Coscivian National Congress

The Coscivian National Congress is a caucus of political parties and independents in the Federal Stanora organised around a platform affirming the political importance of Coscivian cultural identity, principles,. The CNC is often described as right-wing by Occidental observers, though it is better described by its position relative to the other legislative cacuses: The Congress agenda is more, centralist, and explicitly identitarian than the Shaftonist-Republican Alliance, and is far more supportive of a strong role for the state in the economy and less supportive of expanding international trade. Compared to the Caritist Social Union it has a more civilisational and nationalistic ethos than a religious one, and takes umbrage with the CSU's international humanitarianism, welcoming stance on immigration, and pro-Levantine sentiment. It has a more modernist and urban-industrial orientation than the Caucus of Justice and supports a much larger, stronger, and more centralised government and a more active foreign policy. Although it grew out of the anti-Kirosocialist National Renewal Movement, on most policy matters (particularly economics) the CNC finds itself closer to the Kirosocialist New Deal Alliance than to the other NRM caucuses, but rejects the Kirosocialist focus on class struggle in favour of national unity and opposes its goal of building a "socialist culture" and "socialist civilisation", preferring organic Coscivian culture as the basis of the nation.

History
The Coscivian National Congress traces its origins to the United Allegiance Society, a that grew into a powerful minority faction within the Renaissance Party during the Rump Republic. The UAS was characterised by strong Coscivian nationalist convictions, as well as a more statist and authoritarian approach to politics that differentiated it from the conservative-liberal mainstream of the Renaissance Party and an unflinching modernism that put its members at odds with ardent traditionalists in the Party apparatus and the Army officer corps. Both of these differentiating characteristics were inspired by the Restarkist philosophy of the Republican Nationalist Party, with which the Society's founders had come into contact while serving as military liaisons in the Cape. The UAS would grow into a powerful faction within the Renaissance Party and exerted influence over the Federalist government-in-exile.

After the restoration, the Renaissance Party faction that had formed around the UAS began operating autonomously, first as an intraparty caucus and later as a semi-independent caucus within the National Renewal Movement as the National Republicans, a name which its members had already been using for a while now. When the National Renewal Movement fractured, the National Republicans found common cause with independent groups and movements outside of the NRM. These included conservative groups of a Coscosophist and Pan-Coscivianist bent that had reëmerged from the underground after Kirosocialism, and many former Kirosocialists of a Kiravian social-nationalist persuasion. Although these groups differed significantly on policy and philosophy, they united around a common opposition to Occidental influence and the adverse effects of economic liberalisation and came together to form the Coscivian National Congress.

For most of the Second Alignment (between the breakup of the NRM and the rise of the LFK), the CNC found electoral success at the expense of the ever-declining New Deal Alliance (successors to the old Socialist Party), earning the support of working-class Coscivian voters in industrial areas hit hard by the economic shocks of liberalisation. These voters, who had either remained loyal to the Kirosocialists after the Restoration or thrown back in with the NDA after the NRM's economic policies failed to deliver for them, were attracted to the CNC message of economic nationalism, national solidarity, and concern for the "left behind" communities of Second Kirav.

Coscivian Nationalism
Coscivian Nationalists believe that the culture, history, and public institutions of the Kiravian Federacy are fundamentally Coscivian in character, that Kiravia is inseparable from the wider Coscivian world, and that a Coscivian cultural and civic identity is essential to Kiravia's survival and functioning as a nation. The CNC rejects cosmpolitanism and liberal multiculturalism, while at the same time celebrating the rich internal diversity of Coscivian civilisation and affirming the legal and social equality of the Federacy's "national minorities" (Kiravite Aboriginals, Celts, and Khars).

The current "third wave" of the Coscivian National movement began after the fall of Kirosocialism and the reversal of its isolationist and protectionist policies by the Shaftonist-Republican Alliance in order to encourage foreign trade and investment. This resulted in unprecedented exposure to Occidental media and material culture, as well as direct personal contact with Occidentals, and engendered fears among many that Coscivian civilisation would soon succumb to Occidentalisation and become part of a homogenised, globalist "world culture". Views of Occidental civilisation among Coscivian Nationalist politicians vary from the simple assertion that Occidental ways are for Occidentals while Coscivian ways are for Coscivians to the idea that Occidental civilisation is deeply flawed and morally inferior to Coscivian civilisation, or more extremely, the idea that Occidental civilisation is an active force for ill in the world. Anti-Occidentalism among CNC members and voters is also driven by opposition to the materialism, secularism, crass commercialism, and utilitarianism with which the Occident associated by sectors of the Kiravian public.

