Government of Daxia
 | |
| Formation | 1946 |
|---|---|
| Founding document | Basic Law of the Democratic Republic of Daxia |
| Legislative branch | |
| Legislature | People's Assembly Chamber of Productive Sectors Delegated Committee Council of Applied Sciences |
| Meeting place | Republic Palace |
| Executive branch | |
| Leader | Chancellor of the Republic |
| Headquarters | National Executive Complex |
| Main organ | Cabinet of the Republic |
| Judicial branch | |
| Court | Supreme Magistracy |
| Seat | Justice Palace |
The Government of the Democratic Republic of Daxia is the national government of Daxia. It is formally organized into three distinct branches of government. Officially a Unitary Republic, where the highest position is the Chancellor who serves as both head of state and of government. The Basic Law was created in 1946 after the fall of the Empire during the military revolt of Dai Hanjian and it establishes the form of goverment as a representative democracy. Several amendments since 1992 have given the office of Chancellor increasingly vast powers to oversee all aspects of governance and gives the position extensive authority in all matters.
The legislative branch of the government is quadricameral. The original body is the five hundred strong People's Assembly. It is Daxia's primary source of legislation. The People's Assembly has no budgetary powers of its own and depends on the Ministry of Finance for its funding. The second chamber is the Chamber of Productive Sectors, it was created by Chancellor Linge Chen to include labor unions, professionist associations and worker and peasant cooperative associations in the tasks of governance. The third chamber is the Delegated Committee that is made up of six hundred representatives of the Party of Daxian Democrats, one from every electoral district plus a hundred specially appointed party delegates. The Delegated Committee does legislate but has the power to revise bills and return them to the People's Assembly for review. The fourth chamber is the Council of Applied Sciences. The Council was created during the tenure of the current Chancellor to make sure that all legislation follows generally accepted scientific principles and is of sound logical structure.
The country uses Basic Law of Daxia that enshrines twenty quasi constitutional laws, which can only be changed by a supermajority of all four chambers of the legislature. The Basic Law has been in existence only since the presidency of Qiu Heng who ordered its creation in lieu of creating a true constitution. The Basic Laws deal with the formation and role of the principal institutions of the state, and with the relations between the state's authorities. The Judiciary branch of government is in charge of applying and interpreting the Basic Law. The Supreme Magistracy is the highest court in the nation and the last court of appeal for plaintiffs, below it exist the province High Magistracies and the local level District Magistracies.
Branches of Government
Executive Branch
Chancellor
Within the executive branch of government, the Chancellor of the Republic who is elected directly by the people serves concurrently as Head of State and Head of Government, has oversight of and directs all of the work carried out by the ministers of the state cabinet and their respective ministries. The Chancellors determines the government program, set of policies to be implemented and prioritizes them accordingly. The Chancellor serves as the supreme commander in chief of the armed forces and therefore has ultimate authority and control on their use and deployment. Elections for Chancellor are held every six years on the first Sunday of June, and Chancellors take office on the first of January of the year following the election. The office of Chancellor has no term limits. The Chancellor may be recalled from office by a referendum that garners the support of seventy five percent of the voters registered on national electoral database. Said referendum can be called only after the first three years of a Chancellor's current term and only if the referendum petition garners forty five percent of the voters registered on national electoral database. The Chancellor has veto on all legislation passed by the People's Assembly, the Chamber of Productive Sectors and the Delegated Committee. As the Council of Applied Sciences is only a supervisory body with no legislative powers of its own, the Chancellor's veto does not apply to its resolutions. The Chancellor has ultimate budgetary authority through his supervision of the Ministry of Finance and its Budget Committee and the Committee of Budgetary Oversight; the legislature has no control of government monies. The Chancellor in his capacity as leader of the Party of Daxian Democrats has control of all party organs and parallel power structures, these are detailed in a separate article. The Chancellor also has direct oversight over the Democratic Christian Church of Daxia and the East through his control of the Ministry of Worship, all members of the Church's hierarchy up to and including its Pope are ministry employees and are theoretically under the authority of the Chancellor. The Chancellor exercises direct control of the Bureau of State Protection, the nation's most powerful security and intelligence agency is outside the normal structure of government and is not subordinated to the Ministry of Interior. The Chancellor has judicial immunity during his period of office, this immunity cannot be stripped away.
