Government and Politics of Dranland

The Republic of Dranland is a unitary parliamentary republic. The government of Dranland is split into three levels, national, provincial and local; and three branches, the legislature, executive and judiciary. At the national level, executive power is vested in the head of state, the President, and exercised by the Cabinet, which is led by the Prime Minister, the head of government. The unicameral legislature is called the Parliament, and an independent judiciary exists to interpret the law. Provincial governments are granted certain limited devolved powers (subject to the supervision of the national government), as a local governments.

The Republic of Dranland is a multi-party democracy, where four major parties compete for power. The libertarian Grand National Party (GNP) generally co-operates with either the centre-right Popular Party (PP) or the right-wing Conservative National Party (CNP), while the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) is a social democratic and progresive party which was formerly in coalition with the now-defunct Unity.

National Government
The national government is the most powerful of the three levels of government, as the powers exercised by the other levels of government are held on the sufferance of the national government. The national government can over-rule the decision of lower levels of government. Additionally, it has sole responsibility over certain areas such as defence and foreign policy.

Legislature
The unicameral national legislature of the Republic of Dranland is the Parliament. While it is not the supreme political authority in Dranland and is bound by a Constitution which can be bindingly interpreted by the judiciary alone, the Parliament is nevertheless considered the foremost political institution in the nation.

Parliament's legislative authority is not subject to any constraints except basic constitutional checks on its powers. Its main function is to consider legislation, which it may choose to enact or not to enact. Acts are legally binding, while resolutions are simply expressions of the opinion of the legislature. Parliament additionally regulates its own procedures and elects its own officers.

One of Parliament's most crucial powers derives from the Government's accountability to it. A Government cannot be formed without Parliament's consent; additionally, it may at any point withdraw this consent through a motion of no confidence, which will force the Government to resign. The loss of supply, which can only be effected by Parliament, achieves the same effect.

The presiding officer of Parliament is the Speaker, who is elected by Parliament and, like the Government, must retain the confidence of Parliament during their tenure. The Speaker, while allowed to retain their original party affiliation, is expected to act in a neutral and impartial manner. As such, they neither debate nor vote.

Parliament consists of 250 Members of Parliament (MPs). Dranland is divided into 150 constituencies, which elect one MP each using the instant-runoff voting system. The other 100 MPs are elected from province-wide party lists to ensure the proportionality of the legislature. Parliament has a maximum term of four years but can be dissolved early.

Executive
The executive branch of the Republic of Dranland is responsible for the execution of laws, as its name suggests. It consists of the President, who is the head of state, and the Cabinet, which is led by the Prime Minister, the head of government.

President
The President is the head of state and 'first citizen' of Dranland, and thus occupies an extremely prestigious role in the Dranish government. The President is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, chief diplomatic officer and chief executive officer. However, this role is largely ceremonial, as the President's powers can only be exercised on the advice of the Cabinet and Prime Minister.

According to law, the President is popularly elected using a two-round electoral system, where if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, the top two finishers progress to a runoff round, where the winner becomes President. Presidential elections are held at the same time as Parliamentary elections.

Cabinet and Prime Minister
The Dranish Cabinet is the de facto highest executive body of the Government of Dranland, and is composed of all of the senior ministers of the Government, of which there are currently fourteen (including the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister).

Ministers are each responsible for a certain area of policy through their control of an executive department and its associated bureaucracy. Ministers also participate in decision-making outside of their own department by virtue of the collective decision-making powers of the Cabinet, of which they are a member. They are appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, but must have the confidence of the Parliament.

The most senior Minister, who chairs the Cabinet and is head of government, is the Prime Minister. The powers of the office derive not only from their authority to supervise the Cabinet and individual Ministers' activities, but their legislative power, given that they are often the leader of a major political party. Depending on personality, the Prime Minister may either be first among equals, or a clearly dominant figure.

The Prime Minister is assisted by the Deputy Prime Minister, an office which is not particularly powerful. The Deputy Prime Ministership is often given to the leader of a junior coalition partner in Government, as the multi-party nature of Parliament prevents one party from gaining a majority to govern alone.

Judiciary
The national Dranish judiciary is the third branch of the national government, and is responsible for the interpretation of legislation and the Constitution. Additionally, judgements handed down by provincial courts may be appealed to the national court system.

Provincial Government
As Dranland is a unitary nation, the powers of provincial governments are fairly limited, and can be unilaterally withdrawn by the national government; the exercise of the powers it does possess can also be vetoed by the national government. Nevertheless, the national government has observed a convention of not excessively interfering in provincial affairs.