Free Republics National Information
History of the Free RepublicsThe Federation of Free Republics was formed in 1767, following decades of revolutions in the Lunia region. In the previous few decades, there had been a wave of revolutions. The ideas of liberalism had become popular in the region, as Abram Schmitts, an economist from Shostistan, wrote several books promoting the benefits of capitalizm. Soon, absolute monarchies fell throughout the Lunia region. The Kingdom of Saintland remained unaffected by this wave of revolutions, due to its self-imposed isolation.
Following the revolutions, there were now many Republics scattered throughout the region. These Republics faced seemingly constant attempts from reactionary elements to reverse the revolution and bring back absolute monarchy. They also had trouble trading and communicating with one another. The newly free, with a lowercase f, Republics had numerous antiquated laws and contradictory systems of measurement in effect. A foot in Vorita was 2 feet in Amolotopia and a meter in Roxawa was a decimeter in Nejax. It was a total mess all around. This mess was made even worse by the multitude of languages spoken in the different Republics. As they sought to eliminate trade barriers and forge closer ties between one another, their efforts resulted in confusion. In the days of absolute monarchy, the inability to speak one another's language was a benefit, since kings were always waging wars against one another. However, as the Industrial Revolution heated up and brought an unprecedented degree of prosperity to the land, they could no longer maintain separate languages, separate measurements and the arcane laws and regulations that were hindering commerce in the region.
Then, a rebellion broke out in the Republic of Roxawa. The rebels sought to abolish all property, all laws and even government itself. Rampaging around the countryside, they attacked government buildings, vandalized property and stole whatever they felt like. All the while, they spoke of total freedom. Terrifying the Republic's well-armed militia into inaction, the rebel crime spree continued for weeks. Fear spread throughout the region that other "rebellions" of this sort would soon break out, providing the perfect excuse for the Federationists. The leaders of 77 Republics throughout the region agreed to send delegates to the city of Baseton in Amolotopia to discuss an appropriate response to the rebellion. This was a pretext, which was seized upon by the Federationists to push their "Constitution" scheme.
The Federationists proposed that a document called a "Constitution" would establish a new unified government of all of the Republics, known as the Federation Government. This would be a relatively weak government, as the Republics would remain mostly autonomous and generally free to do as they wished in governing themselves. The Federation Government would have an enumerated list of responsibilities, such as promoting commerce, maintaining a common foreign policy and common immigration policy and several other minor tasks, such as the option to establish a national postal system.
The Constitution guaranteed a number of fundamental rights. Among them are the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and the right to own weapons for the defense not only of oneself and of the Federation, but also against tyranny. Other provisions of the Constitution prohibited unreasonable searches, cruel and unusual punishments and double jeopardy. The document also included a strict prohibition on the practice of slavery and declared immediately and permanently free any "slave" that was brought within any territory subject to the Free Republics. The Federation Government has the power to pass any legislation it deems necessary to free slaves. While ratification was controversial, due to the feeling among many people that the Federation Government was too powerful, it was eventually ratified by the electorate in each of the original 77 Republics. Today, there are the number of Republics in the Federation is well into the hundreds.
The Constitution created a bicameral Legislature and an executive branch where power is shared equally by the 2 heads of state. The Assembly is the popularly elected branch of the Legislature. Originally, it used a first-past-the-post system, but this was later changed to proportional representation after political parties and coalitions became the norm. The entire Assembly has always been up for re-election every second year. The Senate, by contrast, is a purely appointed branch and Senators serve for life terms. When a Senator is elected to another office, he becomes an inactive Senator, but other than such periods when he may serve in other offices, he is a Senator for life, without exception. Each Republic may appoint a new Senator every second year and Senators are appointed in the same years when Assembly elections are held. Finally, the Consuls are elected to 8 year terms, with a new Consul elected every 4th year. This means that every other Assembly election is held simultaneously with a Consul election. The Constitution prohibits any Consul from serving more than a single term per lifetime. Originally, Consuls were also elected first-past-the-post, but that has since changed to a 3 round system. In the first round, the top 2 candidates, plus any other candidates that get at least 10 percent of the vote advance, assuming that no candidate gets a majority of the vote. The second round sees the top 2 candidates advance, again assuming that nobody wins a majority of the votes cast. In the third and final round, whoever wins the majority of votes cast is elected. Both Consuls have and have always had full power to veto any act of the other and former Consuls automatically become Senators upon the expiration of their term in office.
