Government Drakonian

GOVERNMENT
The Draconians' governmental authority is the "Majestic and Glorious Drakon Imperium," also refered to as the Imperium or Drakon Imperium for short. This government consist of millions of worlds, trillions upon trillions of citizens, thousands of start systems and 5 galaxies. The Drakon Imperium is an Imperial, Constitutional (written), Federal, Representative, Republican, Theocracy. With the Imperator as the head of state, the head of government, and the commander in chief, with his Imperial house and appointed noble houses running day-to-day operations of the Imperium.

The constitutional government consist of three branches of government, the executive for enforcing law, the legislative for making law, and the judicial branch for judicial review and arbitration.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH
The executive power in the Imperial Government is vested in the Imperator of the Drakon Imperium, although power is often delegated to the Cabinet members and other officials.

Imperator
The executive branch consists of the Imperator and those to whom the Imperator's powers are delegated. The Imperator is both the head of state and government, as well as the military commander-in-chief and chief diplomat. The Imperator, according to the Constitution, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed", and "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution". The Imperator presides over the executive branch of the Imperial Government.

The Imperator may sign legislation passed by Senate into law or may veto it. The Imperator may make treaties with foreign empires/nations/states. The Imperator may dissolve Senate or call special elections, has the power to pardon, or release, criminals convicted of offenses against the Imperial Government, enact executive orders, and appoint Supreme Arbiters and Imperial judges.

Viceroy
The Viceroy is the second-highest executive official in rank of the government. As third (after Imperator, and the Imperial House) in the Imperatorial line of succession, the Viceroy becomes Imperator upon the death, resignation, or removal of the Imperator, (if no eligible heir exist) which has never happened in Drakonian history. Under the Constitution, the Viceroy is Imperator of the Senate. By virtue of this role, he or she is the head of the Senate. In that capacity, the Viceroy is allowed to vote in the Senate, but only when necessary to break a tied vote. While the Viceroy's only constitutionally prescribed functions, aside from Imperatorial succession, relate to his role as Imperator of the Senate, the office is now commonly viewed as a member of the executive branch of the Imperial Government. The Imperial Constitution does not expressly assign the office to any one branch, causing scholars to dispute whether it belongs to the executive branch, the legislative branch, or both.

Cabinet, executive ministrys and agencies
The day-to-day enforcement and administration of Imperial laws is in the hands of the various Imperial executive ministrys, created by Senate to deal with specific areas of imperial and interimperial affairs. The heads of the 9 ministries, chosen by the Imperator.

*Executive Office of the Imperator
The immediate staff of the Imperator of the Majestic and Glorious Drakon Imperium, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the Imperator. The EOI is headed by the Citadel of Glory Chief of Staff.

*Ministry of War
The Drakon Imperium ministry of War (IMOW, MOW or MoW) is the Imperial ministry allocated the largest level of budgetary resources and charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to imperial security and the Drakon Imperium armed forces.

*Ministry of Education
The primary functions of the ministry of Education are to "establish policy for, administer and coordinate most federal assistance to education, collect data on US schools, and to enforce federal educational laws regarding privacy and civil rights. The ministry of Education does not establish schools or colleges.

*Ministry of Defense
Whereas the ministry of War is charged with military actions abroad, the ministry of Defense works in the civilian sphere to protect the Drakon Imperium within, at, and outside its borders. Its stated goal is to prepare for, prevent, and respond to domestic emergencies, particularly terrorism.

*Ministry of the Interior
The Drakon Imperium Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is the Drakon Imperium federal executive ministry of the Imperial government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources.

*Ministry of Justice
The Drakon Imperium ministry of Justice (often referred to as the Justice ministry or MOJ), is the Drakon Imperium executive ministry responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.

*Ministry of State
The Drakon Imperium ministry of State (often referred to as the State ministry or MoS), is the Drakon Imperium executive ministry responsible for interimperial relations of the Imperium, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries.

