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City-state Ruling Council

Dented

New Member
First post on this site and it's probably going to be boring as hell to read. Sorry.

Anyway, after deciding on wanting to write something set in a fictional 16th/17th century-ish European-style city state (with possibly some small amounts of magic, leaving that problem until a later date), I started thinking about how this place would function and, based off an amalgamation of both real-life and fictional examples, came up with the basic outline of the [As yet unnamed city-state] Ruling Council. Let me know what you all think of it.


Grand Arbitrator
Essentially the ruler, and is chosen by both levels of the Council upon the previous Arbitrator’s death. Only three nominees can put their name forward per election and must be currently sitting on the Sovereign Council. Despite being the most powerful office, the Grand Arbitrator cannot refuse to put forward a majority decision, and can only exercise his power in the Council in the event of a stalemate decision, although previous Arbitrators have been known to force through particular policies of their own. In times of crisis however, the Sovereign Council can vote to give the Arbitrator sole executive power. This has never happened (mainly because I'm pretty sure that's how Caesar came to power).

^

Sovereign Council
The ruling council, which consists of the Grand Arbitrator, two independent councillors, and three from each Class Council (Coin, Sword, Righteous, Low) which makes up the Lower Council. One Coin Lord and one Sword Lord are chose by the Arbitrator to serve as Grand Treasurer and Grand Marshal respectively at the start of their rule. This is the only branch of the council which has term limits, with members having to retire once they have served for twelve years, but cannot be removed by the Arbitrator unless they have gathered a majority vote. The main function that the members of the Sovereign Council perform is bringing forward the views of their class to the Arbitrator, although disagreements amongst the three of a certain class have been known to happen frequently. The two independent councillors are also chosen personally by the Arbitrator, and forswear all ties to their previous class.

^

Lower Council
While lower in status than the Sovereign Council, those serving on the Lower Council have a greater amount of influence, since they decide on what goes before the Sovereign Council and their higher number. Often the location of furious debates, the Lower Council consists of sixty members, fifteen from each class. Those wishing to serve as part of their respective council must petition the existing councillors for elevation, with those chosen being known as Coin/Sword/Righteous/Low Lords. The four fifteen meet also hold separate meetings, exclusive to their class, regularly, with those being known as:

The Merchant Council
(The richest, most influential or most popular tradesmen)

The Sword Council
(Military/naval officers, high-ranked constables)

The Righteous Council
(Priests and other holy figures)

The Common Council
(Common-born people of the city and surrounding areas)

(Yes, this system does set itself up for lots of corruption and bribery. Which from a storytelling perspective, is probably good.)



Thanks!
 
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