[Factbook] The People's Confederation of Czuleck

[New England-New Brunswick]

[OVERVIEW]

The People's Confederation of Czuleck

 

Motto:
"The people and community above all else"

 

Anthem:
[Audio file unavailable]

 

Capital City: Bundaberg

Largest City: Bundaberg

 

National Language: None

Official Language: Czulian (Defacto)

 

Ethnic Groups [1422 Estimate]:

90.67% Czulians

8.33% Others (Chiefly Immigrants)

 

Religions [1422 Estimate]:

87.13% Atheism

12.87% Other/Local Religions

 

Demonym: Czulian

 

Government: Anarchist Confederation

 

Legislature: Unicameral 

The People's Cooperative Forum

 

Area: 

Total Area: 353,649 km2 (136,545 Sq mi)

 

Population

[1422 Estimate]: 10,418,348

Density: 29.5 per Km² (76.3  Sq Miles)

 

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

GDP (PPP): $390,344,261,861

Per capita: $37,467

Currency: Czulian Ruble

 

Time zones

IAT 8

 

Date Format: 

Main date format: (DD/MM/YEAR)

 

Driving side: Left

Calling Code: 5 78

Internet TLD: .cz

[New England-New Brunswick]

[Politics]

 

Overview

Anarchist troops defending a local forum against government

forces in 1383.

 

Unlike most governments, Czuleck operates as an Anarchist Confederation. Most of the country's power lay in the hands of ordinary citizens in the form of the communal forum. This decentralization has been a staple of politics for Czuleck ever since its founding. In addition to power decentralization, almost all forum on both local and regional levels use a form of consensus democracy to ensure all voices are heard when drafting, proposing, and passing legislation. Czuleck's society and political scene have been described as equitable ones, giving voices to all eligible citizens on issues affecting them, striving for a consensus on those very issues, and having a focus on a greater good/society as a whole in mind. Additionally, the nation practices many measures to ensure all citizens have some sort of say in local and national affairs. Participation is highly valued in Czulian society, as it builds the basis for all decisions made within the country, thus over the years many forums have made voting more accessible, such as with Edemocracy or with longer voting periods.

Because of having the focus on a greater good, ideology doesn't have much room to operate. There do exist political associations that focus on certain tendencies and issues. However, they don't hold nearly as much power as the political parties of other nations, and mainly focus on debating ideas of libertarian socialist, anarchist, and other far left ideas. The lack of power in associations/parties was done so to prevent consolidation of power, and has worked thus far. Associations serve as waystations for discussion and places to hear all ideas from large groups of citizens. Members are also free to be part of multiple parties, and along with other measures, these associations are kept in positions of lower power.

Czulian governance is divided into two sections: The Forums and Judiciary. The Forums act as the daily decision making bodies of all citizens, with multiple levels of forums including a national one, the People's Forum, and lower level divisions including the Communal Forum, Regional Forum, and Federation Forum. Judiciary wise, Czuleck practices the idea of "Community Panels", wherin a panel of peers discuss with criminals what they did, why it was wrong, and assign restorative justice measures such as community service or restitution. There is no executive branch within Czuleck, but the People's Forum contains what most would consider "ministries" called Committees. These committees advise, and with permission from the affected regions/localities, carry out decisions of the People's Forum.

Constitution 

Early photo of the constitutional draft session in Bundaberg in 1388

 

Since its founding, Czuleck went through a period of over a year to gather input on and ratify the constitution that would birth the confederation. The period of 1387-1388 was one of constant debate between varying parties and citizens who had ideas for the new constitution. Nationwide there were commune wide meetings to ensure all citizens could have a say in this process. These communal meetings had debates on whether anarchism would win the day, a socialist republic would follow, or even another chance at a democratic federation. After many considerations were made for the constitution, groups consulted, and elections held, the constitution that grants all citizens wide ranging freedoms was officially signed in 1388, which opted for a mixture between the ideas of Democratic Confederalism and Anarchism. Since its founding, the constitution has been amended to reflect the changing conditions of the country and the state of the world. 

The constitution gives all citizens freedoms such as expression, religion, press, and much more. It also establishes precedent for not only the People's Forums and its powers, but also the founding forum committees, the military, and the court system. To amend the constitution requires a majority of the seven federations to support it, 60% of citizens across the confederation to agree, and a minimum of three months to attempt a consensus on the amendment as to ensure it has the most support among citizens. Similarly to legislation, all dissenting parties can write an official Announcement of Dissent, and it will be posted alongside the new amendment publicly. This will argue against the amendment, and offer solutions the populace could consider in the future.

Subdivisions and Forums

Local town hall meeting occurring in the city of Bredby. 

