Difference between revisions of "Parliament of the United Colonies"
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=== Colonial Nationalism === | === Colonial Nationalism === | ||
| − | In recent times there has been a resurgence | + | In recent times there has been a resurgence of colonial-republicanism and right-wing populist movements in the outer colonies. Prior to 1950 these movements were fractured and had no cohesive leadership. Some parties wanted complete independence from the United Colonies whereas others wanted either greater representation in the Colonial Parliament or greater autonomy for the colonies with no compromise between one party and the other. These parties have never been able to effect the government in a significant way as their votes and voices were divided. However by 1950 these parties eventually united and formed the New Colonial Alliance, an alliance of parties from the colonies that sought to either obtain full independence from the Outer Colonies, or failing that, obtain better representation or greater autonomy for the colonies. The formation of the New Colonial Alliance alarmed the other major parties as they have been seen to be more aligned towards Aldia and the inner colonies. As a result, parliament has been split into four major factions: the government, the opposition which generally consists of an alliance of necessity between the United Greens and the parties of the Coalition, the New Colonial Alliance and the crossbenchers. By doing so, the central government on Aldia and the inner colonies have been able to effectively block or at the very least reduce the pressure the New Colonial Alliance exerts upon the government. |
| − | == | + | == Organization and Electoral System == |
| + | === Senate === | ||
| + | The Colonial Senate is the upper house of the Colonial Parliament and consists of 97 members. Every colony is given equal representation among themselves within the Senate regardless of population. However Aldia is given a privileged position over the colonies. Each colony is assigned a total of four senators whereas Aldia has been designated with ten senators. All senators are also directly elected by voters. The Senate was not formed until the end of the Unsung War in 1874 where it was seen that an upper house within parliament that had the capability to become a balance of the powers of the Colonial Assembly, was seen as necessary. For this reason the Senate has been vested with significant powers. It has the power to pass and block the passage of legislation that has been approved in the Colonial Assembly. Originally, senators were elected with a winner-takes all voting system. Under this system no parties other than Labor, Greens and the Coalition has been able to shape national policy within the Senate. Since 1959 the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote single-transferable vote] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional_representation proportional representation] on a planet-by-planet basis became the standard method of voting to elect senators. This change led to the rise of a number of smaller minor parties who were unable to obtain any seats in the Colonial Assembly, but they had just enough votes to send one to five senators in the Senate. Many parties vie for a seat in the Senate as it was seen as a key place where national policies are either approved or rejected. The Senate is elected once every ten years unless a double dissolution of the Senate has been triggered by the President of the United Colonies. | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Assembly === | ||
Revision as of 00:14, 4 July 2018
| This page is a work in progress by its author(s) and should not be considered final. |
| Parliament of the United Colonies | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Houses |
Colonial Senate Colonial Assembly |
| Term limits | 10 Years |
| History | |
| Founded | June 1619, 399 years ago |
| Preceded by | Assembly of the Aldian Cooperative |
| New session started | November 10th, 2010 |
| Leadership | |
| Speaker of the Assembly | Forte Attley, Labor |
| Speaker of the Senate | Laars Fjordrekson, Labor |
| Structure | |
 | |
| Colonial Assembly political groups |
520 Seats
Crossbench (15)
|
 | |
| Colonial Senate political groups |
97 Seats
New Colonial Alliance
|
| Elections | |
| Colonial Assembly voting system | Instant-Runoff Voting |
| Colonial Senate voting system | Single Transferable Vote |
| Constitution | |
| Declaration of the United Colonies | |
The Parliament of the United Colonies, commonly known as the Colonial Parliament is the supreme legislative body within the United Colonies and its extra-solar territories. All other political bodies within the United Colonies, with the exception of the executive and military establishment, ultimately answer to the Colonial Parliament. Its head is the President of the United Colonies, its seat is at Domain Interchange at Parliament Square within Jindabyne, the capital city of the United Colonies. The Colonial Parliament is a bicameral parliament and is comprised of two houses: the Colonial Assembly and the Colonial Senate. The Colonial Assembly is the lower house and proposes legislation to the upper house to be approved and ratified and monitors the executive body of the nation. The Colonial Senate is the upper house and is vested with significant powers as it has the capacity to either pass or block legislation put forward by the President and the Colonial Assembly.
