Talk:Continental Assembly of Bellinsgauzenia (Great White South)

Legislature of Bellinsgauzenia

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The Continental Assembly (: Континентальное Собрание, Kontinyental'noye Sobraniye) will be the legislative body of. The Continental Assembly will be a bicameral legislature made up of two houses, the [State] Duma and the Senate.

The Duma will be based on population, comparable to that of the US House of Representatives. These deputies are democratically elected by the citizens of Bellinsgauzenia.

The Senate will be based on equality, with each governorate having equal numbers of senators. Unlike the Duma, the Senators are appointed by the governorates themselves (similar to the US Senate prior to the ).

Either one or both houses may also include additional seats which are to represent the non-Bellinsgauzenian Russian subjects of Antarctica. They would either be appointed by Bellinsgauzenia itself or democratically elected by willing votes from these regions outside the nation. Either way, these seats are mostly ceremonial and symbolic.


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Four of the seats in the Senate are to represent the "lost territories" of Russian Antarctica (Krannkush, New Vestfold, the Ross Dependency, and Yuzhnaya Zemlya). Since they aren't members of Bellinsgauzenia (and thereby can't vote in elections), these seats are appointed by the President. While it was intended for the President to choose Senators based on the wishes of the people living in these regions, this didn't turn out that way. Since the 1940s, the Presidents appointed close allies to these seats (effectively giving the President four votes in the Senate). While these seats are not enough to sway a vote, the notion of which remained.

But under the administration of Svetlana Lopatina (the first post-Cold War President) this practice was changed. Rather than appointing allies, she consulted with the nations which claimed these regions (New Devon, New Zealand, and Ognia) and appointed Senators based on their recommendation. In effect, she appointed members more in line with the governments which claimed these lost territories (giving them a vote). Like mentioned before, these votes can't sway an election, so this gesture was merely symbolic and a moves to improve relations with its neighbors while keeping the status quo.

Lopatina's successors continued this practice, which has now become the de facto way of appointment. New Devon and New Zealand gain one each, while Ognia gets two (since it includes two of these lost territories).


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