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Northern Confederation: Difference between revisions
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The Northern Confederation was a {{Wp|confederation}} consisting of dozens of entities including many different cultures and governing systems. Above it all, the unwritten precepts of the Great Confederation, the event which established the polity, served as the central constitution of the Confederation. This unwritten constitution evolved over time, not based on a system of legislative revisions or judicial review but by a decentralized process by which the Great Confederation took on additional mythological meanings and traditions. This took place through the process of cultural interpretation and reinterpretation, a process that some scholars have called "government by {{wp|zeitgeist}}". As the [[Occident]] began to seriously threaten the state in the 19th and 20th centuries, significant reform movements occurred within the Confederation attempting to introduce a constitution. This effort, though not altogether successful, led in [[1847]] to the adoption of the "Received Guidances", written descriptions of the Great Confederation as it meant at that time. From that time on, the Received Guidances took on increasing importance as legal documents as courts within the country were partly reformed to follow a localized version of {{wp|common law}} courts; accordingly from then on they were considered the ''de facto'' constitution of the state. | The Northern Confederation was a {{Wp|confederation}} consisting of dozens of entities including many different cultures and governing systems. Above it all, the unwritten precepts of the Great Confederation, the event which established the polity, served as the central constitution of the Confederation. This unwritten constitution evolved over time, not based on a system of legislative revisions or judicial review but by a decentralized process by which the Great Confederation took on additional mythological meanings and traditions. This took place through the process of cultural interpretation and reinterpretation, a process that some scholars have called "government by {{wp|zeitgeist}}". As the [[Occident]] began to seriously threaten the state in the 19th and 20th centuries, significant reform movements occurred within the Confederation attempting to introduce a constitution. This effort, though not altogether successful, led in [[1847]] to the adoption of the "Received Guidances", written descriptions of the Great Confederation as it meant at that time. From that time on, the Received Guidances took on increasing importance as legal documents as courts within the country were partly reformed to follow a localized version of {{wp|common law}} courts; accordingly from then on they were considered the ''de facto'' constitution of the state. | ||
Although the Great Confederation was ultimately fluid, some of the most important governing institutions of the Northern Confederation were in existence for all or a majority of its existence. For the first century after the Great Confederation, the central body was an institution translated as the National Conference which served as the only unifying element of the Confederation. | Although the Great Confederation was ultimately fluid, some of the most important governing institutions of the Northern Confederation were in existence for all or a majority of its existence. For the first century after the Great Confederation, the central body was an institution translated as the National Conference which served as the only unifying element of the Confederation. In the first five decades of the Confederation, the National Conference met once or twice a year in different cities across the Confederation. In this form, the Conference usually met with 15 to 40 delegates. The delegates were not elected or chosen by their nation; instead, a number of trusted and well-known individuals were chosen by the nations, often more than one nation at a time. This class of men, a kind of pseudo-{{wp|lobbyist}}, would usually come from healers or other respected, learned men throughout the Confederation. In time, however, the motives of this class of delegate was called into question, as some who represented multiple nations would receive bribes to favor the interests of one of their clients over another. In [[1741]], such a conflict of interest sparked a riot in Kaigwa, where the Conference met, precipitating a number of changes. The national heads and councils of the Confederation's members imprisoned the learned men and replaced them with chosen delegates from among their number. The post-1741 Conference then employed a one-nation, one-vote scheme, and accordingly the number of delegates expanded dramatically. | ||
The degree of centralization and unified political authority varied over the course of the Confederation's history. | The degree of centralization and unified political authority varied over the course of the Confederation's history. | ||