How democratic is your nation?

[The Planet Carpathia]

That's a very difficult question to answer. On the one hand our President is elected via a preferential system and we hold referendums on important subjects. We held a referendum on World Assembly membership not too long ago, and we are due to hold a referendum on the subject of reforming General Council to turn it into a fully elected assembly. On the other hand there is not yet any obligation on the President to seek re-election and General Councillors are all currently Presidential appointees.

[Ecans]

My ambition is to have Ecans eventually shine as a beacon for all liberal democracies. Unfortunately that has and will take time.

When I was born (to a minor member of the Nobility) Ecans had a rigid class structure that allowed NO upward advancement. One was born into a class and stayed there. The working class (AKA serfs) represented about 80% of the population and lived miserable lives. Imagine...they were restricted to only one car per family as well as one only of: TV, computer, home, vacation home, personal aircraft (single engine only...no jets), yacht (not over 39 feet) Makdinalds fast food once a month only and just 2 children!

Imagine the grinding poverty!

When I took over 3 years ago, (in an almost bloodless coup. OK, some blood but not a lot...well, lots of blood but only in the upper 2 classes) I promised a Makdinalds on every block and a hovercar in every garage. Makdinalds was easy. The Hovercar...well, maybe just a little more research.

Breeding is now encouraged. Just not in public, thank you. Well, maybe in the parks on a Friday night...

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I just left a park.

I presently run the government through a sort-of elected Senate and Lower (much lower) House of Representatives.

Upward social movement through the 5 classes is permitted and based on a yearly tax audit. The more $ the higher the class.

Except for the 1st. class...the Senators. A Senator must be 40, have done his/her military duty, succeeded in business, be of great character, be well educated (no lawyers allowed) and will serve a single term of 20 years. House Reps. serve a 5 year term and may be elected twice.

I am the senior Senator running the executive branch for life. After my death, a Senior Senator will be elected by all the Senators and will serve 40 years. We have an average lifespan of 150 years so after his retirement he will retake his ordinary Senate seat where his voice will be heard first on all issues.

That's it! Great system, no? I would give us 5/10, at least until I croak.

[Independent Atlantis]

7. The Council is elected, but has broad authority. It can be overridden by a vote of over 50% of the citizens.

[Oceanic Vakiadia]

Oceanic Vakiadia is a five on the scale. The head of state and government is not elected except in special circumstances, and neither are his close advisers. The Senate, however, is democratically elected.

[KludgeMUSH]

We're maybe a 1.5. This is a dictatorship, although referenda are often held on non-critical issues or things of no importance whatsoever.

[The IOAS]

We were previously a 1, but seeking a 10, but it's a slow transition cuz the leader does not control what issues she gets.

[Greater Rhodes]

Somewhere around an 8; the monarch is appointed by the previous monarch but this appointment must be ratified by the populous via special referendum, known as the Affirmare. The head of government is directly elected by the people, and they are represented in Parliament on both a local level in the National Assembly and on a cantonal level in the Senate. All citizens can vote, including prisoners and the disabled, and citizens, with enough support from their peers, may also put initiatives through for Parliament to consider and organize referenda recall a member of government. All citizens are also protected by the Rhodian Constitution and it's Charter on Human Rights, which does have considerable weight in affairs of the law.

[Las Bela]

Well, our One-Party states hold referendums on who should be elected into the council.

I don't really know how to fit that into the 1-10 system.

[The Kangaroo Republic]

We would say that we are somewhere at 5 or 6 on the scale. The FKR is a federal parliamentary republic. The members of the lower house, members of the district houses as well as the president are all elected democratically by the people while District presidents are elected by the members of the respective district houses. These district presidents then, depending on the population of their district, send 4 to 6 delegates to hold a seat in the upper house. The prime minister is elected by the lower house, the prime minister then appoints the other ministers. Elections for the lower house and the district houses take place via a closed party-list voting system.

[Cruithnig]

Cruithnigans decide how certain aspects of funding are distributed. That is more than enough democracy for anyone.