The government of the Free Republics quickly moved to standardize the system of measurements used throughout the Federation and adopt English as the national language. To help transition the Federation to an English-speaking nation, the Federation Government established a system of schools funded by the Federation Government, which ensured that the next generation would speak English and identify themselves as Republicans, rather than identifying themselves by their home Republic and speaking their Republic's native language. A substantial minority of parents resisted this effort, but children were allowed to go to school and learn English, whether or not they had parental permission. By 1830, almost everybody spoke English and identified as a Republican, not an Amolotopian, Roxawan, Voritan, Schost or whatever the demonym was for their home Republic. This brought about a more unified society. Around this time, education was returned to the Republics, most of which eventually adopted a voucher based system.
The government also banned trade barriers between Republics. This was an expected and noncontroversial move. The funding of the government by a tariff also proved uncontroversial, since politicians generally agreed that the tariff should be limited to revenue only and not used to "protect" industries from competition. However, an income tax was eventually adopted as foreign imports began to dry up. The Republican economy was simply too much of a powerhouse to justify importing goods from abroad. Discontent with the income tax grew as the government kept pushing it higher and higher. Finally, Paul Musgrove ran for Consul on a platform of capping all taxes at 10 percent of income. After his election, the amendment passed both the Assembly and the Senate before being sent directly to referendum. Voters in every Republic overwhelmingly voted for it and it became a popular amendment.
In the 20th century, the Free Republics became even more of an economic powerhouse, thanks to the capitalizt economic system. Business thrived in the FFR, as the nation became progressively wealthier. Over the years, the FFR has expanded its territory while remaining on the cutting edge of technological advancement. In the present day, the Free Republics have a population in the billions and are one of the wealthiest nations in the multiverse, with a correspondingly high rate of income inequality. The exact population of the Free Republics is unknown, due to a Constitutional amendment adopted in 1934, which prohibited the taking of a Census by any entity, whether governmental or otherwise.
Several years ago, the Free Republics were left leaderless following the death of both Consuls within the span of a few months, one of them via assassination. In the chaos, Reino Kulseth of the Holy Party was elected Consul and gradually obtained dictatorial power for himself at the expense of the nation's Republican institutions. Kulseth established a tyrannical government that passed laws against lying (despite routinely lying to their own people) and mandating the use of the word "thou" instead of you in most circumstances. Kulseth dragged the nation into a large-scale war that proved extremely costly for both sides and which led to his downfall.
In the end, the Republican people rose up against Kulseth and, aligned with several foreign armies, brought down Kulseth's "Holy Republican Empire" and brought back the Federation of Free Republics. Robert Nicholls, the father of Veleik Nicholls (leader of the popular revolt) and owner of Nicholls Enterprises, was named the new Acting Consul until such time as the normal electoral process could elect his replacement. However, the following election led to the rise to power of another tyrant, Consul Caleb O'Reilly, who jailed Acting Consul Nicholls and basically turned over control of the country to a hivemind of robots which oppressed the people of the nation until one day when hackers disabled the robots and Consul O'Reilly resigned from office, claiming to have been under hypnosis during his entire time as Consul. In the aftermath, Consul Nicholls was restored to power as the Senior Consul as the FFR geared up for another election. Consul Nicholls intended to spend his time as Consul restoring the Free Republics to its former glory and was relieved that the Republican people selected retired soccer player and current professional wrestler Kyle Bolton to be their new Junior Consul in the election.