Coscivian Nationalists reject the idea that Occidentalisation is necessary for modernisation and economic development, and strongly support government investment in manufacturing, infrastructure, science, technology, and space exploration. Antimodernist and agrarian voters, while opposed to Occidentalisation, tend to prefer candidates affiliated with the traditionalist wing of the Caucus of Justice.

The CNC is often described by the foreign press as a racial nationalist party, a label that the caucus itself rejects. Former caucus chair Fíderalus Votomaxivan once countered such an accusation at a conference abroad, saying "Racialism is among the harmful Occidental notions we seek to stop from contaminating the Coscivian psyche. The Palikir of Sarolasta look like Stenzans, yet they are Coscivians. I hear in Æonara they have Cronan-looking people in some villages. They are Coscivians. The Black Clans - well, they are Gaels - but they are a part of our nation. The Occident fears this. Coscivians rise up."

Immigration
Coscivian Nationalists support maintaining the Federacy's ethnically preferential and highly bureaucratic immigration system, believing that streamlining immigration and naturalisation procedures for Coscivian immigrants while actively limiting immigration by non-Coscivians is necessary to preserve Kiravia's Coscivian culture. This largely manifests itself in support for the status quo of Kiravian immigration policy, but some CNC members have taken harsher stances, seeking to roll back the comparatively liberal Mérovin- and Candrin-era reforms of long-term visa and permanent residency policies, impose greater restrictions on non-Coscivian groups (including entry bans on particular nationalities, even for tourism), or even ban non-Coscivian immigration altogether.

Many analysts, particularly foreign, have contrasted the anti-immigration rhetoric of the CNC with that of their analogues in other countries, pointing out that the anti-immigration plank of the Congress platform is "totemic rather than pragmatic", and that - unusually among industrialised countries - it tends to focus on white-collar rather than blue-collar immigrants, based on fears of trickle-down acculturation and malign Occidental influence in institutions, rather than the familiar nativist concerns of demographic displacement and labour competition. Rates of non-Coscivian immigration to Kiravia are actually rather low, due to geographic, regulatory, and cultural barriers; and while hostility toward immigrants among Kiravians certainly exists, immigrants tend to be attracted to the growing coastal metropoles of First Kirav, rather than the less prosperous Second Kirav areas where most CNC voters live.

Coscivian Nationalists are opposed to the expansion of Ænglish language education in public schools, and suggest diverting funding for Ænglish education to courses on Latin and the Paulastran language instead.

Law and Order
Alongside energy policy, law and order is considered the most prominent and electorally-effective plank of the CNC platform. [I had handwritten notes on this I should find and add].

Anti-Corruption
On the state level, many CNC affiliates have raised their profiles and increased their presence in state legislatures and local governments by pledging to crack down on corruption. This strategy has proven particularly effective in states with long histories of dominance by SRA or CSU affiliates. Federally, the CNC seeks harsher penalties for corrupt officials, stricter laws on campaign finance, higher standards of ethics for Stanora delegates, and the creation of a single independent agency dedicated to rooting out corruption.

Economics
Economic issues have become increasingly important to the CNC platform. The caucus broadly supports a mixed economy structured in accordance with principles, in contrast to the more free-market programme of the SRA and LG. Coscivian Nationalists oppose and support the use of subsidies, protective tariffs, and state-owned enterprises to promote development, secure stable standards of living for Kiravians and protect the Federacy from the influence of foreign governments and business interests. Many Coscivian Nationalists have mercantilistic tendancies, and seek to maximise Kiravian relative power by encouraging interstate commerce over foreign commerce and creating a positive balance of trade.