Membership within the Colonial Assembly & Senate represents the twenty established colonies, all extra-solar territories and space habitats governed by the Government of the United Colonies. The Colonial Senate consists of 97 members: four senators from each colony, ten from Aldia and seven from the Colonial Administration Authority (CAA). Meanwhile the Colonial Assembly consists of 520 seats: each colony having been assigned eighteen seats, one hundred and thirty seats for Aldia and thirty seats for the CAA. Politics within the Colonial Assembly has historically been dominated by major three parties: the Colonial Labor Party (CLP/Labor), the United Greens (Greens) and the Coalition (Liberals & Democrats). A fourth faction: the New Colonial Alliance, an alliance of pro-colonial independence parties, has recently gained more seats in parliament. In the 2010 General Elections the NCA was able to take 76 seats in the Assembly and for 3 seats in the Senate. Elections take place once every ten years which allows governments to adopt a more long-term approach towards strategic planning & policy making. Labor has been in government since the 1979 General Elections, having removed the Coalition from power after more than fifty years in power.
As noted, the Colonial Senate is vested with significantly higher powers as it possess the ability to block passage of a bill proposed by either the lower house or President. In the event that a bill that has been passed by the Assembly is been blocked twice by the Senate, then the Speaker of the Assembly may advise the President of the United Colonies for a double dissolution. This act will dissolve one or both the Colonial Assembly & Senate, bringing forward a snap election. If after a double dissolution the same bill still cannot be approved by the Senate then the Political & Morale Commander of the United Colonies will convene for a joint sitting of both houses where the bill, or bills, and any of its amendments will be considered by both houses. As its name suggests a joint siting is when members of both houses of the Colonial Parliament sit together as one legislative body to consider and/or deliberate a bill or bills. A joint sitting is a very rare occasion and has only occurred twice, the first in 1822 in the events that led up to the Unsung War, and in 1979 when the Coalition government of the time requested for a double dissolution after it failed to pass an appropriation bill in the Senate.
Contents
History
The United Colonies of Aldia was founded on June 1st, 1619 when the nations of the Aldian Cooperative, the precursor of the United Colonies, signed and ratified the Declaration of the United Colonies of Aldia. The Declaration was a document and serves as the constitution of the United Colonies. The Declaration clearly states that for the purposes of legislating a united Aldia and its colonies, the functions of the Assembly of the Aldian Cooperative would be reformed as the Colonial Parliament of the United Colonies of Aldia. Prior to this, the Assembly of the Aldian Cooperative already functioned in a para-parliamentary role wherein it drafted, proposed and passed resolutions for the Aldian Cooperative. These resolutions however were non-binding in nature as the Aldian Cooperative was an intergovernmental forum meant to promote peace, and cooperation amongst member nations. The Assembly of the Aldian Cooperative however was the only para-parliamentary body with a truly global membership as it consisted of elected parliamentarians from all nations of Aldia. Therefore it was chosen as the main body to be reformed into the modern Colonial Parliament.
Old Parliament
In the early days of the United Colonies, the Colonial Parliament had a unicameral chamber. Its role was to simply draft, propose and pass legislation from within Parliament itself and those proposed by the President. During this period of time many members of parliament also held commercial interests in the private sector, be it through direct ownership of certain companies, and in some cases: megacorporations, or they were lobbied by the owners of these private enterprises to push through their individual agendas. There was a lack of transparency and checks & balances within Parliament itself. Because of this corruption and corporate influence grew exponentially within the Parliament. By the 19th century corporate influence became rampant to the extent where the influence eventually reached the Vice President and several members of the Council of Ministers who were close advisors of President. At the same time, the colonies, especially the newly formed outer colonies, demanded better representation in the Colonial Parliament as they were not entitled to send any delegations to participate in the Colonial Parliament. By 1872 the Vice President and several members of the Council of Ministers and Colonial Parliament conspired to take advantage of the military conflict between the United Colonies and the secessionist Independent Systems Alliance to eliminate autonomy from the outer colonies and replace them with corporate enclaves.
