Politics of Ventora

Ventora is, technically, a democratic monarchy. However, the death of Florián III and the entire royal family in the 1961 royal train derailment resulted in the establishing a regency in the monarch's stead, layering a commonwealth structure on top of the existing framework of governance. As a result, the politics of Ventora is somewhat disjointed and seems to support the current stratification of society into noble, wealthy, and worker and farmer classes.

Constitution
The, the Fundamental Law of Ventora, establishes the roles, responsibilities, and authorities of the government of Ventora as well as the rights of the people. It also defines the electoral process.

Executive
The executive branch of consists of the crown, through the auspices of the Regent, the Governor General as, and the Commissions, each headed by its respective Commissioner.

Head of state
In place of the monarch, the is an elected regent (: Regente). He or she is elected by the Grand Council of State to a term of 5 years, with no maximum number of terms. Candidates for the regency must be titled nobles (duke, count, or lord) who are at least 25 years old. Although not stipulated, in practice this means any elected regent will have fulfilled his or her military service obligation.

Because the regent serves in the stead of a reigning monarch, many of the responsibilities are ceremonial. Nonetheless, several have considerable significance in matters of state. As head-of-state, the regent:
 * Appoints the governor general with approval of the Grand Council of State
 * Signifies assent to legislative bills by affixing the official signature and seal or rejects them
 * Accepts the fealty of members of the armed forces or withholds such acceptance, and may dismiss them with cause and concurrence of the Grand Council of State
 * Assents to the appointments of commissioners by the governor general or blocks such appointments, and may request their removal with cause
 * Receives visiting heads-of-state
 * Accredits Ventora's ambassadors, high commissioners, legates, and like-ranking diplomatic officials
 * Receives the credentials of foreign diplomatic officials of ambassadorial, high commissioner, legate, and like levels
 * Binds Ventora to international treaties and obligations by affixing the official signature and seal following ratification by the Grand Council of State
 * Confers and cancels honors of Ventora
 * Grants pardons and amnesties by personal discretion in any matters except involving treason or espionage

Head of government
Appointed by the regent with simple majority approval of the Grand Council of State, the governor general (Gobernador General) serves as head of government. The governor general serves at the pleasure of the regent and may resign at will but may only be dismissed by the regent subject to simple majority concurrence of the People's Assembly.

As chief executive, the governor general is "arbitrator and moderator of the organs of governance."

Cabinet
The College of Commissioners (Colegio de Comisionados) is the advisory council and for the government of Ventora. Its members are the commissioners who are the heads of the various primary departments of state. The constitution provides for the cabinet but does not define the departments themselves, leaving that to the discretion of the governor general.

Departments
Each commission (Comisión), as a primary department of state under the direction of its commissioner (Comisario), has competence in its specific designated areas of governance. The governor general appoints the commissioners with simple majority approval of the Grand Council and the assent of the regent. The commissioners serve at the pleasure of the governor general although the regent may also request their dismissal which must be taken under advisement. The term derives from the original appointment of officials by the monarch by granting a Royal Commission to fulfill the duties and responsibilities assigned by the commission. Today, the regent issues the Royal Commissions in the stead of the monarch.

Presently, there are departmental commissions.

Judiciary
Duchies have their own judicial court systems for matters of duchy laws. At the state level, the judiciary is organized into sets of courts for each type of law plus an armed forces court system. The state court systems consist of three tiers, with a single State Supreme Court superior to the lower tiers.

Courts of Inquiry
As the court of first instance, a Court of Inquiry (Corte del Indagación) has responsibility to investigate alleged violations to determine the relevant facts. For serious violations, the court submits its findings to a Court of Justice. In minor matters, the Court of Inquiry adjudicates the case. A professional judge who serves a 5-year term presides over a Court of Inquiry.

Courts of Justice
A Court of Justice (Tribunal de Justicia) hears all matters of serious violations submitted to it by a Court of Inquiry. The Court of Justice also reviews cases of minor matters appealed to it from the Court of Inquiry. A professional judge, who serves a 5 year term, presides over a Court of Justice and has two assessors to assist him or her. The assessors are lay judges elected from the local population to serve 2 year terms. The Court of Justice takes its decisions by simple majority.

High Courts of Justice
High Courts of Justice (Corte Superior de Justicia) consist of three professional judges elected to staggered 6 year terms and two assessors elected from the populace to staggered 4 year terms. They hear matters referred to them on appeal from a Court of Justice and take decisions by simple majority.

State Supreme Court
At the top of the judiciary in Ventora is the State Supreme Court (Corte Suprema Estatal). It may choose or decline to hear matters appealed to it from any court in the land. The State Supreme Court consists of nine magistrates (dikastés): three are professional judges appointed for life by the Regent with consent of the Council of State, three are elected professional judges, and three are elected assessors who serve staggered 12 year terms. The People's Assembly elects the non-appointed judges and assessors.

Legislature
Ventora's parliament, collectively known as the Congress of State (Congreso Estatal), consists of two chambers: the Grand Council of State (Gran Consejo de Estado) and the People's Assembly (Asamblea Popular).

