Post by New Dornalia on Sept 21, 2012 23:43:53 GMT -5
Colonial Republic of Earth
Basic Demographics
Motto: “When Good Men Do Nothing, Bad Men Win.”
Capital: Los Angeles, CA, Earth SSR
Language(s): Predominantly English (New Dornalian), East Asian Languages (Japanese, Korean, Chinese [mostly Cantonese, but Mandarin also]), Iberian Languages, German, Afrikaans, Slavic Languages--if its spoken on Earth, we speak it. Hajarran's in there too.
Leader: President Michael Haggar
Currency: See Entry Within
The Basics
The CRE is a republic based in the Beta Quadrant, with its government based on Earth SSR.
It was founded originally as the Workers State of New Dornalia, centered around the ruins of Post-Apocalyptic Southern California. Eventually, the WSND, after a bloodless revolution which forced out the Communist dictatorship and installed Premier MacIntyre as the new leader, expanded rapidly, forging alliances among the stars and quickly becoming an interstellar player.
By the time of the Unification, the WSND had attained significant holdings in the Beta Quadrant, and other territories outside of Beta such as Nova Louisiana and lands in the Prates Supercluster. For a period, the WSND merged with the Twelve Colonies of Kobol to form the United Colonies, but despite a successful start which involved significant territorial gains for the UCK and economic growth, culture clashes and governmental turmoil eventually resulted in a Velvet Divorce coinciding with the Dornalian Civil War.
Having spent significant resources to recover from the war, the nation, now known as the Colonial Republic of Earth, has since recovered and has become a thriving power once more, having intervened in major conflicts in the SWG such as the Battle of Coruscant and the Christmas War against the Ssi-Ruuk.
Currently, the CRE possesses holdings in the Beta Quadrant, including several worlds as well as several systems as well as extragalactic holdings, all connected with strategic Hyperspace Expressways.
Governing Structure
The Colonial Republic of Earth is a democratic republic organized on the American model of governance.
The Legislative Branch
The Congress of the Republic meets in Los Angeles, and is a bicameral assembly with a Senate and a House, and essentially has the same functions as the modern US Congress or UK Parliament. It is also the Rodney Dangerfield of the Dornie Government--it doesn't get much respect from pundits, and people tend to get bored real fast watching Congressmen squabble, waiting for them to fight with their fists and not their words.
However, it wields the Power of the Purse--no one dares piss it off come tax time--and also produces a lot of vital legislation, making it the unsung hero of the Dornie government as well. After all, if there oughta be a law, these dudes are making it, and Henny Collins can't write all the laws herself. It also handles, like the RL US Congress, matters of appointment--that is, it confirms appointments of important people like Supreme Court Justices, federal officials, and such, and can impeach them if needed.
Ironically, for such an unsung organization, it is popularly elected, in both houses. Voter turnout also remains surprisingly high, if only because the method of electing politicians resembles a wierd mix of the US/UK method and the Continental method, which enables some dominant parties but also some room for small fry.
The current Parties Du Jour are the Nationalist Party and the Democratic Alliance. The former is a centrist party which seeks to maintain the current strong social welfare programs and has a big-government outlook; the latter is a more libertarian coalition of center-right politicians that seeks to lessen government influence on Dornalian lives.
The Judicial Branch
The Mighty, Mighty Supreme Court. The Dornie Supreme Court meets in what was the pre-Spocalypse Stanley Mosk Courthouse, now the National Courthouse. It functions much like the US Supreme Court--it takes a selected number of cases from the Federal Courts and County Courts based on if they implicate constitutional questions, if lower courts (especially Federal Courts) are confused on something, or other certain criteria, and then has powers of judicial review over them, among the other RL Supreme Court functions.
It is THE court in the CRE--its word goes.
It also administers the Federal Court System and works with Bar Associations to uphold ethical standards for Dornie lawyers, etc. And, should the President or Congress overstep their constitutional bounds, the Court will be ready to defend the Constitution.
Note that unlike the Congress, the Court actually gets some respect--a lot of it, actually, as its seen to be doing something good for the Nation, not like those money-grubbing gnomes in the Congress.
The Executive
Charged with implementing and executing the laws of the CRE, the President and her Cabinet ensure laws are carried out, and function like the RL US Presidency, although the President is popularly elected unlike in real life. The President also is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and can nominate officials, among other powers.
The Bureaucracy that Dornies hate putting up with, such as the Civil Military Oversight Committee, the Department of Agriculture, etc., is also part of the executive, although parts of it are also in the judicial and legislative branches too. To explain more of course, would be to bore you to death with administrative law stuff, so lets move on.
Unlike the RL US President also, she has a LOT more power--namely, while our president's executive orders are simple administrative statements, the CRE's President's Executive Orders amount to Laws in and of themselves. They also exercise considerable discretion in authority and Foreign Affairs, among other things. Of course, Congress has to authorize a National Emergency, approve formal treaties and approve all those Executive Orders, but still...the Dornie President is quite potent.
Counties of CRE
The CRE is divided into autonomous Counties, akin to American States or Canadian Provinces. See this list. Federalism is a key part of Dornie politics.
Sources of Law
The Republican Constitution is the current constitution of the CRE. It operates as the supreme law of the land, and resembles a mix of US, Argentine and Japanese constitutional bits, although it is predominantly American in nature and scope. it is based in large part on the old MacIntyre Constitution, with appropriate updates and changes for the new era and plenty of corrections and additions.
Dornalian courts follow American Common Law principles, although with variations on the County Level and Federal Level. In particular, New Hokkaido's demographics and legal traditions lead to the rise of an odd mixed legal system in the territory based on South African and Japanese principles.
