Government and Politics of the Republic of Dolgaria

The Republic of Dolgaria was a democratic republic, headed by the President and guided by the Federal Parliament, which had 400 seats as of the 3820 election. A federal election was held every five years in February. Prior to 3866, elections were held every three years, and prior to 3820, elections were held every four years on April 1. Prior to 3798, elections were held on the first of February.

In 3868, imperial rule was reinstalled, ending the political system of the Republic.

History
The most recent parliamentary system was established in 3760 with the formal creation of the Republic of Dolgaria. Prior to this, it operated under a feudal chain-of-command, which was initially established after the Dolgavan War.

Post-Imperial Era
The most common ruling party since the decline of the Great Immortal Empire was the Forward Party of Dolgaria. Despite several small parties participating in various elections, the Forward Party went virtually unchallenged until 3784 (32 years) when it lost seats to the Orange Tie Party. This resulted in a very close federal election in 3784, which was decided by a narrow 2.1 million votes and 14 seats in favor of a slim Forward Party majority.

Early 3800s
Starting in 3810, Dolgaria saw an influx of new political parties attempting to challenge the longstanding Forward Party. The 3812 election had five participating parties, although only the Forward Party earned seats. During the lead-up to the 3816 election, two parties - Choice and the Arch Party - emerged as strong opponents to the leadership. They earned no seats in the 3816 election, but continued to increase in popularity while being joined by the Progressive (now Progress) Party.

The 3820 election was highly contentious. The Forward Party was devastated by poor management within the party and by increased pressure by opposing parties, being reduced to a minority government. Choice became the Official Opposition, with the Arch and Progress Parties taking up the remaining half of the seats.

In 3821, a bill was passed that reduced parliamentary sessions to three years. The 3823 election was the first to reflect this change.

The 3823 election was a rebounding for the Forward Party who regained a significant amount of seats, but retained a minority government by an extremely narrow 40 seats. The Progress Party replaced Choice as the official opposition. Immediately after the election, the Arch Party dissolved, and all of their members of parliament resigned, vacating their seats for the parliamentary term.

The 3826 election reinstated Choice as the official opposition and took additional seats from the Forward Party. This was almost unchanged in the 3829 election.

The Roaring Thirties
By 3831, a rise in political participation foreshadowed an upcoming drastic change to Dolgaria's political landscape. New parties, such as the Radical Democrats and the Dolgarian Peoples Party, began an active participation in politics. The Radical Democrats, specifically, operated on an agenda that very highly distanced itself from the other parties.

Around this time, the Dolgaria Democratic Alliance - a party that temporarily succeeded in disassembling the Empire of Dolgaria over a century before the Forward Party did - returned. The return of a renowned historical party was an ominous sign on a battleground of relatively young parties.

Every party was prepared for a heated 3832 election. On the day before the election, the Forward Party projected that the Radical Democrats would win a minority with Choice as the official opposition.

The election of 3832 was the most explosive in the Republic's history. It ended in total disaster for the Forward Party, who lost the most seats in their history and failed to form government for the first time since their creation, getting the lowest seat count of any party in the 20th Parliament. The Radical Democrats gained an impressive minority government, only 30 seats shy of a majority, with their leader Isobel Hart taking the presidency away from the Forward Party after 80 years of consecutive Forward occupation. The returning Dolgarian Democratic Alliance became the Official Opposition, while Choice and the Progress Party tied in seats for the third party.

Immediately after the election, the Radical Democrats formed a nonformal coalition with the Forward Party, giving them three spots in the Cabinet.

At the end of 3832, Choice was hit by a series of betrayals and administrative issues within the party at the same time that leader Nigel Blair resigned. The party was officially abolished at that time, although a short-lived radical successor party continued to occupy Choice's seats for a brief period after. By 3834, every last member had resigned.

In the midst of this post-election fallout, the Dolgarian Green Party was formed, almost matching the Radical Democrats' massive popularity gains in time for the 3835 election, where they became the Official Opposition.

Political activity slowed to a crawl following this election, with continued after the 3838 election, which had nearly identical results. The Dolgaria Democratic Alliance dissolved with their members resigning. The oldest consistently participating party, the Progress Party, also dissolved in 3839 after 21 years of participation.

With the dawn of the 3840s, political activity in Dolgaria had resumed its relative peacefulness.

The Great Stagnation
Little to no political activity had taken place through the late 3830s through the 3840s. The Radical Democrats and the Dolgarian Green Party continued to oppose each other for the first two elections, despite almost nothing happening within Parliament. Isobel Hart had remained the President, with her party - the Radical Democrats - steadily holding power.

Every election in the 3840s was a presidential minority government, with the governing party barely gripping power as the President was elected without their part holding the most seats. The 3841 election was a lucky break for the Radical Democrats, the first presidential minority since the Forward Party's initial election in 3752. The 3844 election, however, the Forward Party had a sudden dramatic victory when leader Buckley Finn Hamilton was elected President, despite holding the least seats of any party in Parliament. Their party's temporary popularity receded when Radical Democrat leader Isobel Hart was reelected with a presidential minority in 3847.

In 3848, the Dolgarian Green Party and the Radical Democrats dissolved, with their members of parliament abandoning their seats. This left the Forward Party with all of the used seats in Parliament, and they replaced the Green Party as the Official Opposition due to Isobel Hart, the Radical Democrats' former leader, remaining the President.

In 3850, the Forward Party re-won a majority government, which it held through to 3859 when they were elected unanimously. However, the party's own problems forced it to fold in 3860.

The Order of Light
In 3861, the first election since 3752 that the Forward Party did not contest in, the Rīkojums Gaismas (Order of Light) was elected with a presidential minority government under Indrikis Gramatina after successfully calling an early election. They increased their seats into a unanimous government in 3866 after extending the term of the legislature.

In 3868, the Order reestablished Dolgaria as an imperial state, officially ending the 106-year-old Republic.