The Executive Council

Role:

Can create/change any law at any time, but is obliged to always operate within the parameters of the legislation it has passed and in accordance with any legally binding domestic/international agreements

• The Executive Council always runs the risk of being held to account by the Representatives and may even be dissolved if the infringements are on-going

If ordered by the Arbiter to amend its laws, the Executive Council is obliged to comply or potentially face dissolution

How are they elected?

• Elections are run by the Elections and Government Bureaucracy (EGB)

• Candidates are anonymous

• The EGB accepts the application of any citizen who a) reaches the threshold of the psychometric test and b) has a resume that demonstrates pertinent experience related to some aspect of leadership and/or management

• Election process consists of 4 rounds of simulated Council work. The best-ranked candidates enter the Executive Council to fill the vacant position/s.

• The EGB places candidates in groupings of six (different groupings each round), determined largely by geographic proximity

• On a given day and time, these groups of candidates are presented with the same set of 8 scenarios created by the EGB for the occasion. The scenarios are based on challenges that the Executive Council might face. For example, the groupings could be asked to formulate a policy response for: an epidemic or natural disaster, a suitable policy framework for pensioners, the lack of nursing staff, long waiting lists for elective surgery, falling productivity in the resource sector, an industrial relations dispute, a civil war in a neighbouring country, inflation, desertification. The group has four hours to agree with a 2/3 majority on the wording of the 8 policy responses

• In the 1^st round, each candidate rates the policy responses of 50 other anonymous groups to the same 8 scenarios. The top ranked 50% of candidates (or, if there are more than 2,000 candidates, the top 1,000) move on to round 2. Each candidate within a grouping shares the same rating for that round

• In the 2^nd round, each Representative rates 20 anonymous groups. This means that approximately 8 Representatives rate each grouping. The top 10% of candidates move on to the next round

• In the 3^rd round, every Representative rates all the groupings. The top 10% of candidates move on to the next round

• In the 4^th and final round, the representatives rate all anonymous groups. The top candidates then enter government to replace the outgoing ministers

• For example: 15,000 citizens apply and 10,000 are accepted by the EC. The top 1,000 move on to the 2^nd round. 100 move on to 3^rd round. 30 move on to the 4^th round. After the 4^th round, the best ranked candidate/s is/are elected to replace the outgoing Councillor/s 

• Newly elected ministers enter the Executive Council with a moderate rating, somewhere around that of the 5^th ranked Councillor

How are they Ousted?

By a vote with the support of 95% of the Representatives to oust either the entire Council or specific individuals

Every six months, the Representatives rate the performance of each individual Councillor. This may change the ranking of the Councillors. Every 2 years, the two Councillors with the lowest ranking (an average of their entire tenure) are automatically ejected and replaced

• Recently appointed Councillors who have not had 2 years of experience on the Executive Council cannot be ejected, even if they are the lowest ranked Councillors

If the Council does not officially respond (2/3 majority vote) within 3 weeks to a Chamber of Representatives’ appeal that has been sustained by the Arbiter, the Council can be dissolved by the Arbiter. The Arbiter can provide the Executive Council with an additional week or fortnight to respond if he/she thinks it reasonable. After this one-off time extension, as it pertains to a specific Chamber of Representatives’ appeal, the Arbiter cannot override the automatic dissolution of the Council.  

Powers:

By a vote with the support of 2/3 of the Councillors, can institute any law that it chooses, including the use of the armed forces for defensive purposes

New legislation has a cooling off period of 30 days so as to provide the Chamber of Representatives with time to appeal, unless the legislation is deemed to be of an urgent nature. The Council needs to officially advise (2/3 majority vote) the Arbiter and Chamber of Representatives of their intention to implement the legislation immediately. The Representatives can then choose whether they want to appeal the justification for immediate implementation. The Arbiter would then be empowered to decide whether the speedy implementation is justified or not

Representatives can also appeal legislation at any time after it has been implemented

The Executive Council must comply with the laws it creates

• The Elections and Government Bureaucracy (EGB) is obliged to enact every portion of every piece of legislation.  If something is not clear in the legislation, the head of the EGB must request from the Council an amendment/clarification or an additional clause to the initial legislation requiring another 2/3 majority vote by the Council

• No Councillor can order the EGB to do something that is not specifically mentioned in legislation.
  • The only time that an individual Councillor can act independently of the Council is when enlisting the bureaucracy to assist in developing/researching legislation. Each Councillor has a generous budget to bring legislation to the Council for a vote

Every international agreement or treaty legislated by the Executive Council must be upheld or be legally discontinued. The Representatives can appeal to the Arbiter if they believe that an agreement has been contravened. The Arbiter is not obliged to sustain the appeal, but since the Arbiter was seminal in the negotiation of the international agreement, it is unlikely that the Arbiter would be willing to take such a stand 

• As mentioned earlier, the bureaucracy and the armed forces must comply with the laws of the Executive Council. If the head of the bureaucracy or the armed forces believes that a new law is contradicting a treaty or an international agreement, they can request clarification as to which law supersedes which. This would make it clear to all the intentions and implications of an Executive council law
  • As mentioned earlier, the bureaucracy and the armed forces must comply with the laws of the Executive Council. If the head of the bureaucracy or the armed forces believes that a new law is contradicting a treaty or an international agreement, they can request clarification as to which law supersedes which. This would make it clear to all the intentions and implications of an Executive council law

Similar to the practice seen in contemporary representative democracies, subcommittees can be formed and filled with whomever the Executive Council chooses from the citizens of the nation. To become law, any decision of a subcommittee needs to be voted on by the Executive Council.