The Alexiandran Republic - an Overview

The National Republic of Alexiandra, commonly known as the National Republic or pars pro toto as Alexiandra, is a sovereign state and unitary parliamentary democracy with territory in the Pacific, the Silver Isles, Trakarta and the International Freedom Union.

Alexiandra spans several timezones and incorporates a wide variety of climates. In the east, mild grasslands interspersed with mountain ranges provide the vast majority of the nation's arable land, while the northwestern archipelagos are home to a wide variety of aquatic wildlife.

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Etymology

While the exact origins of the modern name "Alexiandra" are unclear, many scholars believe that the word is of Greek or Latin origin. In 2001, an ancient Roman manuscript was found in Alexandria, Egypt. This manuscript, which mentioned an "Alexiandran savage" led some proponents of the Greek/Latin theory to believe that the word "Alexiandra" is simply a misnomer for the country's original name - Alexandria. It is possible, say these proponents, that Latinised colonists named Alexiandra after the Egyptian city, and that the original name was simply lost in translation. In 1841, the fledgling National Assembly chose to retain the country's name, noting that it was "strongly associated with the people of this great nation".

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History

The first documented inhabitants of Alexiandra were hunter-gatherers of an undetermined Mediterranean ethnicity. It is possible that these individuals were originally from Italy - Geoffrey Boarmouth, in his 1200AD History of Alexiandra, stated that the first Alexiandrans were descended from exiled Roman kings. Evidence unearthed by modern archaeologists suggests that even the largest societies in prehistoric Alexiandra consisted of no more than a thousand individuals. These first settlers lived an pacific life of hunting, fishing and foraging for thousands of years.

In approximately 10,000BC, however, geographical fluctuations allowed explorers from Greece, Turkey and Israel to settle on Alexiandra's southern coast. These settlers warred with local tribes for many years, and fossilised human remains are - to this day - regularly found on and around Alexiandra's beaches. Although the exact course of these conflicts was never recorded, it would seem that the Greco-Israeli-Turkish coalition was successful in claiming vast swathes of land in the nation's southern littoral regions. Migratory patterns, as observed through archaeological evidence, seem to suggest that Alexiandra's natives were forced into the infertile highlands and mountain passes of the north and northeast.

By 2,000BC, Alexiandra's maritime trade industry was booming. Two distinct societies had emerged along the southern coast - a Hellenistic faction known as Tascum, and a Turkish faction whose name is lost to history. The Tascum society kept detailed written records of its history, providing today's researchers with an invaluable insight into the political situation from 2,000BC to the mysterious destruction of Tascum in 1402BC. Voyagers from Tascum crossed Greater Dienstad's central oceans on several celebrated journeys, quarrelling with the natives of forgotten lands and exchanging goods with wealthy civilisations.

In 1402BC, the Tascum polity collapsed after what was described variously as "the cataclysm", "the apocalypse" and "doomsday". Modern geographers have suggested that the last eruption of Rose Mountain in around 1405BC may have caused irreparable crop damage that ultimately led to Tascum's demise. In any case, the disappearance of the Greeks as a political force caused the rapid expansion of both the Turks and the repressed northerners, the latter of whom returned from their mountain bastions to wage unrestricted war against their southerly oppressors. By 900BC, the Turks, Greeks and Israelites had been expelled from the Alexiandran mainland and sent scrambling for sanctuary in the well-defended archipelagos of the west. Armed with the technological advances of the Greeks and Turks, the native Alexiandrans set about reclaiming their homeland. This they did, forging a seafaring empire whose sphere of influence included much of the Oceanian continent. Using recovered Roman artifacts, the natives educated themselves and began to chart the progress of their civilisation.

For over a millennium, Alexiandra persisted in a divided but peaceful state. Rival kingdoms slowly accepted the pecking order, and the Romans who had fled south did not return. Eventually, greater economic interdependency caused a merging of most Alexiandran kingdoms, resulting in the unification of Alexiandra under Emperor Drake the Firehelm in around 1100AD. This "Imperial Union" used its vast resource pool to conquer the resistant Greek islands and lay claim to almost all of present-day Alexiandra.

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Government

Presidency

The Republic's executive branch is responsible for carrying out legislation passed by the National Assembly, and is headed by President Lysander Corleone. As both head-of-state and head-of-government, the President exercises limited executive powers, retaining the ability to recognise foreign nations and appoint government ministers. Ultimately, however, the President is but one component of the National Assembly, Alexiandra's true ruling body. The Assembly possesses most powers associated with government, including the ability to declare war, and exercises them according to majority vote.