Cabinet
The Cabinet is an organ of policymaking and deliberation in which the ministers of state and other governmental agencies participate and receive their marching orders so to speak from the Chancellor of the Republic. Members of the Cabinet who do not hold ministerial rank include the Director of the Bureau of State Protection, the Head of the Institute of National Elections, Polls and Referendums, the Director of the Institute of Human Rights Protection among others. The Cabinet meets at the Chancellor's convenience but typically at th very least three meetings are convened per week. The Cabinet meets in the National Executive Complex where the Chancellor also has his own offices. Ministers are not required to be elected members of the quadricameral legislature, they are appointed at the discretion of the Chancellor and according to criteria he or she decides upon. All members of the Cabinet have judicial immunity while they are in office, their immunity may be stripped away by a two thirds majority vote in the People's Assembly and the Delegated Committee. The Chamber of Productive Sectors may appoint three of its members to sit in on meetings of the Cabinet, these three members may express their points of view on specific matters pertaining to productive sector of origin, if relevant to the discussion, at the end of the meetings. The three members may be rotated by three other members once a year. Members appointed to cabinet must be at least thirty five years old, have no dual citizenship, have their last place of residence be within the borders of Daxia for at least the last five years and have completed their military service or equivalent.
Legislative Branch
Daxia's legislature is composed of four chambers. The primary body is the People's Assembly which is the direct successor of the National Assembly created by the NRF government of Qiu Heng as a rubber stamp for the military regime. The Assembly is led by the Chairman of the People's Assembly. The People's Assembly is Daxia's primary source of legislation and it has the faculty to create legislation on almost any subject matter. The People's Assembly has no budgetary powers of its own and all its activities are funded through the Ministry of Finance. The second chamber is the Chamber of Productive Sectors which is a relatively new body, it was created by Chancellor Linge Chen to give a voice to labor unions, professionist associations and worker and peasant cooperative associations. The third chamber is the Delegated Committee. The Delegated Committee is made up of six hundred local representatives of the Party of Daxian Democrats, five hundred from every electoral district and one hundred more specially appointed delegates. The Delegated Committee does not elaborate legislation of its own but had the power to revise bills and return them to the People's Assembly. The fourth and last chamber is the Council of Applied Sciences. The Council was created during the tenure of the current Chancellor to vouch that all legislation follows generally accepted scientific principles.
People's Assembly
The People's Assembly (潮汐的聚集) serves as the primary house of the legislature and the only one that is elected by the population through direct vote. There is no recorded example in Daxian history of such a body ever existing until the political reforms initiated by Qiu Heng created the National Assembly, the current body's direct predecessor. The People's Assembly is chaired by the Chairman of the People's Assembly who is second in the line of succession should the Chancellor be incapacitated or killed. The national elections for the People's Assembly mirror the Chancellor's election, they take place on the first Sunday of June, and elected assembly members take their oath of office on the first of January of the year following the elections. The Assembly elections take place in the nation's five hundred electoral districts, only a plurality vote for any one candidate is enough to secure their election, this is known as the first-past-the-post electoral system. The Assembly's legislative work in specific committees whose purview is directly analogous to the various ministries of state. There is a Committee of Agriculture to mirror the Ministry of Agriculture and so forth. Members of the public can submit petitions or initiatives to these committees, as can individual lawmakers; the initiatives are analyzed and can make their way to the Assembly floor for deliberation and voting or stay in committee. The Assembly's committees have the power to compel cabinet ministers to appear before them to report on their respective ministry and field questions from committee members; this is one of the main ways the Assembly oversees government work. In the past it was both customary and required by law for the President to go to the National Assembly every first of December to deliver a speech detailing a recounting of government initiatives and the progress of its agenda. Nowadays the Chancellor is no longer required by law to give this speech but is typically invited to do so by the chamber.
