Republics of Omerica

Omerican cantons Cantons oméricains (French)
Also known as: County/Comté State/État Republic/République
Category	Federated state
Location	Omerica
Found in	Country
Number	24
Populations	308,643 (Sainte-Lucie) – 11,054,410 (Côte-Verte)
Areas	204 km² (Romainbourg) – 24,426 km² (Côte-Verte)

Commonwealth of Omerica

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Omerica

Constitution Treaty of Union Basic Law Charter of Rights Executive President Chris Hamilton Prime Minister William Rainier Deputy Prime Minister Alexandre Chrétien Federal Executive Council Federal Parliament House of Councillors Speaker Jean-Marie Sauveterre Current members House of Representatives Speaker Martina Casanova Leader of the Opposition Christiane d’Aurignane Current members Judiciary Supreme Federal Court Cantons Governors Premiers Legislatures Local government Districts Municipalities Elections Electoral system Federal constituencies Cantonal constituencies Political parties Recent elections: 2009 2013 2017 Direct democracy Foreign policy Foreign relations Armed forces

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The Commonwealth of Omerica is a federation of twenty-four cantons. As the descendants of formerly sovereign states, the cantons retain a degree of sovereignty and self-government and maintain administrative independence from the Commonwealth government, including independent executives, legislatures and judiciaries.

Under the Basic Law, certain policy areas, such as foreign affairs and defence, are the exclusive prerogative of the Federal Parliament, while others fall under shared authority; the cantons retain all other powers not assigned to the Commonwealth or expressly denied to them by the federal constitution. Cantons therefore have taxation power and responsibility over healthcare, social welfare, law enforcement, public education, job training and promotion of the arts and sciences.

Cantons form the basis for apportioning the House of Representatives of Omerica and their legislatures designate the members of the House of Councillors, through which cantonal governments defend their interests at the federal level. Additionally, in areas under cantonal legislative authority, cantons have the power to enter into compacts among each other and, subject to parliamentary approval, treaties with foreign states.

Terminology

History

A map of the seventeen original cantons at the time of Federation. Côte-Verte initially refused to ratify the Basic Law and was therefore not part of the Commonwealth at its establishment.

Constitution

All cantons are constitutionally required to have a democratic and republican system of government, but otherwise, the cantons remain free to organise their individual constitutions as they see fit. All cantons are governed under a parliamentary system similar to the federal government, though there is wide variation in its implementation from canton to canton.

Each canton has a unicameral legislature of 21 to 111 members, variously referred to as a Legislative Assembly, Legislative Council, Common Council or (in the case of Côte-Verte) National Assembly. Cantonal legislatures are elected by single transferable vote to serve three- or four-year terms (depending on the canton), with universal suffrage for all Omerican citizens over the age of eighteen guaranteed by the federal constitution.

Each canton is required to have a democratically-elected governor (referred to as Lord Mayor in Charlottesburgh, Romainbourg and Philibiscostal), who exercises representative duties similar to the federal President, though the mode of election is left to cantonal discretion. Each canton also has a premier, who is generally appointed by the governor and is usually, though not always, the leader of the largest party in the cantonal legislature. The Premier then appoints a cabinet to run cantonal ministries and carry out the executive functions of the cantonal government.

