[MSR of St. Andre]

The prop... ahem advertisements are already writing themselves. This is awesome, and I am glad that there is a common vision of St. Andre as a beacon of tourism, prosperity and trade. The Singapore of Micras is dead on with how I envisioned the development of St. Andre. I see, in particular, the development of a strong financial industry... perhaps some sort of tax haven status?  Possibly along the lines of tourism, the entertainment (nightclubs, bars, concert halls, film) and casino industries are also large sectors of business. Land is expensive, therefore real estate becomes a very lucrative and highly competitive business.

The flag of St. Andre features the anchor to reflect the strength of St. Andre manifests through its navy to defend itself and its position as a center of trade. The idea of having a strong navy is of course definitely on track with the strong nautical identity of the people, I would see it as a rite of passage for young Andrino men and women. The Navy would have to be strong and advanced, and possibly even with the ability to evacuate the people of St. Andre to a safe location somewhere in the Green to keep the nation alive in a doomsday scenario. (Although that depends on how large we envision St. Andre to be population-wise.)

A rich, well-protected and small country with a naval 'tude. It's great.

[Benjamin Meir]

(01-14-2015, 09:28 AM)Alessandro Vercotti Wrote:  Representatives,

Now that we are a nation, it is incumbent upon us to guide our people and ensure the proper administration and law and justice. I believe we have a strong foundation for governance. In the interest of heightening debate, and to encourage a free flow of ideas, I would present the following for the consideration of the Congress:

The executive would be the Doge of the Serene Republic of Saint Andre. The title of Doge is an ancient one, and it may have certain connotations of aristocracy. However, it is also a title of immense prestige and one which may command authority, despite our small size. The Doge would be head of state, head of government, and commander of our armed forces. He would be able to propose and approve/disapprove legislation, but not decree, so as to encourage transparent governance. He would be chosen by the legislature for a reasonable term, and could be removed by a two-thirds majority vote. To aid him would be the Signoria, which would replace the cabinet; this would be composed of ministers.

For the legislature, I would propose either (1) a Senate composed of one senator elected from districts, or (2) for a more radical idea, a Grand Council composed of magistrates elected from a district or ward. The former idea would be a conventional legislature, while the later would be a legislature with one twist: a magistrate would both serve as a legislator in the Council and a judge to execute the law, hear petitions, and serve as a court of first instance. Either way, the legislature would pass legislation, approve appointments and treaties, and hold officials accountable for their actions.

The judiciary would be headed by the Quarantia, or supreme court. It would hear appeals from lower courts (or magistrates in the latter proposal above), as well as be a court of first instance for constitutional matters, national officials, and foreign issues. Its members would be appointed by the executive, and approved by the legislature.

These ideas I present not as intransigent proposals, but ideas to give the republic more national character and cultural uniqueness.

I am very in agreement with a lot of what is said here (originally posted by Mr. Vercotti in the National Congress but deleted when this conversation started, MyBB soft deleted the thread so I could still see it). Matching it with this conversation, the Shofet would serve as head of state and government, elected by the legislature - which I will talk about later.  The Shofet would also have the title of Captain-General (something akin to Commander-in-Chief) of the Andrino Defense Forces. Along the same lines as Mr. Vercotti, I support restricting the Shofet's ability to make decrees and instead give him or her the power to propose, approve or veto legislation. Do you believe that a specific term should be enacted? I would support having term "minimums" instead of maximums. A full term has to be at least three months. Around the end of the fourth month would be time to definitely go. Would support removal with 2/3s majority of the legislature.

For the legislature, a Senate composed of one Senator from each District, with each Senator also a judge to execute the law, hear petitions, and serve as a court of first instance as Mr. Vercotti suggested with the Grand Council. General elections occur every 3 to 4 months, always coinciding with Shofet elections (or whenever the Shofet resigns or is removed).

[Alessandro Vercotti]

Ah, I did not know it still was showing up. I deleted it to tweak some of the ideas, but I am glad someone noticed it!

The" legislator as magistrate" idea came from another semi-microstate, the Bailiwick of Jersey. It is governed by the States of Jersey, which is composed of elected deputies, elected senators, and twelve "Connetables," who preside over local "parish assemblies," and take care of matters of local infrastructure and finance. It may be a bit to antiquated for a modern political environment, which is why I listed it as an alternative.

