Policy

I built a government. In my stories, the primary characters serve in a space navy. Who runs this navy? The government, of course.

It is a Commonwealth, it has 102 member states. It has well over 30 trillion citizens.

Each citizen is guaranteed health care. Guaranteed basic living rights, that is to say there is a place for everyone. They can do pretty much what they want.

However, the Commonwealth does not tolerate drug use or alcohol consumption. Both were made illegal in the now distant past and what happens now is people do not miss what they never had. The use of fossil fuels is illegal, largely because of stringent environmental regulations. This directly led to breakthroughs in energy production and distribution.

The Commonwealth is represented by a senator from each state. All but four states have their own governors. These governors elect the head of state when the need arises.

The head of state, the Coordinator, is not like any political office now. The Coordinator has almost autocratic power, almost but not quite. The Coordinator must be female, because under the constitution written a decade after the fall of a misogynist empire, it became an issue of equality. This law has never changed. The Commonwealth has always and will always have a female ruler.

She can be overridden by the senate, even voted out of office. There is no term limit for Coordinator.

It is an incredibly hard job. Not just any female can be Coordinator. A pool exists for future candidates. They have to have a requisite education and preferably political experience. The Coordinator is the face of the Commonwealth.

I originally established this because in 12th Grade Government Class now 18 years ago, I remember understanding how the electoral college works. I don't. I know the popular vote does not count. As such, no citizen votes for a Coordinator. It is an important decision.

The Commonwealth government is small compared to the country it governs. There are ministries of State, Culture, Health, Justice, Science and Technology, and Environments. Of these, the Health Ministry has the most influence.

The military is not controlled by any one political office. It is directly governed by the office of the Coordinator. She has the last word on involvement in conflicts.

The Commonwealth is featured in a lot of my stories. Many who work for it bemoan the fact that pay is minuscule.

What contentious issues does it have? Health care distribution, aid to member states suffering internal conflicts, and immigration. The most populated states have a lower quality of service than lightly populated ones. A revolt on the most populated world caused a battle and loss of most populated status. That world now has had its Commonwealth charter suspended. The military has blockaded it. Aid is sent by this blockade.

The Commonwealth government owns just two cities in the whole nation. One, Elsha, is an immigration/health portal as well as where the Commonwealth's orphanages area. There have been a lot of displaced children in modern conflicts.

The other city, never written about, is Mana Ti, where advanced science, federal projects and services take place.

Goverment services:

ComNet, the communication/tv medium. Every citizen can access ComNet though when it isn't showing news or educational programs, it tends to show graphic sex. This is popular actually.

Hypercomm, the faster-than-light communication system standard in the galaxy.

Assistance, people who have no job are helped in finding one, guaranteed. There is no welfare as we know it on the federal level. The member states can do that but only a handful do.

My own politics are centrist. I do not ascribe to any extreme position. I despise conservatism. Though when you write about a big nation, you understand that people have a myriad of views. I do not inject my beliefs on my stories consciously.

If you are interested, I can answer ANY question about the Commonwealth. It is that detailed.

It won't last, you know, with that revolt, things are changing. Foreign intervention and all that.

I like to talk about things I have written.