Kingdom of Scandinavia (The Great Calamity)

Founded in 2068, the Kingdom of Scandinavia is one of the oldest surviving democracies of the 24th century. It was formed in the aftermath of the Great Calamity by the federated union of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. Having been spared nuclear annihilation, Scandinavia nonetheless faced the twin threats of nuclear winter and a complete breakdown of international relations and economic trade. The unification of the three realms of Scandinavia was seen as the inevitable way forward towards a peaceful and strong North.
Today, Scandinavia stands as one of the most technologically advanced and peaceful nations of Earth, having had an extensive period of peace and prosperity even as the world around Scandinavia was in turmoil. The Kingdom contains some of the worlds foremost academics, researchers, intellectuals, and inventors; many of whom have been sent to America and the United Kingdom over the last century to aid in restoring academic excellence in the aftermath of their respective reestablishments. 
Scandinavia is matched technologically by the similarly minimally scarred Switzerland, and the two have been conducting joint military exercises for centuries. Both possess advanced weaponry including plasma and sonic weaponry. The Kingdom's peoples travel on maglev trains and in autonomous electric cars. The electricity grid is supplied primarily by hydroelectricity with significant contributions from tidal and wind energy. Research into nuclear fusion technology is underway, spurred on by collaboration with the USA due to previous insufficient domestic resources.
==History==
===2069===
* The Kingdom of Scandinavia is formed of the federation of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. The royal families of each house renounce their kingly titles and take on the titles of High Lord of each of their respective realms. The kingship of Scandinavia rotates between the 3 families every 5 years. The legislative capital is set in Copenhagen, the judicial capital is set in Stockholm, the administrative capital is set in Oslo.
===20167===
* The capital of Scandinavia is moved to the newly formed Gothenburg Capital Territory.
===2183===
* Following years of talks between Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland, the three nations unite to form the Nordic Union.
===2188===
* Just under 5 years old, the Nordic Union is disbanded due to irreconcilable language and cultural barriers.
===2245===
* Standard Norse, formed out of centuries of free movement between the people's of Scandinavia, is made the official language, Traditional Swedish, Traditional Norwegian, and Traditional Danish are recognised national languages.
==Government==
The Kingdom of Scandinavia is a federal constitutional monarchy composed of three realms (states) and a Capital Territory - Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and the Gothenburg Capital Territory. Each state has a state government organised along the lines of a parliamentary democracy, and whose head of state is a King, leader of the royal family of each realm, descended from the royal families of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark respectively. The Capital Territory is governed by the Gothenburg Capital Authority, also organised along the lines of a parliamentary democracy and whose head of state is the High King of Scandinavia. Similarly, the federal government is also organised along the lines of a parliamentary democracy, with the head of state being the High King of Scandinavia.
===Federal Government===
* High King: The head of state is the High King of Scandinavia, a position that rotates every 5 years between the 3 Kings of Scandinavia. There is no Scandinavian royal family.
* Parliament: The Parliament of Scandinavia is composed of the National Council (upper house) and the Public Assembly (lower house). All legislation must be passed by both houses and receive Royal Assent to become law. By convention, the National Council does not initiate legislation, though de jure it still retains the power to do so.
** National Council: The upper house of the Parliament, the National Council is composed of 76 members - 24 members for each state, 4 for the Gothenburg Capital Territory. Each member serves for an unlimited number of 6-year terms. Elections are staggered such that every 3 years, half of all members' seats (12 for each constituent country, all 2 for the Capital Territory, 38 in total) are vacated and up for election, meaning a full election cycle is 6 years long and the whole National Council is never fully up for election at once. Election methods differ by constituent country - both Sweden and Norway employ electoral regions each electing 3 members, where's Denmark and Gothenburg elect all of their members at-large. The main function of the National Council is to provide sober and experienced review over legislation initiated by the Public Assembly, but it may also serve as an avenue for the rights and privileges of the states and Capital to be expressed at the federal level.
** Public Assembly: The Public Assembly is composed of 445 members, elected from five-member constituencies of roughly equal population from throughout Scandinavia. In common with European tradition, as the lower house of Parliament it is the more powerful house, and is where the Executive Government is drawn from. Its members serve 4-year terms.
* Executive Government: The Executive Government is composed of the Prime Minister (leader of the largest coalition in Parliament, appointed by the King as head of government) and a number of other ministers appointed by the High King on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Government serves at the pleasure of the High King but may be forced out of government by a Parliamentary vote of no confidence in the Public Assembly. It manages the nation's civil service and directs executive policy. Most legislation is also initiated by the Government though an avenue for private member's bills also exists.
* Supreme Court: The Supreme Court of Scandinavia is composed of a Chief Justice and 14 High Justices, appointed by the High King on the advice of the Prime Minister. Additionally, all Justices of the Supreme Court face a retention election 1 year after appointment. If they survive their retention election, they serve until age 72.
===Swedish Government===
* King: The King of Sweden is the head of state of Sweden, head of the Swedish Royal Family (House of Bernadotte).
* Riksdag: The Riksdag is the unicameral Parliament of Sweden, composed of 323 members elected via single transferable preferential vote for 5-member constituencies. Previously elected via nation-wide party-list voting, the Swedish made changes to their electoral system nearly a century after unification, following calls from the general public to hold elections in a manner similar to federal elections. The Riksdag has the authority to make laws, subject to Royal Assent, pertaining to all matters not reserved to the federal government.
