Semi-Presidentialism in Atlasia

[Talleyrand]

A consensus is growing that the game as we know it is no longer fun or unpredictable. Here's my proposal to change that.

1. Maintain the regions and judicial branch as they currently exist.

2. Restructure the federal executive and legislative branches as detailed below.

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The Senate and House of Representatives will be combined into a unicameral 15-member Parliament. Elections for Parliament will be held every 2 or 3 months using PR-STV.

At least 8 Members of Parliament must coalesce to elect a Prime Minister. These MPs will be part of the majority coalition. The Prime Minister will then appoint a Cabinet (e.g. Secretary of State, Secretary of Internal Affairs) consisting of members of the majority coalition. The Prime Minister will have control of most of the legislative slots in Parliament.

Members of Parliament not in the majority coalition may elect to form caucuses of their own, with designated leaders, or remain disaffiliated from any caucus. The leader of the largest opposition caucus will designated Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition will control a minority of legislative slots in Parliament. Members of other opposition caucuses (if they exist) will also have a designated legislative slot.

Parliament will also designate a Speaker to preside over the body.

A President will be elected, serving a four-month term. They will have the power to appoint administrative officials (Registrar General, Game Moderator, etc.) and judges with the advice and consent of the Parliament. The President will also have the power to present honors (e.g. the Order of the Gold Star of Atlasia).

The President may veto any legislation passed by Parliament, but Parliament may override their vetoes with the support of 9 MPs (a 60% supermajority). The President will have the ability to hold a referendum on a bill of their creation at the next parliamentary election.

A Vice President will be elected on a ticket with the President. If the President leaves office, the Vice President will succeed him for the duration of their term.

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What do people think? Suggestions and improvements are welcome.

[Talleyrand]

In strictly theoretical terms - since it's important to remember Parliamentarism or Semi-Parliamentarism has never had the votes to ever be enacted -, I have grown to believe the single biggest flaw in such a model is that A. due to logistical issues you cannot have a truly large unicameral body (more than 15-20 would be nightmarish to handle and coordinate); but B. having a body of that size may have the effect of excessively empowering a very select group to the detriment of other players.

There are conceivable means of partly addressing that - allowing the PM or at the very least the Cabinet to be non MP's is a must, otherwise you'll encounter dysfunction right away -, but it is an issue to be taken into account. Also, though full PR would be interesting to see, it bears reminding Federalists have had a informal veto power whenever this is discussed due to the quorums required for reform, and there's always an insistence in the need for regionally-elected representatives (though I remember Yankee once suggested the German model - as opposed to a Westminster concept - seemed more "acceptable").

(All that side, good to see you back in the game!)

Perhaps the Prime Minister would have to belong to the Parliament, but the Cabinet could be non MPs?

It's not ideal, but you could also have each region be a multi-member constituency with 5 MPs? Or perhaps each region could elect 2-3 MPs, and the rest would be elected nationwide?

[Talleyrand]

Making Atlasia parliamentary in the way described really won't make it fun to actually serve in it.

Do you think there's a way to make it parliamentary that, in your opinion, would preserve the fun? Any proposal will need conservative support to pass, so just curious.

I'd argue my proposal would make elections more interesting, as it would be easier for the Right to gain control of the legislative branch.