Arrondissements and Municipalities of Barrayar
The Regions are further divided into Arrondissiments and Autonomous Municipalities, governed according to two different systems.
While the municipality is the lowest level of administrative division in the Southern Continent, this system applies to urban centres of a certain size. Each of the municipalities possesses a Municipal Commissioner and a Municipal Council who jointly manage the municipality from the city hall; Municipality government has varying powers, composition and procedure, according the varying size of the municipality. Apart few exceptions, Municipal Commissioners are appointed by the District High Sheriff with the consent of General Council, while the Municipal Council is appointed by Regional Sheriff. The Imperial Law makes allowances for the vast differences in Autonomous municipality size in a number of areas of administrative law.
Municipalities
In the Southern Continent, a Municipality is an urban centre which is independent from Arrondissements and therefore it is subordinated only to the Region or, in case of a District Capital City, only to the District. Municipalities governance, government and powers vary according their size, being grouped within three classes. As a general rule, all three classes have some limited form of administrative participation. The appointed head of Municipalities is the Portreeve. Municipalities are long-time settled urban centres which serve as Arrondissement hubs; typically each Municipality serves as a hub for two or three Arrondissements. Municipalities are classed into three categories:
- Country Towns, recently separated from Arrondissements, where factories and educational facilities have started to appear; Country Towns have 7 to 12 Municipal Councillors, and the Municipal government is renewed every 3 years.
- Small Towns, with a industrial borough, a separate area of high-class housing, as well as a complete secondary education set; in some cases there are also university/tertiary education facilities. Small Towns have 13 to 18 Municipal Councillors, and the Municipal government is renewed every 4 years.
- Middle Towns, with defined industrial, educational commercial and various types of residential area; more often than not, in current demographic growth, the Middle Town status is a transitory condition towards the status of Region-level city. Usually Regional and District Capitals are at least Middle towns; Regional Capitals are almost always Regional-level cities. Major Middle towns are also university seats. Middle Towns have at least 19 Municipal Councillors (the maximum number depending on the population size) and the Municipal government is renewed every 5 to 7 years (the term too depending on the population size).
Rural Arrondissements
Rural areas are framed under the arrondissement system, which have an organic democracy governance system. Rural areas are also featured by a mixed type of property: the Local Rural Communities enjoy of a communal property of land and production instruments, while ordinary villages are based on private property.
Within the territory of a Rural Arrondissements there may be some small towns, called Arrondissements Municipalities: in most cases there is one Arrondissements Municipality in each Arrondissement and acts as Arrondissement official see, being little more than a large Village and an informal market. Such Arrondissements Municipalities are not autonomous from their relevant Arrondissements, and are governed by an individual Commissioner. Commissioners of the Arrondissements Municipalities are in charge of nearly all affairs left to the Municipality by the Arrondissements Executive Board. Usually, the Commissioner acts in consultation with the assembly of the Municipality inhabitants. Villages are small nucleated settlements and real villages; they are governed by a Village Head. Village Heads are in charge of local firefighting and of local legal affairs.
The Arrondissement administrative bodies consist of a Arrondissement Representative Committee and of a Arrondissement Executive Board, appointed by the District High Sheriff and chaired by the Arrondissement Reeve. The Committee consists, in turn, of five classes of members:
- Vor proprietors, who sit in person;
- Delegates of the small independent landowners outside Municipalities and Villages and non incorporated into none of them (one Delegate every 50 landowners);
- Commissioners of the Arrondissements Municipalities (i.e. Arrondissement Capital towns, ordinary land ownership);
- Heads of Local Rural Communities (small settled centres, special land ownership);
- Heads of Villages (i.e. small settled centres, ordinary land ownership).
The Arrondissiments are given large powers in relation to the incidence of taxation and such questions as education, medical relief, public welfare, food supply, and road maintenance in their localities. The Arrondissement are however subordinated to the Regional Sheriffs, whose consent is necessary for major decisions. They also have powers of discipline over the members.
The chief sources of Arrondissement revenue are rates on lands, forests, country dwellings, factories, mines and other real estate.
From a social point of view, the Arrondissement system is based on three main social classes: Vors and independent landowners, peasants of the Local Rural Communities and townsmen; the latter class provides essentially technicians and expertise (each Arrondissement has at least a set of technical education institutes) which are necessary to both the Local Rural Communities and to private proprietors, as well as limited industrial products for agriculture. Each Arrondissement tends to be an economic unit, being capable to provide the most basic needs to the local population.
Local Rural Community
The Local Rural Community is a form of both local government and production mood that was instituted during the reforms performed in by then-Prime Minister Serg Vorbarra after the 2960s crisis.
These Communities are peasant communities and Villages, as opposed to individual farmsteads, holding their land in communal ownership within a community, which act at the same time as a Village government and a cooperative. Each household has the right to claim one or more strips from each section depending on the number of adults in the household. The purpose of this allocation is overall social, due to the fact that the Local Rural Community acts as a single entity. Strips are periodically re-allocated to ensure equitable share of the land.
The eldest members of the household made up the community assembly in order to govern the redistribution of land. Families come together to form a community that depends on the concept of mutual help. The householders elect a Village Speaker who acts as a collector of taxes, for the repartition among individuals of the taxes imposed on the commune. Families cannot be deprived of their houses or implements necessary for agriculture; nor can the whole Community be deprived of its land. In the Rural Community by the Local Agricultural Cooperative, which operates in a comprehensive manner the land. Membership in the Cooperative is mandatory, and tax obligations are collective.