The People's Assembly also plays a role in foreign affairs. Its members vote on approbing international treaties that Daxia wishes to be a signatory to. Daxian ambassadors are required by law to swear an oath to solemnly safeguard the national interest at the Assembly. First time ambassadors from other nations are also typically invited to give a speech at a session of the assembly as a welcome protocol. ambassadors from nations with strained ties may be subject to heckling and grilling. The Daxian representative to the League of Nations customarily appears before the Committee of Foreign Affairs to give an accounting of the delegation's work. The Assembly also has the power to declare wars on its own or approve a request by the Chancellor to do so. The members of the Assembly have a number of privileges and perks in addition to their regular salary (consult the tabulator in annex A), they have an antiquity bonus of 285,000 Lire for every five years up to a cumulative maximum of forty five years. They have a vacation bonus of sixty five days of pay per year, an end of year bonus of thirty days of pay, medical insurance paid by the Assembly, provision of legislative aid to hire aides, rent offices in their district and buy computer equipment. They are also provided by the Assembly with vehicles that are renewed every six years, drivers and two bodyguards per assemblyman. Members of the People's Assembly are immune from prosecution for the duration of their term unless a proceeding to strip them of said immunity is initiated and passes with a two thirds majority of the assembly.
Chamber of Productive Sectors
The Chamber of Productive Sectors (生产投入室) is a deliberative body of recent creation. Its three hundred members are drawn from labor unions and syndicates, professional associations, worker and peasant cooperative associations, business chambers and entrepeneurial bodies and think thanks. Its closest historical equivalent was the United Cities's Council of Magisters, a body of powerful plutocrats that ruled that extinct state. That historical body however confined its membership to the wealthiest of society. The Chamber of Productive Sectors was designed to be a venue for all members of the economy to put forward their points of view, air their concerns and debate the merits and drawbacks of legislation passed in the People's Assembly. They can propose adjustments to the national minimum wage in line with inflation, tweak levels of social security contributions, act as a mediating body on large contract renegotiations and arbitrate labor disputes that could lead to widespread strikes. The Chamber also has a codified say on the entry of large foreign multinational companies into the national markets, by law foreign companies have to open a Daxian based subsidiary under which to operate inside the country; the Chambe must approve the subsidiary's application.
Delegated Committee
The Delegated Committee (授权委员会) is the third chamber of the legislature. It is composed of six hundred delegates from the Party of Daxian Democrats, five hundred chosen from the national electoral districts (usually the head of the local party committee) and an extra one hundred chosen from a party list submitted by the First Secretary. These extra one hundred special delegates tend to be long standing members of the Party nomenklatura, relatives of powerful Party bosses and important donors. It is said if you want a who is who of the Party but don't have access to party headquarters, watch the televised sessions of the Delegated Committee. The members of the chamber have their terms renewed ever three years, permanence in this body is subject to internal party dynamics. The Delegated Committee is the Party's way of inserting itself directly into the tasks of governing. The Committee can flag bills originating in the previous two chambers, submit changes if they determine the bills go against the Party platform and send them back for consideration. In this manner the Committee acts as a second layer of defense of hegemony of the Party, should control of the People's Assembly and the Chamber of Productive Sectors be somehow compromised, the Delegated Committee can stop their bills in their tracks. The Committe is headed by a Presidium of the five eldest members of the chamber whose remit is keeping order in the chamber, calling the body to session, setting the day's agenda and the keeping of voting records. The Committee meets in a large spherical structure adjacent to the People's Assembly building named the Hall of the Party Luminaries.
Council of Applied Sciences
The Council of Applied Sciences (大脑理事会) is the fourth and last chamber of the legislature. The newest addition to Daxia's legislative quadricameral system, the Council of Applied Sciences is a practical application of Chancellor Prib Dodd's maxim: Nothing above Logic and Reason. Chancellor Dodd's written word demands of lawmakers to always be mindful of the true scientific applicabilty of their legislation to real world situations, attempting to contravene established scientific facts and natural laws with poorly thought out bills is poor politics and a disservice to the people. To that effect the Council of Applied Sciences is conformed by fifty scientists affiliated with Daxia's Society of Natural Sciences, all top scientists in a wide array of fields of human knowledge. As the final chamber of bill review, the Council must determine if the bill's fundamentals are within acceptable parameters of known science; if a bill is determined to have unscientific elements that muddle its applicability the Council has the power to send it back to the chamber of origin where it must be modified. The modified bill then must make its way through all legislative chambers once again. This process can take as many times as necessary until the Council is satisfied its concerns have been taken into consideration.
