Government of Jonathia

The government of Jonathia is the national government of the United Republic of Jonathia, a democratic republic in Tapanthia, composed of nineteen provinces, the capital of the country (the city of Jetzeburg in the eponymous province, where the entire government is based), and several island possessions. The national government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the constitution in the parliament, the prime minister, and the national courts, respectively. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of parliament, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.
== History ==
== Legislative branch ==
The Parliament of Jonathia, under Article I of the Constitution, is the legislative branch of the federal government. It is unicameral, comprising a sole legislative body known officially as the House of Commons.
=== Makeup of parliament ===
The parliament currently consists of 120 voting members, each of whom either represents a province, or a list that their political party provides. All 120 representatives serve a two-year term. Each state receives a minimum of one representative in parliament. In order to be elected as a representative, an individual must be at least 21 years of age, and must have been a Jonathian citizen for at least seven years. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve. These 120 members are observed by the Speaker of the House, who controls the parliament.
== Executive branch ==
=== Prime minister ===
The executive branch is established in Article Two of the constitution, which vests executive power in a prime minister. The prime minister is both the head of state (performing ceremonial functions) and the head of government (the chief executive). The constitution directs the prime minister to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed" and requires the prime minister to swear or affirm to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United Republic." As well as this, the Constitution instructs that the prime minister may neither breach national law nor order their subordinates to do so, for defiance cannot be considered faithful execution. The Constitution also incorporates the bars on dispensing or suspending the law, with some supposing that the Clause itself prohibits both." Many prime ministerial actions are undertaken via executive orders, prime ministerial proclamations, and prime ministerial memoranda.
==== Election, succession, and term limits ====
The prime minister and deputy prime minister are elected side by side in an election held every two years. A prime minister may serve at least five terms, but no prime minister has served more than three. A prime minister may also be seated by succession.
=== Deputy prime minister ===
The deputy prime minister is the second-highest official in rank of the government. The deputy prime minister's duties and powers are established in the legislative branch of the federal government under Article 1, Section 3, Clauses 4 and 5 as the head of parliament; this means that they are the designated presiding officer of the parliament. In that capacity, the deputy prime minister has the authority (ex officio, for they are not an elected member of the parliament) to cast a tie-breaking vote. As first in the Jonathian line of succession, the deputy prime minister's duties and powers move to the executive branch when becoming president upon the death, resignation, or removal of the president, which has happened nine times in Jonathian history. Lastly, in the case of a Twenty-fifth Amendment succession event, the deputy prime minister would become acting president, assuming all of the powers and duties of president, except being designated as president. Accordingly, by circumstances, the Constitution designates the deputy prime minister as routinely in the legislative branch, or succeeding to the executive branch as president, or possibly being in both as acting president pursuant to the Twenty-fifth Amendment. Because of circumstances, the overlapping nature of the duties and powers attributed to the office, the title of the office and other matters, such has generated a spirited scholarly dispute regarding attaching an exclusive branch designation to the office of deputy prime minister.
=== Cabinet, executive departments, and agencies ===
== Judicial branch ==
== Budget ==
== Employees ==
== Elections and voting ==
== Provincial and local governments ==
== See also ==
* List of provinces of Jonathia
* List of state agencies in Jonathia
Category:Jonathia
Category:Government of Jonathia
Category:Governments