Rivierenlander Government

The Rivierenlander government is the central government of the Rivierenlander Kingdom and is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all other ministers (except for the ministry of General Affairs since the PM is the Minister of General Affairs). The Prime Minister along with some other senior ministers chosen by the PM with help from the monarch, comprise of the Cabinet (Kabinet) who make the most decisions out of everyone in the government. All ministers are seated in the Upper House (Volkshuis) and are accountable to it. The government is dependent on the Volkshuis to make primary legislation, and since the Fixed-terms Elections Act of 1798, general elections are held every four years to elect a new Volkshuis and a new Lower House (Huis van Gedeputeerden), unless there is a successful vote of no confidence in the government in the Volkshuis and Huis van Gedeputeerden, in which case an election may be held sooner. After an election, the monarch (currently Queen Margaret II) selects as prime minister the leader of the party with the most MP's received in elections for the Volkshuis. Same goes for the appointment of Vice-prime minister in the Huis of Gedeputeerden, except here the prime minister also has to select the vice-prime minister.

Under the uncodified Rivierenlander constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the prime minister and the cabinet. The Cabinet members advise the monarch as members of the Higher Council (Hogere Raad). In most cases they also exercise power directly as leaders of the government departments, though some Cabinet positions are sinecures to a greater or lesser degree (for example, Chancellor of the Electorate of Ticino).

The current prime minister is Eleanor Cohen, who took office on 1 August 2008. She is the leader of the Rivierenlander Workers' Party, which won the most seats in the Volkshuis but did not secure a majority government until the general election of 2016. Following the general election on 4 May 2016 the RWP were able to secure a working majority of 2, taking 102 of the 200 seats.

Monarchy

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The Rivierenlander Monarchy dates back to before the nation's founding, with the first monarch (King Henry I) having had royal blood (despite being a merchant at the time he was coronated). The Rivierenlander monarchy works in a way that most monarchies do, as the monarchy is passed down from current monarch to oldest child. When a monarch doesn't have a child, the monarch is first encouraged to get a heir, but if the monarch refuses or is unable to do so, then an heir will be chosen by looking at who the monarch's relatives are. This has happened only once (in 1788, when King Joris II didn't have children and the throne was then given to his younger sister Mathilde after he passed away).

The monarch has several powers, including the ability to lobby in parliament to sway MP's to change their vote for a bill in parliament (f.e.), leadership over the army (With some cooperation from the Minister of Defence), ability to declare war on the nation's behalf, ability to vote on proposals in parliament and the ability to represent Rivierenland in several international conventions (such as at G20 meetings f.e.). In the past, monarchs used to have the power to veto bills proposed in parliament, but this power was stripped away in 1997, after a few changes in the constitution.

Although in regular terms monarchs of nations get some forms of privileges and other stuff that isn't reserved for the general public, the Rivierenlander monarchs don't, thanks to an article in the revised constitution of 1948, which was added in via mutual consent of the monarch at the time (Queen Annette I) and the parliament. This article stated that monarchs and MP's would have limited privileges and would be treated the same as "commoners" in most aspects. This meant that monarchs from then on would get the same pay as the average Rivierenlander citizen, would be treated the same as regular citizens when in public and would be trialed and punished for if they committed a crime, just to name a few things in that article. This article has also meant that foreign rulers have sometimes referred to the Rivierenlander monarchy as the "commoners royalty". The concept of "commoners royalty" has been seen by the Rivierenlander public as a sign that the royalty was just normal people like them and is the reason why the monarchy in the last few decades had more approval of the public than before.

The current monarch is Queen Margaret II (born 28 September 1972) who is the 12th monarch of Rivierenland. She was coronated in 1995 and has succeeded her mother to the throne (Margaret I). Margaret II has all the abilities that a Rivierenlander monarch normally has, but has tweaked it a bit (although not necessarily via mutual consent). After she was coronated, she lost the power to veto thanks to some changes in the constitution, but she also gained the power to fire MP's if that MP didn't have a good approval rating and received the power to appoint a Speaker (with the assistance of the prime minister). Margaret II also has given further meaning to the title of "commoners royalty" as she's the first monarch not to live in a designated royal palace (Paleis het Loo) but instead she lives in an apartment near the royal palace.