Judicial Branch
Main article: Justice system of Daxia
The Judiciary of Daxia is responsible for the administration of justice including prosecutions, civil and criminal disputes. As per the Daxian Basic Law it is nominally independent of the executive and legislative branches but in practice it is run by the Ministry of Justice with input from the Party's Legal Affairs Commission. The Daxian judiciary branch is formed by three basic levels, the lowest being the District Magistracies, the next level being the province High Magistracies and the highest tier being the nation's Supreme Magistracy composed of seven magistrates. Province High Magistracies serve as appelate courts for district Magistracies and the Supreme Magistracy does the same for province High Magistracies. The armed forces maintain their own separate court system and its members can only be tried by civil courts if discharged from service. There are also in existence the courts of the Autonomies which apply Daxian Basic Law with local characteristics, as expected they only have jurisdiction inside their respective Autonomy and over their own people.
District Magistracy
These are the lowest Magistracies of the tiered of the court system. Sometimes called “Grassroots Magistrates”) they operate at the municipal district level. They have authority to establish local tribunals for minor civil and criminal cases; these tribunals are the first instance of recourse for a citizen when interacting with the court system, and their judgments have comparable effect. In addition to its adjudicatory role, a district magistracy is responsible for resolving disputes that do not require formal court proceedings, including directing the work of mediation committees. There are over 4,000 district magistracies with more than 10,000 tribunals working under them. To become a District Magistrate applicants must provide valid proof of membership in the All-Daxian Bar Association, proof of completion of military service or equivalent, proof of domicile in the local district, be at least 30 years old and must pass the District Magistrate Examination with a score of at least 90%. Candidates who have all of the requirements will be assigned a number which will be paired to a styrofoam ball. The ball will be inserted into an air mix lottery machine along numbered balls from all other eligible candidates. The lottery machine will be activated and mix the balls around for exactly sixty seconds before being turned off. The district chief will pull a single ball from the lottery machine and that individual will be assigned to the post of District Magistrate.
High Magistracy
The High Magistracy is the highest local court in the Republic, with each province having a single one of these. High Magistracies have the power to hear appeals of trial decisions, judgments of the District Magistracies of districts or municipalities within their territorial jurisdiction which have not yet taken legal effect and are appealed or protested against in accordance with the procedural law. They can also review under cassation or reopening procedure legally effective judgments or decisions of the District Magistracies of districts, municipalities, rural districts, urban districts, towns, cities or the equivalent within their territorial jurisdiction which are protested against in accordance with the procedural law. These courts can also hear civil and criminal cases where parties are from different provinces. To become a High Magistrate applicants must provide valid proof of membership in the All-Daxian Bar Association, proof of completion of military service or equivalent, proof of domicile in the local province, be at least 40 years old and must pass the High Magistrate Examination with a score of at least 90%. The selection process is identical to the District Magistrate process, the difference being the person who picks out the numbered ball is the province's Governor.
