Politics of Nasphilitae (Pacifica)
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The Grand Duchy of Nasphilitae is a Regional Democratic Electoral Monarchy with Parliamentary and Republican elements.
The Head of State is termed "The Grand Duke of Nasphilitae", as of Jan, 02 the title is held by HSH Grand Duke Dawson Ernst.
The Head of Government is termed "Speaker", as of Feb, 20 the title is held by Syd G Patton.
Nasphilitae is organised on the principle by Fusion of Powers between the Executive and the Legislative branches, not on the principle by Separation of Powers. This means that the Executive power is exercised by the Government of Nasphilitae. The Government is comprised of the Head of State and his appointed Heads of HM Cabinets, together with the Head of Government and his appointed Executive Officers. Exercise of Executive power is shared in part by the Bicameral Legislature bodies in The National Parliament. Namely, by the opposition leading Head of HMs Shadow Cabinet, and his appointed Head Committees.
All exercise of Executive power also report to Legislature body of The Plenary Committee, by extent they are also held accountable by the independent Judiciary branch.
All Legislative power is vested in the Legislature which is essentially The National Parliament. Legislation proposed or enacted by The National Parliament is subject to Judicial review prior to becoming enforced. The Nasphiliti Parliament is bicameral: The Upper House of The National Parliament is termed "the Upper House of Localities", while the Lower House is "the Lower House of the Country Collective". The Upper House of Localities consists of 631 delegate-members who are elected in each Locality for a term of seven years. The Lower House of Country Collective consists of 225 members who are elected for a term of five years.
The independent Judiciary system is topped by the trio of the Supreme Court, Royal Court and High Courts. The highest legal document is the (pending) Codified Constitution of Nasphilitae, complemented by inherited Constitutional laws of equal strength.
The justice system is Adversarial rather than Inquisitorial, meaning that the power of case prosecution is not vested in the courts but by the law enforcement. However, the law enforcement is still obligated to standard procedures prior to exercising privacy-breaching policing actions.
Jurisdiction and strength of law includes(from most to least): Supreme Court decisions, new precedents set by Court decisions and interpretations of active legal documents, inherited case precedence, inherited legal customs or practice, legal documents of constitutional strength, High Courts decisions, legal documents, Royal Court decisions, primary statutory legal documents, sub-national Court decisions, and secondary statutory legal documents termed "secondary instruments".
Additionally, Nasphilitae prioritises "Redemptive Justice", over either Rehabilitative justice or Retributive justice. This doctrine is inherited from specific developments of legal philosophy in Nasphilitae. This means it rejects principles of proportional penalty and social rehabilitation, relying on established knowledge of ontological security and Milieu control. This makes "Redemptive Justice" most closely related to Transformative social justice. According to Ayala Moran and Robert Stenhouse, this is a result of an early constructed and strongly established Communitarian society, which was seen by the Nobility as the best alternative to avoid a divided Parochial society. Legally, this mainly takes the form of "non-binding legal opinions" issued by one of the three Central Courts, which seek to invoke a sense of guilt regarding a potential future case.
Nasphilitae has a multi-party system. Between 1962 and 2024, the three largest political parties were the technocratic P3 Coalition, the accelerationist Reform Party, and the industrialist Innsbolt Palmer List.
This changed in early 2024, with the rise of four new major political parties: The Center lead by Speaker Syd G Patton, Opportunity Party lead by Head of HM Shadow Cabinet Nowell Riley Trenton, Sustainable Reform Party (SRP), and (de facto) Nasphilitae National Party (NNP), lead by the Head of The Plenary Committee Claire Renske.
Additional major political parties include Unionist Mass Line (UML), lead by Annabella F Hayden and the ADLA (formerly the ALA), lead by Jonas Val.
Lesser parties include The Social Vanguardist Democratic Party (SVDP) and the Common Grounds Coalition (CGC).
Nasphilitae is a transitionary democracy, emphasising liberal principles and democratic procedures, with Republican (The Public-Collctive Country context) ideals. It practices Fusion of Powers in the Executive and Legislative, while Lawfulness is guaranteed by the Sovereign Judicial System. Short-references are either A democracy from polyarchy or A democracy from pluralism.
