Latest revision as of 22:31, 20 February 2017

What is the People's Council?

The People’s Council functions as a sort of representative democratic element to the government of Firmament. If you are part of one of the ten different Council seat constituencies, you may be able to participate in the process of bringing representation to your city. This varies from seat to seat, but the basic idea remains.

The Council, unlike the King and his advisors, act in response to the day to day affairs of Firmament--tariffs, taxes, all of which are under the auspices of the King. When the King makes his absolute decisions, they even have the chance to veto it--but only if they have a unanimous vote. Considering one of the King’s own relatives is on the Council, this event is unlikely, but still theoretically possible. Of course, outside of the Council, the nobility have a direct line to the throne, or, at the very least, advisors. These allow them far greater privileges than the common merchant.

The common affairs of the kingdom, especially relating to justice, are handled by the Council, whenever the King has duties to attend to. High Crimes such as Treason and Conspiracy will always be handled by the Good King personally, but the Council attends to matters relating to more petty disputes, assuming they make it to the Council in the first place. Noble affairs which demand formal adjudication will go directly to the Monarch, for obvious reasons, but whether a thief is censured by the Council, or by the monarch depends entirely on the Good King’s schedule.

How is the Council chosen?

Upon ascending to the Throne, each new Good decides who will comprise the seats of the Council--some may choose geographic, others economic, still others based on traditional power bases of nobility and strong merchant alike. The respective seats of each council member are decided by the constituents of said seat. Whether it be merchant guilds or military hierarchy, there is a degree of freedom in each respective field in choosing their electors. That being said--if there is ever a problem in filling a council seat, the King will not hesitate to place someone of his own choosing on the council.

That being said, some requirements are constant--you must have been a resident of Sweetwater for at least five years, and have passed such time in good social standing--no point in putting the cutthroats and pickpockets on the council, no matter how good they are at schmoozing.

Elections, when they run, are based on a majority vote. For the first two years, the incumbent must maintain a quarter of the vote, or else it will default to the simple majority. After these first two years, elections resume their normal structure.

Elections are called whenever someone wishes to challenge the incumbent, or if the incumbent dies. In these situations, the electors gather together and per their seat’s traditions, go through the process, at which point, any being with the most votes will ascend to the position.

The Current Council members and their respective spheres are listed here, as of the summer of 479: