Caphiria: Difference between revisions

[[File:ForumCaphiria.jpg|thumb|left|Left: Forum Magnum, meeting place of the Senate. Right: Forum Orumbarca, building of the ministries]]

The executive power in the government is vested in its entirety through the Imperator of Caphiria. The Imperator governs by way of his imperium maius (supreme executive power), his auctoritas principis (primary legislative authority), and his jure divis (divine mandate as Pope) As its chief executive, the Imperator is head of state and thus head of the Ministries of Caphiria, the trans-parliamentary bodies that administer the functions of the federal government on behalf of the Imperator. He has the ability to appoint and fire ministers, create and dissolve ministries, as well as the responsibility to appoint diplomatic and provincial officials.The Imperator relies on the Office of the Imperium, the principal executive organ through which his Prime Minister leads. This Office consists of the Prime Minister, the chair of the council, who is appointed by the Imperator after consultations and is confirmed by a vote of both houses of the Senate, and all of the Ministers, according to the request of the Prime Minister. These ministries are the de facto administers of the government of Caphiria, serving the functions of the federal government on behalf of the Imperator. Ultimately though, the powers of the Office of the Imperium rest in the hands of the Imperator of Caphiria until the ministers assume their offices. While the Imperator maintains executive power at the highest level, he delegates power and authority to a Praetor (governor) to administer the Imperium's 21 provincial-level divisions. The Imperator also serves as military commander-in-chief and chief diplomat, directly presiding over the 13 million active-duty military personnel, 7 million employees within the executive branch, and 4 ministries. While the Imperator possess near limitless executive power, the Senate has the ability to legally oppose most of the Imperator's actions by a super-majority.

The legislative branch for the Imperium, the Senate of Caphiria - known traditionally as the Imperial Senate - separates into two distinct representative bodies. First, the Curiate Assembly (Comitia Curiata) occupies itself with the fiscal responsibilities of the Senate as its Lower House and gives legitimacy to legislation by its support. Second, the Consular Congress (Comitium Consularis) writes bills and provides a second democratic check on enacting new laws. The Curiate Assembly is officiated by democratically elected representatives of the public known as ''senatores ''(senators). Their role evolved from the self-serving aristocrats of the Old Republic who, plagued with greed, were individually possessed of a great deal more power than modern senators. Today, each senator represents 550,000 citizens of a curia, a contiguous political district within the Imperium. Regular bills need a 51% senatorial majority to become senatus consultum (decree of the senate). Such a bill will be posted in the Forum the following morning for review by magistrates and citizens. Afterward, the Imperator has the power to either enact or veto the bill, unless it carries a supermajority in the Senate. Meanwhile, the Consular Congress is composed of Consuls, but are not like the bureaucrats who bore their name during the Old Republic. Consuls are unique in that they govern and represent the Imperium's major cultural groups - Foederatae - and maintain the concept of stratification, which in Caphiria is incredibly complex and diverse, encompassing both legal and social status. The Congress is also unique in that it has the sole power to write bills and introduce legislation, the sole power to ratify treaties, the sole power to try (but not necessarily initiate) impeachment cases against officials of the executive or even judicial branch, following enabling resolutions passed by the Assembly, and it may give advice and consent to some executive decisions (e.g. appointments of cabinet ministers, judges or ambassadors). Presiding over the Assembly and the de facto head of both houses is the President of the Senate (Princeps Senatus), a magistrate with no voting power but who decides the vote in the event of a tie, sways the opinion of senators by his influence, and can nullify a maximum of 10 votes with a valid reason. As figurehead of the Senate, the Princeps is often the public face for the legislature, speaking to the people of Caphiria several times a year.His duties as president include calling the either house of the Senate to assemble, issuing the final legislative position of the Assembly, maintaining order during parliamentary discussions, and delivering messages from the Assembly in person to the Imperator.

The judicial branch for the Imperium is the Supreme Court (Tribunalis Ultima) which is itself a function of the Ministry of Justice which administers and oversees the overall judicial system. Decisions ruled as part of a proceeding in the Supreme Court cannot be overruled elsewhere, unless the relevant law is changed by senatus consultum. The Supreme Court system has gradually gained a tremendous amount of oversight and control over the application of the law, having the power to declare legislation or executive action made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. In Caphiria, judges are public officials and, since they exercise one of the sovereign powers of the Imperium, only citizens of the Imperium are eligible for judgeship. In order to become a judge, applicants must obtain a degree of higher education as well as pass written and oral examinations. However, most training and experience is gained through the judicial organization itself. The potential candidates then work their way up from the bottom through promotions. Caphiria's independent judiciary enjoys special constitutional protection from the executive branch. Once appointed, judges serve for life and cannot be removed without specific disciplinary proceedings conducted in due process before the Supreme Court. The Ministry of Justice handles the administration of courts and judiciary, including paying salaries and constructing new courthouses. The Ministry of Justice also administer the prison system. Lastly, the Ministry of Justice receives and processes applications for presidential pardons and proposes legislation dealing with matters of civil or criminal justice. As a function of the Ministry of Justice, the High Judge also serves as Prime Minister of the Ministry of Justice which has its own place within the judicial system. The Ministry of Justice arranges the album judicum - a list of every licensed jurist eligible for judging cases in a lawful court - and decides on the time and place of sessions in every Caphirian court of law. It also serves as the backbone for all of the Imperium's provincial and municipal court systems. Each provincial government possesses its own provinciarum judex, or provincial judge, who is subservient to the Ministry of Justice. While provincial judges have some leniency with their rulings and interpretations of the law, they are bound to the interpretation of law from the Ministry of Justice as a whole, meaning any ruling in one province will immediately affect the others. Excluding the Supreme Court, every judge and member of the Ministry of Justice is elected alongside every other member of the government each Lustrum.