*Ministry of the Treasury
The ministry of the Treasury is an executive ministry and the treasury of the Drakon Imperium federal government. It was established to manage government revenue. The ministry is administered by the Secretary of the Treasury, who is a member of the Imperial Cabinet.

*Ministry of Veterans Affairs
The Drakon Imperium ministry of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the Drakon Imperium government’s second largest ministry, after the Drakon Imperium ministry of War.

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Drakon Imperium Senate is the legislative branch of the federal government. The Drakon Imperium Senate is the tetracameral legislature of the government of the Drakon Imperium, consisting of the House of the Blood, House of the People, House of Worlds, and the House of States.

The term Senate can also refer to a particular meeting of the legislature.

All Senators serve two distinct purposes that sometimes overlap: representation of local interests and lawmaking for the imperial interest.

Overview of Senatorial power
Senate has authority over financial and budgetary policy through the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the Imperium.

Senate's power of the purse authorizes taxing citizens, spending money, and printing currency.

The Constitution also grants Senate the exclusive power to appropriate funds, and this power of the purse is one of Senate's primary checks on the executive branch. Senate can borrow money on the credit of the Imperium, regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the states.

Senate has an important role in imperial defense, to raise and maintain the armed forces, and to make rules for the military.

Senate can establish post offices and post roads, issue patents and copyrights, fix standards of weights and measures, establish courts inferior to the Supreme Arbiters.

One of Senate's foremost non-legislative functions is the power to investigate and oversee the executive branch, excluding the Imperial House and nobility. Senatorial oversight is usually delegated to committees and is facilitated by Senate's subpoena power.

Structure
Senate is split into four branches and manages the huge task of writing imperial legislation by dividing work into separate committees which specialize in different areas. Some Senate persons are elected by their peers to be officers of these committees. In addition, a vast industry of lobbyists helps Senate persons write legislation on behalf of diverse corporate and labor interests.

Specialization
The committee structure permits Senators to study a particular subject intensely. It is neither expected nor possible that a member of Senate be an expert on all subject areas before Senate. As time goes by, members develop expertise in particular subjects and their legal aspects. Committees investigate specialized subjects and advise the entire Senate about choices and trade-offs. The choice of specialty may be influenced by the member's constituency, important regional issues, prior background and experience. often choose a different specialty from that of the other senator from their state to prevent overlap. Some committees specialize in running the business of other committees and exert a powerful influence over all legislation.

Power
Committees write legislation. Committees have power and have been called independent fiefdoms. Legislative, oversight, and internal administrative tasks are divided among about two hundred committees and subcommittees which gather information, evaluate alternatives, and identify problems. They propose solutions for consideration by the full chamber. In addition, they perform the function of oversight by monitoring the executive branch and investigating wrongdoing.

Officers
At the start of each two-year session each House elects a speaker who does not normally preside over debates but serves as its majority leader. In the House of the People, the Viceroy is the ex officio imperator of the House of the People. In addition, the House of the People elects an officer called the chancellor. Pro tempore means for the time being and this office is usually held by the most senior member of the House of the People's majority party and customarily keeps this position until there's a change in party control. Accordingly, the House of the People does not necessarily elect a new president pro tempore at the beginning of a new Senate.

Sessions
A term of Senate is divided into two "sessions", one for each year; Senate has occasionally been called into an extra or special session. A new session commences on January 3 each year unless Senate decides differently. The Constitution requires Senate meet at least once each year and forbids either house from meeting outside the Capitol.

Joint sessions
Joint Sessions of the Drakon Imperium Senate occur on special occasions that require a concurrent resolution from multiple Houses. These sessions include the constitutionally-mandated Speech from the Throne. Joint Sessions and Joint Meetings are traditionally presided over by the Speaker of the House of the People.