However, I had an unorthodox idea, if there is interest in the above proposal. We could have a Grand Council of St. Andre, composed of "shofets" (as opposed to representative or senator, since the word means 'judge'). Shofets would serve each district/ward as legislator in council and magistrate judge out of council, while the leader could be called something like the Doge or Captain-Regent. More odd mixing of cultures, I know, and ahistorical in a sense, but could be interesting.

[Benjamin Meir]

Hm, I really like that combination. The title of Doge is very prestigious and epic. I wouldn't mind calling the legislators "Shofets" instead at all. I think that idea sets things up to be very interesting and unique. On board with that, absolutely.

[Benjamin Meir]

Oh, and Mr. Vercotti, I am trying to private message you, please enable PMs! I can send you an email, but I'd rather do a private message.

[Alessandro Vercotti]

(Done and done! I hadn't realized it'd be turned off.)

[Benjamin Meir]

I've sent you a message for your consideration.

I think we've reached an agreement as to the government structure. I think this is something we can take to the National Congress to start putting together the Constitution of the Most Serene Republic. We're making great progress. I think we can still keep chatting about the cultural development of St. Andre - if anyone is interested, I think we should commission maps of the Republic, and maybe even a city map of St. Andre. Perhaps we could even put together a map with all the municipalities/districts/wards that St. Andre has. If anyone is interested in putting this together, great. If not, any help in locating someone with the needed talents would be amazing.

Also, we can continue talks about our military. Being the successor state of Haifa, we have inherited defense pacts with Mercury and Alexandria. I think we seriously need to develop closer ties with Natopia, and maybe even build some sort of protective pact with them since they are our "Mother Country".

[Alessandro Vercotti]

So, I have been doing some reading, and I have come up with an idea which may tie together many of the ideas we have all had. When you look at St. Andre, you see (between geography and people) influences of Italian, French, English, and German. As well, we are a state which is part-city-state, part republic. I've been looking at St. Andre through the lens of a microstate or an Italian city-state. However, I realized that there is a theme which encompasses all of these things: Switzerland.

Now, I am not proposing we become a purely Swiss micronation. What I am suggesting is we look to their model as an example, especially the canton. Each canton was originally a city-state that was eventually united into a loose federation, and the present Confederation of Switzerland. What I propose is that we could have is a republic with the thrust and theme of this region: south-central European at base, politically neutral, with internal multiculturalism and an economic emphasis on commerce and finance. This could also mean that could integrate the other cultures, such as Natopian, more easily.

In terms of government, we could have a Grand Council, made up of the magistrates we discussed, who I envision as a cross between city councilmen, county sheriffs, and justices of the peace; I am thinking we call them aldermen, and have the subdivisions simply be cantons (though, likely Port St. Andre may have a ceremonial mayor and structure). The head of state, to make it more neutral, could be the Chancellor (used in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy); I see the position as something like a a modern executive, but more like a powerful prime minister rather than a unilateral president in the American sense. Judicially, I would see having a High Court as an appellate court and a place trials could take place if the magistrate is seen as too biased or partial.

In this way, we keep the names, keep the size, keep much of the culture, an focus on a trajectory we already seem to be heading in.

I'd also throw out the idea of St. Andre being a dual figure, revered by both the Christian and Bovic faiths (sort of like the Biblical prophets in the monotheistic faiths); however, I propose that with the caveat that I do not want to offend Bovics if that is not a popular idea.

[Steven Dore]

I think this arrangement is much more natural and easy, and it eloquently puts into words what I've envisioned St. Andre being from the start. We can set up the permanent government first and let the local customs and cultures "fill in the blanks" as they arise. I've envisioned the Natopians and Bovics live in a "Little Natopia"-style neighborhood around the St. Andre Chapel and would constitute a single political ward in the council. It would allow for Haifan wards, Alexandrian wards, Hammish wards, etc., and make this the cosmopolitan city we've all been envisioning.

The Bovics are accustomed to conflating their saints with the local, dominant, religion. Saint Elijah, for instance, is conflated with the River Goddess Elwynn in Shireroth.

[Alessandro Vercotti]

I have a silly question, but how big is St. Andre in terms of area? I assume we are bigger than, say, a Singapore or or San Marino by looks of the map, but I can't quite get the scale right on the Micras map. Is anyone a bit more geographically/mathematically inclined who can answer my question?