Government

Branches
The structure of the Catsfernian government consists of four branches, the legislative, the Executive, the Judicial and the Militeristic

The Legislative
the legislative branch consists of two houses the Common House, and the Specialized House. The Common House exists to help make legislation on matters of civil rights, interstate trade, infrastructure, and anything else that affects the life of the common civilian on a day to day basis. The Specialized House exists to help make legislation regarding matters of foreign relations, international trade, treaty negotiation and other matters that concern the nation as a political entity more than the lives of the people in the nation. Representation for each state in the two houses is determined differently for each house. The Common House's representation is based on population with each state starting with one delegate and receiving one additional one per 10,000,000 citizens of the state. On the other hand representation for the Specialized House is easier to figure because each state simply gets twenty delegates. The houses themselves make no direct legislation, instead they debate issues into a number of proposals. Those proposals are then presented to the President and the President choses one to make law, if no suitable proposal is presented then the issue goes back to debate at a later time. Both houses have their debates moderated by a House Moderator. They are elected from the house in an annual election and serve to present the issues up for debate and to keep the flow of debate going.

The Executive
The executive branch exists to enforce the laws made by the President and consists of a number of sub branches known as "Commands", each Command is in charge of enforcing one specific group of laws. Existing Commands include agricultural, civil liberties, business, corruption, safety, food and drug, infrastructure, telecommunications, military, international, extraterrestrial, taxation, motorway, and finally criminal. Each command is lead by a Command Head chosen by the President.

The President
The president of Catsfern fits both into the legislative and executive branches of government and has some broad powers. The president has final legislative powers, complete military command, head diplomatic responsibility, and power as the head of state. These powers make the president the most powerful single person in Catsfern.

The Judicial
In Catsfern the Judicial branch exists to try and sentence anyone accused of breaking a law made by the Legislative branch. Nine judges are appointed at the national level and three trials are held at once with each case being presented before a council of three judges. The three judge system is on all levels of government with no jury or legal council available private or public to either the prosecution or the defendant this encourages a legal educated populace.

The Militaristic
The Militaristic branch of the Catsfernian government is the least politically powerful with it only having three responsibilities. One to relay orders from the president to commanding officers and then report back how well the orders are being followed through with; The second is to ensure laws made by the Legislative branch regarding the military are enforced while abroad; Finally the third is to make sure the military stays within budget .The President choses one high ranking general to be General Five Star. The highest rank in the military proper and only outranked by the President themselves. The General Five Star has the authority to take emergency command of any military operation and can defy Presidential orders if necessary.

Checks and Balances
To insure no one branch of government becomes too powerful a number of checks and balances have been put in place.
 * The President can not make any legislation that is not one of the proposals delivered to him by the Common House or the Specialized House.
 * The President can be removed from office by a 2/3 majority vote of the Specialized House. If this happens then the Specialized hose must choose a candidate to possibly serve as Acting President. This candidate must then be approved by a 50% or more vote of the Common House. If the candidate is not approved the Specialized hose must select a different member as a new candidate. Once a candidate is approved they become Acting President and have 4 years to arrange an election for a new President.
 * The President can bring any issue to debate in either house through a written submission.
 * The nine judges of the Judicial Branch can convene and declare a law unfit. If a law is declared unfit it is taken off the books and no longer enforced after 6 months.
 * If half or more of the members of either the Common House or the Specialized House unexpectedly become unfit to do their jobs through death, injury, or disease the President can take emergency legislative powers from the afflicted House.
 * If the President is suddenly unable to perform their duties due to death injury or sickness the position is to be temporarily filled by the current General Five Star of the Militaristic branch. After that the government has 4 years to either have the old president return to office or arrange an election for a new President.
 * The President has appointment power for judges in the Judicial Branch, the General Five Star of the Militaristic Branch, and the Command Heads of the Executive branch.
 * Any presidential appointee can be removed from office through a 50% vote of the specialized house.
 * The President can personally promote or demote any member of the army, air force, or navy to any rank within their respective branch of the military.
 * The President can personally discharge soldiers both honorably or dishonorably.
 * The nine judges of the judicial branch can convene and declare the president unfit for office. If this happens then the Specialized hose must approve the declaration by a 50% or more vote. If the Declaration is approved the Specialized House must elect one of their members to become a candidate for acting president. Once the Specialized house has selected a candidate the Common House must approve the Candidate with a 50% or more vote. if the candidate is not approved the Specialized House must choose a different member as a candidate. Once an acting president is approved they have 4 years to arrange an election for a new president.
 * If a president plans to retire they must provide 4 years notice for an election for a new president to be arranged.
 * Any individual member of the Common House or the Specialized house can be removed form office. The President can submit a request to the judges of the Judicial Branch to remove a member of the legislature. The judges then convene and either aqueous or deny the request.
 * An Acting President has the same responsibilities as a standard President and can be removed from office in the same ways as a standard President. However, an Acting President can only serve for a maximum of 4 years.
 * Once a judge is appointed to the Judicial Branch the President can submit a request to the Specialized House to remove them from office. The Specialized branch can then approve that request with a 50% or more vote. Otherwise Judges serve for life.