The smallest and most impactful subdivision for all residents is the Commune. Each Commune within Czuleck is geographically small, usually based around a town, and can range in the number of residents within greatly. Each commune has a decision making body comprised entirely of its citizen base, called a forum [Or town-forum if its located within a city area]. This body makes numerous decisions based on a vast amount of issues to work on, which in turn makes these bodies more relevant and important to the average citizen than regional or federation-level ones. This system of government acts like townhall meetings, with ideas and legislation proposed, reviewed, and agreed upon by citizens. Communal forums can handle matters such as tax, local educational curriculum, public programs/transportation, instituting cultural programs, and approval of local industrial projects. 

The next level of decision-making is the Collective Region. These regions compose of multiple communes, primarily based on ones with similar cultural connections and backgrounds. Membership in the Collective Regional forums are mainly made up of elected delegates from Communal Forums, with each commune being apportioned delegates based off population. However, because communes and collective regions vary in population size, some collective region forums instead are made up of citizens from their communes, although instances of these are fleeting due to populational booms. Delegates to these forums discuss issues of communal resource allocation, unification of local cultural programs [if applicable to the Region], sustainable natural resource management, region-wide infrastructure coordination, and more. Collective Regions primarily exist to help coordinate efforts between communes on issues that are too small for national attention, and unify them in actions due to a similar regional background. However, Communal Forums still have the authority to accept or reject these plans.

Finally, there exists the Federation. Within Czuleck, there are seven federations that make up the entire nation. Each is based on geographical features, and contains numerous regions with diverse background within them. Delegates are elected via regional-wide voting, and members are apportioned to communes [or groups of them] depending on population size and elected by communal forums. Federation forums mainly have the focus of fostering higher level economic and social coordination. These can include large objectives for industrialization or working on the expansion of transportation infrastructure to different regions. They can act very autonomously, but still rely on the common support of both their respective regions and communes for actions. Generally, Federations sometimes are seen as their own independent nations within the confederation due to their diverse backgrounds. 

The People's Forum is the main unifying organ of the People's Confederation. It consists of 350 elected members that proportionally represent the seven federations, all of which are elected in ranked choice voting. The only main requirement is for the member to be a citizen who is sixteen years of age or older, but a vast majority of the local forums have required candidates to establish connections with their local communities before running. There is also the ability to have recall elections if citizens feel their delegate(s) aren't truly representing their interests. The forum is designed to pass legislation to lead the Confederation with certain goals or programs, whilst handing responsibilities of carrying those goals out back down to the local level, although it can provide assistance with committees. This can include organizing infrastructure projects across the nation, starting vaccination drives in rural regions, or continuing existing welfare programs with new additions. Additional policy the People's Forum can work on include general defense of the nation, conducting foreign relations, and the approval of nation-wide budgets (after local insight of course). However, the implementation of such programs and how they're carried out is determined by the areas affected by them. In cases where resources are distributed to certain regions, those regions have the authority to distribute them further as they see fit. 

All forums vary in their rules and regulations, but the People's Forum and a majority of lower level ones follow a few similar principles. Primarily, all forums, federation or commune wide, share a form of Consensus democracy: Consensus is achieved by having group elected facilitators discuss and identify points of contention. Through amendments and discussion, these points of contention are waded away. However, if contention still arises and is holding back the meeting, a 55% to pass vote can be initiated to pass whatever is tabled. Whilst most of the time the 55% to pass is used along with consensus procedures, the goal is to have legislation passed with more than 55% support. Another principle is the publication of articles of dissent and publication of what passed. Those who voted against or abstained the resolution(s) do have the ability to write articles in dissent of the bill, but must do so in a professional manner. These articles offer advice on what actions could be done in place of the decision, and other opinions on measures enacted. All passed resolutions or legislation material is also published to ensure all citizens are aware of what decisions were made, and spread via online news, flyers around population centers, and word of mouth.

Communal forums are able to oversight the People's Forum and other higher level forums by blocking their decisions with citizen approval, allocate resources to and from these Forums with taxes, initiate oversight boards on delegate conduct, open channels of negotiation if their community will be affected by People's Forum's legislation, implement committee development as they see fit and more. All of these actions are initiated by the citizenry. As the general goal of higher level forums is to coordinate activity between local communities, it was made important that communes are given the highest authority to act in their own best interests and be the most impactful assembly for citizens. Communes were designed to be the primary way of which policy is implemented, with higher up forums acting as ways to coordinate activity. However, this hasn't stopped multilateral coordination between communes from going on, and many communes, regions, and federations share dozens of projects with one another. 

