Government of the Illuminate Republic

Currently unofficial lore, and in progress.

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Official flag of the Illuminate Republic

The Illuminate Republic was a democratic and federal parliamentary republic. This was the final form of the Illuminate government before its formal dissolution. The term Illuminate now refers to the Solakkian Union. Following the Illuminate Republic is the Avalon Alliance.

The type of government system of the Illuminate Republic continues to be used in many avali nations as most new governments post-expansion used it as a common template. The Avalon Alliance also still uses the exact same form of government, with all but one of the same popular unions present in its parliament.

Constitution

The "New Constitution of the Illuminate" was the constitution of the Illuminate Republic. Signed in the year 309 and replacing its previous monarchical leadership, it transitioned the Illuminate into a complete democratic republic, with all parts of the governments now beholden to democratic elections. Although much of its basic law was copied from the previous government, it contained several new clauses ensuring important individual rights such as the right to free (political) expression or the unviolability of one’s personality and right to not be discriminated based on such.

"All avali have the right to an existence of their own. Each individual’s rights to their own world views, freedom, personality and pride are to be protected by all institutional power. Each individual has the right to fulfill themselves and express and let flourish their personality so long as this does not interfere with the rights of others. It is the state’s purpose to support an individual in these goals to the best of its ability." - Article 3

Heavy focus is also put on the well-being of individuals, securing social welfare as a fundamental, unconditional right for the first time in avali history. Post-expansion these laws were further expanded, amending terms such as the "Unconditional Equity" clause, which guaranteed equal access to necessities and materials for personal fulfillment, regardless of work status.

"No avali shall go hungry, or without medication, or work, or proper time and finances to express themselves freely." - Article 15

It also officially separates federal and regional government and acknowledging the right of tribes to govern themselves, ending the political repression of the previous decades. The constitution would be updated further over the existence of the Illuminate Republic, as it was designed to be adjusted to future political challenges. Infact, it would be amended or changed over 200 times, with the last amendment codifying its own dissolution, and the formation of the Avalon Alliance.

The political system of the Illuminate Republic

Executive

Agencies

Agencies make up the executive power of the Illuminate Republic and its leaders are appointed by parliament members through vote, most often, but no always, this means they are determined by the primary. Once appointed, these leaders operate independently from parliament, carrying out their duties as instructed by the constitution or federal law. Outside of new elections, agency leaders may only be removed from office for poor conduct or neglect of duties. As is usual within all areas of the government, entire packs may be asked to head an agency, though they are usually asked to select a single individual as the named leader.

Although new agencies may be created and old ones dismissed, some are constitutionally mandated. Examples of mandated agencies include the Federal Finance Agency, the Agency for Justice and the Agricultural Agency. The last agency to be added to the constitution itself was the Agency for Foreign Affairs at the end of The Expansion. A popular example for an agency created through simple law is the Extraction and Manufacturing Division (EMD), but others include the Bureau for Industrial Accident Investigation or the Federal Maritime Authority.

Legislature

Legislative power is mostly granted to Parliament directly, though certain rights are given to the Advisory Council as well. The parliament is directly elected by the people, while the Council consist of members selected from individual Regional Councils, representing the regions and their interests. The name of he Advisory Council is a holdover from previous iterations of the Illuminate government, where it merely acted in such an advisory role. In the Illuminate Republic, however, it holds limited legislative power, such as vetoing proposed federal legislation which conflicts with established regional law.

Parliament

Parliament is elected on a 5-season term via mixed-member proportional representation and approval voting and consists of 432 or more members. Only tribes, unions or independent candidates which are already registered for election in their Regional Council and have received 1% of votes during any regional election may attempt to register themselves for federal election.

Voters are presented with two lists. One asks which tribes or unions the voter would approve of being in parliament, the result of which provides the initial distribution of seats in parliament according to the vote percentages. The other lists specific candidates, individuals or packs, from the electoral district the voter is registered in. Only a single winning candidate is selected by highest vote count and gets to move into parliament. If the candidate belongs to a tribe or union on the prior list, they will go to take up one of the seats won by this tribe or union. If not enough such seats are available, additional seats will be granted for these candidates to take up, potentially growing parliament past its standard 432 seats.

Candidates may also be independents, in which case they are assigned their own seats, added on top of the ones determined by the election thus far. Vote counts themselves are also important, as the amount of votes a tribe or union has received determines which level of government support (i.e. financial funding) it receives over the next 5 seasons.

Of note is that seats may be assigned not just to individuals, but packs. If a seat is assigned to a pack, it is not at all unusual to see this seat physically occupied by a different pack member at different times. Despite this, the current occupant is always expected to act in accordance with their pack, and may be penalized if found to be defying this obligation.

Once the election has concluded, tribes and unions within parliament may form coalitions. Traditionally, an attempt is made to form a coalition with a majority vote share, called the primary coalition. Only rarely does this fail, leading to a minority government, where no single coalition holds a majority of seats. Otherwise, parliament members outside the primary form the opposition.