[The BranRiech]

-5

[Old Tyrannia]

A three. There is a parliament and it's elected by the people, but it's a purely advisory body and the Emperor- who is considered to have divine mandate and is regarded as God's representative on Earth- has the power to dissolve it at any time he so chooses. Certain rights and liberties are protected, but on the whole, the Empire is quite an authoritarian state. That's how we like it, though. Democracy is seen as a useful component in a succesful government, but nothing more; 'pure' democracy is seen as a relative of anarchy and mob rule. That said, there are certain rights that the people hold very dear and which even the Emperor wouldn't dare to touch.

[Beringovia]

psst. . . we're a democracy but don't tell the Grand Duchess. She still thinks she is in charge.

[Saurisisia]

We'd probably be either 5 or 6.

[Prestyr John]

We're a little bit democratic.

Prester John is a hereditary monarch who has strong executive powers in all of the Dominions. His veto is final, his word is law, and there is no body that can regulate his powers.

However, for the past 200 years, the Presbyter-Emperors have allowed the existence of a Senate, made up of elected representatives from all of the realms, plus additional Senators appointed by the Prester John. The Senate can pass laws and administrative measures, but all of its legislation requires Prester John's approval. A veto cannot be overridden, but in practise, Prester John respects the wishes of his Senate.

Each individual realm also has its own Senate, Parliament, Duma, or Council that has considerably less interference from the Crown. These tend to have many elected members (if not mostly or wholly elected), and it is the provincial legislatures that have the most power on the provincial level, as Prester John is more concerned with trans-provincial matter ans empire-wide issues, relying upon his local legislatures and viceroys to govern their own provinces.

[Blues Bay]

2-3. Sure,the people can vote and we have 'parties'. It's really all a lie.

[Karaginsky]

#1.

But Il Duce tells us that we'd be number 10.

[Nationalist Tantalus]

We border on authoritarianism at 4; though we have a New Jericho Assembly responsible for proposing laws, the Kaiser possesses enough power that he or she can veto legislation at will. For this reason, Kaisers nearing their end-of-life are held accountable for wisely selecting his or her successor.

[Wazkyraque]

I don't know where a Demarchy would fit here

[Swilatia]

We'd probably be an 8 or 9. There are a lot of referendums be we don't decide everything that way. There definitely is a parliament.

[Enatai]

I'm about a 3? Citizens may vote for politicians at a local and, to some extent, a state level. However, these positions are there essentially to take care of the grunt work and to see to it that things run on time and nobody goes out and abuses their freedoms to, oh, I don't know, drill for oil in the middle of a pristine lake or something. As Enatai's ruler, King Alexander gives his people few political abilities, in exchange for extremely progressive, and more importantly, permanent civil rights. In fact, his FIRST ACT as King was to lay down the law of the land: No victim, no crime. Now, there are stipulations about this and there are indeed a few things which do not directly have victims, in which case the victim is listed as society at large, but in general, if nobody has any objections other than "It offends my sensibilities, someone get me some bleach so I can wash the image out of my pure virginal eyes, leaving my vision lily-white as the freshly driven snow!" then it's perfectly, 100% legal.

The reason King Alexander has taken such excessive political power for himself is because, as an immortal himself, and as someone utterly dedicated both to his people and their well-being, it was decided that the people's rights would be much more secure and the people's interests taken care of so much faster and with so much more efficiency, certainty, and strength if democracy on a national level were to be abolished. NO wasting time on voting for the president, NO wasting time trying to vote in politicians who will ensure rights and freedoms, NO waiting to see if a bill will pass in the house or the senate, NO dumbass political posturing in order to support one political party over another, NO wasted paper, NO WORRYING. Truly a benevolent dictator if ever there was one.

[Luciasa]

I guess Luciasa gets an 8 or 9, depending on the viewer’s preferences.