Legal System/Community Panels 

Community court in Akverfi discussing a case of labor law violations

In Czuleck, the law is based off of civil law. Laws are passed by the previously mentioned Forums and as such can change from time to time. Whilst there are confederation wide laws, these primarily only cover topics such as treason or ecological crimes. The vast majority of laws that apply to the regular citizen come from their own communal and collective regional forums. Due to the efforts of many treaties and negations, laws between federations are similar to one another, and sub-divisions assist one another if crimes cross their borders, such as if a robbery occurs in one commune and the thief flees to an adjacent commune. Laws also place emphasis rehabilitation. There is no death sentence in Czuleck, and the most a citizen can be charged with is 20 years in a rehabilitation/reintegration facility, however, other punishments include restitution towards victims, community service, and attendance of community integration programs. These facilities help mentor those who broke laws, and work towards identifying why they did it and providing them with training, coping mechanisms, and more to avoid breaking the law again. Families can visit inmates, they can seek higher education whilst in their facility, and can even work jobs outside of the facility if given proper oversight.

Community policing does exist within Czuleck. However, the process to becoming an officer requires hefty education, testimonial from peers, and formal training once inducted. Prospective candidates may apply to their Communal Safety Collective [CSCs for short], with initial requirements including: Being at least 20 years old, graduating secondary school but preference given to those with a post-secondary degree in the humanities, and being in good standing with the community via testimonial from peers. If the applicant is accepted, they can join a variety of roles, which primarily focus on De-Escalation but also include mental health counseling, crisis intervention specialists, and more. Training can vary, but generally includes one year of formal training and one year of probationary service, training in diffusing and De-Escalation, and bias training. Community police are not armed, but volunteer Community Defenseman [CDs] in liaison with their respective homeguard unit may receive firearms training incase of terror attack or violent action. The most an ordinary community policeman can carry is pepper spray or a taser.

Additionally, each Region and Federation has their own respective Saftey Collective that operates relatively similarly to communal ones. However, they are used less often, and only in cases of region or federation laws being broken, incidiences crossing multiple communes/regions, and during times of war. For Confederation wide policing, there exists a subcommittee within the Comittee on Defense and Emergency Management called the
“National Subcommittee of Investigation”. It operates like a standard intelligence bureau, albeit with more scrutiny from the populous, and has frequent oversight boards for both domestic/foreign operations. It is bound by a strict mandate to work only against foreign activity. Every month, the subcomittee meets with the oversight board to discuss actions and determine if the subcomittee has gone too far in its power. If so, this is reported to the people’s forum and proper action can be taken. The oversight board it made up of elected representatives across Czuleck, and are given training to identify any corruption of power. They are also allowed instructed to accept anonymous complaints from members of the subcomittee and can directly investigate matters if they are pressing. This Subcomittee only acts, however, if there is credible threat to Czuleck from a foreign entity, and has credibly intelligence that foreign activity is occurring within the nation. If such a threat exists, they can investigate the connections and make arrests if proper evidence is found for a trial. Additionally, they may pursue confederation wide crimes, but must work with local safety collectives to pursue leads and make arrests.

Rather than resort to courts, all offending citizens within Czuleck are referred to community panels to help determine what punishment/restorative justice method best suits what occurred. These panels are formed based around various crime topics, such as property ones or theft based activities, and take a holistic approach in reasoning what would be the best option for the offender. Membership on these panels is drawn directly and diversly from the commune's citizenry, with them electing a mediator, and feedback groups are also established to ensure accountability on part from these panels. Compromise often occurs in these panels, especially towards those who may have committed their first crime, and preference is made to avoid rehabilitative facilities when possible. However, in avoidance of these facilities, citizens that were found guilty still must attend classes to learn from what they did.

Committees

Demonstration of community tolling programs by the Committee on

Infrastructural Development.

Under the People's Forum exists committees to help coordinate and assist projects that occur within Czuleck. These committees act similar to foreign nation's ministries and departments, but are under the People's Forum instead of an executive branch. These committees not only give advice on how to implement bills under their focus, but also help with resource management of project, ensuring lasting change as a result, and general execution of plans. Members within the Committees that aren't on oversight boards are part of what is generally referred to as the "Civil Service" of Czuleck. Whether they are referred by communes/regions or test takers of the Civil Service Exam [CSE], they are members of Czulian society who help ensure changes are advised, worked on, and successfully implemented. Some roles part of this civil service include clerks, technical experts, diplomats [for Committee on Foreign Relations], engineers, and more. The system of civil service is considered some of the most important work Czulians can take on, especially when done on the communal level. 