List

Republic	Code	Federated	Capital	Population	Area (km²)	Density	GDPpc (NSD)	Official language(s)
Alleos	AL	9 June 1829 (1829-06-09)	Volubourg	2,100,213	11,741	179	41,202	French
Altomare	AM	22 September 1813 (1813-09-22)	Romainbourg	3,110,907	3,051	1,020	47,653	French
Braganza	BR	6 June 1846 (1846-06-06)	Sassari	1,767,270	3,852	459	42,408	French
Bridgecastle	PC	19 September 1816 (1816-09-19)	Saint-Jean	1,476,180	7,258	203	50,251	French
Charlottesville	CV	1 January 1983 (1983-01-01)	—	5,610,545	558	10,055	47,893	French
Coleraine	CR	17 March 1828 (1828-03-17)	Derry	2,665,499	8,010	333	42,938	English
East Calaverde	EC	28 February 1826 (1826-02-28)	Saint-Christophe	6,311,646	8,382	753	46,575	French
Emerald Isles	EM	25 August 1864 (1864-08-25)	Wharfland Ferry	1,824,352	6,224	293	44,341	English
Free State	FS	30 June 1821 (1821-06-30)	Nassau	6,463,963	6,958	929	43,555	English
Great Arden	GA	1 August 1817 (1817-08-01)	Templemore	2,310,855	7,447	310	46,910	English
Heathmoor	HE	17 November 1882 (1882-11-17)	Strongford	1,368,355	8,210	167	40,927	English
Marche Rouge	MR	1 November 1858 (1858-11-01)	Chalons !Châlons	308,643	1,695	182	44,679	French
Mespalia	ME	1 January 1995 (1995-01-01)	Christiana	7,461,993	1,310	5,696	53,416	English
New Guernsey	NG	3 March 1852 (1852-03-03)	Castlerock	293,088	682	430	62,294	English
New Vaucluse	NV	18 August 1868 (1868-08-18)	Bayonette	710,622	5,768	123	43,606	French
North Provence	NP	21 April 1886 (1886-04-21)	Carthagène	1,229,654	9,395	131	40,911	French
Port-des-Saints	FC	12 December 1829 (1829-12-12)	—	1,909,375	820	2,329	60,658	English
Romainbourg	RB	1 January 1971 (1971-01-01)	—	3,191,185	204	15,643	63,451	French
Seafoam Islands	SF	1 March 1844 (1844-03-01)	Saint Anne	757,549	1,477	513	50,994	English
South Provence	SP	18 April 1811 (1811-04-18)	Syracuse	1,646,248	9,408	175	38,979	French
Strathavon	SA	28 March 1823 (1823-03-28)	Falconhurst	4,170,152	8,547	488	43,839	English
Terreneuf	TN	11 February 1877 (1877-02-11)	Epiteaux !Épiteaux	480,228	1,806	266	38,049	French
West Calaverde	WC	28 February 1950 (1950-02-28)	Westhaven	4,742,764	16,044	296	43,699	English
Westavon	WA	1 January 1932 (1932-01-01)	Bristol	3,577,573	8,157	439	45,453	English, French
Windstead	WS	2 July 1819 (1819-07-02)	Langholm	2,231,881	12,725	175	45,835	English
Omerica	OR	—	Port-des-Saints	67,720,740	149,729	452	47,166	English, French

Admission of new cantons

With the exception of Côte-Verte’s accession, all new cantons admitted since Federation have been formed by secession from other existing cantons. Despite discussions of giving Avon and Bridgecastle half votes on constitutional referenda and in the House of Councillors to discourage wanton secession, the latter was ultimately admitted with full voting rights, establishing that all new cantons enter the federation on equal standing with existing members.

Several new cantons have been proposed, mostly secessionist movements within existing cantons. The most notable of such movements is the Koningsplaats secessionist movement, which arose in response to the Vertien secessionist movement; the proposal would create two new cantons from Côte-Verte’s existing provinces: Koningsplaats and Côte-d’Or.

The admission of new cantons requires a referendum among the affected population, though they are only constitutionally mandated when "major changes" would be made to existing cantonal boundaries. The splitting of a canton requires a simple majority on both sides of the new border, while the merger of multiple cantons requires a majority in each canton to be merged. In contrast, the accession of a canton from outside the Commonwealth or of a federal territory within the Commonwealth only requires a simple majority to pass.

v t e Cantons of Omerica  Altomare  Avon  Blandshire  Bridgecastle  Cardiganshire  Charlottesburgh  Coleraine  Corpshire  Côte-Verte  Emerald Isles  Free State  Marche Rouge  North Provence  Orangeshire  Pays-de-la-Mer  Philibiscostal  Port-Saint-Dénis  Port Saint George  Reicastel  Romainbourg  Saint-Jérôme  Sainte-Lucie  Seafoam Islands  South Provence