Constituent States of Tepertopia (Pacifica)
| Constituent State | |
|---|---|
 G: Grimmen; L: Lotze; P: Pluvy; V: Valetria; W: Vickel | |
| Category | Federated state |
| Location | Tepertopia |
| Number | 5 |
| Populations | Smallest: Grimmen, 138,457 Largest: Pluvy, 517,041 |
| Areas | Smallest: Lotze, 780 square kilometres (300 sq mi) Largest: Pluvy, 4,640 square kilometres (1,790 sq mi) |
| Subdivisions | District (or equivalent) |
The United Protectorate of Tepertopia consists of five Constituent States (Alman: Bundesstaaten, [ˈbʊndəsˌʃtaːtn̩]), commonly simply called States (Alman: Staaten, [ˈʃtaːtən]) bound together in political union. Within their defined borders, the States remain partly sovereign while delegating defined powers to the Federal government, as prescribed by the Tepertopian Articles of Union.
States on the island of Tepertopia first joined together for the Tepertopian First Protectorate in the 11th century, with the current Third Protectorate coming into existence in 1889 with the conclusion of the Articles of Union as treaty between the Grand Duchy of Grimmen, Principality of Lotze, Barony of Peninley, Pluvyan Federation, Grand Duchy of Valetria, and Republic of Vickel as its States. With Peninley later joining the Pluvyan Federation as a member state, the other five are Tepertopia's current States.
Powers, rights, and responsibilities of the States are laid down in the Articles of Union. The States must all maintain written constitutions which guarantee a division of sovereign power in executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and respect the abstract principlies of "freedom, democracy, social solidarity, and the rule of law" (Art. 1). In matters of the federation, each State is entitled to send non-voting Delegates to the Tepertopian Assembly, the Federal legislature, and must be represented with at least one Councillor in the Council of the Union, the Federal government. Furthermore, where the Articles do not explicitly empower the federation, the States have exclusive power to pass legislation and otherwise decide policy on any matter (most notably, law enforcement, press law, and assembly law are left to the States to decide), and to otherwise exercise sovereign power and discharge the other functions of state. Insofar the States have the power to legislate, they may also themselves conclude treaties, subject to the approval of the Council of the Union.
States may join each other and break up into multiple new States. While the former has been invoked by Peninley acceeding to the Pluvyan Federation, a break-up has never occurred. According to the last Article of the Articles of Union, Art. 171, the outright admission of external entities as new States is "not intended", which has also sparked discussion among the legal world of Tepertopia as to the extent to which this provision bans the accession of new States. Unambigously clear, however, is Art. 10 in stating that "[t]here is no secession" from the federation.
List of current States
| State | Code | Capital | Head of state | Head of government | Legislature | Area (km2) |
Pop. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Grimmen
|
G | Happelstein | Grand Duchess (Großherzogin) Margarethe I | Chancellor (Kanzlerin) Margot Fleckenstein | Diet (Landtag) | 1,132.9 | 138,457 |
 Lotze
|
L | Lotze City | Prince (Fürst) Bert II | Princely Council (Fürstlicher Rat) | Diet (Landtag) | 780.0 | 143,323 |
 Pluvy
|
P | Adaca | President (Präsident) Timothy Emerton | Federal Congress (Bundeskongress) | 4,639.8 | 517,041 | |
 Valetria
|
V | Merpor | Grand Duke George IV | Prime Minister Cornelius Marshall | Parliament | 4,382.7 | 513,515 |
 Vickel
|
W | Wesford | Prime Minister (Premierministerin) Brittany Collier | Parliament (Parlament) | 1,789.6 | 239,075 | |
History
Subdivisions
Except for Pluvy, the Constituent States are all unitary states. Subdivisions and their rights and powers are determined by the States themselves, with the Articles of Union only requiring that Municipalities must exist and have authority to govern "local affairs" (Art. 11). However, all States have opted to create at least one administrative layer between State and Municipality, by convention called Districts.
Besides serving administrative purposes, the Federal electoral law also stipulates that the top-level subdivisions of States are the constituencies for elections to the Tepertopian Assembly, with seats allocated to them based on the number of eligible voters inhabiting them. This further gives the States a way of influencing Federal matters, albeit this is in comparison very limited due to the overall proportionality element of Federal legislative elections making gerrymandering less profitable.