Unfortunately, the left-wing extremists in a handful of Republics, who had previously scared many Republicans into voting for Kulseth and O'Reilly, rose up in a wave of anarchistic street violence. When the Federation Government adopted measures to stop the violence, the 32 Republics they controlled seceded from the Free Republics and declared themselves a Confederacy of Leftist Republics, which quickly became a state sponsor of terror. Consul Nicholls waged war against this rebellion and ultimately defeated them. After the conclusion of this short-lived civil war, Consul Nicholls introduced "charter societies" located in the 32 former Leftist Republics and sold off ownership of these autonomous societies, whose residents are prohibited from participating in Federation Government elections or sending any representation to Republica, to the highest bidding political extremist groups in an effort to address the FFR's political extremism problem once and for all.
With the extremist groups largely exiled to the charter societies, Republican politics was expected to be less interesting in the future, which should be good for political stability in the nation. This has already borne some fruit with the recent decision by the Free Republics to join the
Reichsburg Free Trade Agreement and negotiate other free trade agreements with the various nations of the multiverse. However, the last Republican consul election still managed to make international headlines as Scarlett Nicholls and Sebastian Trudeau fought it out in an ugly electoral campaign that ended with Nicholls being elected the first female consul of the Free Republics and the first child of a current consul to be elected consul. Since becoming consul, Scarlett has made a push for full gender equality her top priority.
TransportationJust about every mode of transportation is an option in the Free Republics. Visitors for the Olympics may arrive at any seaport or airport in the Free Republics. Planes and ships may also be used to travel between cities. As the Free Republics spans 4 continents and many thousands of miles, the use of planes is recommended for long-distance travel.
Several private companies offer high speed rail between cities. It is possible to travel through most of the Free Republics on high-speed rail, although in some places you may have to walk across the city to a competing company's station to go to your desired destination.
The use of bicycles, although unregulated, is not recommended. The Free Republics are simply too vast a nation, so players and fans that travel by bike risk missing a match altogether.
Taxis are available in Republica as are several local bus services. While these only cover a radius of around 100 miles, that is sufficient to travel to and from all Olympic venues.
Automobiles are legal in the Free Republics and can be rented near any airport or seaport. Travel by automobile is possible to any nation located on one of the 4 continents upon which the Free Republics are located. However, as the Republican continents are located in Lunia, it is not possible to travel by automobile to-or-from the Free Republics and any other nation participating in the Olympics. Anybody who intends to rent a car is strongly encouraged to get a Republican drivers license, as foreign drivers licenses are only recognized in certain Republics. Most Republics will hand out a drivers license to anybody that applies and passes the driving test. The difficulty of these tests varies greatly by Republics. The test in Nejax is notoriously easy while the test in Amolotopia is notorious as one of the most difficult. Despite this, all Republics are required by Federation law to recognize out-of-Republic drivers licenses as valid. A wide variety of cars are commonly available in the Free Republics, such as SUVs, sports cars and pick-up trucks. Those that have money to burn may rent luxury cars or limos. The vast majority of cars on the road are produced in the Free Republics. Many roads, especially long distance roads, are underfunded and in poor condition, so planes and high speed rail are much more popular in the Free Republics. In Republica, driving is not recommended as the city is notorious for extremely bad traffic, a problem that is likely to be worse during the Olympics.
LodgingAll participating NOCs will be provided with free lodging sufficient for their athletes and support staff compliments of ROOC. NOCs and individual athletes have the choice of staying in local hotels, student housing at local high schools and colleges or a number of local campgrounds. Additional space may be purchased for a fee set by the hotel, school or campground.
WeatherThe Free Republics has a varied climate. The city of Republica is located in the center of the Free Republics and experiences all 4 seasons. As the Olympics are being held in the summer, the weather will be 85-100 Fahrenheit on most sunny days with a few cold or hot days. Rain, thunderstorms and tornadoes are a real possibility and may cause events to be delayed (
OOC: If some portion of the schedule needs to be pushed back a day, I will announce this and specify what weather event caused the delay.).
LanguageThe official language of the Free Republics is English and all government documents are printed in English. Most private businesses do not print anything in a non-English language. While the rise of xenophobia in the Free Republics has subsided, most Republicans still don't speak any languages other than English. The most common foreign language spoken in the Free Republics is Latin, due to the influence of the Church of Saintland in recent years, but its use is currently frowned upon because of the language's association with the former Kulseth dictatorship.