Basic Demographics
Motto: “When Good Men Do Nothing, Bad Men Win.”
Capital: Los Angeles, CA, Earth SSR
Language(s): Predominantly English (New Dornalian), East Asian Languages (Japanese, Korean, Chinese [mostly Cantonese, but Mandarin also]), Iberian Languages, German, Afrikaans, Slavic Languages--if its spoken on Earth, we speak it. Hajarran's in there too.
Leader: President Michael Haggar
Currency: See Entry Within
The Basics
The CRE is a republic based in the Beta Quadrant, with its government based on Earth SSR.
It was founded originally as the Workers State of New Dornalia, centered around the ruins of Post-Apocalyptic Southern California. Eventually, the WSND, after a bloodless revolution which forced out the Communist dictatorship and installed Premier MacIntyre as the new leader, expanded rapidly, forging alliances among the stars and quickly becoming an interstellar player.
By the time of the Unification, the WSND had attained significant holdings in the Beta Quadrant, and other territories outside of Beta such as Nova Louisiana and lands in the Prates Supercluster. For a period, the WSND merged with the Twelve Colonies of Kobol to form the United Colonies, but despite a successful start which involved significant territorial gains for the UCK and economic growth, culture clashes and governmental turmoil eventually resulted in a Velvet Divorce coinciding with the Dornalian Civil War.
Having spent significant resources to recover from the war, the nation, now known as the Colonial Republic of Earth, has since recovered and has become a thriving power once more, having intervened in major conflicts in the SWG such as the Battle of Coruscant and the Christmas War against the Ssi-Ruuk.
Currently, the CRE possesses holdings in the Beta Quadrant, including several worlds as well as several systems as well as extragalactic holdings, all connected with strategic Hyperspace Expressways.
Governing Structure
The Colonial Republic of Earth is a democratic republic organized on the American model of governance.
The Legislative Branch
The Congress of the Republic meets in Los Angeles, and is a bicameral assembly with a Senate and a House, and essentially has the same functions as the modern US Congress or UK Parliament. It is also the Rodney Dangerfield of the Dornie Government--it doesn't get much respect from pundits, and people tend to get bored real fast watching Congressmen squabble, waiting for them to fight with their fists and not their words.
However, it wields the Power of the Purse--no one dares piss it off come tax time--and also produces a lot of vital legislation, making it the unsung hero of the Dornie government as well. After all, if there oughta be a law, these dudes are making it, and Henny Collins can't write all the laws herself. It also handles, like the RL US Congress, matters of appointment--that is, it confirms appointments of important people like Supreme Court Justices, federal officials, and such, and can impeach them if needed.
Ironically, for such an unsung organization, it is popularly elected, in both houses. Voter turnout also remains surprisingly high, if only because the method of electing politicians resembles a wierd mix of the US/UK method and the Continental method, which enables some dominant parties but also some room for small fry.
The current Parties Du Jour are the Nationalist Party and the Democratic Alliance. The former is a centrist party which seeks to maintain the current strong social welfare programs and has a big-government outlook; the latter is a more libertarian coalition of center-right politicians that seeks to lessen government influence on Dornalian lives.
The Judicial Branch
The Mighty, Mighty Supreme Court. The Dornie Supreme Court meets in what was the pre-Spocalypse Stanley Mosk Courthouse, now the National Courthouse. It functions much like the US Supreme Court--it takes a selected number of cases from the Federal Courts and County Courts based on if they implicate constitutional questions, if lower courts (especially Federal Courts) are confused on something, or other certain criteria, and then has powers of judicial review over them, among the other RL Supreme Court functions.
It is THE court in the CRE--its word goes.
It also administers the Federal Court System and works with Bar Associations to uphold ethical standards for Dornie lawyers, etc. And, should the President or Congress overstep their constitutional bounds, the Court will be ready to defend the Constitution.
Note that unlike the Congress, the Court actually gets some respect--a lot of it, actually, as its seen to be doing something good for the Nation, not like those money-grubbing gnomes in the Congress.
The Executive
Charged with implementing and executing the laws of the CRE, the President and her Cabinet ensure laws are carried out, and function like the RL US Presidency, although the President is popularly elected unlike in real life. The President also is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and can nominate officials, among other powers.
The Bureaucracy that Dornies hate putting up with, such as the Civil Military Oversight Committee, the Department of Agriculture, etc., is also part of the executive, although parts of it are also in the judicial and legislative branches too. To explain more of course, would be to bore you to death with administrative law stuff, so lets move on.
Unlike the RL US President also, she has a LOT more power--namely, while our president's executive orders are simple administrative statements, the CRE's President's Executive Orders amount to Laws in and of themselves. They also exercise considerable discretion in authority and Foreign Affairs, among other things. Of course, Congress has to authorize a National Emergency, approve formal treaties and approve all those Executive Orders, but still...the Dornie President is quite potent.
Counties of CRE
The CRE is divided into autonomous Counties, akin to American States or Canadian Provinces. See this list. Federalism is a key part of Dornie politics.
Sources of Law
The Republican Constitution is the current constitution of the CRE. It operates as the supreme law of the land, and resembles a mix of US, Argentine and Japanese constitutional bits, although it is predominantly American in nature and scope. it is based in large part on the old MacIntyre Constitution, with appropriate updates and changes for the new era and plenty of corrections and additions.
Dornalian courts follow American Common Law principles, although with variations on the County Level and Federal Level. In particular, New Hokkaido's demographics and legal traditions lead to the rise of an odd mixed legal system in the territory based on South African and Japanese principles.