Worldbuilding: The Deltalands
May 3, 2011 23:04:04 GMT -8
Post by Airellian on May 3, 2011 23:04:04 GMT -8
As hobbits would say, good governance flows from the Arbiter. In his absence, the hobbits fashioned a government that would keep His words and wisdom in mind, without concentrating too much power into any group or individual's hands.
The constitution and the rule of law
The Deltalands is a constitutional republic, meaning that it is governed not by a person as in a monarchy or religion as in a theocracy, but by a set of fundamental principles and established precedents. Very few of these are written down, only set down by ancient custom. However, breaking tradition is very difficult for hobbits to do.
The rule of law means that the law applies equally to everyone, regardless of birth, station, or any other criteria. It is one of the fundamental principles guiding the governance of the Deltalands, and something that hobbits see very little of in foreign lands.
Professional politicians are frowned upon in hobbit society. All public officials are expected to have a primary occupation. In this way, the hobbits insure that all public officials are servants first and foremost of the people.
The national government
The national government, if it can be called that, has more in common with a league or confederation of allied city-states than a truly strong national government. A hobbit will identify more with his city of origin, than he will with the Deltalands as a whole. It is only by the hobbits' natural sense of community and family that the national government is able to form a cohesive policy at all.
The national government has the power to collect taxes from local governments, coin money, creates laws, et cetera. In times of national emergency, they may raise an army in the defense of all hobbitkind, although this has never happened before.
The seat of the national government is Rivertown.
The Chamber
The Chamber has its roots in the original town council of Rivertown. The ancient body was the private advisory council to the Governor, who could appoint and dismiss members at will. However, the Chamber has grown beyond its origins, and in modern times, the Governor has no power over the membership of the Chamber.
The Chamber is a well-respected advisory council made up of former governors, clergymen, former legislators, et cetera. It is not an elected body; membership is by invitation only. However, usually only those with long histories of public service are considered for membership. They propose laws to be passed and advise the Governor on domestic and foreign policy. However, their decrees do not have the force of law.
The Assemblies
The assemblies are legislative bodies that pass laws. By ancient custom, the Chamber makes recommendations on which laws to pass and give these recommendations in the form of decrees to publicly elected Speakers. The Speakers then transform the decrees into a bill and present that to the assemblies who then deliberate on whether to pass the bill into law or not.
The assemblies were formed almost 600 hundred years ago as a response to the growing power of the Office of the Governor. Several families came together and formed the very first assembly.
In practice, a census is taken every ten years, and the family genealogies are updated. From these family genealogies, a certain number of representatives are chosen and sent by each family patriarch or matriarch to sit on the assembly. It is in this way that the assemblies represent the will of the people.
Assemblymen serve one year non-consecutive terms. There are usually frequent rotations between assembly seats, and membership will wax and wane depending on the time of year, though an assembly must have quorum before a law can be passed.
Each assembly has only one Speaker, who serves a five year term. Each Speaker presides over her respective assembly but has no vote. However, they are the ones that introduce bills that the assembly then votes on, which itself carries its own power.
Historically, there was only one assembly, but almost a hundred years ago, after First Contact, a second legislative body was formed.
Each assembly has its own quirks and parliamentary rules. Most importantly, they each have their own sphere of influence or enumerated powers, determining which types of laws they may or may not pass.
The first assembly, sometimes just called the assembly, often deals with domestic and economic matters.
The outerland assembly influences foreign policy and trade.
As you can expect, the two assemblies often clash, and since each law passed by each assembly has the force of law, often times one assembly will cancel the other assembly's laws by passing another law to override the first law. This is why the Chamber exists, to provide a seeming method to all the madness.
The Office of the Governor
The Governor is elected for five year terms. Nominally, the Governor has a lot of power, but in practice, it equates to very little. Once upon a time, the Governor had much greater power and influence, but the power of the Office was curbed by the formation of the assemblies.
The Office of the Governor is responsible for codifying all of the laws of the assemblies into a single unifying document. Also, it is up to the Office to execute the laws passed by the assemblies, which is often a difficult and unforgiving job. It is from the output of the assemblies that a cohesive policy must be executed and enforced.
Technically, the Governor may veto laws that an assembly just passed by refusing "to put it into the books". But to override the will of the Chamber and the assemblies takes a certain amount of courage and disregard for established precedent that it usually happens very rarely.
It is through the Office of the Governor that sub-officers are appointed and delegated tasks to execute the will of the assemblies.
The Judges
Technically, the judicial authority is outside the national government. The judges are actually traveling clergy from the Light of Solace church who judge in the name of the Arbiter and sentence punishments. By ancient custom, the judges usually hand out the punishment themselves.
Many local governments will keep jails to hold wayward criminals until a holy judge makes her circuit to the town and where she can then administer justice. Some larger cities will have an actual court with a sitting judge, again handing justice in the name of the Arbiter.
It is interesting to note that between different city-states, one law will be interpreted one way and in another city-state another way. Over time, different areas will evolve their own different legal quirks and interpretations.
Local government
No hobbit city-state would dream of seceding from the Deltalands, the sense of community is too strong. In fact, there is no precedent for such a thing. In any case, the local governments of each town enjoy a certain degree of autonomy.