Elections to the National Assembly take place once every four years, and the President is appointed following a vote in the Assembly. Some political commentators have noted that the Alexiandran Constitution makes no legal provision for the existence of a President, and that the National Assembly could - technically speaking - simply choose to abstain from appointing a new President. Generally speaking, however, the President is considered a binding force within the political system, and no incarnation of the Assembly to date has been willing to risk leading Alexiandra without the aid of an easily recognisable figurehead. Usually, the President is the leader of the largest and most powerful party in the legislature, and thus commands a majority of legislative seats - any attempt to oust him from power, therefore, usually proves fruitless. Only three votes of no confidence have proven successful in nearly 100 years of parliamentary rule in Alexiandra.

National Assembly

The National Assembly is the main legislative organ in Alexiandra. It is unicameral, consisting of 1040 elected representatives (known as Delegates) from constituencies across the nation, and is elected via a proportional electoral system. Typically, members of the Assembly choose to align themselves with a political party - the largest party in the National Assembly, as of November 26, 2015, is the Republican Party, with a commanding majority of 690 seats. Party membership is not mandatory, however, and several Delegates remain free agents.

The Assembly has its origins in the Alexiandran Civil War of July-September 1916, which saw the deposition of Alexiandra's last monarch - Emperor Alexander IV - and is described in the Alexiandran Constitution as "the institutional embodiment of our nation's long walk to freedom". Originally an advisory body charged with offering advice to the Emperor, the National Assembly gradually rose to pre-eminence as the swelling Alexiandran middle class demanded more substantial democratic representation. Tensions between the monarchy and the Assembly ignited when, on July 6 1916, the Czar ordered the permanent closure of the Assembly. Thousands of liberal and republican dissidents, enraged, took to the streets in protest, triggering the short but brutal Alexiandran Civil War. The Civil War ended with the historic Treaty of Monte Coragio, which formally abolished the monarchy and affirmed the National Assembly’s pre-eminence.

As a legislature, the National Assembly both formulates and revises law. New legislation can be proposed by any member of the National Assembly, although government control over the body's debate timetable means that, in practical terms, up to 90% of legislation is of government origin. Once a new item of legislation has been drafted, it is presented to the Assembly in a series of readings. The first reading is little more than a formality, designed primarily to notify Delegates of the new proposal. The second reading occurs just weeks later, and allows Delegates to debate the merits of a proposal. Following the second reading, the legislative draft is released to the public in its entirety. At the third reading, the final legislative draft (replete with any recommended adjustments) is presented to the Assembly. Immediately after the reading, Delegates are asked to vote for or against the draft, and those wishing to abstain from voting may do so.

If a draft receives a majority of "for" votes, it becomes a bill. Bills are scrutinised by the Law Council, an independent body of impartial judges responsible for discovering potential discrepancies within legislation and making formal recommendations to the politicians sponsoring a bill. If a bill passes the scrutiny process, it is officially ratified by the Chief Justice and incorporated into the National Codex.

Since the National Assembly is Alexiandra’s supreme legislative organ, it retains the duties of a sovereign organisation. As such, it can legislate upon any matter of its choosing, and a bill enacted by the Assembly cannot be overruled, denied or overturned by any other organisation.

Constituencies

There are 370 constituencies or electoral districts in Alexiandra. Each of these constituencies is represented in the National Assembly by a Delegate. The extensive size and massive population of Alexiandra necessitates extensive governmental devolution within constituencies – each is administered by a local district council, which has free reign over constituency-specific issues but must meet certain government quotas in order to retain its mandate. Many political commentators have likened the Alexiandran district system to the federalist, state-based system favoured by nations like the United States; unlike US states, however, electoral districts enjoy very few constitutional protections and can be abolished or adjusted by the National Assembly at any time.

Extensive reform of constituencies has been carried out since their inception in the immediate post-Civil War period. The exponential growth of Alexiandra’s population has necessitated the creation of more constituencies, which has in turn reduced the size of each individual constituency. Advances in communications technology have facilitated more efficient communication between central government and constituencies, although the distanced nature of relations between local authorities and the National Assembly remains a point of contention.

The largest constituency in Alexiandra is the Greater Lockbourne Metropolitan Zone, which is home to over 25 million people and incorporates the nation’s capital city.