The caucus' critics, particularly in the SRA and the reformist wing of the CR, assert that Coscivian Nationalist hardline positions against English education, public use of the Gregorian calendar, and temporary migration unnecessarily discourage trade and investment.

Energy Policy
Kiravia is heavily dependent on foreign energy imports, as the demand created by its large economy and population vastly outstrip domestic supply. A consistent and popular plank of the CNC platform has been using state policy to stabilise fuel prices, insulate the Kiravian economy from global commodity market shocks, and work toward. The CNC caucus platform identifies reliability of the Federacy's energy supply as a matter of national security.

The current CNC caucus line calls for the establishment of a state petroleum corporation and nationalisation of the domestic oil and gas industry. Such a corporation would be used to implement price controls, engage in oceanic and colonial oil exploration, and seek drilling rights in oil fields in developing countries to supplement the supply pipeline.

Social policy
As a legacy of the United Allegiance Society's emphasis on Coscivian unity, the CNC champions the interests of historically disadvantaged Coscivian castes and communities, including the [Group B/SC] and the [Group VM]. The UAS advocated dhianbrikorisēn ("nondistinctionism") and opposed any recognition of tuva in law, and sought to use public policy to actively break down such barriers within Coscivian-Kiravian society. However, the more Coscosophist-inspired factions with which the UAS joined to form the CNC objected forcefully to this attitude, on the grounds that tuva is an important component of Coscivian social structure, and that inclusion in Coscivian civilisation was historically defined by membership in a tuva and that submission of that tuva to the Emperor. As a result of compromise between these two positions, the prevailing Congress approach to these issues emphasises equality among tuva (i.e. horizontal but not hierarchical distinction) and welcomes the observed phenomenon of "ethnicisation of tuva", which entails the erosion of tuva identities based on caste, occupation, ancestry, or feudal rank, and their replacement with tuva identities based on language, culture, and notions of common heritage.

On women's issues, the official CNC platform upholds Coscivian complementarism as a constructive model for gender relations in a new era, though it is unclear how much this principle informs the caucus in practice. The CNC supports stronger protections for working women in employment law.

On matters of behavioural regulation, the CNC tends to be more latitudinarian than the CSU and SRA, though far less than the KFA and UDI. It has often opposed the "self-congratulatory élite paternalism" of policies enacted by SRA-, CSU-, and UDI-led state governments.

Federalism
The CNC is the most centralist of the major caucuses, supporting a strong federal government with an active role in both setting legislative and administrative norms and standards for the states (either through legislation or sponsorship of interstate compacts) and directly implementing nationwide programmes. A key legislative agendum of the CNC is harmonising commercial and professional regulations among the states and creating a more seamless environment for interstate commerce. CNC legislators also typically support measures to set nationwide standards in education, especially with regard to language and cultural instruction.

Since 21206, the CNC caucus line has called for the reform of the Federacy's asymmetric federal system and rationalisation of the formula by which Stanoral seats are apportioned among federal subjects. It calls for all external territories and unincorporated overseas territories to be constitutionally integrated into the national patrimony.

The Sarolluv Amendment is a proposed reform of the Kiravian federal system proposed by retired CNC Delegate D.I. Sarolluv of Kannur. If ratified, the Amendment would absorb the inhabited provinces of the Kiravian Collectivity into the Kiravian Federacy, abolish the themes, abolish the inner state/federal state/free state distinction, and set a 10-year horizon for elevating all inhabited non-state provinces (except the Canal District and Capital District) to statehood or annexing them to existing states, and adopt a formula for allocating Stanora seats among the states. Ordinary states would be uniform in their constitutional status and degree of self-governance. Autonomous states with a higher degree of self-governance would be elevated or created anew for the benefit of established non-Aboriginal, non-Coscivian peoples (National Minorities and Scheduled Minorities), and Aboriginal reserves would be reorganised as Autonomous Countyships. The Sarolluv Amendment is not officially part of the CNC platform but enjoys wide support within the caucus.

Foreign Policy
The CNC supports a strongly foreign policy focused on ensuring Kiravian security by maximising its relative power and creating a balance of power favourable to Kiravian interests in Ixnay and beyond. It opposed the humanitarian interventions that Kiravia participated in under the Rénkédar and Mérovin administrations, while nonetheless supporting the military appropriations bills necessary to carry them out. Believing military force to be a key tool of foreign policy, the CNC supports high military spending, expanding Kiravia's power projection, and military interventions that advance Kiravian interests and protect pro-Kiravian régimes.

