Politics of Roden

Roden operates as a,  with a. The current institutional set up was laid down in the 1989 Constitution, following the demise of the FNR regime (1964-1988). Some elements of the 1988 Constitution were drawn from previous Rodenian constitutional texts, although it introduced several innovations like the so-called "popular rights" and the constitutionalisation of the National Comptroller Office's ( Contrarotlariá nacionala) autonomy.

The executive power is vested on two institutions, the Executive Council ( Conselh Executiu), a seven-member which is aided in its executive function by the larger Council of Ministers ( Conselh dels ministres). is vested in the Congress of the Republic, the bicameral parliament as well as, secondarily, on the Government. The legislature is formed by the People's Assembly, the more powerful and the, the Senate. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislative branches. It is headed by the High Council of the Judiciary, whose members are elected by the members of the judicature.

Constitution
Written after the end of the two quasi-successive dictatorships of Josep-Maria Singlar and Lucian Melzi, the 1989 Rodenian Constitution creates a system of with very strong  on the. The is given to the, the Congress of the Republic, whereas executive power is deposited on both the Executive Council and the Council of Ministers. The judiciary, meanwhile is largely independent from both powers. The Constitution also creates two major additional checks on potential government overreach through the Constitutional Court, which exercises of legislation as well as the National Comptroller Office, which acts as both a  and an. Likewise, the Constitution empowered Rodenian citizens to take direct part of the legislative process by giving them the power to start to hold referendums to pass or revoke legislation.

The 1989 Constitution also creates the first in Roden's post-colonial history, granting various levels of autonomy  to the three categories of province: ordinary, statute or autonomous, and REF province. The various provinces, but particularly the autonomous ones have considerable autonomy in legislative, administrative as well as financial matters. The provinces also appoint the members of Roden's, the Senate, which has legislation affecting the distribution of competences or provincial financing. Likewise, the Constitution also recognised the principle of. The various subnational entities have an organisation alike to the national one: A elected by, but not depending on the confidence of the legislature, a legislature - albeit unicameral - and an independent judiciary.

Besides the dreches populars, the most unique element of the Rodenian constitutional set-up is the existence of a collegiate leadership at all tiers of government, except for the districts. It is considered to be both an answer to the perceived danger of personal executives in the post-independence period of Roden's history, but it was also inspired by the traditional organisation of pre-colonial Roden, particularly of the. At the national level, the Executive Council is formed by 7 directors; at the provincial level by 5-member Provincial Councils and at the local level by two co-presidents, known as consols, sìndicos or podestà, depending on the province.

Executive branch
According to the Rodenian Constitution, the Government is formed by two bodies, the Executive Council (Conselh Executiu) and the Council of Ministers (Conselh dels ministres).

The Executive Council is the seven-member that presides over the Administration and serves both as a  and as. The Executive Council is elected every five years in a joint session of the two chambers of the Congress of the Republic by an and its members can not be dismissed, impeached nor be subject to a, only suspended from their official functions. Each member heads a directorate, an office tasked with coordinating the various ministries and agencies assigned to its purview. The insulation of the Executive Council members from the legislature is considered the key feature behind the stability of the Rodenian political system, as Directors (as the members of the Council are known) enjoy long terms - generally about 10 years - that permit the implementation of initiatives. The current members of the Executive Council are: Nicolau Gasquet (PP), Lissander Ornagh (UDL), Vincenç Auriol (PP), Vivien-a Sant (UDL), Josepina Cazenave (PP), Antòni Moroder (UDL) and Cecilia Vazoler (PP).

The Presidency of the Executive Council (Presidença del Conselh Executiu) as well as the Vice-Presidency are rotatory posts, changing from one member of the Council to another every 6 months. The President, currently Nicolau Gasquet holds a strictly  post, with largely ceremonial prerogatives, although they also undertake representative functions normally performed by a president or prime minister in single-executive systems.

The Council of Ministers is formed by the seven directors, nineteen ministers (ministres, ministre in singular) and four Cabinet secretaries (secretaris del Conselh). The ministers preside over the various ministries and are tasked with implementing the policies whose guidelines are set by the Directors and generally serve in a secondary to relieve workload from the directors. Unlike the Executive Council's members, the ministers as well as the cabinet secretaries are and  before the People's Assembly which can censure them and remove or force their resignation. As a result, the individual ministers need to maintain the confidence of both their respective Director, as well as that of the legislature.

