The 1947 Constitution

**The 1947 Constitution of Roessen** is the second official constitution of Roessen. It was written and signed by the Social Democrat government under President Gorden Johann Braunbusch in 1947, to mark the new 1946 election standard as conventional, and to revitalise the nation into the new Federal Republic.

The constitution itself is quite long, but here are the main articles you need to know about. Note that constitutional amendments will be made here plentifully over time.

## Article I: Election Systems

### A: General Elections

The main difference from the original form of Roessish elections is that there are now only one set of elections, known as General Elections, held every four years, starting with the first one in 1946. Campaign periods start from August of the previous year, and the election itself is held in January - typically on the third Sunday of the month. These elections amalgamate all aspects of Roessish elections, including national Senator, Mayoral, Governor and Presidential elections.

### B: System

The system follows a similar style to that of the Argentinian model. Parties collectively band into alliances or 'blocs' of similar interests, or with strategic gain. Each bloc presents a Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate to be elected. Then, in the actual election, there is a PR system with each province getting a different number of Senators.

It is not about which parties have the most seats, but rather which alliances have the most seats. An alliance may consist of three parties, each with 50 seats, while another may consist of two parties, both with 70. Despite the fact that the two parties have more seats than the other three, the alliance with three parties overall wins as their alliance holds 150 seats in total, while the second only holds 140. This means that parties opting in and out of alliances can become crucial to losing, or in fact winning, elections.

Alliances will typically follow a unified slogan to indicate their national stand point. These can be exclamations or demands, such as "Fix the System!" or "Defend the Nation!", or an ideal they stand by, such as "For Freedom and Prosperity!" or "United as One!", etc.

### C: Inauguration

Once an alliance and the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates are declared winners, they are officially inaugurated on February 5th, which has been recognised as Roessen's official "Liberation Day" from the Axis (more info on the lore here). They are officially in power for a term of four years.

### D: Re-election and Two-Term Rule

As part of President Braunbusch's commitment to Presidential accountability and liberal fairness, a President can only seek election twice. Presidents may only serve two terms, similar to the American system, both terms with a fixed four year term each.

### E: Provincial Seat Counts

Each province has a different number of Senators that can be elected to it. It is the Senators that make up the Volksvertretungkammer to decide which party is the largest. Mayoral and Governor elections do not add to the count, as they are, in theory, independent actors from the Volksvertretung.

In order of the Electoral Commission:

* **Roessenstadt: 20**
* **Königsland: 50**
* **Größer Klee: 50**
* **Wolfszing: 35**
* **Sarmont: 35**
* **Freinau: 20**
* **Anderlaas: 20**
* **Dornhal: 20**

This amounts to a total of 250 seats. An alliance needs 126 seats to hold a majority, but as the systems are representational, the chance of a majoritarian government is extremely low. This does also account for alliance-independent parties such as regular Independent Senators, or the Jüdische Einheitsfront which officially only stands in Wolfszing, and does not politically align itself with alliances.

### F: Retaining Seats

Of course, not every candidate will win the election. A Presidential / Vice Presidential candidate should, in theory, stand for a Senate seat as well as running for their executive position. This means, on the account of them not succeeding in the Presidential bid, they can fall back to their Senate seat which they may retain. If they succeed in their Presidential bid, the seat is collected by a member of the same party to act as a Senator in their position, and they are inaugurated as President / Vice President the month after.

## Article II: Executive Positions

### A: Responsibilities of the Presidency

The President is the official Head of State and Head of Government of Roessen. They are in command of domestic, foreign and military affairs, but these responsibilities are also commandeered to the Vice President. The President and Vice President can be seen as equals, in theory - the President, however, has the ability to veto the actions of the Vice President if they so wish. A system in which the powers of the Presidency are balanced between the President and the Vice President in a well-proportioned and stable way may help the Presidency survive going forward.

The executive is also duly responsible for the maintenance of Governors and Mayors. A President or Vice President who sees a Governor or Mayor acting outside of the confines of national law can reprimand them by authorising veto on their legislation. They also do have the power to remove a sitting Governor or Mayor, which would force a by-election in that area - but it can be costly and a ground for impeachment as part of abuse of power if the removal is deemed unconstitutional.