Supreme Magistracy
The Supreme Magistracy is the highest court in the land. It reviews lower court judgments, hears certain first instance disputes, administers the judiciary, and issues binding interpretations on how to apply laws and writs. It also reviews protested cases filed by the National Inquisitor's Office, and issues death penalty sentences. The Supreme Magistracy has supervisory authority over the lower courts; Daxian Basic Law gives the People's Assembly supervisory authority over the Supreme Magistracy. The court has three permanent divisions: criminal, civil, and economic; other divisions are created as needed. Within the civil division, there are subdivisions, including the 6th Civil Division that hears all cases involving foreign law and parties. The court’s administrative powers are extensive and are carried out by various offices, departments, and bureaus, including: research, general affairs, personnel, judicial discipline and supervision, administrative affairs, foreign affairs, and education. Each administrative unit is led by one of the court’s justices. The Supreme Magistracy has over four hundred judges who all work in Mirzak, where the court is based out of the Justice Palace. According to the current Basic Law, the seven members of the Supreme Magistracy are nominated by a committee composed by legislators, judges and other civil officials and ratified by the Chancellor. To be be included in the poll of candidates handled by the selecting committee, prospective individuals must fulfill the following requisites: applicants must provide valid proof of membership in the All-Daxian Bar Association, proof of completion of military service or equivalent, proof of domicile in Daxia for at least the last twenty years, be at least 50 years old and must pass the Supreme Magistrate Examination with a score of at least 95%. One magistrate acts as the President of the court, and another acts as the Vice President. After being appointed the Supreme Magistrates serve for a period of twelve years. The People's Assembly has authority to dismiss Magistrates including the court's president.
Autonomies Magistracy
The Autonomies Magistracy exists to extend the implementation of Daxian Basic Law to the Autonomies. There are currently two existing designated Autonomies, the Chimor Autonomy and the Ixa'Taka Autonomy and each of them has its own separate Autonomies Magistracy. The Autonomies Magistracy serves the combined role that the District Magistracy and the High Magistracy have in the mainland; it is at the same time the lowest court that citizens can interact with and its its own court of appeals. Cases tried by the Autonomies Magistracy cannot be attracted by the Supreme Magistracy, instead plaintiffs dissatisfied with their court rulings have the option to appeal to the ruler of the Autonomy for redress. In the Chimor Autonomy's case that is the current King, Falcao IX. In the case of the Ixa'Taka Autonomy they can appeal to Brotherly Guide Gurban Mamedow. The process of these appeals varies by Autonomy and is subject to change depending on the number of appeals received.
Military Magistracy
The Military Magistracy is the special courts system that deals exclusively with criminal matters pertaining to members of the Daxian Armed Forces in accordance with relevant military law. The military magistracies can also try prisoners of war for suspected war crimes. The Military Magistracy is divided into ten regional courts equivalent with Daxia's ten military regions. Those serving as military magistrates are members of the military who have attended the National Academy of Warfare and specialized in military law. Military magistrates may supplement their court personnel with personnel from the local District and High Magistracies if available. In the past court martials were carried out by ranking officers with only cursory knowledge of military law procedures and therefore a high level of death penalty sentences were handed out. The 2009 reform to the military magistracy phased out ranking officers serving as judges and introduced the present system of specially trained military jurists. To prevent 'cross contamination' and fraternizing that could impair their judicial decisions, military jurists live in military housing complexes built apart from the housing of regular soldiers. The military magistrates most commonly deal with cases of desertion, dereliction of duty, espionage and crimes of a sexual nature.
National Inquisitor's Office
The National Inquisitor's Office serves both a prosecutorial and supervisory role. There are specialized Inquisitorial offices, including one for the military. The National Inquisitor's Office is the highest prosecuting authority and reports directly to the Peoples Assembly and the Delegated Committee. It sets criminal justice policy and serves as public prosecutor in serious criminal cases including those involving national security. The NIO supervises the work of regional and local inquisition offices, public security organs and prisons; it also has oversight authority over civil and administrative proceedings. The NIO has authority to file protests with the Supreme Magistracy over verdicts rendered by the court that it deems erroneous. The NIO is led by the Inquisitor General, who serves a ten-year term, deliberately extending beyond the term of the Peoples Assembly members who are the ones that choose him, so that the Inquisitor General is not subject to political pressure. The Inquisitor General of the National Inquisitor's Office is elected by the People's Assembly, in accordance with the Section on Inquisitorial Prosecution of Daxian Basic Law, all prospective candidates must provide valid proof of membership in the All-Daxian Bar Association, proof of completion of military service or equivalent, proof of domicile in Daxia for at least the last ten years and be at least 35 years old. The People's Assembly also carries the executive power to dismiss a serving Inquisitor General from power.
