Post by Wolfe on Dec 20, 2019 0:04:54 GMT -5
The Mistral Council consists of five seats, each of which have staggered five year terms so that a council seat is opened up to public voting every twelve months in early July. Some major power players in the Kingdom of Mistral are as follows:
Major National Political Parties
The Party for the Revival of Mistral (Revival Party) (3 seats) is a social order focused party formed in 0AV at the end of the Great War by the veterans of the conflict who sought to rebuild their shattered country. This is the party of the aristocratic class and many representatives both past and present won personal fame during the Great War. As the party in continuous power since the Great War, the powers of the Council have expanded dramatically to the point of superseding city councils when decisions conflict, including that of the capital itself. They pride themselves on economic and social stability, with an emphasis on rule of law. Economically, they are extremely laissez-faire and in exchange for the monetary support of the Artisan Guilds they allow them to settle matters among themselves to a level above even that of the major cities of Wind Path and Kuchinashi.
Peasant Party for Progress (Formerly PPP, now Peasant Party) (1 seat) is a party characterized by its opposition to social stratification and corruption formed in 2AV in response to the mass migration into the capital at the time by various outlying villages destroyed by the war that had immense trouble integrating due to the strict social hierarchy restricting opportunities for those who weren't local to do much of anything politically and economically in many fields unless they essentially swore fealty to the faction in charge of that area. The Peasant Party won their first Council election in 21AV, but quickly had their organizational acronym stolen by the Patriotic People's Party who immediately dominated the news cycles with radical speeches that many of the non-politically minded populace attributed to the Peasant Party due to the acronym being the same. This caused an immense dent in their reputation as of late, and their decade-long alliance with Solidarity has been doing them no favors since winning the election as any movements they make to protect the Union are met with declarations of corruption and cronyism from both the PPP and the ascending Confederation who are projected to take the Peasant Party's seat in the 26AV Elections.
The Patriotic People's Party (PPP) (1 seat) is a reactionary Monarchist party formed in 21AV who believes that the Treaty of Vytal and the dissolution of the monarchy in Mistral has led to the societal problems that the country has encountered since that conflict has been a result of the diffusion of responsibility throughout the government so that no one person can take responsibility for any action and that the ascendance of the Council has led to the moral and spiritual deterioration of the country. This party won their first seat in 22AV, narrowly beating out the candidates from the other three major parties in a four-way race and was accused of electoral fraud by both the Confederation and the Peasant Party as a result. Public opinion of the PPP is abysmal, but they always seem to have money to throw around despite that general unpopularity even from the elites who absolutely do not want to see a return to the monarchy.
The Confederation of Humanity (The Confederation) (0 seats) is an anti-elite and populist coalition party formed by a number of lesser parties in 17AV as a response to the outbreak of the Faunus War. With the slogan of Humanity First they tout themselves as the party of the common man who seek to change the system to the benefit of the masses. They believe that citizens are the responsibility of the federal government, and no one else. Intervention into foreign affairs is seen as a waste of resources, and paying the bills of noncitizens in any capacity is seen as corruption. They advocate substantial and permanent military buildup in the face of The Fall and say that the incident proved the unreliability of Huntsman Academies in the long term. Perhaps their most well-known policy is the aggressive pursuit of national infrastructure, with better maintained and secured roads and air travel routes between settlements in Mistral being touted as a matter of national security. They are popular outside of the capital, and have held Council positions in the past with a peak of two members on the Council who were elected in the successive years of 15-16AV. Since the last member was voted out in 21AV, they have not been elected back since.
Nongovernmental Major Organizations
Artisan Guilds of Mistral (AGM) is the term commonly used to refer to the various artisan guilds throughout Mistral which represent the most influential of the arts and trades within the country. The organization is ancient and has worked for the collective rights and privileges of all professions it represents, but not all of those professions are represented equally. The major guilds representing the realms of law, dust manufacturers and merchants, wool manufacturers and merchants, banking, silk weavers and merchants, physicians and pharmacists, and furriers as well as skinners. These major guilds made the decisions for the collective unit, and each of them were represented at every delegation to the Council.
The next tier of guilds consisted of the butchers, the blacksmiths, the shoemakers, the stonemasons, the woodcarvers, the tailors, and the linen manufacturers. This second tier of guilds got two representatives collectively to the Council, and usually had an influence ceiling as advisors to high-ranking members of more powerful guilds otherwise. There was a third tier of guilds as well, but this group had no decision making power and instead traded money for workers benefits and social respectability. This group included the wine merchants, the innkeepers, curriers and tanners, olive oil merchants, saddlers and harness makers, locksmiths and other toolmakers, armorers and swordsmiths, carpenters, bakers, and millers.
