Mevwan Politics
Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 6:25 pm
Zaee:
The Zaee originally retained the command organization of the ship's crew, with the civilian passengers subordinate to the officers, but this quickly broke down and a civilian structure similar to that in place on the Zaee's home system took over. Leaders are chosen to sit on a council of 10-15 members, called the Cezkwe, in an explicitly nepotistic democratic fashion: one votes for whichever of one's friends and family one expects to have the best shot at earning a seat. In practice the winners tend to be people with a lot of friends and family, and a lot of ordinary Zaee know someone on the council. The council makes decisions by reaching consensus; when that is intractable, a Cezkwe member randomly selected by drawing straws before each meeting has the authority to eject one member of their choice, at which time the straws are re-drawn, consensus is again attempted, and so on. If just one Cezkwe member is left at the end of a meeting (rather rare), he or she may unilaterally make decisions. Cheating at straws is grounds for an eternal ban from the Cezkwe for oneself and all of one's blood or memetic relatives.
Voters can rescind their support for whoever they most recently voted for (if that person won) at any time. When someone has enough of their original votes rescinded that they couldn't have won their original election, their position is up for grabs again (but one must rescind one's vote for a sitting candidate, if applicable, before casting one in a new election). Cezkwe occupants often assign themselves various specialties and duties according to their interests and aptitudes, but if someone challenges them for such a spot, it is subject to consensus-building like anything else.
Current Cezkwe Occupants:
Gevene [Self-Appointed Minister of Technology; Consensus-Appointed Minister of Education][F]
Adwal [Self-Appointed Minister of Welfare; Self-Appointed Minister of Faith][F]
Kyeea [Self-Appointed Minister of History][F]
Odyaee [Consensus-Appointed Minister of Agriculture][M]
Buwa [Consensus-Appointed Minister of Liasing with Humans][M]
Cwalwi [Self-Appointed Minster of Records; Consensus-Appointed Minister of Justice][F]
Dwakia [Self-Appointed Minister of the Census; Consensus-Appointed Minister of Finance][M]
Mwaris [Self-Appointed Minister of Defense; Self-Appointed Minister of Law Enforcement][F]
Dyaze [Self-Appointed Minister of Emergency Services][M]
Iriwande [Self-Appointed Minister of International Participation-in-Things][Mevwan Senator, Pelagia's Speaker][M]
Devwia [Self-Appointed Minister of Culture; Self-Appointed Minister of Public Goods][F]
Iviwe [Self-Appointed Minister of Cartography; Consensus-Appointed Minister of Licensing][F]
Humans:
The humans of Mevwan are very decentralized. Individual provinces, cities, towns, or even large families choose leaders by idiosyncratic processes. These leaders attend (or don't) open-forum style meetings, where someone whose official title is just "minutes-taker" keeps track of the tenor of discussion and submits a summary to whoever is in charge lately. "Whoever is in charge lately" is usually called the Avewe, more because the Zaee wanted to have a name for this position than because the humans did. The Avewe is chosen in the same way as everything else - the minutes-taker(s) determine who people seem to want to have with the job. The position changes hands at random times depending on the flow of opinion. There can be more than one Avewe at any given time if people seem to think that's a good idea. Minutes-takers wield considerable subtle influence, but anyone authorized to attend meetings can bring a notebook to a meeting, write things down, and bring it to the Avewe(s), so it's not a locked-in exclusive power.
Current Avewe:
Mokarith N. C. Z. lo-Parh
General:
The Cezkwe and the Avewe(s) must come to an agreement for the nation of Mevwan as a whole to take action, but Zaee can be authorized to do things by the Cezkwe without the explicit support of the Avewe(s) and vice-versa for humans. In the Senate, Iriwande, the Self-Appointed Minister of International Participation-in-Things, represents both parts of the government and speaks on behalf of the nation.
The capital of Mevwan is called Delo-Kyan. It was called Delo (and was not a capital) before the Zaee crashed, but a significant Zaee population settled there and called it Kyan, and eventually it became the center of political activity and its name was hyphenated.