CurrencyThe Republican Thaler is the only widely accepted currency in the Free Republics. Financial institutions are generally willing to change Sanctii bullion, Acedonian Aces or Universal Standard Dollars into Thalers. Due to the large number of currencies in the world, it is impossible for financial institutions in the Free Republics to keep track of all of them. Therefore, it is highly recommend that everybody visiting the Free Republics get their currency converted into Thalers, USDs or bullion before entering the Free Republics. Non-Republican Thalers, such as the now-defunct Taxachusetts Thaler (which was notorious for its extremely high inflation rates), are not accepted as currency in the Free Republics and are not convertible into Republican Thalers.
EntertainmentThere are a plethora of entertainment options in the Free Republics. Every quality hotel room comes equipped with cable or satellite television, including thousands of channels and an interactive program guide. No matter what your preferences, you can probably find something on Republican television that you'd want to watch. If you can't find anything to watch on TV, you can always log on to Sanctustube, a video sharing website from Saintland, and browse the uncensored version of the site, which has (illegal) copies of just about every television program and movie in the multiverse. As Republican intellectual property laws only apply to works that are actively distributed in the Free Republics and registered with the Copyright Office, most foreign works are not copyrighted in the Free Republics.
Virtually every town in the Free Republics includes a movie theater, which is a popular social hangout. Tickets are relatively inexpensive, to keep an endless flow of teenagers coming into the movie theaters. Concerts are held in the major cities on a near-daily basis and there are several popular groups in each major genre.
Nightclubs and bars are available in virtually every village, town or city in the entire Federation. The local laws do differ, but most Republics will allow anybody over the age of 15 or so to enter a bar or nightclub. Strip clubs and brothels are also popular, although the regulation of those establishments greatly differs in each Republic. Women should be forewarned that the definition of consent in the Free Republics tends to be somewhat looser than they may be used to. In particular, Republican law regards intoxicated individuals as 100% capable of giving consent to the same extent as sober individuals and holds such individuals fully responsible for their actions and choices while intoxicated. Republican law also applies a "reasonable belief" test under which non-consensual sex is lawful if the consenting party has a "reasonable belief" that the other party is consenting. Many bars and clubs also sell marijuana, which is legal throughout most of the Free Republics (despite the efforts of the Outlaw Marijuana Party to change this). In Republica, anybody who is 13 or older may enter a bar and the legal age for tobacco, alcohol and marijuana is 13.
In the past, pro wrestling has been a popular form of entertainment in the Free Republics, especially among guys between the ages of 13 and 30. The wrestling company in the Free Republics put on extremely violent and sexualized shows. As their shows grew more explicit, their ratings steadily increased to the point where they were once of the most popular programs on television in the Free Republics. The Republican Wrestling Conglomerate attempted international expansion at one time, but the rise of Consul Kulseth and the restrictions he imposed on the content of their programming eventually drove them out of business. Abelino Sagese, their former owner, established the New Republican Wrestling Conglomerate, but it is not quite as popular yet as its predecessor. The issues of the NRWC were exacerbated by its controversial decision to fire an executive because his wife was a vocal critic of certain radical forms of Christianity on social media. This inspired the National Baseball Team to launch a campaign called "Stand Up to Sexism" to promote gender equality in Republican sports and eventually forced the NRWC to back down, apologize and offer the executive his job back. All-Taiyou Pro Wrestling of Noburu Taiyou has recently attempted to enter the Republican market and even held a number of events in major arenas last year after purchasing arena dates from the National Basketball Team due to the numerous delays of that year's IBC tournament. The Republican performance wrestlers at this Olympics are a mix of NRWC and ATPW wrestlers as Taiyouese athletes were permitted to participate on the Republican team.