Statutes of the Guild have the force of law that are not infringed upon by the Council, and in return for loyalty its members receive a wide range of benefits. They are protected from economic competition both foreign and domestic, the quality of work was guaranteed via strict supervision of workshops, work hours were strictly enforced and less than the national average, paid market and feast days, the provision of public services such as health care to its members free of charge, and private security protection for workshops who could prove valid danger to their establishment.
Coalition of Solidarity (Solidarity) is a group of skilled workers such as weavers, spinners, domestic dyers, aircraft maintenance workers, general laborers, and street side merchants who lack the monetary and political power for a position within the Artisan Guilds but nevertheless formed a union in 15AV to fight for better working conditions, pay, and other benefits for all workers who paid their dues. This organization is subject to none of the protections that the Artisan Guilds enjoy, and thus police crackdowns are common and because of that fact membership has always remained low.
This group of craftsmen are the guilds who did not align with the AGM decades ago when they consolidated power, and have refused to join as the lowest tier as a collective largely due to the immense tribute they would have to pay both up front to be considered and continuously once accepted with no prospects of moving up to the position of a decision making guild. Because of the immense money that the AGM possesses and the Council backing them seemingly unconditionally, any rival unions or guilds have banded together just to stay alive independent of that organization as Solidarity. Publicly showed support for the Peasant Party in both 21AV and 26AV, but moves by the Peasant Party to ease crackdowns have been met with accusations of corruption and cronyism by the PPP and the Confederation so Solidarity is largely left out to dry.
Nongovernmental Fringe Groups
Order of Animan Nationalists (OAN) is a human supremacist organization formed in 21AV that holds that the treaty that ended the Faunus War is an illegal and thus illegitimate document that went against the will of the people in Anima and they have the right to see the treaty undone by force to enact the true will of the people. They believe the Council of Mistral to have acted in a treasonous manner to surrender a conflict that they could have won, and the organization refuses to accept the Council as the legitimate rulers of the Kingdom of Mistral on that basis. This organization is officially barred from holding public office and membership in the OAN is banned on the grounds that it is a group that engages in acts of violence against the civilian population of Mistral, particularly in rural areas, to create fear of electing any pro-Faunus or pro-Council representatives for local government.
Major National Political Parties
The Party for the Revival of Mistral (Revival Party) (3 seats) is a social order focused party formed in 0AV at the end of the Great War by the veterans of the conflict who sought to rebuild their shattered country. This is the party of the aristocratic class and many representatives both past and present won personal fame during the Great War. As the party in continuous power since the Great War, the powers of the Council have expanded dramatically to the point of superseding city councils when decisions conflict, including that of the capital itself. They pride themselves on economic and social stability, with an emphasis on rule of law. Economically, they are extremely laissez-faire and in exchange for the monetary support of the Artisan Guilds they allow them to settle matters among themselves to a level above even that of the major cities of Wind Path and Kuchinashi.
Peasant Party for Progress (Formerly PPP, now Peasant Party) (1 seat) is a party characterized by its opposition to social stratification and corruption formed in 2AV in response to the mass migration into the capital at the time by various outlying villages destroyed by the war that had immense trouble integrating due to the strict social hierarchy restricting opportunities for those who weren't local to do much of anything politically and economically in many fields unless they essentially swore fealty to the faction in charge of that area. The Peasant Party won their first Council election in 21AV, but quickly had their organizational acronym stolen by the Patriotic People's Party who immediately dominated the news cycles with radical speeches that many of the non-politically minded populace attributed to the Peasant Party due to the acronym being the same. This caused an immense dent in their reputation as of late, and their decade-long alliance with Solidarity has been doing them no favors since winning the election as any movements they make to protect the Union are met with declarations of corruption and cronyism from both the PPP and the ascending Confederation who are projected to take the Peasant Party's seat in the 26AV Elections.
The Patriotic People's Party (PPP) (1 seat) is a reactionary Monarchist party formed in 21AV who believes that the Treaty of Vytal and the dissolution of the monarchy in Mistral has led to the societal problems that the country has encountered since that conflict has been a result of the diffusion of responsibility throughout the government so that no one person can take responsibility for any action and that the ascendance of the Council has led to the moral and spiritual deterioration of the country. This party won their first seat in 22AV, narrowly beating out the candidates from the other three major parties in a four-way race and was accused of electoral fraud by both the Confederation and the Peasant Party as a result. Public opinion of the PPP is abysmal, but they always seem to have money to throw around despite that general unpopularity even from the elites who absolutely do not want to see a return to the monarchy.
