How is the government set up?
On this page, you can learn about the format of The Federal Government of Sternbergopolis, or how it is organised.
The Democratic-Republic
The Federal Government of Sternbergopolis is considered a form of a democratic-republic. In Sternbergopolis, most political positions are decided on in elections by all citizens age 6 and over. Lengths of political terms vary, and many are listed on the DPA webpage. Some positions, however, are not like this.
The Three Branches
The Federal Government of Sternbergopolis is divided into three different branches of government: the executive, which is a larger portion of the government, and the legislative and the judicial, which are two smaller branches that work hand-in-hand.
LegislativeThis branch is responsible for creating laws and policies, and making them happen.
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ExecutiveThis branch carries out, or "executes," the laws, policies, and regulations that exist in Sternbergopolis.
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JudicialThis branch enforces the policies set out by the legislative branch.
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The Legislative Branch
The legislative branch can be compared to the "backbone" of the Federal Government. It is responsible for the creation and passing of bills, laws, acts, rules, regulations, and policies throughout Sternbergopolis. This is done by meetings of the National Assembly. Members of the the National Assembly, called MAs, are elected by the public every two years. One MA is elected to represent one of every 500 Assembly Districts across Sternbergopolis. The National Assembly is headed by a Head Speaker and an Assistant Head Speaker, as well as a few undersecretaries that oversee the entire Assembly. What many people do not understand is that unlike many other democratic countries, Sternbergopolis does not have two different houses of representatives.
When bills are presented to, or proposed in the National Assembly, all of the MAs vote on whether it should become a law or not. If it passes (meaning the majority of MAs have approved of it), it goes to the Board of Governors, the "upper chamber legislature" of sorts that approves more serious matters, and then further on to the Board of Department Heads, who overlook and approve it and send it to the Vice President. The Vice President can either approve it again and send it to the President for final review, or can veto it, or disapprove it, and send it back to the National Assembly for editing.
If it is approved by the Vice President, the bill goes to the President. The President has several options. He/she can approve it and sign it into law, veto it and send it for editing, edit the bill him/herself and propose it to the National Assembly for re-approval, pocket veto the bill (put the bill's fate on hold while other issues are resolved), or completely remove the bill from the legislative process.
If the President removes, vetoes, pocket vetoes, or edits the bill, the National Assembly has the right to repeal the President's decision and pass it into law. If 75% (375) MAs agree on the decision to make the bill a law, it is made a law by force, without approval from the President.
Constitutional Amendments, which are modifications, deletions, and/or additions to the Sternbergopolis Constitution, work much differently than bills and laws. First, amendments must go through the same process as bills and laws. Here's where it gets tricky. In order for an amendment to pass, all MAs and other legislative individuals involved must unanimously approve of the amendment before it can pass. After the bill has passed through this process, it must be ratified (approved) by all provincial governments. After this, a general public election is held to approve of the amendment. 75% of the voting population must approve the amendment for it to pass. In the final step, the amendment must be approved by the President a second time before it is finally added to the Constitution. Because the process is much more complicated and more difficult to pass, amendments generally take much longer to pass than bills and laws.
It is important to note that the National Assembly of Sternbergopolis is technically considered a unicameral legislature, meaning that all Members of the Assembly are members of one unified body that acts as the sole Federal-level legislature with direct representation to the population of Sternbergopolis. This contrasts with many modern democracies, which have a two-chamber, or bicameral, legislature, where laws, codes, and other orders of business are passed through two different sets of representatives before legislative passage. At first glance, it may seem that Sternbergopolis is susceptible to more legislative trouble in its system than using the traditional one. However, in addition to the National Assembly, another body, comprised of just twenty members, is the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors is comprised of the governors from each province of Sternbergopolis, who convene to approve major national legislation when necessary, acting on behalf of the best interest of their province, as is crucial in Sternbergopolis' federated setup. While significantly smaller than its international counterparts, the Board of Governors can be most closely recognised as the equivalent of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, or the Senate in the United States, and has equal amount of weight and importance even though it is not comprised of separately elected representatives.
When bills are presented to, or proposed in the National Assembly, all of the MAs vote on whether it should become a law or not. If it passes (meaning the majority of MAs have approved of it), it goes to the Board of Governors, the "upper chamber legislature" of sorts that approves more serious matters, and then further on to the Board of Department Heads, who overlook and approve it and send it to the Vice President. The Vice President can either approve it again and send it to the President for final review, or can veto it, or disapprove it, and send it back to the National Assembly for editing.
