Constituent States of Tepertopia (Pacifica)

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Constituent State
G: Grimmen; L: Lotze; P: Pluvy; V: Valetria; W: Vickel
CategoryFederated state
LocationTepertopia
Number5
PopulationsSmallest: Grimmen, 138,457
Largest: Pluvy, 517,041
AreasSmallest: Lotze, 780 square kilometres (300 sq mi)
Largest: Pluvy, 4,640 square kilometres (1,790 sq mi)
SubdivisionsDistrict (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
  • Jens-Peter Gerstenberg (M)
  • James Ferros (W)
  • Walter von Orlen (Independent)
330.6 24,898
Stadt ST Lotze City
  • Jürgen Schneider (W)
  • Poppy Falkenrath (M)
  • Laura Johnson (FiO)
38.1 65,125
Unterland UN Tiengen
  • Lea Heller (W)
  • Norbert Breunig (M)
  • Albert Labonte (Independent)
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