Government of the Union of Vynlandia and the Balthnian Republics
The Union of Vynlandia and the Balthnian Republics (Aka UVBR) is a confederation of constituent states all ran independently from one another brought under one cohesive union under a republican style democratic government. The government is divided into 3 distinct branches of government which operate on a union level.
The Executive Branch: The Executive branch is headed by a collegial body known as the Confederal Directorate who acts as a collective head of government. The head of state is known as the High Commissioner who has no power over the other department directors within the directorate. The High Commissioner acts as a representative of the UVBR’s government internally and externally and the title rotates amongst the members of the Confederal Directorate every year, once the High Commissioner served their rotation term, they will be back to being another director within the Confederate Directorate serving as the director of their respective department.
Due to the collegial Confederal Directorate being a collegial body of the executive government the Union of Vynlandia and the Balthnian Republics is known as a directorial republic. The directorate is elected once every 5 years and each member of the Confederal Directorate can only serve a maximum of 2 terms, thus a member of the Confederal Directorate can serve a maximum of 10 years.
The Legislative Branch: The Legislative branch is known as the Constituent Assembly and is a bicameral body composed of 2 cambers. The Lower chamber is known as the People’s Assembly made up of 466 seats and is where laws are and can be brought into being by legislators or by direct referendum which are known as ‘Citizen’s Initiatives’. Laws become active for consideration when they are voted for via a simple majority.
Once a proposed piece of legislation on a Confederal level is voted on in the People’s Assembly the proposed legislation then must go through a simply majority vote of the upper house which is known as the States General. The States General is made up of 233 seats and members like their counterparts in the People’s Assembly are also elected via general election for 5-year terms with 2 terms being the maximum amount.
The Judicial Branch: The judiciary is headed by the High Court of the Union of Vynlanida and the Balthnian Republics, colloquially known as the ‘Hight Court’. The Court is headed by 7 magistrates all elected by the United Legal Chambers and serve 1 term for 10 years, thus ensuring full judicial independence from the other two branches of government. The High Court is the final court of appeal for all criminal cases, civil cases, and administrative cases (i.e cases involving disputes between government bodies). The High Court also holds the power of judicial review; that is powers to amend, or repeal legislation on the basis of clashes of other existing laws, or if a piece of legislation clashes with the constitution.
Legal System: Inquisitorial System based on a various Germanic civil codes
Composition of the Directorate
The Cabinet also known as the Confederal Directorate as explained acts as a collegial head of state made up of 8 directors of various governmental departments, however, the makeup of the directorate was address in 1935 where the election was put in grid lock for 5 months. To address this problem the constitution was amended to include the composition of the directorate to ensure equitable distribution. The two parties no matter their ideological position which make up a majority of parliament take up 3 directorial positions within the each and the party that follows takes up 2 positions. Should 2 potential junior parties take up equivolent seats then each party gets 1 member each in the directorate.
This has helped moderate the members of the directorate and led to a more cohesive confederal government in general when parties with differing ideological positions on either side of the political spectrum work together, and also ensure wider representation of the general electorate, leading to less polarisation of Vynish and Balthnian society.