The conspiracy required them to kidnap the President of the United Colonies and placed her under protective custody as they required her authorization to initiate military operations. The President's family was held hostage as leverage. However the Colonial Self-Defense Forces was able to eventually uncover the conspiracy and thwart the plans of the conspirators. The President and her family were freed, allowing the military to overthrow the pro-war government led by the Vice President and restore President and ended the war. The end of the Unsung War saw significant changes to the political establishment of the United Colonies. The Colonial Parliament was reformed as bicameral body, with an upper house known as the Colonial Senate established and a lower house: the Colonial Assembly. All laws and bills passed by the Assembly must be approved by the Senate. This system of checks and balances was created to reduce the power of a unicameral parliament as previously demonstrated during the Unsung War. Furthermore all colonies within the United Colonies was granted representation in both the Colonial Assembly and Senate.
Stability
After the reformations prompted at the end of the Unsung War, the Colonial Parliament began to gradually regain the trust of the public. The functions and authority of the Colonial Parliament today has remained more or less the same as they were after the reformations. With the establishment of new colonies, their delegations were added to the number of seats in parliament. From a historical perspective the Colonial Parliament has been controlled by one of the three major factions: the progressive Colonial Labor Party, the eco-centric United Greens and the Coalition. The latter being an alliance of center-right parties in the United Colonies: the Liberal Party of Aldia, and the Democrats. All three parties have had a time where they have been in power for more than thirty years. The Colonial Labor Party is both the current and longest serving party as the government of the United Colonies. It has been voted into government in all General Elections since 1982. The next election will take place on November 2022.
Colonial Nationalism
In recent times there has been a resurgence of colonial-republicanism and right-wing populist movements in the outer colonies. Prior to 1950 these movements were fractured and had no cohesive leadership. Some parties wanted complete independence from the United Colonies whereas others wanted either greater representation in the Colonial Parliament or greater autonomy for the colonies with no compromise between one party and the other. These parties have never been able to effect the government in a significant way as their votes and voices were divided. However by 1950 these parties eventually united and formed the New Colonial Alliance, an alliance of parties from the colonies that sought to either obtain full independence from the Outer Colonies, or failing that, obtain better representation or greater autonomy for the colonies. The formation of the New Colonial Alliance alarmed the other major parties as they have been seen to be more aligned towards Aldia and the inner colonies. As a result, parliament has been split into four major factions: the government, the opposition which generally consists of an alliance of necessity between the United Greens and the parties of the Coalition, the New Colonial Alliance and the crossbenchers. By doing so, the central government on Aldia and the inner colonies have been able to effectively block or at the very least reduce the pressure the New Colonial Alliance exerts upon the government.
Organization and Electoral System
Senate
The Colonial Senate is the upper house of the Colonial Parliament and consists of 97 members. Every colony is given equal representation among themselves within the Senate regardless of population. However Aldia is given a privileged position over the colonies. Each colony is assigned a total of four senators whereas Aldia has been designated with ten senators. All senators are also directly elected by voters. The Senate was not formed until the end of the Unsung War in 1874 where it was seen that an upper house within parliament that had the capability to become a balance of the powers of the Colonial Assembly, was seen as necessary. For this reason the Senate has been vested with significant powers. It has the power to pass and block the passage of legislation that has been approved in the Colonial Assembly. Originally, senators were elected with a winner-takes all voting system. Under this system no parties other than Labor, Greens and the Coalition has been able to shape national policy within the Senate. Since 1959 the single-transferable vote and proportional representation on a planet-by-planet basis became the standard method of voting to elect senators. This change led to the rise of a number of smaller minor parties who were unable to obtain any seats in the Colonial Assembly, but they had just enough votes to send one to five senators in the Senate. Many parties vie for a seat in the Senate as it was seen as a key place where national policies are either approved or rejected. The Senate is elected once every ten years unless a double dissolution of the Senate has been triggered by the President of the United Colonies.