Elections are ingrained into Caphirian society at every level. Not only are they dramatic affairs with which people have a vested interest, but it gives citizens a real sense of power and involvement in government. Indeed, moral philosophers have applauded the ancient practice of comitiae populae and revived it as the primary civil regulation on the powers of the Senate, Ministries, and Imperator by not only putting the appointment of senators, consuls, and emperors in their power, but allowing them to appoint Censors and Tribunes to directly defend against corruption.

 

The government of Caphiria has bureaucrats other than senators and consuls. Prime ministers (Praeministra) are the executive members of the various operational government bodies such as the treasury or technological authority. Depending on the minister in question, anywhere from zero to several thousand people may work in his Ministry (Ministerium). There are fifty ministries run by the Imperium, each of which may have their own magistrates with special powers. For example, the Ministry of the Treasury employs ten tax magistrates called Quaestores. These are scrupulous individuals charged with collecting taxes from praetors for the imperial government, calling out financial corruption, and serving as right-hand men and messengers of the treasury and its minister, the Mensarius Superbus, or Supreme Financier.

Other government officers (magistrati) operate outside the Senate. Most powerful are the illustrious Censores - 18 members of the Censorial Assembly (Comitia Censoria) responsible for upholding public morality, protecting the Constitution and administering the official Public Census every Lustrum. Their duty and power to issue a public inquiry into literally any military, civil, or private activity supersedes every institution in the empire. In practice, there is no office higher than the Censorial Assembly, leading some foreigners to speculate that they are the true power behind the Imperium.

Within the Ministry of the Treasury are 120 Aedilis who supervise spending of money from the treasury, giving them the reverse role of the quaestores. Whenever any Imperial funds are appropriated, an aedile must be consulted; consequently, the emperor always has three or four at hand. Furthermore, one or two will usually be sent to the construction sites of public monuments to ensure efficient spending of government funds.

Another major bureaucrat operating outside the Senate is the Plebeian Tribune, a position with extensive oversight of legislative activity in the Senate and the Palace. The duty of the Tribunus is to safeguard the well-being of the common people, the plebeian order, from the greed and corruption of magistrates, aristocrats, and collegiates. He is the sole magistrate from a non-patrician background and is immune to reproach from any office other than the Censors.

Pars Ex Imperatoria (PEI) (Party of the Imperium) – The de facto single-party of Caphiria. Its sole purpose is to reinforce the constitution and the power of the Imperator, though it may have secondary goals and motives that reflect the incumbent Imperator’s personal political ideology and agenda.

Unus Societum Popularis (USP) (One Democratic Society) – Left wing social-democratic party that advocates for the abolishment of the traditional social stratification in Caphiria, the abolishment and emancipation of the practice of slavery, and severe restrictions placed on the power of the Imperator. It supports social equality, trade unions, environmentalism, and anti-war.

Illustratum Respublica (IRP) (Enlightened Republic Party) – Right wing social-conservative party that maintains the belief that social orders and hierarchies are inevitable, natural products of life and that they must be preserved. It supports the social stratification in Caphiria, moral absolutism, free trade, free markets, and upholding tradition within Caphiria.

Cœtus Libertas (CLP) (Freedom for Assembly Party) – Center wing socialist-libertarian party that advocates for a decentralized government and believes in abolishing all institutions that control the means of production. It supports direct democracy, trade unions, assemblies. It believes in the identification, criticism and practical dismantling of all illegitimate authority in all aspects of life.

Kiro-Caphirian Party (KCP) - Single-issue party advocating a strong alliance between the Kiravian Federacy and the Imperium of Caphiria. It presents itself as an alternative to the Levantian Union Party, opposing supranationalism and continental integration while still supporting extensive international commerce, international military cooperation, and a more open attitude toward Latin-speaking immigrants and expatriates.

According to the Constitution of Caphiria, there are three major administrative divisions: the provincial (province, autonomous region, possession, and special administrative region), the region, and the township. The Imperium of Caphiria is organized into 17 Imperial Provinces (Banlieueregio), two autonomous regions, and one special administrative region. These 20 provincial-level divisions can be collectively referred to as "Greater Caphiria", a term which excludes its numerous overseas possessions.