Reasons for 9:
The nation is built federalist. Many decisions are made locally.
There are no councils on municipality level, but open citizen assemblies that debate and vote over anything which belongs to their responsibility.
The President and Vice President is elected directly by the people (to one 4 year term).
Power is not vested in one single person, but a collective of 15 members (with the President having limited powers).
There is direct democracy even on federal level. We have a quite powerful form of it, not only using Referendums but also Initiative aiming at law on any level, even the federal constitution. Law can be created, changed or removed (within boundaries)

Reasons for 8: (or even less)
Rather many people are excluded from the democratic process, due to various rules (please ask if interested in details)
Age limits are high (25 active, 35 passive suffrage)
The parliament may exclude articles from direct democratic instrument (eg. security related stuff, such as the military)

Neutral issues:
The terms are short, so that “bad guys” can be easily removed and limited. (2-4 years).
The parliament is uni-cameral
Financial powers are vested in a separated council, not fully directly elected (please ask if interested in details)
Political powers are often “inherited” from bottom-up. This means that an executive politician of a lower organization level may become a member of the Legislative on a higher level.
The federal constitution allows any members of the governing council to be elected directly, but usually they’re just appointed by their party.

[TurtleShroom]

Five.

TurtleShroom has its share of democracy, and it has its share of unelected supremacy.

We have three heads of state that are unelected and follow a dynastic-like approach. De facto, they are royals that choose their successors. Even so, though, when there is not a sitting head of state, a Board of Regents, thirteen creatures that are democratically elected, assumes the throne. The heads of state are called Chancellors and have authority in all three branches, that authority mostly being the right of Veto.

We have a fully functional and actually holding power Congress that has the sole authority to write law. They are democratically elected in free elections. Their laws can be vetoed by the heads of state, but the veto can be overridden. The heads of state can directly submit law to Congress for an up or down vote, but they can not directly rule by decree.

Our judges, which have great power, are elected directly, on all levels... -but the heads of state can void many of them. ...-but their void can be voided by an override by Congress, similar to the legislative veto.


TurtleShroom subscribes to the Plato model of "ship of state". We believe that the people have the ultimate sovereignty in the government, but also that the people are, for lack of a better word, stupid at times. There must be a passive "captain" at the helm. If the people accidently steer the ship in a bad direction, the captain must steer it back onto its rightful course. The concept of "philosipher king" is highly regarded, and ultimately, TurtleShroom agrees with folks like Plato and Aristotle: the best government is one that is ruled by powerful-but-qualified-and-noble rulers. We added a modern twist, though, to ensure they meet that vision, which leads to the ultimate power.

The every day TurtleShroomer- "the people" -have one power deemed sacred in the nation, and that is the power of RECALL. If any official on any level even HINTS at corruption, and the Congress or judiciary fail to act to kick them out, it is considered the civic duty of the people to invoke a recall. That means that the creature charged with wrongdoings in the eyes of the people must be ousted and forced to undergo another election, will they will amost certainly lose.
If a Chancellor is recalled, he is deposed, stripped of the throne, and one of the successors the last Chancellor had named takes the throne in his place. A dethroned Chancellor is a disgrace to the nation, and over the years have seen various punishments. Until 1989, the punishment for being recalled, impeached, or deposed was death. As for succession, if all heirs to the last Chancellor died, one of the corrupted Chancellor's heirs are chosen in the same way as if the corrupt one had just died.


The people can also void a Supreme Court decision by referendum, repeal a law by referendum, and any Constitutional Amendment must be approved by the people in a vote.
Recent changes in government have also required that, unless TurtleShroom is actually attacked, all military force and declarations of war (e.g. liberations, alliances, etc.) passed by Congress must then be authorized by a referendum.

Like the Chancellors, the main power of the people is the Veto. The heads of state and the ultimate sovereigns Veto laws; the latter can't make them, the former can only propose them.

[Veceria]

Erm ... three or four.

[The Harrowlands]

Probably a 6.5 to 7, or thereabouts. We don't profess to be a democracy, we have democratic elements, but our constitution is mixed constitution that has a balance between monarchy, aristocracy and democracy. Power is actually vested in the Crown (the Queen), but it is exercised upon the advice of the elected government, which is formed by the Queen's inviting of the leader of the party able to command the confidence of the House of Commons to form a government. National referendums are also required for any change to the constitutional law, so that is an element of direct democracy