Grimmen
Grimmen has three Districts, each administered by a District Commissioner (Alman: Kreisrat).
| District | Code | Capital | Commissioner | Area (km2) |
Pop. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berge | BG | Midmin | Heinrich von Bachingen (M) | 585.5 | 25,927 |
| Happelstein | HA | Happelstein | Philip Cornman (M) | 138.3 | 90,039 |
| Tal | TA | Bergein | Hermine Kunz (W) | 409.1 | 22,491 |
Lotze
The three Districts of Lotze are each administered by a three-member Land Council (Alman: Landrat).
| District | Code | Capital | Council | Area (km2) |
Pop. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oberland | OB | Pforzheim | 330.6 | 24,898 | |
| Stadt | ST | Lotze City | 38.1 | 65,125 | |
| Unterland | UN | Tiengen | 411.6 | 53,300 |
Pluvy
The Pluvyan Federation is itself a federal state, composed of eleven Member States, who are themselves guaranteed relatively extensive rights to self-governance. Accordingly, internal structure further varies between the Member States.
| Member State | Code | Capital | Chief Executive | Area (km2) |
Pop. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free City of Adaca | AD | Adaca | Lord Mayor (Oberbürgermeisterin) Mary Humphries (FiO) | 49.2 | 154,499 |
| Margraviate of Arbor | AR | Tiegen | Chief Minister (Leitender Minister) James Moretti (M) | 446.3 | 42,253 |
| Duchy of Gerstle | GE | Karlstadt | Chief Minister (Leitende Ministerin) Maribel Fleming (W) | 415.8 | 24,071 |
| County of Groß-Reichenbach | GR | Reichen | Chief Minister (Leitender Minister) Heribert zu Cronenberg (GUILD) | 396.9 | 27,186 |
| Margraviate of Hathamia | HT | Bleterton | First Minister (Erster Minister) Sam Fairclough (W) | 412.7 | 40,605 |
| Republic of Herzogtum | HZ | Dorfstadt | Minister-President (Ministerpräsident) Holger Meyers (M) | 215.1 | 28,500 |
| Margraviate of Nair | NA | Lienau | State Chancellor (Staatskanzler) Ernst Meerveld (W) | 452.3 | 22,830 |
| Partanian Republic | PA | Prester | Minister-President (Ministerpräsidentin) Lucy Candida (W) | 365.1 | 23,689 |
| Barony of Peninley | PY | Thormire | First State Minister (Erster Staatsminister) Fynn Verrell (W) | 415.7 | 46,449 |
| Landgraviate of Schöffel | SC | Schöffelstadt | Chief Minister (Leitender Minister) Julius Lehrwerd (M) | 824.7 | 67,647 |
| County of Südkap | SU | Zaden | Chief Minister (Leitende Ministerin) Astrid Staller (M) | 646.0 | 39,285 |
Valetria
In administrative matters, Valetria is divided into nine Districts, each administered by a District Commissioner. For ceremonial purposes, historical divisions, as they used to be governed by the Valetrian nobility, also exist, but are of little importance for civil governance.
| District | Code | Capital | Commissioner | Area (km2) |
Pop. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrinch | AT | Atrinch | Simon Brooke (W) | 405.6 | 34,793 |
| Bellver | BE | Mermouth | Jenae Orr (Independent) | 686.1 | 63,157 |
| Central | CE | Showey | Willie DuPont (M) | 742.1 | 37,797 |
| Grasslands North | GN | Nesoney | Robert Paterson (M) | 423.8 | 26,313 |
| Grasslands South | GS | Nosbowey | Felix Sprayberry (M) | 403.6 | 34,000 |
| Merpor | ME | Merpor | Wolfgang Buchner (GUILD) | 308.2 | 132,024 |
| Nosterming | NO | Nosterming | Franziska Saller (M) | 182.6 | 49,017 |
| Peninsula | PE | Saldon | Alexander Keeley (M) | 401.7 | 51,964 |
| Riverside | RI | Helston | Nicholas Griffin (C) | 829.1 | 84,450 |
Vickel
The five Districts of Vickel are each governed by a District President (Alman: Kreispräsident).
| District | Code | Capital | President | Area (km2) |
Pop. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haliston Lower | HL | Craftham | Richard Boone (W) | 261.6 | 21,015 |
| Haliston Upper | HU | Halistonfound | Michael Tackett (M) | 495.2 | 49,567 |
| Heckel | HE | Gulachtal | Ursula Leitner (Independent) | 519.8 | 49,631 |
| Knutsfield | KN | Knutsfield | David Coleman (Independent) | 258.3 | 29,474 |
| Wesford | WE | Wesford | Grace Hayes (GUILD) | 254.7 | 89,388 |