Legislative branch
The Congress of the Republic (Congrès de la Republica) is the  of Roden. It is formed by the People's Assembly (Assemblada Populara) and the Senate (Senat). The People's Assembly is the only chamber that can dismiss ministers, pass or amend the budget, or initiate most ; as a result, the Congress is in a situation of whereby the lower chamber is more powerful than the upper one. Nevertheless, for certain matters, like the election of the Executive Council or s as well as legislation affecting the delegation of powers to the provinces, the Congress acts as a legislature. are granted in the year a person turns 18.

The People's Assembly (Assemblada Populara) is the and most powerful of the two chambers of the Congress. Its 401 members are elected by popular vote for a five-year term (during which it may not be dissolved) by in 40 multi-member. The People's Assembly is the sole chamber that can pass or amend the budget, initiate most or control the Council of Ministers' actions. The last election to the People's Assembly was held on 5 April 2015.

The Senate (Senat) is the of the Congress of the Republic. The Senate acts as a representing the interests of the provinces. Unlike the People's Assembly, the 161 members of the Senate, known as territorial counsellors (Conselhièrs territorials), are not directly elected. Instead, they are appointed by the provincial assemblies following their respective elections in such a manner as to proportionally reflect the composition of the provincial assemblies.

Judicial branch
Rodenian law provides for a separate judicial branch with an independent judiciary which enjoys special constitutional protections to prevent interference from the other two branches of the government. Roden has a legal system, the basis of which is codified law; however,  plays a significant role in the determination of the courts. In the Rodenian legal system, there are two stream, a judicial one, which administers and  and an administrative stream, which judges matters pertaining to. There is also a Constitutional Court which exercises over legislation passed by both the executive and the legislative branches. The Constitutional Court also settles institutional clashes.

The chief government organ of the judiciary is the High Council of the Judiciary (Conselh superior de la Magistratura) that can punish or remove judges under special circumstances, while also determines the allocation of judges to tribunals. The High Council of the Judiciary is wholly elected by members of the judiciary. The Ministry of Justice plays a limited role, handling the administration of courts and judiciary, including paying salaries or constructing new courthouses.

Roden uses an, the result of the evolution and codification of both  and the various  influenced by Jungjuan. The majority of the codification took place after independence, although they have been reformed since the 1990s to accommodate the new, democratic reality. The Rodenian judiciary is organised in three tiers for each one of the three main areas of law:,  and lastly, the  or s. The decisions of these last appeal courts can create a sort of precedent is upheld numoerous times in the form of .

For and, at the primary and appellate level, the two streams have their respective court system, however at the summit, cases of the two natures are judged by the High Court of Cassation (Cort suprema de Cassacion). The High Court also acts as the for cases handled at lower levels by specialised courts on  (Tribunal de trabalh) or  (Tribunal tals menors).

For administrative law, the Supreme Administrative Court (Cort suprema administrativa) is the, dealing with matters not only related to national administrative law, but also municipal and provincial cases.

Although, unlike in systems,  is limited in Roden, the Constitution establishes a single court to deal with matters of constitutionality, the Constitutional Court (Cort constitucionala). The Constitution Court is formed by 10 judges elected by members of the magistrature from among themselves provided they meet the constitutional criteria, and by 5 judges appointed by the Executive Council from well-known legal experts. The Constitutional Court hears cases raised by individuals, regular courts or the various - national or provincial - legislatures on the constitutionality of legislation. It can quash legislation or parts of it although it is very rare, usually, the Court recommends modification of the reviewed legislation. The Court is also competent to decide on substantive constitutional interpretations such as in the area of or in settling inter-institutional disputes. The Constitutional Court also judges the validity and constitutionality of any before a referendum can be held.

Constitutionally autonomous bodies
The Rodenian Constitution recognises four constitutionally-recognised autonomous institutions ( institucion constitucionalament autonoma), these are the Electoral Office, the Advisory Board, the National Bank and the National Comptroller Office, which acts both as an and a. The Constitution guarantees each institution's autonomy and limits the possibility of interference in their internal functioning by, amongst other measures, requiring a in the People's Assembly to elect their respective presidents as well as the Congress-appointed members.


 * The Electoral Office (Offici electoral) is the organisation in charge of the administration, surveillance and supervision of the electoral and plebiscitary processes, as well as enforcing the legislation on electoral spending and on transparency. The Office also manages and updates the electoral inscription system and the political parties' register.


 * The Advisory Board (Junta consultiva) is an advisory body of the Executive Council on constitutional and judicial aspects of legislature and policy. All laws proposed by the Government have to be sent to the Advisory Board for advice. Although the advice is not binding, the government is required to react to the advice and it often plays a significant role in the ensuing debate in the People's Assembly. The board members are mainly legal specialists, former ministers, members of parliament and judges or professors of law.