Subdivisions
Main article:List of subdivisions of Daxia
The Basic Law divides Daxia into four separate subdivisions. The basic two subdivisions are the provinces and the districts. There are also in existance a limited number of special districts, generally located outside the Daxian mainland. Lastly there are the autonomies which were created by the 2015 Law on Autonomies. Each form of government has its own administrative structures and representative bodies in accordance with local laws, so long as they do not contravene Basic Law.
Provinces
Provinces are the largest administrative subdivisions in Daxia. Currently there are twenty provinces, their number has gone up and down over the years according to the political and administrative needs of the time. Provinces are ruled by governors who are directly elected for five-year terms, they can be reelected a maximum of five times. Each province has a bicameral legislature composed of the Chamber of Deputies and a Senate, Deputies serve three year terms and Senators serve five years. The size of the chambers of deputies and the state senates varies in number across provinces, the law does not provide for a minimum or maximum membership. Provinces tend to have the largest resources allocated out by the central government of any type of administrative subdivision. Provinces can independently collect certain taxes and special duties; examples of this are the two percent tax on all tickets sold on entertainment events such as concerts, circuses and other outdoor events. Provinces also charge duties for the revalidation of car plates, car registries and driver licenses and also charge a one point eight duty on all alcohol sold in a closed container within state borders.
Districts
Districts are the basic administrative subdivisions. The electoral system is based upon them as is the demographic census, the system of military conscription, the social security network and many other governmental functions. Districts are themselves comprised of urban and rural townships. Urban townships are roughly coteminous with cities which are governed by elected mayors while rural townships are less densely populated zones governed by elected village representatives. Above both mayors and village representatives is the District Chief who arbitrates territorial, resource and jurisdictional conflicts among them and is their representative before the governor of the province. The position of District Chief is not an elected one (Special districts are separate from this rule and may have elected District Chiefs), instead the governor of the province centrally appoints them from a list of local members of the PDD, theoretically in consultation with relevant local actors.
Special districts
Special districts are districts that have been elevated in status due to their strategic location and national security considerations. At present there exist four special districts: the Zhijun special district, the Cao special district, the Truk special district and the Cheun special district. These four districts are all islands that have been deemed of vital importance to the national security of the country and their continued possession is classified as non negotiable. Special districts are assigned markedly superior financial resources, in this regard their budgets are closer to the resources allocated to provincial governments. Special districts are all also garrisoned by military contingents of both land forces and sea based forces, the Zhijun special district is the main base of the Australis Naval Squadron for example. Unconfirmed reports by dissidents affirm that the Cao special district houses a stockpile of nuclear weapons and the means to deploy them in combat. For historical reasons at least one special district has a special political regime. Such is the case of the Truk special district which has a completely autonomous political system, its governing structures have complete authority regarding lawmaking, taxation and expenditure; the exception to their powers are the areas of national defense and foreign policy which are handled from Mirzak.
Autonomies
Autonomies are relatively new administrative creations, they were only created by the introduction of the 2015 Law on Autonomies. That law recognizes the existence of a minoritarian group and enshrines their right to have a degree of self rule on areas where said group constitutes an absolute majority. This was created to address problems of governance stemming from the realities of ruling large alien populations. There are currently only two existing designated Autonomies, the Chimor Autonomy and the Ixa'Taka Autonomy, homeland of the Chimor and Ixa'Taka ethnic groups respectively. The areas covering these two autonomies were originally subdivided into regular districts. The 2015 Law on Autonomies provided for the carrying out of special census to ascertain the specific ethnic demographics of districts with high numbers of Chimor and Ixa'Takan inhabitants and authorized their merging together to form the Autonomies. People in these special administrative zones do not possess Daxian citizenship, only a form of citizenship 'light'. They have a reduced tax burden, may not vote in elections outside the Autonomies, are exempt from military service outside Crona, may not intermarry outside their group, etc. The Autonomies have their own semi-sovereign governments and are allowed various traditional trappings of statehood such as its own flag and symbols, control of its budget and within certain constraints; police forces and a defence force of its own. Autonomies have minimal budgets allocated by the Ministry of Finance, instead they have control of their own natural resources and discretionary powers to gather revenue from them in addition to separate taxation systems.