Government Structure

Chamber of Lords

The Chamber of Lords is a body with six seats, each held by one of the noble houses. It makes decisions by majority vote with ties broken by the chair. The chairmanship is a rotating seat held by each member for one month at a time. It has the authority to nominate ministers and to veto legislation (by 2/3 majority, requiring four votes). It also makes emergency decisions as required by events. It selects one of the magistrates and may remove ministers from office with a majority vote.

Chamber of Commons

A faction has the right to purchase a seat on the Chamber of Commons for a period of one year. Currently, all the common factions besides the Keepers of the Lost, Buena Vista College, and the Monastery have seats. Commons elects a chair every year, who then breaks ties. Commons has jurisdiction over all legislation, which occupies most of its attention. It must confirm the nomination of ministers by Lords, although it must approve or reject the entire slate nominated as a whole. (That is, everyone nominated at a given time--if only one minister is being appointed, they may vote that up or down without disturbing the already approved ministers.) It selects one of the magistrates.

Ministers

There are four ministers, Defense, Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Home. They serve a six month term from appointment unless removed by Lords. (Commons has no way to remove a minister once appointed.) Note that a newly appointed minister serves six months from appointment, which means the four offices are often operating on different schedules. These offices have executive authority over their respective domains, and make most day to day decisions.

Magistrates

There are three magistrates, one appointed by each chamber and one elected by popular election. They jointly preside over all trials, reaching verdicts by majority vote.