In the past, the monarch could choose who would be the minister of a certain ministry, but since 1948 that responsibility is of the prime minister and not of the monarch, although the monarch may choose to help the prime minister in choosing ministers. Same goes for choosing the cabinet and the vice-prime minister. Furthermore, the monarch is 2nd in line to rule the nation, which means that when the prime minister isn't available for whatever reason relevant, the monarch steps in to take over the reins until either the prime minister returns or a new prime minister is elected. The monarch is also allowed to independently invest in companies, organisations, etc. as long as they are abroad.

Upper House

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The upper house (Volkshuis) of Rivierenland is unlike any other upper house, as the upper house of Rivierenland is more powerful than the lower house (Huis van Gedeputeerden) whilst in normal situations it's usually the opposite way round. Included in the upper house are the Prime Minister, the Speaker, the Cabinet and the Higher Council (although the Higher Council does include the vice-premier who is leader of the lower house) along with the other MP's. In the upper house, most laws are drafted and all bills have to pass through the upper house if they want to pass legally.

The leader of the upper house is the prime minister and currently the prime minister is Eleanor Cohen (born 9 January 1982) of the Rivierenlander Workers' Party. She was appointed in 2008 and succeeds Amelia Jeppen to become the 18th prime minister of Rivierenland. Thanks to no term limits in Rivierenland, Cohen could choose to run for prime minster every year, but currently she's in her third term and will probably start her fourth if she wins the elections that will occur in July of 2020. Cohen has the power to appoint a cabinet, a Speaker, ministers, propose laws in parliament, represent the nation in international events (where a head of government is required instead of a head of state) among other things. Cohen also has the power to change the constitution, albeit with the consent of parliament and the monarch.

Speakers are appointed by the monarch and prime minister and usually they're the person who ended second on the ballot of the winning party. The current speaker is Johnathan Taylor (born 17 May 1968) who just like Cohen is of the RWP. Speakers can be replaced after a term of four years, but this doesn't happen very often. As with the case of Taylor, who's been speaker since 2008, the same year Cohen became prime minister. Speakers hold a certain power in parliament, as they regulate debates and discussions as well as that in the past, MP's had to speak to the speaker if they wanted to make a remark towards another MP.

Cabinets are appointed by the prime minister with the help of the monarch. Usually the cabinet consists of members of the ruling party and members of coalition parties, but it is possible to get members from opposition parties to be part of the cabinet (which has never happened and probably never will). The current cabinet is called: "Kabinet Cohen-III" (since this is the third cabinet under Cohen's reign). Cabinets can be reassembled every four years, but when the incumbent wins the general election the reassembly of a cabinet is optional, whilst if someone else becomes prime minister then the reassembly of a cabinet is mandatory to prevent the event occurring that a prime minister has to work with a cabinet comprised of member of the opposition.

The upper house usually consists out of more than 5 parties, with there currently being ten in parliament. Parties do sometimes tend to get absolute majorities (like currently with the RWP) but those cases are rare and more common scenarios is where a coalition gets a majority, rather than one single party. Many parties have existed from every side of the political scale and the current ruling party is a social-democratic party. Most ruling parties usually tend to be liberal or conservative, with some exceptions having occurred.

Lower House

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The lower house of Rivierenland is way less powerful than the upper house, which isn't regular for a government. The lower house usually only serves the purpose of assisting the upper house with some things when necessary and to occasionally draft bills to be passed through the upper house. Although less attention is paid to the lower house than to the upper house, the lower house does do some of the work that the upper house is supposed to do, like implementing census data into the national registry, checking tax returns of citizens, among other things.

The leader of the lower house used to be called "The Queen's/King's Adviser" as in the past the leader of the lower house used to serve as the adviser of the monarch. Since 2012 though, the leader of the lower house is no longer the adviser of the monarch, but the vice-prime minister. The current and first vice-premier is Jere Koskinen (born 11 February 1969) of the RWP (the same party as Cohen and Taylor). Koskinen is 3rd in line for leadership, meaning that if the prime minister and the monarch are unavailable for reasons relevant, then the vice-premier takes over power until the situation returns back to normal.