### B: Responsibilities of a Governor and Mayor

The role of Governor or Mayor is elected as part of the General Election, but Governors and Mayors do not officially make up part of the election background, even though they do sit in the Volksvertretungkammer. Governors and Mayors can scrutinise legislation on behalf of their province or city in an attempt to sway the vote, but cannot vote on the legislation in the voting stage.

Governors and Mayors have the power to govern public services, infrastructure and taxation in their regions of control, but any laws they produce can be vetoed by the executive, either in the form of the President or the Vice President, which means that if any laws they produce do not coincide with national law, they may find themselves at odds with the government.

### C: Responsibilities of the President of the Volksvertretung

The PDV is an unbiased individual who acts as Speaker of the House. They do not hold any official political affiliation - those with previous political affiliations must have their affiliations renounced in front of the President and the Volksvertretung. The PDV is in charge of controlling the House, approving or denying motions, approving or denying speakers, and setting and conducting the agenda for sessions. They open and close the House.

## Article III: Presidential Impeachment

### A: Methods

For a President or Vice President to be officially impeached, there are two official ways it can be done: one is through the legislative, the other is through the judiciary. Both come with their own unique reasonings to have a President impeached. The most likely form of impeachment is through the legislative, but a judicial impeachment is possible as well.

### B, I: Legislative Impeachment, First Stage

A legislative impeachment is the more likely scenario of impeachment. This is when the President has, in some way, overstepped their boundaries or used their power to enforce an authoritarian and dictatorial stance. With Roessen fresh from Nazi occupation, authoritarianism or totalitarianism has an exceptionally negative reputation, and Roessen sees itself as a bastion of liberal democracy. Alternatively, impeachment can be conducted if the legislative believes the President has lost the confidence of the Volksvertretung, or has lost sensible control over their people.

Legislative impeachments start with a motion from a Senator during a Volksvertretung sitting, which must, during that motion, include the reasoning presented to the fellow Senators. The PDV then conducts the vote, which must include:

* A majority in the Kammer (i.e. 126 Senators)
* 30% in favour of impeachment from the President's bloc used in the previous election

If the vote passes, it turns to the national stage.

### B, II: Legislative Impeachment, Second Stage

The second stage of legislative impeachment is the national stage. If the vote in the legislative passes, there is a national referendum to the people, who vote on whether or not the President has abused their power or has lost their power, and thus should be impeached. This is based purely on the reasoning set out in the Kammer. If the referendum is declared in favour of impeachment, the President is removed - by force, if need be. If the President survives impeachment, they remain as president and cannot be motioned to be impeached for the same reason as mentioned before.

### C: Judicial Impeachment

Judicial impeachment is if the President is suspected of committing a crime against Roessish law. This is done through the Staatsgerichtshof (or National Courts). If the President is convicted, then there is no need for a referendum. The President is impeached and is arrested for breaking the law. It is a staple that not even the executive is above the law.

### D, I: Vice Presidential Replacement, Outline

There are different levels of removal between the Vice President and President. If the Vice President was impeached, based on the rules above, the Kammer has the opportunity to select the new Vice President.

### D, II: Vice Presidential Replacement, Majority Candidate

Once a Vice President has been declared impeached, Senators can band together to nominate a new Vice President in their place. If a majority of Senators (as said, 126 Senators with 30% in favour from the same bloc as the President) agree on a candidate, then the President must appoint that candidate as the new Vice President.

### D, III: Vice Presidential Replacement, No Majority Candidate

If there is no majority candidate, possibly through cross-party disagreements, then the President has the power to select the new Vice President replacement, but cannot pick the impeached candidate.

### E: Presidential Replacement

When a sitting President is removed, the Vice President (if still intact) or the PDV act as interim President while the major bloc finds a suitable candidate to replace them. Similar to Vice Presidential Replacements, 126 Senators with 30% in favour from the governing bloc must be in agreement for the new candidate.