If it is approved by the Vice President, the bill goes to the President. The President has several options. He/she can approve it and sign it into law, veto it and send it for editing, edit the bill him/herself and propose it to the National Assembly for re-approval, pocket veto the bill (put the bill's fate on hold while other issues are resolved), or completely remove the bill from the legislative process.
If the President removes, vetoes, pocket vetoes, or edits the bill, the National Assembly has the right to repeal the President's decision and pass it into law. If 75% (375) MAs agree on the decision to make the bill a law, it is made a law by force, without approval from the President.
Constitutional Amendments, which are modifications, deletions, and/or additions to the Sternbergopolis Constitution, work much differently than bills and laws. First, amendments must go through the same process as bills and laws. Here's where it gets tricky. In order for an amendment to pass, all MAs and other legislative individuals involved must unanimously approve of the amendment before it can pass. After the bill has passed through this process, it must be ratified (approved) by all provincial governments. After this, a general public election is held to approve of the amendment. 75% of the voting population must approve the amendment for it to pass. In the final step, the amendment must be approved by the President a second time before it is finally added to the Constitution. Because the process is much more complicated and more difficult to pass, amendments generally take much longer to pass than bills and laws.
It is important to note that the National Assembly of Sternbergopolis is technically considered a unicameral legislature, meaning that all Members of the Assembly are members of one unified body that acts as the sole Federal-level legislature with direct representation to the population of Sternbergopolis. This contrasts with many modern democracies, which have a two-chamber, or bicameral, legislature, where laws, codes, and other orders of business are passed through two different sets of representatives before legislative passage. At first glance, it may seem that Sternbergopolis is susceptible to more legislative trouble in its system than using the traditional one. However, in addition to the National Assembly, another body, comprised of just twenty members, is the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors is comprised of the governors from each province of Sternbergopolis, who convene to approve major national legislation when necessary, acting on behalf of the best interest of their province, as is crucial in Sternbergopolis' federated setup. While significantly smaller than its international counterparts, the Board of Governors can be most closely recognised as the equivalent of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, or the Senate in the United States, and has equal amount of weight and importance even though it is not comprised of separately elected representatives.
The Executive Branch
The executive branch can be compared to the "command centre" of the Sternbergopolis Federal Government. The executive branch is comprised of several different members. At the highest level, we have the President in charge of the executive branch. You can read more in depth about the position of President below. Underneath the President is his/her administrative assistant. The administrative assistant acts as an advisor or chief of staff, spokesperson, secretary, and support for the President and Vice President.
Underneath the President and his/her administrative assistant is the Vice President, and his/her administrative assistant. The Vice President assists the President, carries out executive duties when the President is unavailable, and also acts as an interim President when the President is temporarily not available, in a crisis, and/or a new President is being decided.
Below the President and Vice President are the members of the Board of Department Heads. The Board of Department Heads is made up of the secretaries of the 10 major federal government departments. BDH members are appointed by the President and Vice President.
Underneath the President and his/her administrative assistant is the Vice President, and his/her administrative assistant. The Vice President assists the President, carries out executive duties when the President is unavailable, and also acts as an interim President when the President is temporarily not available, in a crisis, and/or a new President is being decided.
Below the President and Vice President are the members of the Board of Department Heads. The Board of Department Heads is made up of the secretaries of the 10 major federal government departments. BDH members are appointed by the President and Vice President.
The Board of Department Heads
The President's BDH can be thought of as "mini-executives" of the 10 major Federal Government departments. Learn more about the Federal Government departments in Sternbergopolis on the Departments page. Each department is headed by a council of five members, which oversees the activities of each department. New council members are elected by the public when necessary. Periodically, a different member of the council is selected as the secretary. The secretary is selected by the President and Vice President.
The Judicial Branch
The judicial branch, though not often mentioned, is a very crucial part of Sternbergopolan government. The judicial branch has a wide range from municipal and county courts that settle lawsuits, civil charges, and local criminal charges, all the way up to the Supreme Court of Sternbergopolis, which handles serious national matters and debates. Supreme court cases are usually handled by a series of different methods depending on the case. However, on matters that are serious enough, such as the questioning of the constitutionality of a circumstance or ongoing national debate, the Supreme Court Justices make the final verdict. The Supreme Court Justices are a panel of nine people (nine so there are no stalemate decisions) that are considered the most powerful people in the judicial branch. Because there are many different courts that work in different ways depending on their duty, size, and location, there is no specific, "cut-and-dry" set up to the justice system in Sternbergopolis. Basically, the court is responsible for fairly trying people who are suspected of having committed a crime, to decide the right and wrong parties in the event of a lawsuit, to file processes such as bankruptcy or divorce, and in rare cases, decide whether a government official needs to be impeached, and other processes dealing with following laws fairly and truthfully.
