The Aerican government is a parliamentary democracy. This parliament, known as the Senate, is the high ruling body of the Empire. The current Senate's term began in January 2023, and will end on or about December, 2026.
What is the Senate?
What does the President do?
What about the Emperor?
How does the Senate meet?
How does voting work?
What are the current motions before the Senate?
What is the Senate?
The Senate is the parliament of the Empire, the primary legislative body. Each colony elects up to two 2 Senators, who represent that colony's interests. In the Senate, each Senator receives a single vote. Simple majority vote decides most issues, where 50% plus one out of all non-abstention votes cast must be in favour of a proposal for it to pass. Any Senator has the right to put proposals before the Senate, and proposals are managed by the President. In the event of the position of Emperor being vacant, the Senate elects a member to assume the post.
What does the President do?
The President manages the Senate. It is the president's duty to keep track of any motions which have been put forth and to arrange for timely votes. The President decides on the order of action when multiple items are before the Senate, and moderates any debates before and during voting. The President is elected from the members of the Senate, retaining his or her own normal Senate seat. A new President is chosen at the beginning of each four-year term.
What about the Emperor?
The position of Emperor is separate from that of President. The Emperor holds a Senate seat and may cast a single vote but does not represent any individual colony. The Emperor's duty is to consider the good of the whole of the Empire and act as a guiding voice for policy. In the event of the Senate being deadlocked, the Emperor receives an additional vote to break the tie. The position of Emperor is held for life.
How does the Senate meet?
The Senate stays in session through a mailing list, Aerican_Senate@yahoogroups.com. Although membership is restricted to Senators, anyone can read the message history. The Senate has no formal physical meeting place and, because members come from all over the world, the full Senate has never gathered in a single physical location.
How does voting work?
The President of the Senate may set terms for the procedure of an individual vote, according to the requests of members. The general procedure, which may be modified, is as follows. Any Senator may sponsor a motion publically, via the mailing list. A second Senator must then second this motion. Senators may discuss the issue freely, and unless specific circumstances dictate, the motion shall be put forth for voting by the President within one month. A vote is announced via the Senate mailing list, and the President creates a poll on the list's website wherein each Senator may anonymously vote in favour of a motion or in opposition, or may abstain (their vote is neither in support or in opposition, and they are not counted for purposes of calculating 50% plus one). The poll is set to automatically close at the end of a period of at least one week and a maximum of maximum two weeks, and may be concluded early if all senators have cast their vote. Motions, amendments, and other such bills which the Senate vote on shall be named as [month/year/action number]. For example, the first act taken in a given month would be [m/y/1]. The second would be [m/y/2].
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