Difference between revisions of "Government of Annexea"

Latest revision as of 00:13, 14 December 2007

In Annexea, there is one branch of government - The Bureaucracy. It is vast and inefficient, and gains new members through absorption (hiring without consent). In actuality, though, there are several 'pockets' of the government which aren't as bureaucratic.

The Bureaucracy

The Bureaucracy is Annexea is an elaborate system of executive departments, legislative committees, formal and informal checks, oversight, and every other government procedure that could possibly be imagined. It is vast, and constantly expanding (pruning itself as well, but not fast enough to maintain equilibrium). Its processes and actual regulations are a mystery to everyone, including the staff of the bureaucracy.

Becoming a Bureaucrat

Absorption

The Annexean Government hires new staff through the process of absorption. Strictly, this means finding people suited for the job and appointing them without their consent. Obviously, this practice would be very expensive, time consuming, and inefficient. The government stands by this process, but has enacted several laws to make the process more bearable.

Now, instead of waiting for the government to come knocking, a citizen can fill out an application - the Annexean equivalent of a civil service exam - to notify the government of his/her existence. This cuts the pool of potential bureaucrats significantly. Also, low level bureaucrats can be hired by their respective department without any bureaucratic process except having an official record of the hiring. This eliminates what was an absurd amount of processing, even by the standards of Annexean bureaucracy.

New bureaucrats usually find themselves in the lowest echelons of the Bureaucracy, commonly called the Cesspool, which means and endless amount of paperwork and paperpushing, and almost no thought or respect. This forms a kind of experience buffer zone, which makes up for the somewhat loose requirements to become a bureaucrat. Many people enter (this is especially true of the people who are absorbed without their consent, which still happens often), but significantly fewer can survive being a low-level bureaucrat. The pay is low, and the only monetary benefit is a decent health plan and some sympathy.

Promotion

The most significant - and difficult - promotion to obtain is the first one. There are swarms of young interns and bureaucrats, each vying for the same promotion out of, well, the Cesspool. In the anonymous world of the Bureaucracy, distinction is nearly impossible. It is those with the best connections, or with the most savvy for political manuevering, that are most likely to be promoted. In the end, the system works - those with the most substance rise to the top.

Beyond the Cesspool, it becomes more necessary to accomplish something politically, because such a thing becomes possible at all. Those who do good work, especially those in policy committees, are rewarded with promotions. The system becomes increasingly more meritocratic towards the higher levels of the bureaucracy, where there is more at stake.

The exception to this rule is the very highest level of the Bureaucracy - the Directors, Chairmen, Vice-Directors, Oversight Managers, and other similar positions. Here, political connections trump all other criteria, which means much of the top of the bureaucracy shifts with the whims of its members. It is only the politicians who are able to exert control that are able to keep their positions for any amount of time.

Non-Bureaucratic Sectors

Foreign Affairs

Located largely in Qezzef, foreign affairs is fairly removed from the Annexean government. However, it is still a part of the Bureaucracy, so it is influenced by domestic politics and government beliefs.

The Military

Somewhat of a paradox, the military is an authoritarian group within a bureaucracy. Even more confusing, the bureaucracy does influence the actions of the military and the bureaucracy controls military spending. The Military is based in Freeland, where authoritarianism is able to work.

Intelligence

Also based largely in Freeland, intelligence is fairly independent of the bureaucracy (aside from some oversight, funding...). Much of it is also a part of the organic bureaucracy, so it still isn't very centralized.

The Coordinator

This is similar to the nucleus of a cell, except with less power and much more unstable. The Coordinator, Coordinating Committee, Heads of Departments, etc. enjoy somewhat more power than others in the bureaucracy. But inevitably, they are still subject to the forces of the bureaucracy. Currently, because of distrust in the goverment, the Coordinator's power is limited.

It is important to note that the bureaucracy is like an organism, with many shifting, interacting regions. There tend to be situations where multiple departments may work on the same project without knowing, etc. Also, oversight committees exist in certain departments for other departments, leading to an endlessly confusing network of bureaucracy watching still more bureaucracy.

Government Positions and Officials

Major Positions

Acting Coordinator (Head of Government): Joseph Bradley

Manager of Coordinator's Coordination Committee (Acting) Kathryn Wright

Coordination Committee, Law Advisor : Ahmad Khyari

Director of Health Care: Hassan Fezzik

Director of Education: Lydia Martin

Director of Foreign Affairs: William Leeman

Vice-Director of FA: Aissa Kadiri

Director of International Influence (in Foreign Affairs): Thomas Richardson

Director of Embassy Management: James Acheson

Director of Immigration Services: Mohamed Bennouna

Vice-Director of Immigration Services: Johnathan Warren

Director of Research: Dr. Jack Lint

Director of Social Equality and Welfare: Kathy Radford

Director of Intelligence: Ameer Sabah

Director of Military Budget Committee: Ahmed El Alami

Director of Defence: Gen. Saad Ibrahim

Budget Director: Joan Helpmann

Director of Domestic Commerce: Howard Jones

Director of International Commerce: Sarah Pryce

Ectoplasmicon (Director of Spirituality): The Ectoplasmicon

Kandenkero Ruler: K||ágà (Kaga for short) ('Kero ruler serves as a liaison between cultures. He isn't technically a part of the Annexean government. )

Laws

Reading the actual laws of Annexea would probably accomplish little and give the reader a headache. Thus, this page will not detail information Annexean laws, except perhaps a few important pieces of legislation.

Government Policy

Foreign Policy

Annexean foreign policy is currently in a state of flux. The now semi-autonomous Foreign Affairs Bureau seeks to use diplomatic alliances for strategic advantage, the Intellegence Bureau and Factualist coalition believe it is necessary to spread Ectoplasm abroad, and much of the current domestically minded government is pushing for isolationism.

Health Care

For the most part, what the Annexean Government calls "Health Care" is a thinly disguised program to distribute drugs to the people. While they claim this will "cure", it's alterior motive is to promote Ectoplasm, expand the drug market, etc. All Annexean citizens will recieve a basic level of care - the aforementioned drugs - for free (this comes from taxpayer money). More expensive health plans offered by government subsidized health care organizations can be purchased as well; these generally have more in the way of surgery.

Obtaining non-drug cures for some affliction without a good health plan can be dangerous. In Annexea, a citizen is given a treatment, either "experimental", "practice", or "normal", depending on which is available, what quotas must be met, and an element of randomness. "Normal" treatment is similar to that which one would recieve from a more expensive plan, but of less quality, "practice" is performed by medical students or young doctors, and the dreaded "experimental" treatment involves being shipped to some hidden laboratory, usually in Freeland City, to become a medical guinea pig.

Citizens who have a record of dissent or are otherwise not appreciated by Intelligence are more likely to find themselves in "experimental" or "practice" care. For this reason, spies and dissenters in Annexea are careful to avoid injury.

Immigration

Annexea has an extremely open door immigration policy, but discourages emigration. The goal of Annexean immigration is to increase the population (more is better for Ectoplasm) without creating potentially dangerous pockets of isolated groups, or allowing dissenters to enter and cause problems. All immigrants are required to go through the city of Barat. The government, knowing that illegal immigration is inevitably going to be common, spends much of its intelligence resources - and for enforcement, uses the Annexean army - to ensure that there are no "bad" immigrants.

There is a small but significant business by which Annexean smugglers will send trapped immigrants seeking an escape out of the country without having to emigrate officially. The official emigration process is complicated and applications are usually denied, so this is often the only way. In fact, there are a few smugglers who make a living by convincing people to immigrate, then extorting exorbitant amounts from them so they can leave.