Colonies and dependencies

In 1792, a fleet of Alexiandran merchant ships inadvertently discovered the region of Trakarta after they were thrown off course by a powerful storm. Many of the ships, having suffered irreparable damage, ran aground in what is today New alexiandra. While those vessels still seaworthy set off for home at full speed, those less fortunate sailors established base camps along the New Alexiandran coast. They quickly came into contact with indigenous tribes. Little is known of the mariners' existence until a rescue fleet arrived from Alexiandra in 1794. By the time of their rescue, however, the stranded sailors had colonised much of the New Alexiandran mainland. The reigning Alexiandran monarch, Emperor Louis II, immediately sought to capitalise upon the fleet's discovery by dispatching a fully fledged colonisation task force to the Trakarta region. Over the course of the next fifty years, the Alexiandran Empire fought a number of wars against local peoples for control of the region. Eventually, three distinct Alexiandran colonial possessions emerged - New Alexiandra, the island kingdom of Harvia and the Duchy of Eastburg. Following the Revolution of 1916, these colonies were rebranded "sister republics" or, in the case of Harvia, "specially administered zones".

All three are currently ruled by the Office for Colonial Affairs (OFCA), which is answerable to the National Assembly in Lockbourne. The colonies are endowed with considerable devolved authority, and are free to levy their own taxes. Following the island of Harvia's 1997 rebellion against Republic influence, it was placed under special administrative measures and is now ruled by a Governor of the National Assembly's choosing.

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Economy

Alexiandra possesses a social market economy which operates under the principles of Keynesian economics. Its nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015 was reported to be 2,864 trillion Universal Standard Credits, making it the largest economy in the International Freedom Union. It also boasts the largest gross domestic product per capita of any IFU nation, with the average Alexiandran earning 211,884 Universal Standard Credits per annum. The national average tax rate is adjusted each year to account for fluctuations in GDP per capita, and - while exceedingly high - provides the government with the funding necessary to provide extensive free healthcare, subsidised public transport, a huge military, and more. Lucas Brown, current Secretary of the Treasury, is an avowed believer in Keynesian economics. Under his direction, the Corleone administration has reduced regulation in the tourist and information technology industries while increasing governmental control over "key industries" such as arms manufacturing and steel production.

At the turn of the 20th century in 1900, Alexiandra remained, in large part, an agrarian powerhouse. Its vast eastern grain fields provided it with ample sustenance for the growing Alexiandran population, and foodstuffs were the nation's leading export material until the Alexiandran Civil War in 1916.

Following the conclusion of this conflict in 1916, economists came to appreciate the need for expansion into more modern fields of manufacturing. This realisation coincided with the discovery of vast and untapped mineral resources in north-east Alexiandra from 1918-1920, which facilitated a tripling in the nation's manufacturing output. During the 1930s, however, the global economic downturn known as the Great Depression had an adverse effect upon Alexiandran growth figures. While the agrarian roots of the national economy prevented famine of the kind seen in many other nations during this period, industrial development did stagnate, and the economy as a whole continued to deteriorate until at least 1934.

With the Second World War in 1939, however, came an unprecedented opportunity for Alexiandra's military-industrial complex. By selling armaments and munitions to the warring European powers, the right-wing government of President Jordan Whikes revitalised its heavy industries and eventually surpassed pre-Great Depression levels of employment and production.

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Military

Alexiandra's military (known officially as the Armed Forces of the Republic) is among the largest and best-funded in the International Freedom Union. It consists of four primary branches: the National Army (NATARM), the National Navy (NATNAV), the National Air Force (NATAIR) and the National Intelligence Division (NATINT). Of these four, the National Navy is the largest, and has been described as "the senior service" due to its status as the oldest of all Alexiandran military branches.

The National Army has its origins in the Alexiandran Imperial Army, the ground warfare branch of the Alexiandran Empire. When the monarchy was abolished following the Alexiandran Civil War of 1916, the newly sovereign National Assembly rebranded the Imperial Army with its present name. Since then, the National Army has taken an active role in both the defence of the homeland and the fulfilment of Alexiandran foreign policy. It participated in both World Wars, fighting alongside Allied troops in each instance, and saw action mainly in colonial theatres such as the Pacific. More recently, the National Army was deployed to the Gulf of Hamza as part of Operation Hammerblow, Alexiandra's contribution to the global War on Terror.

WIP