Arcacian Politics

Arcacian politics is a sordid affair full of intrigue, clandestine deals and political assassinations. Well... not really. In fact, it has none of those things. It's all very boring, I'm afraid.

This thread will only deal with national politics as provincial politics is even more boring.


Parties



Social Democratic Party (Social Democrats)
Abbr: SDP
Colour: Red
Leader: Daniel Raffaele
Ideology: Social Democracy
Position: Centre-Left
International Organisations: Socialist International
Votes (2008): 56.2%
Seats in Senate: 45/80



Arcacian National Party (Nationals)
Abbr: ANP
Colour: Blue
Leader: John Hardwick
Ideology: Liberal Conservatism
Position: Centre-Right
International Organisations: International Democrat Union
Votes (2008): 28.9%
Seats in Senate: 23/80



Green Party of Arcacia (Greens)
Abbr: GPA
Colour: Green
Leader: Ally More
Ideology: Green Politics
Position: Left Wing
International Organisations: Global Greens
Votes (2008): 9.2%
Seats in Senate: 7/80



Arcacian Māori Party (Māori)
Abbr: AMP
Colour: Black
Leader: Helen Jamison
Ideology: Indigenous Advocacy
Position: Left Wing
International Organisations: -
Votes (2008): 1.8%
Seats in Senate: 2/80



Arcacian Aboriginal Party (Aboriginals)
Abbr: AAP
Colour: Ochre
Leader: Bill Creen
Ideology: Indigenous Advocacy
Position: Left Wing
International Organisations: -
Votes (2008): 1.1%
Seats in Senate: 1/80



Conservative Party of Arcacia (Conservatives)
Abbr: CPA
Colour: Orange
Leader: William Moffat
Ideology: Social Conservatism
Position: Right Wing
International Organisations: -
Votes (2008): 0.2%
Seats in Senate: 0/80


*Independents won 2.6% of the vote and hold 2 of 80 seats in the Senate.


Shape of the Senate
Following the elections in 2008, the make up of the Senate is as follows:
SDP: 45
ANP: 23
GPA: 7
AMP: 2
IND: 2
AAP: 1
CPA: 0



All Senators are equal and the location of their seat has no bearing on their status.


Elections
Elections are held every 4 years and comprise of 2 separate ballots - the President and the Senate. The small green Presidential ballot contains the names of the leaders of the 6 major political parties, as well as any number of independent candidates. Voters place a number 1 in the box next to their preferred candidate. They may indicate further preferences by placing a number 2 in the box next to their second choice, followed by 3 and so on. In the even that their first preference is eliminated, their vote is then counted for their second preference and so on until a winner is determined. If a voter only indicates one preference, their vote cannot be transferred to any other candidate.

The large white Senate ballot contains the names of all candidates for Arcacia's 80 seat Senate. Each Province/Territory has 20 Senators. Voters can either place a number 1 in a box above the line, corresponding to the party or group of independents of their choice, or they can number 1 to at least 20 below the line, corresponding to the individual candidates of their choice. They can, of course, number all the boxes below the line, but they must number at least 20 for the vote to be valid. The top 20 candidates in each Province/Territory are elected to the Senate.

Usually, the party that holds the majority of seats in the Senate also has their leader installed as President, though they are elected separately and have different functions. It is possible for the President to hail from a minority party, though this is a rare occurrence and has only been known to happen where the Senate has been more or less evenly split.

The President is both the Head of State and the Head of Government. The President appoints his own cabinet. The President almost always appoints members of his/her own party as cabinet members, but they are allowed to appoint whomever they choose, regardless of political affiliation, provided they are not Senators.

This system prevents hung-parliaments as a party does not necessarily need to have a majority of seats in the Senate to form government. Government is formed by the President. Arcacia is not a parliamentary democracy.


Functions
In Arcacia, there are three branches of government - executive, legislative and judicial.

Executive - The Executive Council consisting of the President, Vice President and Ministry is responsible for carrying out the will of the people.

Legislative - The Senate, a unicameral hybrid of an upper and lower house, is responsible for debating and passing legislation.

Judicial - The High Court is responsible for ensuring that the laws of the Republic are upheld and that all legislation is constitutional.

Arcacia is a direct democracy and plebiscites/referenda are held quite a bit more often than in most countries. People can vote in person at an office of the Arcacian Electoral Commission (AEC) or any post office, by postal vote, online or via SMS, provided they are registered to do so. People are eligible to vote for national legislation as well as provincial and local legislation. Laws are not considered to be passed until a bill has passed plebiscite/referendum and has then been ratified by the President. Emergency legislation may be exempt from this process only after consultation with the High Court.

In all matters, the people have the final say.

This was fascinating to read Daniel. I should come up with my own version...

Great job!

Green party above Conservative?? Woah! (it's elections in Canada )

LOL, are there a lot of Māori citizens Arcacia? This is very interesting other!

The Māori arrived in Arcacia about 1000 years ago, becoming Arcacia's second indigenous population. Nowadays, they outnumber Aboriginals. There are about 36,000 Māori and 20,000 Aboriginals. When grouped together they are referred to as the "First Nations."

Nice statistic Daniel!
Should I do something like this too?

It's your choice Dryan But it's a great idea, that's why I'm gonna do a thing like this

Is it similar to Australia's?

It's nothing like Australia's.