Additionally, Nasphilitae is an Emerging - Middle power. This means that its foreign policy and international behaviour is different from established Regional or Middle powers. Namely, it is challenging (Devil advocating) to the established order of International Relations. This is manifested by a more regional-oriented integration focus which include Crabry countries in multilateralism, in contrast to global-oriented integration.
In bilateral relations and Great Power alignment, it will usually support "lesser greater powers" which have lost significance or are recently emerging in significance, such as Besern, Sedunn and Izaakia. However, unlike established Middle powers, this alignment is usually exercised with much more restraint. Stenhouse attributes this to Nasphilitae being one of the only former Austral Empire Commonwealth Crownlands/Dominions, which kept a cordial relation with the Imperial Center. Ian Zachary attributes this moreso to how Austral Empire organised itself, rather than a conscious decision of sentiment among the Nasphiliti themselves. In reality, both are partially correct.
Executive public offices
The Grand Duke is the head of state, and the Speaker of the Lower House is the head of government. The majority of executive power is given to the HM Cabinets and Executive offices (respectively), which consists of the Speaker, Executive Officers and Heads of HM Cabinets (usually holding a specific title).
| Office | Name | Party | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Duke and Head of State of Nasphilitae | Dawson Ernst | Independent | January 2, 2024 |
| Speaker and Head of Government of Nasphilitae | Syd G Payton | Center Party | February 20, 2024 |
Grand Duke and Head of State
The Grand Duke of Nasphilitae is elected by 75 Earls nominating three candidates among members of the Peerage, which are then subject to Possible multiple round voting on direct, national elections until a single candidate receives absolute majority (only in this context, 50%+1) of the vote. nominated among members of the Peerage by 75 Earls. The Grand Duke serves for life. The Grand Duke is a formal head of state with the following executive powers:
- Appointing Heads of the HM Cabinet sectors (International Relations, Armed Forces and Intelligence Agency).
- Veto through requirement of Royal assent for legislation from Executive Offices or Head Committees (Importantly, not The Plenary Committees) to be signed into force.
- Supreme Command over the Royal Armed Forces.
- Chief of command over the Royal Airforce of Nasphilitae.
- Accountability for Ambassadorial Missions (not Consulary missions)
- Formally representing the Grand Duchy of Nasphilitae before other nations.
- Royal prerogative exercised in the form of enacting Ordinance legislation.
- Appointing temporary replacement for Executive office holders if the Speaker, Head of HMs Shadow Cabinet and Lead Representativ of The Plenary Committee are unavailable.
- De Jure Supreme Sovereign within Nasphilitae
- Appointing the Head Ambassadors of Nasphilitae to (multilateral) International Organisations.
The Grand Duke also ratifies all domestic laws and (bilateral) international agreements.
HM Cabinets
The HM Cabinets of Nasphilitae is one body with supreme exercise of executive power in The Grand Duchy of Nasphilitae. Each Head of an HM Cabinet is held individually accountable. It is held responsible by the Grand Duke, The National Parliament, in particular The Plenary Committee, The Peerage and the Earls, and The Judiciary branch. The Grand Duke appoints all Heads of HM Cabinets, who are authorised to appoint and organise their Cabinets sub-units. These include:
- The Head of HM Cabinet for External Affairs - Earl Quinlann Emmerson
- The Grand General of the Royal Armed Forces of Nasphilitae and Chief of Command of the Royal Naval and Maritime Forces - General-Peer David Atkinsons
- The Lead Director of the Agency for Documentation and Identification - Peeress Madison Edwards
Speaker and Head of Government
The Speaker is the head of government. The Speaker appoints Heads of Executive Officers and organises their coordinated work by presiding over meetings (twice a week) and speaks in their collective name. The Speaker sets the agenda for each Executive Office, though the respective public officer has autonomy to fulfill it in whichever manner they choose to. The Speaker is always the leader of the political party with the most seats in The Lower House of the Country Collective, meaning the leader of the political party which won the second round of national direct elections.
Executive Offices
Executive Offices are the second body with supreme exercise in executive power in The Grand Duchy of Nasphilitae. The number of Executive Offices is limited to ten. Each Executive Officer is held collectively accountable. It is held responsible by The Speaker, their political party leader (if different from the Speakers' political party), the Head of HMs Shadow Cabinet (head of Parliamentary opposition), The Plenary Committee, and the Judiciary branch. An Executive Office is a government organisation that manages a specific sector of public administration, as such it is a public office.