The High Council is a council comprised of the monarch, the cabinet and the vice-premier. The Council exists so that bills and proposals can be reviewed more in-depth than it would be in parliament. Although the High Council comprises of mostly members of the upper house, the Council falls under jurisdiction of the lower house to relieve pressure off the upper house. Although the Council usually holds meetings in Paleis het Loo, sometimes, when something of high importance is discussed, the meetings will be held in the lower house since the lower house has more relevant utilities than the royal palace.

Ministries

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The Rivierenlander ministries are set in place to delegate some affairs into smaller, specified groups. Although most cases are covered by the 12 ministries that currently exist, the Rivierenlander government has received criticism for not having ministries for some affairs that could use a ministry, like for example transportation. The ministers are usually members of the ruling party or of a coalition party, although there have been some cases where some ministers were from opposition parties (the most recent example of that happening was in 2008)

The ministers are chosen by the upper and lower houses and they are chosen by a few factors, like what field they are specialized in, if their public approval is high, if they have the right education, etc. In the past, they were chosen by the public, but since 2008, that hasn't been the case, because the government noticed that the public wouldn't always look at if they were qualified which would sometimes lead to unqualified individuals becoming ministers and running their ministry improperly and receiving public criticism. Ever since 2008, the ministers appointed were people who were actually capable of fulfilling their position. All ministries are elected by the houses except for the Ministry of General Affairs, since the minister for that department is the prime minister.

Ministries can sometimes make decisions on their own, independently from the parliament. This usually ends up well, although sometimes there have been talks of cutting off the ministry's legs after a bad decision has been made independently by a minister. Just like many other fields in government that are appointed by MP's, ministers don't have to necessarily be replaced every four years (except of course when a different person wins the elections). Out of the 12 current ministers, only 3 haven't been selected as ministers in 2008. Also, ministers are allowed to step down and resign whenever they want, which means that when that happens, the houses have to vote again who is going to replace the outgoing minister.

Provinces and Electorates

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Provinces and Electorates are a way that the Rivierenlander government can further delegate down the power. Municipalities are also a form of doing that, but they aren't going to be mentioned here. The reason why these subdivisions even exist in Rivierenland, is because the people demanded fairer representation, since a citizen from Zürich could have a way different opinion than a citizen from Groningen. Although both are very helpful to the government, it's the electorates that are far more important as there are more of them and because they also help determine who gets voted on in an election.

Provinces are ruled by a Queen's/King's commissioner, who is appointed the monarch to take power over a region. Most of the times, they're independents just handling a province's affairs, but sometimes that commissioner could be affiliated to a party. If that happens, then most of the times that commissioner is affiliated to the party with the most support in a province. Those commissioners hold a ceremonial title and usually tend to do nothing, which is why almost no one wants to be a commissioner.

Electorates are a whole different story, as they are ruled by governours who are elected by the citizens of an electorate. Electorates were created in 2004 after many calls from the public demanding even fairer representation and are intended to serve kind of like states. Most of these electorates were not completely corresponding inside of the borders of a province as many electorates have territory that overlaps into several provinces (for example the electorate Grand Bourgogne which has territory in both Alpina and Schwarzerland).

Electorates are also used during general elections as to represent how the people voted in a subdivision. They use electorates instead of provinces since electorates are usually smaller and better represent the people living there. Also, because that was one of the main reasons the electorates were created in the first place. Looking at census reports from the past, it always looks like northern electorates vote for more progressive parties, whilst southern electorates vote for more conservative and separatist parties. The government has noticed the popularity of separatist parties in southern electorates and has purposely made those electorates smaller and made it so that bigger electorates have a more significant votes than smaller electorates.

Political parties

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Political parties in Rivierenland usually tend to be very old and have set values. Most are leaning left or centre although there are some parties leaning right. Whilst most parties have been relatively moderate, there have been cases in the past that more radical parties have existed in Rivierenland, including a national-socialist party and a communist party (both were founded in the wake of the Great Depression and were disbanded after WWII). Although most party leaders (lijsttrekkers) are Rivierenlander-naturals, there are some common cases that there are foreign-born but naturalized citizens as party leaders/members (including the current prime minister and three before her). More uncommon than that are independents gaining a seat in parliament. This almost never happens and most independents end up at parties after a while. Even rarer is a person who's listed last on a party ballot (lijstduwer) actually making it to parliament. This is more common with smaller parties, but with bigger parties like the RWP and the RRP this is rare and has almost never happened.

Listed below are the parties currently in the houses and how they are represented: