Citizen-Delegate of Taijitu

Citizen-Delegate of Taijitu
Type
Type	Parliamentary
History
Formation	Glorious Revolution August 26, 2014
Inaugural holder	Allama September 10, 2014
Incumbent	Myroria since September 10, 2014
Election
Method	Instant runoff vote
Term length	Four months, renewable once
Last election	August 25th, 2013

The Delegate of Taijitu is the head of government and de facto head of state of Taijitu. They are charged under the region's constitution with upholding both the constitution itself and any other laws. They are assisted in this task by an appointed cabinet of ministers. The constitution also provides that the delegate is the commander in chief of the armed forces and may negotiate treaties with foreign powers, veto legislation of the Senate and nominate justices to the Court. Unique among government offices, the delegate also holds power in-game, voting on behalf of the region in World Assembly resolutions. They are elected every seven weeks alongside the Senate by an instant runoff vote on the same ticket as a Lieutenant Delegate who assumes the delegate's office if they become unable to serve. The most recent elections were concluded on August 25th, 2013 and the current delegate is Myroria.

History

There has always been an office of the delegate in Taijitu with executive powers. The precise nature of the office and its powers and limitations thereof has, however, changed over time. The Delegate's powers were originally modeled on those provided under the Lexiconian government. Like their modern counterpart, the delegate was the head of the executive branch and responsible for administering the government of the region, but unlike the current delegate they were elected by a plurality and permitted to hold a seat in the Senate, though forbidden to vote except to break any ties. They also had no power of veto over the Senate.

The first major change implemented in the structure of the executive branch was in the method of the delegate's election. Concerned by the current first-past-the-post system's deficiencies, especially the fact that it did not require the winner to obtain some manner of majority, the Senate began discussing electoral reform. This concluded with the passage of a constitutional amendment on April 2, 2007, which changed the election method of the delegate from first-past-the-post to Condorcet.

The next amendment altering the Delegate's powers would come about in September of the same year. On the first of the month, the incumbent delegate Sovereign Dixie approached the Senate and asked them to consider giving the delegate some checks on the Senate's power. In the following debate, several more concrete proposals were offered, including the power to veto legislation and declare a state of emergency. Ultimately, none of these proposals were adopted. The discussion did, however, cause the Senate to consider the constitutional prohibition on the delegate participating in Senate votes. On September 24, 2007, the Senate passed an amendment allowing the delegate to vote in the Senate, but stripping them of their tie-breaking power as well.

The method of electing the delegate became an issue a second time in early 2008. To date several elections of the Delegate had been held using the Condorcet method, all without difficulty. But during the closely contested February delegate election, confusion over how the system worked lead to a brief uproar over the results of the election when some incorrectly interpreted the ballots as electing Allama instead of her opponent Sovereign Dixie. This prompted two different proposals to amend the Constitution, one which replaced the Condorcet method with an instant runoff vote, and one which restored the original first-past-the-post system. Neither proposal succeeded when put to a vote.

The issue was left unresolved until after other significant events intervened. On March 23, the recently elected delegate Sovereign Dixie staged a coup. Four days later, he declared a new constitution which radically expanded the delegate's power. Not only did it give the delegate the power to veto legislation of the Citizen Assembly, the Senate's replacement, but it also gave the delegate legislative authority, and laws passed through its exercise required a two-thirds super-majority in the Assembly to overturn. Rather than regular elections, there were regular referendums on the incumbent delegate, in which a super-majority was required to initiate an election. This constitution was short-lived, the Assembly quickly restoring the previous constitution. In doing so, the method of electing the delegate was struck from the constitution and moved to a supplementary electoral law which implemented an instant runoff vote.

On June 20, 2010, a new regional constitution was ratified and established the office of the delegate as it currently exists. As the Senate was now an elected body rather than a directly democratic one, it was decided it would be acceptable to forbid the delegate from holding a Senate seat and to give them the power to veto legislation passed by the Senate. The definition of the method of electing the delegate was also moved back into the Constitution, remaining an instant runoff vote.

Powers

The Delegate serves as both the head of government and head of state of Taijitu. Only the first of these roles is stated explicitly in the Constitution of Taijitu. The second is primarily a matter of tradition. As the head of government, the delegate is for both enforcing the law and administering government programs. They are formally aided in these responsibilities by an appointed cabinet of ministers, and informally by their Lieutenant Delegate. They have been known to organize their assistants with Executive Policies. The constitution also confers important powers in the sphere of foreign policy on the Delegate. They are the commander in chief of the armed forces and may negotiate with foreign governments. Both of these powers are subject to checks by the Senate.

The Delegate also plays a part in the creation of laws. They may veto any law passed by the Senate, though such a veto may be overridden by a super-majority vote. It is also not unusual for the delegate to participate in Senate discussions of proposed laws, or to even submit proposals of their own. These privileges, however, are not guaranteed by the Constitution and in theory could at any time be revoked by the Senate, which alone controls its own internal procedures and whose senators are the only office guaranteed access to the Senate. To date no such thing has ever happened.

The Delegate nominates all justices of the Court of Taijitu. In this way they exercise oversight of the judicial branch of government. All such nominations are subject to Senate approval. Once confirmed, the Delegate has no power to remove a justice from office.

The Delegate plays an important role in-game as well. The Constitution says little about the Delegate's powers in-game, only that they are to have access to the region's controls. As such, they have the power to eject and ban nations from the region within the limits established by the Constitution. Tradition also governs some of the Delegate's in-game behavior. The delegate's vote on World Assembly resolutions was traditionally determined by a poll on the regional forums rather than their own discretion. This arrangement was later written into law by the World Assembly Act.

Election and removal

The Delegate is elected by a popular vote of all citizens of Taijitu along with a Lieutenant Delegate of their choice. Elections are held every seven weeks. Any citizen is eligible to run for the office and there is no limit to the number of terms a single person may serve as delegate. The winner of these elections are determined using an instant runoff vote. There are no by-elections. In the event that the Delegate can no longer serve, their lieutenant delegate assumes the office. The most recent elections was concluded on August 25th, 2013, and elected Myroria as Delegate and      Inglo-Scotia as Lieutenant Delegate.

The delegate may be removed from office in one of two ways. The first of these is through impeachment. The Senate may impeach the delegate by a majority vote. If this happens, a referendum is held on the removal of the delegate from office. A referendum to recall the delegate from office may also be initiated by a petition. Any referendum to remove the Delegate require a two-thirds super-majority to succeed.

See also

• Lieutenant Delegate of Taijitu
• Cabinet of Taijitu
• Constitution of Taijitu
• Government of Taijitu

External Links

• In-game nation of the current Delegate