Either chamber may propose legislation but a bill must pass both chambers by simple majority before presentation to the Governor General. If the Governor General concurs, he or she submits the bill to the Regent for assent. If the Governor General does not concur, the Assembly may, with a two-thirds majority vote in favor, send the bill to the Regent for consideration. If the Regent assents to the bill, it becomes law. If not, the bill is withdrawn but may be reintroduced as a new bill or both chambers may, by two-thirds majority vote, call for a national referendum on the bill which may then be passed into law by a 60% or more majority of the electorate.

Grand Council of State
As the upper chamber of parliament, the Grand Council of State, commonly just the Grand Council, consists of 52 fellows. A fellow may be a woman but all of them are nobles. The dukes or duchesses regnant over the twenty-six duchies make up half the fellows, with the other half consisting of titled nobility elected by all of the nobility, both titled and untitled, who have reached at least twenty-five years of age. The elected fellows serve four year terms with no limit on the number of terms that may be served. In the event one of the dukes or duchesses regnant is elected Regent, their heir apparent serves as fellow for the duchy until completion of service as Regent.

Each term the Grand Council elects a prexy (prexio) as leader for the term. The current Prexy is Horacio Dali, Duke of Ocoa.

People's Assembly
There are 780 delegates in the People's Assembly, the lower house of parliament. Each term of office is two years and there is no limit on the number of terms that may be served. Any citizen who is twenty-five or older may be a delegate to the Assembly to represent the county in which their domicile is located. The Conclave of Electors elects candidates to the Assembly on the basis of three delegates per geo-populational district.

Upon convening, the Assembly elects a president (presidente) to serve as leader for the term. The current President (Presidenta) is Estrella Julia Flora Toledano.

Administrative divisions
Ventora consists of 26 duchies as the first-level political and administrative subdivisions. They are structured and empowered on the basis of a charter which serves as a. The hereditary duke or duchess serves as head of the duchy, although the role has become much more ceremonial in nature than before the deaths of the royal family in 1961. An elected head of government directs the duchy's executive branch and each duchy has its own legislative branch and judiciary.

Below the duchies are 260 counties. Each has its hereditary count or countess and an elected or appointed provost as chief executive. Within the counties are numerous and cities. The authorities and structures of counties, municipalities, and cities varies according to the laws of each duchy.

Electoral process
The constitution guarantees universal suffrage for all citizens aged 20 and older. The electoral process in the country is complex, however. For local elections, the laws of each duchy establish eligibility for office as well as the means for electing candidates to office. In most cases, elections are direct, but a good number of elections follow the same three-tier franchise as used in determining electors for the Conclave of Electors which elects delegates to the Assembly of State.

National level elections
The Regent is elected by the Grand Council of State. Fellows of the Grand Council are elected by all members of the nobility, whether titled or not. This includes dukes, counts, lords, and hidalgos.

Delegates to the People's Assembly are elected by the Conclave of Electors (Cónclave Electoral) who, in turn, are elected by popular vote under a three-tiered franchise system. Any citizen aged twenty-five or older may serve as an elector in a Conclave of Electors, which dissolves upon the election of delegates to the Assembly. There is one elector for each approximately 10,000 citizens. They are selected by municipality according to the three-tier franchise system. Each tier selects an equal number of electors for their municipality.

Three-tier franchise system
The three tier franchise divides all eligible voters into tiers of equal thirds based on taxation within a voting district. The first tier consists of people who pay the top third of taxes. Persons who pay the next highest tertile of taxes make up the second tier. The third tier includes the payers of the remaining third of taxes.

The number of voters in each tier varies from one locality to another on the basis of population and taxes paid. The system overrepresents landowners and the wealthy who pay higher taxes than the working and agrarian classes due to property values and income disparities.

Sub-national elections
Rules and franchise for elections at the duchy and lower levels vary according to the laws of each duchy. Suffrage, however, must be universal at not more than 20 years of age. Many duchies, although not all, use the three-tier franchise as at the national level. Even in those duchies, not all counties or municipalities follow the three-tier system. A single franchise for all eligible voters is typical at the local level.

Political parties
Ventora has a multi- system. The largest by number of seats in parliament are the Nationalist Party, Homeland Group, and Federalist Party in the People's Assembly, accounting for just over half the total seats. In the Grand Council, the Nationalists and People's Union hold half the seats.

Key political issues
Most Ventorans find themselves on one side or the other of the debate concerning keeping the current class system consisting of nobility, sub-divided into landed (titled) and unlanded (untitled) nobles, the wealthy class, and the working and farming classes. Variations take the view of pro-monarchy or an assortment of nationalistic or patriotic platforms compared to different scales of federalist, republican, or even anarchist points of view, frequently with greater or lesser socialist elements.

Since 1967, the People's Emancipation Union (Unión de Emanicipación Popular, UEP) has prosecuted a campaign aimed at eliminating the nobility, social classes, and even the state itself. The Noyonist group claims the regency under commonwealth is illegitimate and initially focused on disrupting governmental affairs, particularly in the north-northeast of the country where it has its largest base. Almost from the start, UEP targeted security forces, military personnel, and government officials. Labeled a entity by the Ventoran government, UEP had expanded to conducting bombings and shootings by the early 1970s. It finances its activities largely by kidnappings, robberies, and extortion. The government attributes over one thousand deaths, including at least 750 civilians in addition to government personnel.