Politics of Edury

The politics of the Grand Commonwealth of Edury take place in the framework of a. In this system, the Daar, the local term for a supreme ruler, is the Head of State. The Heermagistraat, or Lord Magistrate, is the Head of Government. Within this system, there are four branches- the moderating branch, the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. The Daar is the head of the moderating branch, and the Lord Magistrate is the head of the executive branch. The power to enact laws is invested both in the parliament, and in the cabinet. The judiciary system is independent of both, however the Lord Magistrate has the power to appoint judges in higher courts from a pool of qualified individuals.

Moderating Branch
As head of state, the Daar is the highest ranking politician in the country. However, as the head of the moderating branch, the Daar holds very little actual power. While in theory they are the holder of all supreme executive authority, they invest the Lord Magistrate with said authority, and empower them to act on the behalf of the Daar, as the people's chosen representative-at-large. In reality, the primary power of the Daar is to revoke the executive authority that the Lord Magistrate is invested with, effectively calling for a snap election. This is usually only done at the request of either the Assembly (the chief house of the Diet, or parliament) or of the Lord Magistrate. However, it has happened- although rarely- that the Daar will suspend the Lord Magistrate's power, if political conditions call for it. The Daar also acts as the primary master of ceremonies for the country, investing notable individuals with honors, leading the investiture of Parliament, etc.

The other major power of the Daar is as Commander in Chief of the Eduran military. In reality, the Lord-Magistrate makes important military decisions, but the Daar does hold the ability to refuse a request to declare war. While this has never happened yet, modern legal scholars are mostly in agreement that it is generally within the Daar's discretion to not allow the Diet to declare war. Following the devastation of the third world war, parlimentary law generally forbids the foreign deployment of troops without a declaration of war, which has been a large part of Edury's mostly pacifist recent history.

Executive Branch
The Executive branch is lead by the Lord Magistrate (hyphanized as Lord-Magistrate is optional,) and the Cabinet, of which the two form the Government of Edury. The Lord Magistrate is charged with major policy decisions, leading the Presidium (The executive committee of the Assembly) as well as leading the Government. The Cabinet is made up of the various ministers, each who has their own ministry.

The Lord-Magistrate, as the chief executive, has the power to veto laws. As part of the executive authority granted to them, they must assent to laws passed through the diet. As the representative-at-large in parliament, the Lord Magistrate also has the ability to vote on law, although this is mostly symbolic.

The various ministries within the Cabinet each oversee and execute their authority through various bureaus, which are sometimes subdivided into smaller offices. For example the Minister of Transport oversees the Bureau of Permanent Ways (which is charged with railway regulation), as well as numerous other institutions. Each minister is titled "Minister of _____" corresponding with their ministry, but important cabinet positions often also receive older, more ceremonial titles. For example, the Minister of the Treasury is also refereed to as the Exchequer.

Legislative Branch
The Diet of the Commonwealth makes up the legislative branch, and is divided into two houses- the Assembly, and the Senate.

The Assembly
The Assembly is the lower house, where legislation originates. The Assembly is elected in a mixed-member proportional fashion, and is multi-partisan. Local constituencies are drawn on a geographic basis, and receive a certain number of elected representatives based on their population. At the moment, it is currently that for every 100,000 people, a constituency receives one representative. Voters also vote on a partisan ballot, where they choose one party they wish to receive the Magisterial chair. Seats are allocated to the parties, who may appoint people to fill extra seats, based on the proportion of the votes on this second ballot they received.

Legislation originates in an Assembly committee appropriate for whatever the legislation deals with. After being approved by the committee, it is sent to the floor of the Assembly, where the bill is read and distributed to the offices of the representatives, and amendments are discussed and voted on. The bill is then debated on, and finally, voted upon. In order to streamline the legislative process, Fridays have been set aside specifically to vote on bills; while bills may be voted upon on other days, Fridays are specifically for voting on legislation. If a bill is approved by more than a 2/3rds majority, the Senate vote is made advisory.

There is a culture which has been called "beautiful chaos" or "legislative hooliganism". In this, representatives are encouraged to shout, cheer, boo, clap, and jeer while a speaking person is making their way to the floor, but are required to become silent once the speaker is ready to start. This has been aided by the application of an electronic system of claiming the right to speak, thus making the debate process a bit more impartial.

The Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Diet, and is generally considered to be less important. They cannot originate legislation, nor can they amend bills sent to them by the Assembly. However, the Senate is not an unimportant part of the legislative branch.

Senate seats are apportioned to the provinces of Edury; each one has four Senators, who are elected every other year. With some of the provinces of Edury being very rural, the per-state allotment of senators allows these less populated states to effectively object to laws which do not align with their interests, and prevent the more populated states from receiving an disproportionately high amount of funding or political attention. However, due to the fact that the Senate cannot originate legislation, and the Assembly can effectively veto the Senate with a 2/3rds vote (although this is exceedingly rare and has only happened 5 times in the last half century), means that the per-capita based lower house can effectively legislate based on the will of the people.

The Judicial Branch
The highest court in Edury is the High Court of Constitutional Questions, which has limited power to interpret the constitution. Edury is a civil law nation, however, the High Court of Constitutional Questions (hereafter called the HCCQ) has the ability to intercede on a case-by-case basis where they think that the law code requires an update, or where the law code does not apply to a novel case, or where the government's enforcement of a law or prerogative contravenes the constitution. Every 20 years, the HCCQ proposes a new civil code to the Diet, updated to match legislation and streamline the code after two decades of amendments and changes.

Lower courts are divided into civil, criminal, and contract courts. Each is administered by a local district court to deal with minor cases, a higher circuit court to deal with major cases, and an appellate court. Judges are chosen from graduates of a specific judicial course from law schools, or otherwise promoted from other justices.

Monarchy vs. republic
In the early days of the Eduran confederal government, the Daar was appointed for life. For the centuries preceding the Eduran Revolution, the Daars would fight with the various Assemblies of the Estates.