The Zaee originally retained the command organization of the ship's crew, with the civilian passengers subordinate to the officers, but this quickly broke down and a civilian structure similar to that in place on the Zaee's home system took over. Leaders are chosen to sit on a council of 10-15 members, called the Cezkwe, in an explicitly nepotistic democratic fashion: one votes for whichever of one's friends and family one expects to have the best shot at earning a seat. In practice the winners tend to be people with a lot of friends and family, and a lot of ordinary Zaee know someone on the council. The council makes decisions by reaching consensus; when that is intractable, a Cezkwe member randomly selected by drawing straws before each meeting has the authority to eject one member of their choice, at which time the straws are re-drawn, consensus is again attempted, and so on. If just one Cezkwe member is left at the end of a meeting (rather rare), he or she may unilaterally make decisions. Cheating at straws is grounds for an eternal ban from the Cezkwe for oneself and all of one's blood or memetic relatives.
Voters can rescind their support for whoever they most recently voted for (if that person won) at any time. When someone has enough of their original votes rescinded that they couldn't have won their original election, their position is up for grabs again (but one must rescind one's vote for a sitting candidate, if applicable, before casting one in a new election). Cezkwe occupants often assign themselves various specialties and duties according to their interests and aptitudes, but if someone challenges them for such a spot, it is subject to consensus-building like anything else.
Current Cezkwe Occupants:
Gevene [Self-Appointed Minister of Technology; Consensus-Appointed Minister of Education][F]
Adwal [Self-Appointed Minister of Welfare; Self-Appointed Minister of Faith][F]
Kyeea [Self-Appointed Minister of History][F]
Odyaee [Consensus-Appointed Minister of Agriculture][M]
Buwa [Consensus-Appointed Minister of Liasing with Humans][M]
Cwalwi [Self-Appointed Minster of Records; Consensus-Appointed Minister of Justice][F]
Dwakia [Self-Appointed Minister of the Census; Consensus-Appointed Minister of Finance][M]
Mwaris [Self-Appointed Minister of Defense; Self-Appointed Minister of Law Enforcement][F]
Dyaze [Self-Appointed Minister of Emergency Services][M]
Iriwande [Self-Appointed Minister of International Participation-in-Things][Mevwan Senator, Pelagia's Speaker][M]
Devwia [Self-Appointed Minister of Culture; Self-Appointed Minister of Public Goods][F]
Iviwe [Self-Appointed Minister of Cartography; Consensus-Appointed Minister of Licensing][F]
Humans:
The humans of Mevwan are very decentralized. Individual provinces, cities, towns, or even large families choose leaders by idiosyncratic processes. These leaders attend (or don't) open-forum style meetings, where someone whose official title is just "minutes-taker" keeps track of the tenor of discussion and submits a summary to whoever is in charge lately. "Whoever is in charge lately" is usually called the Avewe, more because the Zaee wanted to have a name for this position than because the humans did. The Avewe is chosen in the same way as everything else - the minutes-taker(s) determine who people seem to want to have with the job. The position changes hands at random times depending on the flow of opinion. There can be more than one Avewe at any given time if people seem to think that's a good idea. Minutes-takers wield considerable subtle influence, but anyone authorized to attend meetings can bring a notebook to a meeting, write things down, and bring it to the Avewe(s), so it's not a locked-in exclusive power.
Current Avewe:
Mokarith N. C. Z. lo-Parh
General:
The Cezkwe and the Avewe(s) must come to an agreement for the nation of Mevwan as a whole to take action, but Zaee can be authorized to do things by the Cezkwe without the explicit support of the Avewe(s) and vice-versa for humans. In the Senate, Iriwande, the Self-Appointed Minister of International Participation-in-Things, represents both parts of the government and speaks on behalf of the nation.
The capital of Mevwan is called Delo-Kyan. It was called Delo (and was not a capital) before the Zaee crashed, but a significant Zaee population settled there and called it Kyan, and eventually it became the center of political activity and its name was hyphenated.