 * The National Bank (Banca nacionala) is Roden's, which sets the and controls the money flow and the amount of currency minted or printed every year. The National Bank is governed by its special charter and it is committed to using  to promote economic growth and social welfare through a commitment to a stable and low  and . The current president of the National Bank is Marcel Roncaj, with a non-renewable mandate from 2010 and 2020.


 * The National Comptroller Office (Contrarotlariá nacionala) is the institution constitutionally charged with holding the government and the public administration accountable to the citizens alongside the legislature. Under this mandate, the National Comptroller Office operates as both a, undertaking external audits of the governmental institutions, state-owned corporations as well as political parties; as well as the main , charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints of maladministration or a violation of rights.

Advisory bodies
There are a number of s that counsel the government as well as the legislature on detailed areas, such as, or. However, the oldest and most important advisory council is the CPE. The Economic Planning Board (Comission de planejament economic, CPE) is a major economic advisory council. It represents the s and s in order to achieve a broad consensus on economic policy-making and facilitate. The CPE members are divided into three thirds, with the government appointing academics and economic technicians, whereas the unions and the employers each appoint their own delegates.

Direct democracy
Roden has been described as a 'semi-direct democracy' or a '' as it mixes both elements of and, or more precisely as a representative system tempered by direct democratic participation. At the national level, citizens are entitled to present initiatives proposing legislation or amending pre-existing legislation (propositional initiative), to put forward abrogative initiatives, repealing legislation passed by the Congress of the Republic, to amend parliamentary legislation via referendum or to recall one or several deputies from their constituency. These rights are generally known as dreches populars or 'popular rights'.

In order to introduce a vote on an initiative, whether abrogative or propositional, over 250,000 signatures must be gathered, whether in favour or against any particular law in a maximum period of 6 months. In the case of propositional initiatives, the Constitutional Court also has to rule in favour of the constitutionality of any initiative. There are some caveats to this process however, as in case of propositional initiatives, the Congress is entitled to also put up to a vote their own version of a given initiative and more importantly, neither abrogative nor propositional initiatives can affect the nor international treaties and conventions. Both kinds of initiatives require a to pass with a turnout above 30%.

Referendums are held to introduce s whether they are proposed by either chamber of the Congress of the Republic, 4 or more provinces or by 250,000 signatures. In order for a referendum to pass, it requires a turnout of 50% or more, as well as the support of 3/5s in both chambers. Like with propositional initiative votes, referendums also allow for the government to introduce its proposal alongside that proposed by the voters.

Rodenian citizens also enjoy the power to their representatives at the national and provincial levels. At the national level, if over 15% of the voters in a given constituency choose to recall from one to five deputies, a partial election is held under either (one deputy) or  (multiple) provided the legislature is not in its first or last year. The same system applies for members of the provincial assemblies.

Political parties
Since the restoration of democracy in Roden in 1988, the country features a. Between 1988 and 1993, the Democratic Centre and the  Social Federation of Independents held together an absolute majority of the seats in both the People's Assembly as well as in the Executive Council. After their merger, their successor, the People's Party ( Partit Popular, PP) has uninterruptedly been the largest parliamentary group while continuously being in the Executive Council except for the legislature of 2005-2010. In the five year period between 2005 and 2010, the PP was excluded from the executive due to the establishment of an anti-PP coalition formed by the Liberal Democratic Union ( Union democratica e liberala, UDL) and the Workers' Socialist Party ( Partit Socialiste dels Trabalhaires, PST).

The current political system is usually identified as a one-and-two-halves political system, with the PP as the dominant party, with two middle-sized parties (the PST and the  UDL) together with the smaller  Green Alliance ( Aligança Verda, AV).

The People's Party (PP) is a, party containing from the  to right-wing. It is generally placed in the centre of the political spectrum. The PP was created in 1993 after the merger of the Democratic Centre (CD) and the  Social Federation of Independents (FSI) and has governed the country for most of the post-1988 democratic era. The PP is generally considered to be the result of the merger of the most moderate elements of the democratic opposition to the FNR as well as the faccion tecnica of the regime.

The Workers' Socialist Party (PST) is a  party and the second-largest party in the People's Assembly. Th PST was founded in 1955 and currently is the oldest continuing party in Roden, although the party can trace its history back to the independence period through its direct predecessor, the Democratic Action's Party (PAD) which played an important role during the brief, First Republic period. The PST was in government between 2000 and 2010, first (2000-2005) with the PP as the and later as the  with the UDL between 2005 and 2010.