The CNC are ardent national sovereigntists and staunch opponents of, which CNC leader Devar Hytriloden has called "the ideological vehicle for destruction of world cultures with a sterilised post-Western non-culture." Several different philosophical approaches to foreign policy coexist within the Coscivian nationalist movement and the CNC, including isolationism and insularism, "Coscivian internationalism" and Pan-Coscivianism, alter-mondialism, and "conservative internationalism". Over time, the CNC caucus line has drifted away from the more isolationist attitude inherited from Kirosocialism, and more toward a hawkish realist stance. The CNC is supportive of overseas intervention on behalf of Coscivian minorities and "pro-Kiravian" stateless peoples.

They have consistently opposed the Federacy's membership in the Ixnay League of Nations and traditionally introduce a bill demanding withdrawal from the League at the beginning of each legislative cycle. Though initially only lukewarm in their support of KATI due to fears that it would involve Kiravia in humanitarian interventions and democracy-promotion initiatives abroad, the CNC have become more supportive of the alliance over time, claiming that it strengthens the Federacy's military and intelligence presence worldwide and helps protect Kiravian colonies in Ixnay. The accession of Umcara, a close Kiravian ally of Coscivian heritage, to KATI is seen as a major turning point in the CNC's attitude toward the organisation, and Amerigan participation in pan-Cronan organisations such as CKOCA and the CUDA are credited with securing CNC approval of Kiravian membership.

Electoral Performance
Because many of the CNC's key policy positions concern issues of strictly federal competency (foreign policy, immigration, international trade), the member parties of the caucus tend to perform much better in federal elections than in state elections. For example, in the 21206 elections in the state of Hiterna, the Civic Order Party (a CNC affiliate) won two out of three Hiternan seats in the Stanora, but only 10 out of 50 seats in the state legislature.

Class and Location
Traditionally, the caucus' strongest voter base has been working- and lower middle-class men of Coscivian ethnic background living in "Second Kirav" (generally defined as industrialised areas of Great Kirav posting slower economic growth than major coastal metropolitan areas but faster than stagnating and largely rural "Third Kirav"), particularly struggling industrial cities and impacted by trade liberalisation. The CNC also draws support from voters of a similar profile living in the "outer boroughs" of growing coastal cities, and from certain Coscivian subgroups in rural areas (see below). However, the caucus' pursuit of lower energy prices, stronger law enforcement, and resistence to Occidental culture attract some interest from higher up in the urban and inner-suburban middle classes. People with occupational backgrounds in defence and law enforcement also have above-average rates of support for CNC candidates.

Ethno-social Groups
From its beginning, the Congress and its predecessors have worked consistently to organise among Coscivian subgroups with lower - such as those with origins as disadvantaged occupational  in traditional lowland village economies - and to advocate for their social development. In ethnic terms, Antaric Coscivian and Eastern Coscivian groups tend to turn out the most for the CNC, as do the Kikik Coscivians and Izovi Coscivians. Coscivian returnees from territories lost by Kiravia, such as the Wintergen Coscivians of Svéntren Refugee Camp, are also strongly attracted to the CNC's irredentist positions.

As one might expect, declared CNC candidates in Great Kirav poll very poorly among non-Coscivian minorities, especially Celtic-Kiravians and Adsikuryans, among whom support for CNC candidates in statewide elections rarely breaks 5%. This is less true in the Kindreds-Polynesian overseas territories, where regional chapters of the Island Nation Party reliably attract visible (albeit minority) support from Austronesian and Lusonic citizens.

Strong defence and foreign policy stances have made the CNC popular in Kiravia's overseas possessions in Ixnay. The CNC-affiliated Suderav Republic Party holds 24 out of 60 seats in the state legislature of Sudaravia, and all Delegates from the territory of Seváronsa have sat with the CNC since the caucus was formed. It is also well-supported in the oil-rich colonies of Arôgia and Vortisia.