Constitutional Monarchy of Callisdrun
International Informational Dossier,
Map
"We Bow to No One"
The Constitutional Monarchy of Callisdrun is a large, mountainous, coastal state situated in the far northwest of its region. With a robust economy and burgeoning population, Callisdrun is an important player in the economy and political structure of the area. Callisdrun has been involved in a few horrific wars during the last century. This likely explains why, unlike other liberal, parliamentary monarchies, Callisdrun has remained highly militaristic. Culturally, the society is both quite open and fairly permissive. Despite being highly traditional in its own sense of social norms, internationally, the country would be described as socially liberal.
International Informational Dossier,
Map
"We Bow to No One"
The Constitutional Monarchy of Callisdrun is a large, mountainous, coastal state situated in the far northwest of its region. With a robust economy and burgeoning population, Callisdrun is an important player in the economy and political structure of the area. Callisdrun has been involved in a few horrific wars during the last century. This likely explains why, unlike other liberal, parliamentary monarchies, Callisdrun has remained highly militaristic. Culturally, the society is both quite open and fairly permissive. Despite being highly traditional in its own sense of social norms, internationally, the country would be described as socially liberal.
Country Name:
+ Conventional Long-Form: Constitutional Monarchy of Callisdrun
+ Conventional Short-Form: Callisdrun
+ Archaic Long-Form: Unified Dominion of Callisdrun
National Information:
+ Demonym: Callisdrunian, Callisdruni
+ Capital: Callisdrin (primary residence of monarch, seat of parliament), Drun (secondary residence of monarch, seat of judiciary)
+ Population: 14.933 billion (Feb. 2011)
+ Official Language(s): Callisdrunian (two distinct dialects, Norsk Callisdrunian and Callisk Callisdrunian)
Government:
+ Government Type: Constitutional Parliamentary Monarchy
+ Highest Executive Official: Queen Bente VII
+ Highest Legislative Authority: Parliament (local term: Althing). Current Prime Minister- Hannah Soderberg
+ Highest Judicial Authority: High Court (no direct translation of official name, closest other translations are "Elder Court" and "Moot Court") in Drun
+ Ruling Political Party: Coalition of the Left, comprised primarily of the Socialist, Green, and Communist parties, opposed by the Business and Fascist parties.
Rights and Freedoms:
+ W.A. General Overview of Political Rights: Very Good
+ W.A. General Overview of Civil Rights: Excellent
+ Suffrage:
- Drinking: 14
- Driving: Sixteen 15 with supervision, 16 without
- Legal Age of Consent: 18. Minors between the age of 13-17 may give consent for relations with anyone at least 13, but no more than three years older.
- Marriage: 18
- Military Conscription: 18, may be deferred until age 24.
- Military Volunteering: 16
- Smoking (generally applies to cannabis, rather than tobacco, as the former is more common): 15
- Voting: 18
Government
The government of Callisdrun is a fairly conventional plan, occasionally with some idiosyncrasies stemming from ancient clannish customs. While the monarchy does still hold a considerable degree of power, the Constitutional Monarchy is highly democratic and the monarchy technically has no legislative or judicial power. This has been the state of affairs since 814 CE. The government can be broken down into clearly delineated executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
Executive Branch
The executive branch is comprised of the monarch and all royal ministries. It should be noted that this includes the Prime Minister, who is also considered a member of the legislative branch. The monarch has the power to enforce laws, conduct diplomacy, make judicial appointments, veto laws, command the military and to call elections. Many of these authorities are delegated to lower authorities. Justice and foreign affairs are usually delegated to their respective ministries, and command of the military is mostly left up to the Ministry of War. The monarch may also introduce legislation, but does not the power to vote on legislation. The eldest child, whether male or female, of the previous monarch, usually inherits the throne in the event of the reigning monarch's death. A monarch may be deposed by a vote of three fourths of the electorate. In olden times, a deposed monarch was usually made into a sacrifice to Odin. Constitutionally, the monarch must come from House Pendrunsk. Children of monarchs do not change their surnames upon marriage, whether male or female. The consort of a reigning King is termed a Queen, the consort of a reigning Queen is termed a King. The current monarch is Queen Bente VII
Royal Ministries:
- Education
- Justice
- Commerce
- War
- Environmental
- Foreign Relations
- Social Equality
- Treasury
- Health
- Electric
- Water
- Transit
- Labor
- Arts
Legislative Branch
The legislative branch of Callisdrun's government consists of Parliament, known as the Althing. It is a unicameral body that includes members from all parts of Callisdrun, which is divided into a multitude of legislative districts. Representation is based on population and is proportional by party. All districts are multi-member. Members are elected through single transferable vote, thus achieving both local representation and proportional representation. Parliament has the power to make laws, to call elections, to confirm/reject appointments, declare war and demand resignation of government officials. Parliament also controls the government's budget, exercising a great deal of power through control over funding and taxes. It should be noted that executive appointments can be made from either direction. If the monarch nominates a candidate, parliament must confirm her/him. If parliament nominates a candidate, the monarch must confirm her/him. Generally, heads of ministries are nominated by parliament and confirmed by the monarch, while military and judicial appointees are nominated by the monarch and confirmed by parliament. Treaties must also be confirmed by parliament. Technically, the Prime Minister is the head of parliament.
Currently, the ruling government is the Coalition of the Left, consisting of the Socialist, Green and Communist Parties. They are opposed by the Business and Fascist Parties. Occasionally, the Anarchist Party manages a few seats in parliament, but that party has a long history of frequent collapse due to lack of organization and disunity.
Judicial Branch
The judicial branch, naturally, consists of the court system, headed by the High Court (also known as the Elder Court) in Drun. The final arbiters of Callisdrun's constitution, this court has the power to rule any law or executive action to be unconstitutional, and to try government officials. Lower national courts may also rule on constitutional issues. County courts hear most of the day to day criminal cases. Municipal courts rule on more local matters, such as traffic violations and zoning disputes.
Administrative Subdivisions
Callisdrun is a very large country, and though its population was lower when its constitution was adopted, communication across its distances was also much more difficult. Therefore, the nation is divided into a great number of counties, which decide local matters. Some are divided even further into sub-counties. At the time Callisdrun's constitution was made, most counties were the traditional homelands of various clans, some counties a group of clans. Hence, the executive over a county is referred to as a chieftain. However, unlike in earlier times, this position is elected, rather than being hereditary. Still, the requirements to be chieftain almost make it seem as if each county is its own country. Most require residence for a certain number of years, and citizenship in that county. Just Callisdrun does not recognize dual citizenship (you cannot hold Callisdrunian citizenship and citizenship in another country at the same time... if the government discovers that you do, they will give you a period of time to decide which to keep, and if that period passes with no decision, will revoke your Callisdrunian citizenship), one cannot be a citizen of two counties at once. Counties are usually run by their own elected governing councils, while municipalities are run by mayors and city councils. A county is not necessarily larger than a municipality.