* Executive: The Swedish Executive Government is composed of the First Minister (leader of the largest coalition in Parliament, appointed by the High Lord as head of government) and a number of other ministers appointed by the King on the advice of the First Minister. The Cabinet is answerable to the Riksdag and can be removed via a vote of no confidence. Notably unlike Denmark or Norway, convention has it that members of the Cabinet are chosen by members of the Riksdag.
* High Court: The High Court of Sweden is composed of 17 Justices and possesses the power of judicial review with regards to the constitutionality of a law.
===Danish Government===
* King: The King of Denmark is the head of state of Sweden, member of the Danish Royal Family (House of Glücksburg).
* Folketing: The Folketing (lit. People's Thing) is the unicameral Parliament of Denmark and consists of 165 members that each serve for a term of 4 years. Members are elected nation-wide via open-list party proportional voting, though there is talk of reintroducing constituencies to reduce the influence of party politics, largely influenced by the recently renewed United Kingdom. The Folketing has the authority to make laws, subject to Lordly Assent, pertaining to all matters not reserved to the federal government.
* Executive: Following reforms to the Danish government in 2231, the Danish Executive is organised around a collegiate (plural executive) system, composed of 9 ministers appointed by the King from the ruling coalition. The Danish First Minister is considered a first-among-equals, and is able to set the agenda of the Cabinet.
* High Court: The High Court of Denmark consists of 18 members that serve until age 70. It possess the power of judicial review.
===Norwegian Government===
* King: The King of Norway is the head of state of Norway, member of the Norwegian Royal Family (House of Glücksburg).
* Stortinget: The Stortinget is the unicameral Parliament of Norway and consists of 159 members elected via party-list proportional representation from 19 plurinominal constituencies, with each Storting continuing for a maximum of 4 years before a general election must be called. The Stortinget has the authority to make laws, subject to Lordly Assent, pertaining to all matters not reserved to the federal government.
* Executive: The First Minister of Norway (leader of the largest coalition in Parliament) is appointed by the King of Norway, and selects other members of parliament to be ministers in the Cabinet.
* High Court: The High Court of Norway consists of 20 members that serve until age 70. It possess the power of judicial review.
===Gothenburg Capital Authority===
The Gothenburg Capital Authority is the governing body of the Gothenburg Capital Territory. It is sui generis among the government systems of the Kingdom and shares power with the various borough governments that are internal divisions of the Capital Territory, practically synonymous with the municipalities that can be found in the states. It possesses powers similar to those of a county and state government combined. The Capital Authority is divided into four parts: the High King of Scandinavia (head of state), the Executive Cabinet, the Gothenburg Assembly, and the High Court of Gothenburg.
* King: By virtue of being head of state of Scandinavia, the High King is also head of state of the Gothenburg Capital Territory. Therefore, all laws passed by the Gothenburg Assembly must receive the High King's Royal Assent.
* Gothenburg Assembly: The Gothenburg Assembly is composed of 55 members elected via single transferrable vote to represent the 11 boroughs of Gothenburg at 5 members each. It possesses powers largely similar to the various states governments, but as government over the Capital Territory technically falls to the federal government, a number of law-making powers are still especially reserved to the federal government such as criminal law and policing, which is handled by the National Police's Gothenburg Division.
* Executive: The executive government of the Capital is headed by the Lord Mayor of Gothenburg, leader of the largest coalition in the Assembly. The Cabinet is appointed by the Lord Mayor and as a whole are subject to scrutiny by the Assembly. 
* High Court: The High Court of Gothenburg is the highest court of law in the Gothenburg Capital Territory below the Supreme Court of Scandinavia itself. It is composed of 9 justices that serve until age 72 and are subject to a retention election after 2 years of service.
==Politics==
==Military==
The Scandinavian military is composed of 4 branches, the Scandinavian Army, the Royal Scandinavian Navy, the Royal Scandinavian Air Force, and the Home Guard. Together they make up 75,000 personnel.
===Scandinavian Army===
The Scandinavian Army consists of 25,000 active duty soldiers and serves as Scandinavia's primary land warfare branch. It has seen combat in Central Europe (particularly along the Danish-German border) and has engaged in operations in portions of Africa to secure top winter warfare specialists.
===Royal Scandinavian Navy===
The Royal Scandinavian Navy consists of 15,000 active duty sailors and serves as Scandinavia's primary sea warfare branch. Mainly a green water navy, the RSN focuses wholly on the defence of Scandinavia's coastlines, keeping the peace in the Baltic sea, and protecting Scandinavian offshore oil platforms from pirates in the North Sea.
===Royal Scandinavian Air Force===
The small but efficient Royal Scandinavian Air Force consists of 10,000 active duty personnel and operates a fleet of fighter aircraft, bombers, and transport aircraft. It is tasked with the defence of Scandinavian air space and occasionally participates in campaigns of strategic value.
===Home Guard===
The Home Guard consists of 25,000 volunteer reservists from all branches of the military and serves as the final defence of Scandinavia. All of its members work for the military part-time and have a civilian job as well. Members must attend regular training sessions. In the event of an invasion of Scandinavian home soil, weapons caches around the country will be unlocked by city officials and Home Guard reservists may access said weapons caches to defend their homeland.
==Culture & People==
Category:The Great Calamity
Category:Scandinavia
Category:Countries