Republican entertainment has been hit hard by the Kulseth and O'Reilly regimes, but businesses in that sector are currently trying to revive it. The Republican video game industry, long dominated by the RepublicSoft Saint, a device created as part of a partnership between RepublicSoft and the Sanctii government, has been hit particularly hard due to RepublicSoft's extremely close ties to the Kulseth regime. Republican gamers are currently enjoying the Miktondo Flip, a Taiyouese import that was the first to release of a new generation of handheld gaming devices while increasing numbers of Republican computer users have begun migrating to open source alternatives to RepublicSoft's Doors operating system and Citrus Computing's cOS mobile operating system, particularly after the free upgrade to Doors 12 was discovered to contain numerous backdoors designed to aid the efforts of the Kulseth government to spy on its citizens and Citrus Computing was discovered to have collaborated with the O'Reilly regime. Even Googol's Cyborg mobile OS has come under much criticism of late for overly restricting the freedom of its users. One of the more popular open source operating systems is Perestroika.
Important LawsFor the most part, visiting teams and fans will not have to worry about any unusual laws in the Free Republics. While public nudity statutes remain on the books in many Republics and around half of the Republics restrict the use of hard drugs, pornography, prostitution, alcohol, tobacco and cannabis are generally legal. In fact, pornography is legal everywhere in the FFR, as it is recognized by the Federation courts as freedom of speech. While many of these activities were barred at the request of the Kulseth regime and later barred again by the O'Reilly regime, there has been a push since the fall of the dictatorships to legalize them as widely as possible. However, laws against abortion tend to vary between Republics and some Republics have made it a crime to utilize their transportation infrastructure to travel to another Republic to procure an abortion. Public opposition to abortion has been growing in recent years, so more and more Republics are passing laws restricting or outlawing abortion. In Republica, abortions currently remain legal as are prostitution, prostitution, alcohol, tobacco and marijuana. Hard drugs, however, are banned within the capital.
Some Republics have their share of silly laws. The Constitutional provision prohibiting "cruel and unusual punishment" does not have as strong of an effect as you might expect because the Federation courts use an 18th century definition of cruel and unusual punishment. While nobody's going to be hung, drawn and quartered or tortured for evidence, several backwater Republics do practice some rather bizarre punishments for crimes. If you're going to run into any legal problems, it will probably be in some backwater Republic, since they have historically been the main power base of extremist politicians in the Free Republics. You may also run into problems in the charter societies as they are not required to follow the Federation Constitution and are generally run by extremist groups. Even under the Kulseth and O'Reilly Consulships, the federal system remained largely intact, so many of these extremist politicians have been in power since the days before Kulseth's rise. For this reason, we strongly advise that visitors avoid traveling to rural areas without familiarizing themselves with the culture of that area.
In particular, women visiting the Free Republics should be mindful that sexual consent is defined slightly more broadly than they may be used to. The Free Republics has traditionally had a very sex-positive culture for the most part and has tended to be suspicious at times regarding the reliability of accusations of sexual crimes. The different sexual norms in the Free Republics have caused several international incidents in the past. Sexual norms changed during the Kulseth regime and have yet to fully return to the way that they were. Given Kulseth's popularity among Republican women, it is doubtful that the old sexual culture will ever be fully restored but there are many Republicans who long for a return to normalcy, including the old sexual norms, and the nightlife industry is currently bigger and more successful than it has been at any point since the rise of Kulseth.
Host CityRepublica, located in the Republica District, is the capital of the Federation of Free Republics. It is a vast city spanning 753.1 square miles and home to an estimated 19 million people yet it is still not the largest or the most heavily populated city in the Free Republics. The city is the home of the Federation government, including a legislative building the size of a gridiron stadium and a Consul's Mansion that towers over the rest of the city. Yet, Republica is also a popular business hub due to the almost complete absence of any local government, the functions of which are mostly taken on by the Federation Government. The city has excellent low-cost public transportation, subsidized by the Federation government and politically untouchable despite substantial outcry on the part of the public, and just about every amenity imaginable. The nearby military base (Fort Capital) is the only military base in the Free Republics that is shared by both the Army and the Air Force, both of which are always ready to defend against acts of terror at a moment's notice.
