil wars and conflicts over the supremacy of the legislature, the Daar, and the states. The Daar in those days were elected for life.

Following the Revolution of 1801, which began in 1799, the Daar has been an almost entirely symbolic figure, elected for ten year terms. Their principle job is the officiation of ceremonies, of which the most important is investing the Lord-Magistrate and the Diet with authority. The Daar is the head of state today.

Lord-Magistrate
The Lord-Magistrate is the head of government, and is the chief executive of the country. They appoint the Cabinet, enforce the laws passed by the Diet, lead the coalition in the Assembly, and are point-man for the government and Cabinet. They also are able to sit as a member-at-large of the Assembly, although this is used very rarely, as the Lord-Magistrate also has veto power over laws passed by the Assembly.

The position of Lord-Magistrate was created after the Revolution of 1801, when the victorious revolutionaries agreed to neuter the Daar by giving it purely oversight powers, but needed a new executive. Taking inspiration from the chief parliamentarian of the Assemblies of many of the norther provinces, combining titles and prerogatives, they arrived at the Lord-Magistrate. Initially, the Lord-Magistrate was the presiding officer of the Assembly, but this was amended a few years after the Revolution to make the Speaker the presiding officer.

Cabinet
The Cabinet is the body of ministers appointed by the Lord-Magistrate. After a general election, the Magistrate does not require approval for appointments, but following the formation of a coalition and the investing of the new Diet, cabinet appointments require approval by the Assembly. The Cabinet is made up of Ministers, who head ministries. Each ministry is given an aspect of the running of the government, usually managing an important office or resource, or as a regulatory body. Ministers are responsible to the Lord-Magistrate, who can dismiss ministers at any time. They are referred to as "Minister of ___", which will match the title of their office, the "Ministry of ____". Some important ministers also have secondary or traditional titles, like the Minister of the Treasury (who's ministry is simply called the Treasury), also known as the Vaultmaster.

Diet
The Diet is the legislature of Edury, it's name taken from the legislature of Lathadu. The Diet, or Diet of the Commonwealth, is made up of two bodies; the Assembly, which passes laws, approves appointments, and some other things I'm thinking of, and the Senate, which approves laws passed by the Assembly.

The Diet meets in Godenhaven, in the Palace of the Republic. The Diet has its origins in the Revolution of 1801, where the victorious revolutionaries wanted the prior (and mostly informal) Assembly of the Estates to have official, and primary, power. The Assembly of the Estates was a body made up of internally elected portions of society (The nobility, the petite-merchantile, the commons and the peasants), based off the governing bodies of norther Eduran cities. Before the start of the revolution, they traditionally approved or voted against laws passed by the confederal Senate, however, this was traditional, not legal, and was often ignored. The revolutionaries, many of whom were members of the Estates, desired to flip this arrangement, and so they did.

Elections
The Assembly is elected in a ranked mixed-member proportional system. That means that when people vote, they receive two ballots; the first one has a randomized list of the candidates up for election in the local district, of which voters rank their choices. The second ballot has a list of parties up for election nationally, of which the voters also rank. These function as two elections; the first is a standard ranked-choice election for the local Assemblyperson, and the second as a party-list ranked election. After the two are finished, the parties receive additional seats, in order to bring all the parties up to the proportion they won in the party-list election. This practice of overhang seats means that the Assembly fluctuates in size, and can range from very large to not very big. The largest Assembly had over 700 seats.

Powers and responsibilities
The Assembly is the chamber in which bills are introduced, debated, and voted on. They also provide oversight of the Lord-Magistrate, and through them, the Cabinet. Following the formation of a new government, they approve appointments made by the Magistrate. Bills are introduced in internal committees, rectified and approved by said committee, and then brought to the floor for general debate, and eventually, voting. Once bills have passed the Assembly, they then go to an appropriate member of Cabinet, who along with the Lord-Magistrate, signs the bill to be sent to the Senate.

Coalitions
As the method of elections means that it is almost impossible for any one party to control more than half of the Assembly, parties arrange themselves into coalitions. The parties who enter into a coalition typically make agreements on cabinet positions, which laws are not to be introduced, and etc., etc. If the party that the new Lord-Magistrate comes from also has the largest amount of seats in the Assembly, then they will typically command the largest majority. If the Lord-Magistrate's party is not the largest, though, there will be a scramble amongst the leading parties to gain the largest coalition.

Senate
The Senate is mostly symbolic, and only has the power to approve legislation passed by the Assembly. If a law is rejected by the Senate, it is sent back to the Assembly for debate, amending, and re-voting.

Foreign relations
Edury's oldest ally is the Ta’arohan Republic. The relationship started as a series trading agreements between various pre-unification states, particularly the Duchy of Arandu. Due to these relationships, much culture was shared between the two peoples, including fashion, cuisine, architecture, and music. Edury today is one of the largest importers of Yerba Mate from Ta'aroha. Following the Revolution, and the unification of Ta'aroha under the Minister-Chancellor Kauane, relations increased and the Commonwealth supplied Kauane with ships-of-the-line, later with ironclads. Relations were put under strain by the interference of the Riyudic Empire and their hegemony over the area. It was revealed that the successors of Kauane and the Lord-Magistrates of Edury had a secret agreement, where Edury would provide naval aid and subsidies, and should Riyude ever be conquered, the iron ore and coal within would be mined by Edury, who coveted the minerals in the industrial revolution. Relations would be strained in the 20th century, as Ta'aroha moved from republic to military dictatorship. The two states maintained relations, but many public servants and diplomats came out to publicly denounce the military leaders and demand that the army relinquish what power they maintain in the government of the nation. In the present day, Edury remains an ally of Ta'aroha, maintaining an embassy and consulates with their partner.

Since the Revolution, most governments of Edury are loath to supply aide or warm relations with monarchial or non-republican states, although this is more of a guideline rather than a rule; for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, most governments would be willing to provide military advisors and subsidies in return for control of coveted resources, such as iron, coal, copper, and timber. In the 21st century, with the collapse of the Eduran industrial corps, demand for these resources has lessened someewhat, and governments of Edury are much less likely to provide aide or subsidies to non-Republican states.