Verdurian government questions

[Wolfram]

How does the Verdurian city government work? Is the Mažtan-Kal appointed, elected, or some combination thereof? How does the řivo attain power, and what responsibilities does the řivo have? How autonomous are the kešanai?

How frequent are elections to the Esčambra? Are they just held "whenever the king/queen wants", or is the process limited (e.g. "you can't go longer than X years without an election")? The 3480 calendar has an election on it - when was the last one? Are elections always held on the same date?

How are districts drawn? You mention Onvaďra 2e gerrymandering the Sarniëma - are all districts drawn by the monarch? Do rural šanai stay the same regardless of population shifts? Does Verduria have a census? Who decided that Išira, Nezi, Scafiora, and no other districts should have two seats - or do other districts have multiple members? Are those boroughs' two members elected separately?

Are the guild representatives elected/appointed by the guilds of Verduria-mažtane, nationwide, or some other way? There are 35 guild seats and 32 guilds in Verduria-mažtane - how many of the seats are elected by guilds in the city? Do guilds in other cities get separate representation?

Are there any province-level elected bodies? Do other cities in the kingdom have self-government, and to what extent do they differ from Verduria-mažtane?

I apologize if the answers to any of these questions are already out there.

[zompist]

How does the Verdurian city government work? Is the Mažtan-Kal appointed, elected, or some combination thereof? How does the řivo attain power, and what responsibilities does the řivo have? How autonomous are the kešanai?

It's kešanî (f not m).

The Mažtan-Kal consists of the kešoroi (stewards of the city districts), plus the heads of the bureaucratic departments (currently six people, appointed by the mayor). So it's indirectly democratic. The Kal elects the řivo.

I'll have to write a whole article on city government, because it's a mess. The Esčambra, after all, grew out of the original city council-- so in some sense the city rules the kingdom, and the Esčambra sometimes remembers this, not least because to vote in it, you have to maintain a city residence. It's a little like how Congress has direct responsibility for DC government, and thus interferes in it. So there has been a mild back and forth between the Kal and the Esčambra.

The primary responsibility of the city government is public safety; there's also street maintenance, sewers and water distribution, local courts, some regulation of commerce, and property registration. The city runs certain schools, libraries, parks, and hospitals-- others are private. Lighting and fire protection are not yet city responsibilities. Beyond all this, the Kal takes a broad view of its powers-- legally it was created by the king, with very few restrictions. It can't of course oppose the king or (very effectively) the Esčambra, but it feels that anything happens in the city concerns it.

The kešanî don't really have independent legal basis-- they're just divisions of the city for convenience. So, anything that's more easily done locally, is their responsibility, such as public safety and property registration. Some kešanî are stronger than others-- Išira and the Scafiora, for instance.

How frequent are elections to the Esčambra? Are they just held "whenever the king/queen wants", or is the process limited (e.g. "you can't go longer than X years without an election")? The 3480 calendar has an election on it - when was the last one? Are elections always held on the same date?

You can get some idea from the list of prime ministers: almost always they come to power after an election. It's usually 3 or 4 years (so some prime ministers last through more than one election). Either the monarch, the prime minister, or the Esčambra as a whole can call an election. (Under the Eleďi and Abolineroni, the king could appoint a prime minister, but increasingly simply called for a new election in order to do so.) As in the British system, the ruling party tries to schedule elections to be most convenient for itself. The number of votes required for the Esčambra to call elections goes down each year it's been in session.

How are districts drawn? You mention Onvaďra 2e gerrymandering the Sarniëma - are all districts drawn by the monarch? Do rural šanai stay the same regardless of population shifts? Does Verduria have a census? Who decided that Išira, Nezi, Scafiora, and no other districts should have two seats - or do other districts have multiple members? Are those boroughs' two members elected separately?

The Esčambra draws the lines, which means the ruling party. No one has tried any really outrageous gerrymanders.

The šanî have stayed the same since Elena set them up. This will probably cause problems soonish as population growth hasn't been uniform.

The two-member kešanî are those with particularly powerful residents-- though in the case of the Scafiora it's the underworld, not the elite. Residents get two votes, and the top two vote-getters are elected.

Are the guild representatives elected/appointed by the guilds of Verduria-mažtane, nationwide, or some other way? There are 35 guild seats and 32 guilds in Verduria-mažtane - how many of the seats are elected by guilds in the city? Do guilds in other cities get separate representation?

It's a muddle, as is the Verdurian way. Originally it was just the city guilds, but many of those have formal or informal links to other cities. Some guilds have a national election; some just sent the Verduria-city leader there but expect him to speak up for the other cities. (In a country without modern transportation, there's a lot to be said for the person who, after all, lives in the city where the Esčambra meets.

Are there any province-level elected bodies? Do other cities in the kingdom have self-government, and to what extent do they differ from Verduria-mažtane?

Basically all the cities on the map of the kingdom have some sort of local government. I'd have to do a lot more thinking to decide how different they are.

As for provinces, Šerian, Irvesi, and Zeir have assemblies, though only Zeir's has much power. Célenor has its own feudal governments.