VenuesIn the interest of avoiding the kind of cost overruns that have bankrupted other Olympic host nations, ROOC will primarily utilize existing venues for the Games of the XIII Olympiad. This is a partial list of venues. Many venues are located on the campuses of local high schools or universities. Under the Universal School Vouchers Act, which was recently expanded to cover colleges and universities, government is effectively the single payer for all educational institutions in the Free Republics and students (or their parents) may choose to send them to any school in the Free Republics. Given the high prestige of many high schools in the Republica area, all of which are privately owned and operated since the Republica District does not have a public school system, they are in high demand throughout the entire Free Republics (which is why many of them maintain housing for students).
Gem of the Oceans StadiumLocated in Republica, the capitol of the Free Republics, Gem of the Oceans Stadium is a massive stadium that seats 101,208 fans. Gem of the Oceans Stadium is named after the
National Anthem of the Free Republics.
Events: Opening Ceremony, Closing Ceremony, Athletics, Finals and selected group stage matches (generally matches involving the Republican team or that would otherwise be marquee matchups) for Baseball, Football, Gridiron, Hockey, Rugby & Softball, Traditional Pentathlon (including wrestling portions), etc.
Venicio Piazza Memorial ArenaVenicio Piazza Memorial Arena in Republica is named in honor of Consul Venicio Piazza, whose assassination led to the early election won by Reino Kulseth. It seats 33,202. Following the assassination of the beloved Consul, the Federation Government specifically funded the construction of this arena to honor his memory and to provide Republica with a world-class arena.
Events: Finals and selected group stage matches for Basketball, Dodgeball, Handball, Indoor Volleyball, Korfball & Netball, Gymnastics, Cheerleading
New Legislative BuildingThe New Legislative Building is a massive arena with 2 chambers. The Assembly has seats for 18,479 while the Senate seats 7,348. The legislature has generously permitted their building to be utilized for the Olympics and has temporarily relocated to the Indoor Sports Arena in Baseton for official business.
Events (Assembly): Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts, Judo, Taekwondo, Karate, Wrestling, Fencing, etc.
Events (Senate): eSports, Table Tennis, Squash, Badminton, Weightlifting, Chess
Barjavel Oval StadiumThe Barjavel Oval Stadium is a massive oval-shaped stadium located at the Barjavel Academy at Republica. As part of the renovations for the Olympics, a new 70,304 seat bleachers was constructed for this stadium. Barjavel Academy at Republica is considered one of a handful of the most prestigious high schools in the Free Republics.
Events: Caid, Footy, Camogie, Hurling, plus other team sports fill in the schedule when necessary
Daniel Lemelin Memorial ParkDaniel Lemelin Memorial Park is a baseball park on the campus of the University of Republica that seats 52,308.
Events: Baseball and Softball knockout rounds, Sevenball and Ultimate knockout rounds and finals, select group stage matches in Baseball, Softball, Ultimate and Sevenball.
University of Republica Aquatics CenterThe University of Republica Aquatics Center has been upgraded to Olympic standards and can seat up to 24,203.
Events: Swimming, Artistic Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, Underwater Hockey
Lake RydiaLake Rydia is a massive 47,327 square mile lake located just 51 miles to the north of Republica. Temporary seating will be placed on the beaches surrounding the lake to accommodate spectators. Spectators will also be permitted to stand on the beach free of charge.
Events: Canoe, Rowing, Sailing, Swimming marathons, Beach Volleyball, Surfing
Fort Capital Shooting RangeThe Fort Capital Shooting Range is located at Fort Capital, the only military base in the Free Republics that is shared by both the Army and Air Force. The fort is located just 37 miles east of Republica.
Events: Shooting, Archery, Modern Pentathlon, Sport Climbing
Capital Country ClubThe Capital Country Club is the most elite country club in Republica, normally reserved for only the wealthiest and most powerful men and women in the Free Republics.
Events: Golf, Tennis, Triathon, Equestrian
City SkateparkThe City Skatepark is a public park that was build 32 years ago to provide skateboarders with a safe place to ride their boards.
Events: Skateboarding
Republica Motor SpeedwayRepublica Motor Speedway is an old, flat 2 and a half mile race track with a seating capacity of 500,000 (
OOC: Think Indianapolis Motor Speedway).
Events: Auto Racing
Capital DownsCapital Downs is a 1 and a quarter mile race track located on the outskirts of Republica.
Events: Horse Racing