Politics & Government
Introduction
The Government of Novaltia exists solely to the end of protecting and assisting the people of Novaltia. Although political parties exist, Government is arranged in such a way as to minimise indulgent partisanship for its own sake; instead, a true civic responsibility is strongly encouraged.
Society and the government are interwoven to a greater degree than in most countries; despite this, the main structure of the state is fairly straight-forward as depicted below.
1. The Chancellor of the Exchequer
3. The Minister for Foreign Affairs
5. The Minister for Public Works
The Sovereign resides, as an institution, at the political and social summit, to provide smooth continuity and impartial oversight over the political sphere. The theoretical power of the Crown is vast. Its holder possesses (to paraphrase 18th century legal commentator Sir William Blackstone):
...Sovereign and uncontrollable authority in the making, confirming, enlarging, restraining, abrogating, repealing, reviving, and expounding of laws, concerning matters of all possible denominations, ecclesiastical, or temporal, civil, military, maritime, or criminal.
He can, in short, do every thing that is not naturally impossible.
These powers, however, are considerably constrained or otherwise delegated by tradition, and by the convention that the Sovereign is honour-bound to observe His own laws, as well as the more general customs and precepts of the Commonwealth. As Head of State, the Sovereign is wholly responsible for the welfare, prosperity, and security of the Commonwealth.
Beneath the Monarch are five Great Officers of State, namely, the Lord Steward, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Marshal, the Lord Constable, and the Lord Chamberlain. The Prime Minister serves as Head of Government; this office is always combined with that of Lord Constable.
Below the Great Officers is a second tier of officials, comprised of various Ministers of the Crown. It should be noted, however, that Ministers may not necessarily have the word 'Minister' in their titles. For example, the High Sheriff and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are both Ministers for this purpose.
These twelve Ministers, plus the Sovereign's Private Secretary and other principal Citizens of quality, form His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council. The Cabinet is the primary sub-committee of the Privy Council, with members chosen by the Prime Minister; whilst it sets the direction of policy, the policies themselves must earn the endorsemsent of a majority of the Privy Council and the Sovereign before being implemented (via Order-in-Council).
Burgesses
Whilst Citizenship is a fundamental status, it is not a sufficient one by which to exercise political office or influence. The rank of Burgess is granted for life to any adult Citizen who passes an examination of civic fitness and certain standards of knowledge and competence. Being a Burgess is, generally speaking, requisite for holding political offices, and voting in national referenda.
The Parliament
The legislature of the Commonwealth is a bi-cameral Parliament, with a House of Lords as the upper body, and a House of Commons as the lower one. The Lord Chancellor is in theory responsible for both Houses, but in practise only presides in the Lords, whilst an elected Speaker presides in the Commons.
The House of Lords is filled with Peers, the ranks of which are Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron (known collectively as the Lords Temporal), and senior Church officers, i.e., Cardinals, Archbishops, Metropolitans, and Bishops, who are known together as the Lords Spiritual. The House of Commons is comprised of Burgesses randomly selected at lottery.
Since the episcopal clergy serve for so long in their posts, and temporal nobles serve for life, and then their heirs after them in succession, the House of Lords remains to a large extent a static body from year to year.
Indeed, this is its purposeful design, to act as a conservative counter-weight against proposals of rash change, as well as to provide an assembly of well-seasoned ladies and gentlemen who typically have expert knowledge in specialist subjects. Members of this body, too, uniquely, are unbound from any requirement to be a Burgess - though they must be so certified if they are to hold some other political office.
In contrast, the House of Commons is comprised only of Burgesses, chosen at random before the start of each new Parliamentary term. Such new terms (or new Parliaments, as they are more usually called) are called by the Sovereign on the request of the Prime Minister of the day.
Vote tabulation in Parliament is based on an electoral system. The Parliament as a whole consists of eighty (80) electoral votes, with twenty (20) assigned to the House of Lords, and sixty (60) to the House of Commons. These electoral votes are applied to a potential Act-of-Parliament in proportion to their votes in their respective Houses. Since forty-one (41) electoral votes are the minimum Parliamentary majority, this means that the House of Commons alone can conceivably pass Acts-of-Parliament, with a 68.3% majority of its membership. The Sovereign, however, may be more hesitant to grant His Assent elevating such an Act to a forceful Statute if it has no support at all in the other House; such issues are taken case-by-case.
The Principal Imperial Offices
Below are the principal Imperial offices, with a brief description of each:
The Lord High and Great Steward of the Empire
The Lord Steward is responsible for land, infrastructure, and other property in the Realm, and the maintenance, improvement, and disposition of the same.
The Lord High and Great Chancellor of the Empire
The Lord Chancellor is charged with keeping the Chancery (legal record-keeping), presiding over the House of Lords, and to generally oversee the justice system.