The Confederation of Humanity (The Confederation) (0 seats) is an anti-elite and populist coalition party formed by a number of lesser parties in 17AV as a response to the outbreak of the Faunus War. With the slogan of Humanity First they tout themselves as the party of the common man who seek to change the system to the benefit of the masses. They believe that citizens are the responsibility of the federal government, and no one else. Intervention into foreign affairs is seen as a waste of resources, and paying the bills of noncitizens in any capacity is seen as corruption. They advocate substantial and permanent military buildup in the face of The Fall and say that the incident proved the unreliability of Huntsman Academies in the long term. Perhaps their most well-known policy is the aggressive pursuit of national infrastructure, with better maintained and secured roads and air travel routes between settlements in Mistral being touted as a matter of national security. They are popular outside of the capital, and have held Council positions in the past with a peak of two members on the Council who were elected in the successive years of 15-16AV. Since the last member was voted out in 21AV, they have not been elected back since.
Nongovernmental Major Organizations
Artisan Guilds of Mistral (AGM) is the term commonly used to refer to the various artisan guilds throughout Mistral which represent the most influential of the arts and trades within the country. The organization is ancient and has worked for the collective rights and privileges of all professions it represents, but not all of those professions are represented equally. The major guilds representing the realms of law, dust manufacturers and merchants, wool manufacturers and merchants, banking, silk weavers and merchants, physicians and pharmacists, and furriers as well as skinners. These major guilds made the decisions for the collective unit, and each of them were represented at every delegation to the Council.
The next tier of guilds consisted of the butchers, the blacksmiths, the shoemakers, the stonemasons, the woodcarvers, the tailors, and the linen manufacturers. This second tier of guilds got two representatives collectively to the Council, and usually had an influence ceiling as advisors to high-ranking members of more powerful guilds otherwise. There was a third tier of guilds as well, but this group had no decision making power and instead traded money for workers benefits and social respectability. This group included the wine merchants, the innkeepers, curriers and tanners, olive oil merchants, saddlers and harness makers, locksmiths and other toolmakers, armorers and swordsmiths, carpenters, bakers, and millers.
Statutes of the Guild have the force of law that are not infringed upon by the Council, and in return for loyalty its members receive a wide range of benefits. They are protected from economic competition both foreign and domestic, the quality of work was guaranteed via strict supervision of workshops, work hours were strictly enforced and less than the national average, paid market and feast days, the provision of public services such as health care to its members free of charge, and private security protection for workshops who could prove valid danger to their establishment.
Coalition of Solidarity (Solidarity) is a group of skilled workers such as weavers, spinners, domestic dyers, aircraft maintenance workers, general laborers, and street side merchants who lack the monetary and political power for a position within the Artisan Guilds but nevertheless formed a union in 15AV to fight for better working conditions, pay, and other benefits for all workers who paid their dues. This organization is subject to none of the protections that the Artisan Guilds enjoy, and thus police crackdowns are common and because of that fact membership has always remained low.
This group of craftsmen are the guilds who did not align with the AGM decades ago when they consolidated power, and have refused to join as the lowest tier as a collective largely due to the immense tribute they would have to pay both up front to be considered and continuously once accepted with no prospects of moving up to the position of a decision making guild. Because of the immense money that the AGM possesses and the Council backing them seemingly unconditionally, any rival unions or guilds have banded together just to stay alive independent of that organization as Solidarity. Publicly showed support for the Peasant Party in both 21AV and 26AV, but moves by the Peasant Party to ease crackdowns have been met with accusations of corruption and cronyism by the PPP and the Confederation so Solidarity is largely left out to dry.
Nongovernmental Fringe Groups
Order of Animan Nationalists (OAN) is a human supremacist organization formed in 21AV that holds that the treaty that ended the Faunus War is an illegal and thus illegitimate document that went against the will of the people in Anima and they have the right to see the treaty undone by force to enact the true will of the people. They believe the Council of Mistral to have acted in a treasonous manner to surrender a conflict that they could have won, and the organization refuses to accept the Council as the legitimate rulers of the Kingdom of Mistral on that basis. This organization is officially barred from holding public office and membership in the OAN is banned on the grounds that it is a group that engages in acts of violence against the civilian population of Mistral, particularly in rural areas, to create fear of electing any pro-Faunus or pro-Council representatives for local government.