The opposition acts a controlling force within government, mostly using their powers to form and lead investigations into the operations of the governments. If legislation is ever challenged in court, it is usually the opposition leading this charge. The opposition members also communicate more directly and more often with the public, keeping them informed about the behaviors of the primary.

A government body of chiefs and moderators is then elected, which are tasked with overseeing government operations, such as moderating debates within parliament. Critically, it is the opposition that has the most influence over this body. Traditionally, it is the tribes and unions that are outside the largest coalition (primary or otherwise) which get to directly choose the chief moderator.

While the primary is responsible for proposing new legislation, all parliament members may have influence on its debate, formulation and, finally, approval. All parliament members vote independently on the passing of a bill, usually according to the views of their coalition or tribesmates. Once a vote passes, the new legislation is implemented after a set period, after another period where it may be challenged, either by the courts or the public through referendums. The Advisory Council may also block the implementation of legislation if it conflicts with regional law or would interfere heavily with regional operations, until such a time that this dispute is settled.

Judiciary

Courts follow civil law and are structured into three different types. First are regional courts that deal with most criminal and civil cases, and in the case of officially appointed judges, have the power to rule on local legislation. There are then specialized courts for problems related to specific areas of the law, i.e. labor law. The aptly named Highest Court deals directly with constitutional matters, dealing with cases where constitutional law may have been violated by government bodies.

Administrative Divisions

The Illuminate Republic was originally divided into a multitude of regional governances and then further split up into the jurisdiction of individual tribes. Regional governance follows a scaled-down version of the federal government, with a parliament-like Regional Council and its own official courts and agencies. Tribes are typically tasked with enforcing regional law and have limited ability to set rules of their own within their territory. Notable regions include the territories of Southern Keji or Coastal Savov. By law, every tribe and coalition must belong to one regional governance.

The beginning of interstellar colonization complicated this division. It took until close to the end of the expansion for larger colonies to be granted their own status as a regional governance, but the distance and slow communication with Avalon made operating these governments difficult. As a result, interstellar governances were readily given additional power beyond what was required or allowed by the constitution, a contributing factor to the dissolution of the Illuminate Republic.

Tribes and Unions

Example of an election result from the 10th Season 492

  DCA: 183 seats

  Progress: 78 seats

  TPC: 55 seats

  Tribe Hathol: 33 seats

  SOUTH: 31 seats

  FOF: 21 seats

  Colonial Tribes: 16 seats

  Others: 27 seats

  Independents: 11 seats

Although any tribe can put itself up for regional election and many of both tribes and tribe unions have appeared on the federal ballots or even in parliament, there are a few which have existed for a majority of the Republic’s lifespan or have had major historic impact. The most notable are:

• Democratic Coalition Avalon (DCA) was one of the original coalitions present in the first parliament and strongly represented the new Illuminate’s democratic values, vowing to uphold them at all cost. They eventually became very pro-technology as a way to increase economic and societal growth of the republic, being a main driving force behind the expansion.
• Southern Tribes of Keji (SOUTH) began as just the tribe of Keji, but slowly grew to encompass almost the entire southern regions of Avalon. They were generally accepted as the only party properly representing the unique cultural demands of tribes in these geographical regions.
• The Purple Coalition (TPC) are self-described environmentalists, heavily resisting the industrial revolution in favor of a return to "natural life". Despite being generally regarded as very eccentric in character and plagued with anti-establishment sentiments, they have nontheless been responsible for much of environmental protection law which persists to this day.
• Feathers of Freedom (FOF) were the largest opposition party for a long time following the formation of the republic, with their stated goal of "keeping the government in check", they were in reality strongly against all government as a whole, wishing to restore total authority to the tribes with no federal government to speak of. Their views softened over time, though they still work to restore power to the tribes.
• Tribe Rosev of Ralu was the first entirely off-world tribe to ever appear on a federal ballot. Despite never gaining more than two seats in parliament, their formation is a historically important landmark. They would eventually join one of the coalitions representing the colonies in the Solakku system, to greater success.
• The United Colonies Coalition (UCC) was the largest coalition ever formed in the republic’s history, encompassing tribes from almost all interstellar colonies at the end of the expansion. They are majorly credited with resolving the expansion’s crisis and formation of the Solakkian Union and continued to be a major power within parliament until the dissolution of the Illuminate Republic. It is the only party with a presence in parliament which did not continue on into the Avalon Alliance, choosing to dissolve itself together with the republic.
• Tribe Hathol is a rather rare instance of a singular tribe gaining major federal power. They heavily support and aim to protect the social policies of the republic, causing them to gain support outside their actual territory, especially during times of crisis. They also heavily collaborated with the UCC and every coalition containing the UCC also always included Tribe Hathol.