Government of the Illuminate Republic

Currently unofficial lore, and in progress.

This page is WiP, you can contribute to its writing by discussing in its thread

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.

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.

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-cycle 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 cycles.

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.