The Liberal Democratic Union (UDL) is a  party and the third largest party in the 6th Legislature (2015-2020). The UDL, and its two predecessors, the Republican Democratic Party (PDC) and the Liberal Union (UL) are considered the traditional coalition partner of the People's Party, as they have governed alongside the party between 1990 and 2000 and since 2010, while also forming part of an alternate coalition with the PST between 2005 and 2010.

Others parties with parliamentary presence include the Green Alliance (AV) as well as several, minor regional parties, the PAL and the Autonomist Movement.

People's Assembly
The elections to the People's Assembly are held under  system, employing the  (or ), which gives a slight advantage to the larger parties. Despite the lack of an, the limited size of the constituencies it is difficult for small parties to obtain parliamentary representation. Due to the employed, voters can rank deputies within a specific party list which maximises the deputies' chances of being elected ahead of other party-list members.

The apportionment system is hybrid, taking into account both geographical and demographic considerations. The geographical element materialised in the form of the distribution of two seats per province regardless of the population. This acts as a corrective for the demographic element causing a slight over-representation of the less-populated provinces. As a result, Nugaro elects a deputy per 50,338 registered voters whereas Albret elects one per 98,608. The remaining 361 seats are assigned according to population per province. After the seat assignation, these seats are distributed by constituency in case a province contains more than one province.

The size of the constituencies varies between 4 and 15 deputies. Legally, no constituency may elect more than fifteen deputies. Instead, those provinces that would elect more than 15 are split into several constituencies, that must elect in between 8 and 15 deputies each. The majority of provinces either constitute a single constituency or are divided into two, with the exceptions of Olonees and Polexine (3), Vraita (4) and Albret (5) Constituency boundaries are generally drawn as to elect roughly the same amount of deputies.

Senate
The Senate is not directly elected, instead its members are appointed via an whereby the provincial legislatures distribute the Senate seats proportionately to the composition of the provincial assembly following a provincial election. Elections of the senators don't coincide with the election of the People's Assembly, as provincial elections are held on thirds not coinciding with the legislative elections.

The apportionment of seats in the Senate works in a similar fashion to that of the People's Assembly although the difference in seats between provinces is much smaller: a 1:5 ratio, as opposed to a 1:13.25 one for the Assembly. In the Senate, every province is assigned 2 seats regardless of population, the remaining 121 seats are later apportioned on the basis of population per province. The combination of the fixed seats and the small size of the Senate - 161 members - creates a chamber where most provinces hold between 5 and 11 seats, hence giving them a similar voting strength in the Senate, while still respecting the demographic weight of each.

Provincial government
Roden is a that has  a considerable amount of power to its first-tier administrative divisions, the provinces. The 20 provinces, together with the districts, municipalities and the State form all the administrative tiers established in the Constitution. The Rodenian provinces are divided, based on their level of self-governance in three categories: Ordinary provinces, autonomous or statute provinces and the so-called REF provinces.

Rodenian provinces possess their own (Estatut) which regulate the internal organisation of each province as well as the competences it possesses, in accordance with the Constitution. The provinces also possess their own provincial legislature and a provincial executive, formed by 5-member known as Provincial Boards (Conselh Provincial) which operate on the same pseudo- employed at the national level. Ordinary provinces enjoy limited administrative, legislative and financial autonomy, usually limited to adapting and detailing national legislation. Their main source of funding are direct transfers from the State. REF provinces resemble ordinary provinces in that the the main source of funding are State transfers, however, they are exempt from certain taxes, such as the national and instead have the capacity to manage their own  as well as a special  known as 'Insular General Indirect Tax' (IGII), at a much lower rate than the metropolitan one.

The autonomous provinces' key differentiation is their almost-absolute tributary autonomy (autonomia fiscal), as a result of which, these provinces keep the majority of tributes paid within their borders. The amount kept ranges depending on the province, from the 90% of Nugaro to the 75% of Olonees. The autonomous provinces also have considerable legislative and administrative autonomy in areas like, , the provision of or s which are funded through the segment of taxes reserved to the autonomous provinces. In the ordinary provinces these areas are a competence of the national government.

Below the provinces, the district-level and municipal administration are fairly homogeneous with an analogous degree of autonomy and a similar institutional set up across the country. The larger difference is between the so-called 85 ordinary districts (comandaments) and the 11 metropolitan districts (comtats periurbans), which are formed by the of the eleven largest Rodenian cities. The metropolitan districts possess the competencies assigned to the ordinary districts but also certain ones usually assigned to municipal governments in areas like, or.