The Lord High and Great Marshal of the Empire
The Lord Marshal is the executive commander of all land, naval, air, and territorial forces, and generally responsible for the national defence. He normally is dual-commissioned as a Field Marshal and Fleet Admiral.
The Lord High and Great Constable of the Empire
The Lord Constable is responsible for all executive departments and functions not charged to another, in a catch-all capacity. By statute, this office is always combined with that of Prime Minister, the title by which he is normally known.
The Lord High and Great Chamberlain of the Empire
The Lord Chamberlain heads the Imperial Household, assisting the Sovereign in all functions of the Monarchy, and is therefore charged with overseeing much of the Commonwealth's civic ceremony.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the treasurer of the Commonwealth, and is responsible for keeping all financial accounts, and collecting taxes.
His Imperial Majesty's Minister for Archives
The Minister of Archives is the chief historian and chief curator of the Realm, and keeps a special library of all state records and historical documents (or copies of the same, if the originals are held elsewhere).
The Lord of the Armory is the chief of all His Majesty's land forces, and normally has the commission of General.
The Lord of the Armory is the chief of all His Majesty's naval and air forces, and normally has the commission of Admiral.
The High Sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the Realm, and is responsible for maintaining law and order. He also presides over other civilian emergency services, such as the fire brigades, and is the superior officer of the Attorney-General, who is, in turn, the chief prosecutor of the Empire (and a civil servant, rather than a politician).
The High Rector is not only a Minister but is head of the University, which encompasses not only higher education but all of the libraries, museums, laboratories, and observatories in the Commonwealth, and regulates and licenses the tutors who conduct lower-level education.
His Imperial Majesty's Minister for Foreign Affairs
The Minister of Foreign Affairs is the head of the foreign service, and is the chief diplomat, as well as de facto head of public information and immigration services. He is also the superior officer of the Solicitor-General, who is the chief legal officer representing Novaltia to the outside world, as well as to the High Commissioners for other nations.
His Imperial Majesty's Minister for Health
The Minister of Health is in charge of public health, medical services, and agriculture. Each of these major sections, however, are run by department heads, such as the Surgeon-General, who is in charge of doctors and hospitals. Healthcare is open-access and free for all Citizens.
His Imperial Majesty's Minister for Public Works
The Minister of Public Works is in charge of all public utilities and infrastructure, including roads, sanitation, water, electricity, etc., as well as any on-going public works projects for special purpose, such as the construction of important civil buildings and monuments.
The Chancellor of Arms is the head of the Imperial College of Arms, and in this capacity is responsible for all heraldry, vexiollogy, copyrights, patents, and trademarks in the Realm, as well as the governance of Shire-level Heralds, who promulgate government notices.
His Imperial Majesty's Imperial Stationer
The Imperial Stationer is responsible for the publication of all laws, proclamations, regulations, writs, judgements, and other Government documents of whatever kind, and for acting as the clearinghouse for some kinds of Government correspondence.
His Imperial Majesty's Minister for Culture
The Minister of Culture is responsible for the legitimate regulation of all public entertainment, including mass media.
His Imperial Majesty's Private Secretary
The Sovereign's Private Secretary is the chief of staff of the Monarchy with respect to Governmental duties (as opposed to the ceremonial side). He, along with Deputies, handles the Sovereign's official correspondence and conducts business with Government officials on the Sovereign's behalf.
The Sheriffs of Shires are the chief public safety executives therein, not only for law enforcement but for all the civilian emergency services within the Shire. They are formally appointed by the Shire's Lord-Lieutenant, but in practise are elected by the Shire's House of Delegates.
The Doyens of Shires are the chief executive officers within each Shire, and serve at the pleasure of the House of Delegates - being elected by the members of that House outright. Doyens administer all facets of Shire government not otherwise in the remit of the Lord-Lieutenant, the Sheriff, or other Crown officials. In practise, this means that they have the primary responsibility to sustain the unique cultural and legal character of the Shire, by helping to formulate and implement its local ordinances.
Heralds-at-Arms are Shire-level officials, appointed by the Lord Chamberlain, who are responsible for all Imperial-level services within the Shire (like the postal system). Since they are appointed at the Commonwealth-level, and not at the Shire-level, they are above local politics, and can assure the efficient running of vital national services without partisanship.
The Board of Immigration is delegated all powers relating to the day-to-day procedures for immigration into Novaltia, as well as de facto governance over Denizens, Friends of Novaltia, and Resident/Virtual Guests. The Lord Steward is ex-officio Chancellor of Immigration, and in this capacity serves as Chairman of the Board of Immigration.
The Board of Trade possesses the responsibility of advising the Sovereign and Government in all matters relating to commerce. The Board exists in lieu of just one 'Minister for Trade' so that more points-of-view can be taken into account - in particular the views of a representative sample of Novaltic business owners and workers.