Bills and resolutions
Ideas for legislation can come from members, lobbyists, state legislatures, constituents, legislative counsel, or executive agencies. The usual next step is for the proposal to be passed to a committee for review. A proposal is usually in one of these forms: Laws in the making. A House of the People-originated bill begins with the letters "H.O.T.P." for "House of the People", followed by a number kept as it progresses. There is little difference between a bill and a joint resolution since both are treated similarly; a joint resolution originating from the House of the People, for example, begins "HOTP.J.Res." followed by its number. Each chamber determines its own internal rules of operation unless specified in the Constitution or prescribed by law.
 * Bills
 * Joint resolutions

Once a bill is approved by one house, it is sent to the others which may pass, reject, or amend it. For the bill to become law, all houses must agree to identical versions of the bill.If the second house amends the bill, then the differences between the two versions must be reconciled in a conference committee, an ad hoc committee.

A majority of members known as a quorum be present before doing business in each house.

Voting within Senate can take many forms, including systems using lights and bells and electronic voting. All houses use digital voting to decide most matters in which members shout "aye" or "no" and the presiding officer announces the result. All houses use roll call voting in which a clerk calls out the names of all the, each senator recording "aye" or "no" when their name is announced.

Most votes, including quorum votes, are done electronically, and allow members to vote yea or nay or present or open. Members insert a voting ID card and can change their votes during the last five minutes if they choose. One member can not cast a vote for another. Senatorial votes are recorded on an online database.

After passage by all houses, a bill is considered to be enrolled and is sent to the Imperator for approval. The president may sign it making it law or veto it, perhaps returning it to Senate with his objections.

Privileges protecting Senate persons
Senate persons enjoy the privilege of being free from arrest in all cases except for treason, felony, and breach of the peace. This constitutionally-derived immunity applies to members during sessions and when traveling to and from sessions.

The Constitution guarantees absolute freedom of debate in both houses, for any Speech or Debate in any House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. Accordingly, a member of Senate may not be sued in court for slander because of remarks made in any house, although each house has its own rules restricting offensive speeches, and may punish members who transgress them.

Obstructing the work of Senate is a crime under federal law. Each branch has the power to cite individuals for contempt but can only issue a contempt citation—the judicial system pursues the matter like a normal criminal case. If convicted in court, an individual found guilty of contempt of Senate may be imprisoned for up to one year.

JUDICIAL BRANCH
The Judiciary explains and applies the laws. This branch does this by hearing and eventually making decisions on various legal cases.

In federal legislation, regulations governing the "courts of the Imperium" only refer to the courts of the Drakon Imperium government, and not the courts of the individual states. The various state court systems are free to operate in ways that vary widely from those of the federal government, and from one another. In practice, however, every state has adopted a division of its judiciary into at least two levels, and almost every state has three levels, with trial courts hearing cases which may be reviewed by appellate courts, and finally by a state supreme court. A few states have two separate supreme courts, with one having authority over civil matters and the other reviewing criminal cases. State courts may have different names and organization; trial courts may be called "courts of common plea" and appellate courts "superior courts" or "commonwealth courts". State courts hear about 98% of litigation; most states have special jurisdiction courts, which typically handle minor disputes such as traffic citations, and general jurisdiction courts which handle more serious disputes.

The federal court system hears cases involving litigants from two or more states, violations of federal laws, treaties, and the Constitution, admiralty, bankruptcy, and related issues. The civil cases often involve civil rights, patents tax fraud, robbery, counterfeiting, and drug crimes.

Drakon Imperium federal courts
The geographical boundary of the 12 Drakon Imperium Courts of Appeals

=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Alpha District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Beta District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Gamma District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Delta District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Epsilon District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Zeta District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Eta District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Theta District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Iota District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Kappa District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Lambda District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Mu District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Nu District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Xi District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Omicron District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Pi District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Rho District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Sigma District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Tau District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Upsilon District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Phi District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Chi District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Psi District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Omega District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Digamma District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Heta District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Qoppa District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Stigma District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for San District
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=***Drakon Imperium Court of Appeals for Sampi District
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