Each local government is relatively the same. They will have a mayor, a sheriff, and perhaps a town council, if the settlement is large enough. Each can raise their own militias, see to their own defense, and make their own laws.
The constitution and the rule of law
The Deltalands is a constitutional republic, meaning that it is governed not by a person as in a monarchy or religion as in a theocracy, but by a set of fundamental principles and established precedents. Very few of these are written down, only set down by ancient custom. However, breaking tradition is very difficult for hobbits to do.
The rule of law means that the law applies equally to everyone, regardless of birth, station, or any other criteria. It is one of the fundamental principles guiding the governance of the Deltalands, and something that hobbits see very little of in foreign lands.
Professional politicians are frowned upon in hobbit society. All public officials are expected to have a primary occupation. In this way, the hobbits insure that all public officials are servants first and foremost of the people.
The national government
The national government, if it can be called that, has more in common with a league or confederation of allied city-states than a truly strong national government. A hobbit will identify more with his city of origin, than he will with the Deltalands as a whole. It is only by the hobbits' natural sense of community and family that the national government is able to form a cohesive policy at all.
The national government has the power to collect taxes from local governments, coin money, creates laws, et cetera. In times of national emergency, they may raise an army in the defense of all hobbitkind, although this has never happened before.
The seat of the national government is Rivertown.
The Chamber
The Chamber has its roots in the original town council of Rivertown. The ancient body was the private advisory council to the Governor, who could appoint and dismiss members at will. However, the Chamber has grown beyond its origins, and in modern times, the Governor has no power over the membership of the Chamber.
The Chamber is a well-respected advisory council made up of former governors, clergymen, former legislators, et cetera. It is not an elected body; membership is by invitation only. However, usually only those with long histories of public service are considered for membership. They propose laws to be passed and advise the Governor on domestic and foreign policy. However, their decrees do not have the force of law.
The Assemblies
The assemblies are legislative bodies that pass laws. By ancient custom, the Chamber makes recommendations on which laws to pass and give these recommendations in the form of decrees to publicly elected Speakers. The Speakers then transform the decrees into a bill and present that to the assemblies who then deliberate on whether to pass the bill into law or not.
The assemblies were formed almost 600 hundred years ago as a response to the growing power of the Office of the Governor. Several families came together and formed the very first assembly.
In practice, a census is taken every ten years, and the family genealogies are updated. From these family genealogies, a certain number of representatives are chosen and sent by each family patriarch or matriarch to sit on the assembly. It is in this way that the assemblies represent the will of the people.
Assemblymen serve one year non-consecutive terms. There are usually frequent rotations between assembly seats, and membership will wax and wane depending on the time of year, though an assembly must have quorum before a law can be passed.
Each assembly has only one Speaker, who serves a five year term. Each Speaker presides over her respective assembly but has no vote. However, they are the ones that introduce bills that the assembly then votes on, which itself carries its own power.
Historically, there was only one assembly, but almost a hundred years ago, after First Contact, a second legislative body was formed.
Each assembly has its own quirks and parliamentary rules. Most importantly, they each have their own sphere of influence or enumerated powers, determining which types of laws they may or may not pass.
The first assembly, sometimes just called the assembly, often deals with domestic and economic matters.
The outerland assembly influences foreign policy and trade.
As you can expect, the two assemblies often clash, and since each law passed by each assembly has the force of law, often times one assembly will cancel the other assembly's laws by passing another law to override the first law. This is why the Chamber exists, to provide a seeming method to all the madness.
The Office of the Governor
The Governor is elected for five year terms. Nominally, the Governor has a lot of power, but in practice, it equates to very little. Once upon a time, the Governor had much greater power and influence, but the power of the Office was curbed by the formation of the assemblies.
The Office of the Governor is responsible for codifying all of the laws of the assemblies into a single unifying document. Also, it is up to the Office to execute the laws passed by the assemblies, which is often a difficult and unforgiving job. It is from the output of the assemblies that a cohesive policy must be executed and enforced.
Technically, the Governor may veto laws that an assembly just passed by refusing "to put it into the books". But to override the will of the Chamber and the assemblies takes a certain amount of courage and disregard for established precedent that it usually happens very rarely.
It is through the Office of the Governor that sub-officers are appointed and delegated tasks to execute the will of the assemblies.
The Judges
Technically, the judicial authority is outside the national government. The judges are actually traveling clergy from the Light of Solace church who judge in the name of the Arbiter and sentence punishments. By ancient custom, the judges usually hand out the punishment themselves.
Many local governments will keep jails to hold wayward criminals until a holy judge makes her circuit to the town and where she can then administer justice. Some larger cities will have an actual court with a sitting judge, again handing justice in the name of the Arbiter.
It is interesting to note that between different city-states, one law will be interpreted one way and in another city-state another way. Over time, different areas will evolve their own different legal quirks and interpretations.
Local government
No hobbit city-state would dream of seceding from the Deltalands, the sense of community is too strong. In fact, there is no precedent for such a thing. In any case, the local governments of each town enjoy a certain degree of autonomy.
Each local government is relatively the same. They will have a mayor, a sheriff, and perhaps a town council, if the settlement is large enough. Each can raise their own militias, see to their own defense, and make their own laws.
