Republics

[Joao Medeiros]

Page 9 of the Rulebook states that "the nobilty is weak in Brectur,
and several staes have declared themselves republics." Looking through the
Havens of the Great Bay expansion I have not seen a single republic. However
I see great potential for republics in Birthright, so I haved outlined my
ideas as how one may be handled.
The land is not tied to any single regent, it is tied to the
people. The people therefore elect a person to act as the regent of the
republic for a specific length of time, after this period of time a new
person must be elected, for the elected one loses his tie to the land. The
following must be decided about a republic:

1. Who Rules?: Is the right to vote limited to blooded peple only?
Is the right to run for office so limited?

2. How many rule?: How many branches are there to the government?
The limit, as shall be seen below, is three.

3. What type of branches are these? Senates, and presidents are
possiblities.

4. who dominates the government? which branch controls the most law
holdings?

Senates:

Senates are bodies of elected representatives of the people. For the
purposes of bloodline the senate has a score equal to that of the average of
its members. To avoid having to roll for every member's bloodline just roll
once to find what the average is. If unblooded individuals are allowed on
the senate then subtract 25 from the roll. A senate collects regency and GB
as a regent normally would, but is unable to use it without a majority vote.
One action can be made per domain round. However, any number of
senators can propose actions. Thus each senator proposing an action must
make a (Free) diplomacy action. The one who makes his by the greatest number
gets the most votes to approve his action. In the case of a tie the two
winners must roll again to see who wins.

Presidents:

This person acts as a temporary regent for the republic. One of the
disadvantages of this branch is that the president tends to dominate the
political structure.

Taxes and Province RPs:

These are divided up in proportions equal to the percentage of law
controlled by the ruling branches.

Elections:

To suceed in getting elected to a senate a candidate must suceed in
a diplomacy action with a normal chance. He may spend GB to improve his
chances or lower an opponent's.
To be elected president the candidate must suceed in a diplomacy
action by more than any of his opponents. Again GB may be used to influence
results. In the case of a tie the two contenders reroll. All GB used in the
first roll is lost for the second.

Unblooded presidents and senates: rule as per the rules posted by
Brandon Quina.

Example: The Republic of Alklund(4/1)

Once part of the Brect kingdom of Rhormarch, Alklund broke away from
that kingdom during the bloody civil war that took place there. The
citizens, disenheartened by what moarcy can arouse in contenders to the
throne swore off of it. They then formed the the Republic.

Government: The republic is governed by a bicameral Senate. The upper house
is called the House of Scions. All members are blooded, and only scions can
elect members of this house. The lower house, the House of Commons, is
comprised of only unblooded individuals, they can only be elected by
commoners. The Houses of Scions is dominant and controls a law(3), while the
the lower house controls only a law(1). Together the two houses appoint a
prime minister(president) who has no real power(law(0)), but instead serves
as an advisor to both houses.
Elections to the house of Scions occur on the first month of years
ending with 0 or 5. Elections to the lower house take place on the last
montyh of these years. In the action round during the elections no action
can be taken by the house due to campaigning.

[swords]

At 04:00 PM 9/11/97 -0700, you wrote:
>John Campbell wrote:
>
>> I am not up on the different forms of government. What is there besides
Dictatorships, Oligachrys, Democracies, and Socialist states?
>>
>> John
>
>There are also Theocracies and Monarchies (Which is like a dictatorship in
a way)..
>I can't think of anymore at the time, but I hope the two are an addition to
the list..

Well for fantasy worlds and some for the real world there are Autocracy,
Bureaucracy, Collegium, Gerontocracy, Gynarchy/Matriarchy, Hierarchy,
Magocracy, Militocracy, Patriarchy, Pedocracy, Plutocracy, or Syndicracy.
For those who don't know here is a brief discription of the odd forms of
Government.

Autocracy-One self-appointed person holds supreme authority. It is a form
of dictaorship in which the ruler is often times called a tyrant or despot.

Bureaucracy-This is a government by bureaus or departments, often caused by
other forms of government. The departments establish laws and rules and
expect adherence to the administration's guidelines.

Collegium-A government by an elite group of people each of whom has
approximately the same amount of power. The members within the group
determin how members are replaced and whether the group should be expanded.

Gerontocracy-A government by elderly men and women. The gerontocracy could
consist of a council made up of town residents who are older than a certain
age, or it could be a government where the elders in the community elect a
leader from among themselves. This government is based on the thought that
the older the person the more wisdom and experience they have in regard to
dealing with others.

Gynarchy/Matriarchy-Women rule this form of government, whether by council
or one woman who is in a supreme position of authourity. But regardless
males take a back seat in all matters.

Hierarchy-A government ruled by the clergy, with the highest-level church
leaders having the most authority. In this form of government the church is
the state. It differs from a Theocracy in that Theocracies are supposedly
derived directly from a diety not just position in the church.

Magocracy-Wizrds are the leaders in the community. The mages, who vested
themselves with political power believing that their great intelligence
makes them fit rulers, establish rules and regulations and enforce them-if
need be, through the use of spells.

Militocracy-A government run by the military. The residents are governed by
the military, with the laws usually, rigidly enforced. This can be a
dictatorship if there is just one supreme military commander or an oligarchy
if the ultimate power is shared by more than one high-ranking soldier.

Patriarchy-Similar to a Matriarchy except ruled by men, with all the woman
being second in concern to a man.

Pedocracy-Well eduacted persons and scholars are in charge. A pedocracy
might be headed by one person or by a group of people who share authority
and responsibility.

Plutocracy-The wealthy are the rulers. Their power is derived from their
wealth and holdings, and all the other residents of such a community are
subject to their decrees. This form of government can fall under several
different catagories but at any time it is the wealthiest who rule.

Syndicracy-Government ruled by merchants and tradesmen. Each member, who
might also be a guild leader, could represent an interest such as farming,
industry ect.

Michael

[Kenneth Gauck]

I think the Brecht "republics" are like the Venetian and Dutch republics --
councils of blooded nobles who coordinate their actions. Each bring a
handfull of holdings and a few points of regency, but since they act as a
group, the holdings can usually be considered one regency.

Kenneth Gauck
c558382@earthlink.net

[Pieter Sleijpen]

Kenneth Gauck wrote:
>
> I think the Brecht "republics" are like the Venetian and Dutch
> republics -- councils of blooded nobles who coordinate their actions.
> Each bring a handfull of holdings and a few points of regency, but
> since they act as a group, the holdings can usually be considered one
> regency

While I prefer this same type of view, I do not think the councils are
all blooded, merely the head of the council. When taking a look at the
boxed set there are not that many Brecht countries where these councils
are there. Dauren has got a council in which all five members are the
lieutenants of Colier. These members are mostly non-blooded and their
task is the day-to-day ruling of the land and to give advise. If other
strong rules countries (and remember there is a lot of chaos in the
lands of Brecht) have a council, this council is only to give advise. I
also think that the rulers of Anurie probably also have a council of
nobles (only nobles, unlike Brecht) for advise. The ammount of power of
such a council is off coarse less here and dependent on the ruler of
that particular land. After all a wise ruler listens to the people he
rules, because no person can rule without the suport of at least his
army and nobles.