Make Up
The Presidential Cabinet consists of the President, The Command Head of every Command from the Executive Branch, and a direct representative from each state. The cabinets job is to advise the President on which policy from the legislative branch to accept.

President
Presidents serve in Catsfern for life unless they either die, resign, retire, are voted out of power by the Catsfernian legislature. Presidential responsibilities include assigning Command Heads for each Command, serving as the head of state, commanding the army, and making the final say on which proposal for legislation from the Catsfernian legislature is actually made into law. The current President Of Catsfern is John Henry Eden, and he has been in power for 8 years. He is Catsferns fourth democratically elected President.

Taxation
In Catsfern Income taxes aren't collected on an annual basis, but on a daily one. At 5pm every day a notice goes out as to what the days income tax rate is. employers then deduct that from the workers pay for the day and pass that money on to the government. Other taxes such as property tax are collected annually.

Devolution

 * Government power is substantially delegated to local authorities.

Proportional Representation

 * Votes translate linearly to elected representation, with no seats or electoral college.

Term Limits

 * Elected representatives must leave office after a legally mandated amount of time

Marriage Equality

 * Citizens of the same sex may marry.

Polygamy

 * Citizens may have multiple spouses.

Euthanasia

 * Citizens are legally entitled to end their lives.

Compulsory Organ Harvesting

 * Citizens have no say in the medical use of their bodies after death.

AI Personhood

 * Artificial beings are legally recognized citizens.

Sex Education

 * School-age children receive mandatory sex education

Capital Punishment

 * Citizens may be executed for crimes.

Corporal Punishment

 * Criminals may be ordered to undergo physical punishment.

Conscription

 * A period of military service is compulsory for all citizens.
 * Children orphaned for more than 6 months are conscripted

No Prison

 * Jails and prisons are not employed.

Capitalism

 * Private industry is permitted within a market-based economy.

Maternity Leave

 * Women receive paid leave from employment for childbirth.

Substances

 * Cannabis may be legally purchased after the age of 16.
 * Alcohol may be legally purchased
 * all drugs may be purchased after the age of 18

Autarky

 * The nation pursues a policy of economic self-sufficiency.

Affirmative Action

 * Organizations are required to meet demographic quotas.

Nuclear Power

 * The nation is nuclear powered.

Space Program

 * The nation runs a space program.
 * Private business is allowed in space.

Metricism

 * The state mandates the use of the metric system.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

 * The nation claims the legal right to use WMDs.

Climate Treaty

 * The nation is a signatory to an international climate treaty.

No Immigration

 * Foreigners cannot become residents.
 * Foreigners require a visa to enter
 * Foreigners without a visa or an overstayed visa will be promptly deported.

Protesting
Protesting is legal in Catsfern, but with some restrictions. Protests are classified as a public event and thus the government must be made aware of them before they happen. For a protest to be legal you need to register it a week or more before it happens with a cities local government. Registration include information like where the protest will be, how long it will last, a rough estimate of attendance, and what exactly is being protested. Once the protest begins traffic will be directed around the area and a police presence will be maintained around the perimeter. As long as protesters aren't damaging property or hurting anyone they're allowed to do as they please for the duration of the protest. When the protest reaches the end of its registered time police will politely ask the protesters to vacate the area. Fail to do so and the police are authorized to gradually get less polite and even use non lethal force for up to 12 hours, after 12 hours police are authorized to make arrests. Anyone arrested at this time will be charged with "failure to vacate" a minor offence that only incurs a fine of 5 Septims for every hour after the order to vacate was given.

Riots
A riot is defined a a protest that has begun to cause noticeable property damage or bodily harm to attendants or police. Should a protest escalate into a riot police are authorized to imminently order people to vacate the area, and after an hour are authorized to begin making arrests. if the police meet resistance attempting to make they are authorized to use non lethal force after 2 hours and lethal force after 12, but only if they meet resistance while trying to make arrests.