Committees consist of an oversight board to implement actions by the Forum, and are appointed from communal forum's suggestions to the People's Forum, and consist of those who have some level of higher education in the field they will be helping advise. Local Forums, like with regular members of the Forum, can recall members if their credibility is in question, implement programs differently, and work to compromise on implementation depending on local needs/wishes. Local Forums overall take precedent in the development of local projects. There are also committees in different communes and regions as well, helping to manage projects from the People's Forum and their respective forums. They usually follow a similar structure to the People's Forum, but are on a much smaller scale and consist of fewer members, with even additional committees formed or merged depending on local needs. Current committees in Forum include the following:

-Committee on Foreign Relations
-Committee on Economic and Energy Affairs
-Committee on Czuleck Culture
-Committee on Defense and Emergency Management
-Committee on Education, Research, and Technology
-Committee on Agricultural and Labour Relations
-Committee on Environmental Sustainability
-Committee on Health Services
-Committee on Infrastructural Development

Elections

Election in the capital of Bundaberg during the 1418 local flu epidemic

Within Czuleck, elections mainly happen for large regional forums, all federation forums, and the People's Forum for delegate spots. However, communes, collective regions, and federations have other elected roles on the ballots such as community police or those on local committees/boards. Other examples have included environmental coordinators, resource management experts, and a vast variety of different posts. Elections are held every three years and candidates are able to run a maximum of three terms. However, if the candidate can raise over 60% of a vote from their constituency, they are able to qualify for a fourth term, but that is the final term that they may have regardless of a fifth election's vote. 

All citizens starting at the age of 16 are allowed to vote in communal forums, and participate in the election process for delegates of Collective Regional forums, federation forums, and the People's Forum. Additional requirements to vote include residency of 4 years [only for communal elections, citizenship is required for any higher decision making], and an ID made by the local commune, although the process of obtaining an ID is streamlined. These requirements also carry over for citizens wishing to run as a delegate, including the age limit of 16, although the youngest ever regional forum member was 19. Those under 16, however, are allowed into youth forums, wherein their feedback/voice is brought into their associated communal forums, regional forums and so on. Additionally, there have been apps developed to allow those who are sick/busy virtually vote on local issues in an attempt to bring Edemocracy to the confederation. Whilst partially successful, only a few larger communal  have implemented this option of voting. This is due to the fear of those hacking the software to influence Czuleck's democracy. However, in the cities that have implemented such a program, it has shown an increase in participation in the democratic system. 

Candidates are still able to run for positions in a higher/lower office when term limited, but not the place they previously held. All elections are publicly funded, with advertisements with all candidates being completely free. Debates are also held frequently in campaign cycles to give citizens an idea of what candidates are proposing for their membership in upper level forums/posts. Voting in election starts two weeks prior and can be done in person, with a mailed ballot, or [in some cities] electronically. Those who miss the early voting deadline are able to vote on election day, with many cooperatives offering time and a half for those who cover shifts of citizens who haven't yet voted. For those who are sick or must be at home for both the early voting deadline and election day, the ballot box can be brought to them.

Political Associations

Flag of the Democratic Confederalists

 

Citizens within society, if they so choose, can be members of Political Associations. Rather than acting as political parties, these organizations are more decentralized, have no spot for leadership, and mainly exist to spur political debate. Whilst members of elected spots can be part of an association, many are part of two or more, and political associations are kept under heavy scrutiny in terms of finances, power accumulation, and more. Whilst there are hundreds of communal and Collective Regional political associations, there are five primary ones that have held consistent membership throughout the decades: The Mutualist Association, The Farmer-Labour Syndicalists, The Egoists, The Greens, and the Democratic Confederalists

• The Mutalist Association, often associated with the color orange, has been a strong supporter of mutual aid movements around Czuleck, and even helped provide joint aid with other associations to Usta island. Along with being a proponent for mutual aid they support market anarchism, peace as an alternative, implementation of labour theory values, and generally the idea of voluntary exchange.
• The Farmer-Labour syndicalists, associated with red mixed with black, are the primary labour force in Czuleck. Their main issues concern the support of trade unionism, the establishment of cooperatives around the nation, the focus/assistance of anarchist/labour movements abroad, and the use of direct action for change.
• The Egoists, associated with the color blue, are the individualists of Czuleck. They support measures that encourage individuals to pursue what they desire, advocate for personal property, support voluntary associations in regards to self interest, and support the idea of the revolution of one's self. They've been some of the largest opponents to laws that aren't universally agreed upon, such as that of smoking. 
• The Greens, associated with the color green, are considered the tree-huggers of Czuleck. They have been the spearhead of many green, sustainable, and renewable movements across the nation. Their policies include conservation/sustainability/re-wilding, the preservation of species on the brink of extinction, the advocation of biocentrism, and even have some (although few) members who are anti-civilization.
• Finally, the Democratic Confederalists, given the color yellow, are the least anarchist of the bunch. Consisting of a large part of the nation, they support broad decentralization, multiculturalism, workers cooperatives/unions, Social Justice/Social Equity, Direct Democracy, internationalism and non-state governance.