Nation/Antiguatopia
| This page is a work in progress by its author(s) and should not be considered final. |
| Federal Republica of Antiguatopia República Federal de Antiguatopia (Spanish) |
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| Capital | Aire Limpio | ||
| Largest city | Ciudad de Huracán | ||
| Official languages | English | ||
| Recognised national languages | English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese | ||
| Demonym | Antiguatopian | ||
| Government | Federal | ||
| - | President | Bethany Townsend | |
| - | Prime Minister | Henri Bertrand | |
| - | Federal Executive | Lucio González | |
| Currency | Luna (ł) (ANL) |
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| Date format | mm/dd/yyyy | ||
| Calling code | +1 | ||
Antiguatopia is a nation composed of various islands in the Caribbean Sea and portions of North America and South America, with small portions existing in Europe and Asia. Antiguatopia's capital, Aire Limpio, and largest city, Ciudad de Huracán, are among the largest in the world. Ciudad de Huracán, combined with Aire Limpio and a third city, Costa del Oro, combine to form one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world.
Contents
History
Research indicates that Antiguatopia has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Period. Largely composed of indigenous tribes until the 1500s, the Spanish attempted to colonize the region toward the beginning of the 1500s. However, in the historic Battle of the Sea in 1524, in which conquistador Rodrigo de Bastidas was killed, the indigenous people of the area near what is today Aire Limpio banded together to overwhelm de Bastidas's military. Using knowledge about the area's mountains, and employing guerrilla warfare, the native tribes encircled the Spanish, pursuing them to the Caribbean, ultimately killing many, wounding most, and taking prisoner all but 350.
Following this success, in 1525, Antiguatopia was founded, covering what today is only the states of Oeste and Barrancas. As the Spanish continued colonization of the South American continent, Antiguatopia allowed various states to join in turn, with the country being composed of Oeste, Barrancas, Bosques, Islamorada, and the Islas Arenosas by 1600. Following further colonialism attempts, Vrijheid and Est-terre joined the federal republic around 1680, with the rest of the states joining in 1732.
In the early 1800s, Antiguatopia began to pursue a mildly colonial agenda, engaging in formal diplomacy in order to gain territory. Through this process, it gained the Central American Territory (1815), North American Territory (1823), Territory of the Guinea (1836), and Portuguese European Territory (1851). All territories, as per each territory's respective treaty with Antiguatopia, are allowed to secede from the federation with a simple majority referendum vote.
Soon after Antiguatopia's accession of the Portuguese European Territory, the country was victim to a military coup. In 1864, Vrijheidian General Matthias Gerolf van Laar commanded the military to overthrow then-President Mariano Macías, executing him one month later. This resulted in widespread protest, causing van Laar to suppress the population. In 1868, civil war broke out, with notables fighting both in support of, and against, van Laar's regime. In 1874, the war ended with the exile of van Laar, a widespread revision of the Antiguatopian constitution, and the creation of the National Council.
Since the 1870s, Antiguatopia has largely played the role of middle power in the region. Possessing some rather large oilfields, Antiguatopia has been able to play the role of mineral broker to nations in the region, placing it in a critical place in foreign affairs. Since the 1900s, Antiguatopia has also flourished into a first-world country, possessing many of the technological advancements this status confers, including a stable health and sanitation system and widespread access to clean water and electricity.
Government and Politics
Antiguatopia employs a federal system, composed of a bicameral legislature, three-person executive, and national court system.
The vast majority of legislation, since Antiguatopia is a federal system, is passed by state legislatures. This includes taxes raised by each state, laws regarding welfare, policing, etc. A small amount of legislation is reserved to the national legislature, including federal taxation, regulation of interstate/interterritory/international commerce, and international relations/military affairs. Legislation at the national level must be passed in the same form by both the lower and upper houses, and approved by the main executive, the president.
The lower house, called the Chamber of Deputies, was created by the Antiguatopia Constitution in 1525. It is composed of 650 proportional representation seats, allotted by population to each state, territory, and the Aire Limpio Federal District, and headed by a prime minister. Seats are redistributed every ten years, with new seats drawn every year ending in three, and then allotted following the next dissolution of the chamber. The Chamber of Deputies is largely a mix between the Westminster system and proportional representation systems, meaning that it relies upon a confidence relationship with its members. The chamber can be dissolved through either a vote of no confidence, or through dissolution by the prime minister, which must happen at least every four years. However, the system does not totally match that of Westminster; first, the majority party/coalition rarely elects its leader as prime minister - instead, parties hold conventions every two to four years in order to determine its party leader and prime ministerial candidate, called the "party electoral executive". Additionally, prime ministers are not able to resign without calling a new election. Finally, budget bills are not equated with confidence, and though they are restricted only to the chamber (no approval is needed from the upper house), governments do not lose confidence if they do not pass. The proportional vote has no electoral threshold, but parties that enter government must receive at least two percent of the national vote.
The upper house, called the Federal Council, was created through an amendment to the Antiguatopian Constitution in 1853. Before the amendment, the sole legislative body in the federation was the Chamber of Deputies, but with the number of territories acquired by the country on the rise, states leveraged the territories' relative weakness during this time period to create this body. The Federal Council, composed of 190 councillors elected from single-member districts in each of the 10 states, serves states' interests only. Additionally, in the Federal Council, Aire Limpio is treated as a part of the State of Oeste. The council is headed by the federal executive, who is elected by members of the council. The council has fixed terms, with elections being held every five years, in years ending with four or nine. Like in the Chamber of Deputies, seats are allotted based upon state population, with seats being reapportioned for every term beginning in a year ending in a four.
The Federal Council is advised by a sort of policy research council called the National Council. Created in 1935 as a way of improving policy research, the National Council is composed of 60 members who are appointed to five-year terms. Of these 60 members, 10 each are appointed by six different groups: the prime minister (10), the president (10), the federal executive (10), national universities (10), the Supreme Court of Antiguatopia (10), and governors of the states of Antiguatopia (10). In each group of 10, two are appointed each year, meaning that the council is constantly changing. Both of these measures - the large number of leaders making appointments, combined with the rapid seat turnover, is meant to ensure that members remain independent and focus solely on policy research. The council does not vote on, and cannot veto, bills.
The Antiguatopian executive is a three-person executive, composed of the prime minister, the federal executive, and the president, who is elected to a fixed five-year term at the same time as the Federal Council. The presidency was first created as a ceremonial position in the original Antiguatopian Constitution, but was then vested with powers in the same 1853 amendment that created the Federal Council. These three executives work together to appoint the Supreme Court of Antiguatopia, but only the president has the power to veto legislation passed by the legislature. The president is also in charge of most duties that fall to a head of state for other countries, including state visits and ceremonial duties.
