Government
The Republic of Andoran is both driven and solidified by one underlying force: the fear of a return to tyranny. Within the republic, the more influential one becomes, the greater the public scrutiny, as there is an inherent distrust among Andorens for those with too much power and authority. As such, the higher one climbs in the democratic government or the more wealth one accumulates, the greater the social pressure to be charitable and promote good works. Any less draws derision, ridicule, or worse—suspicion.
Upon the overthrow of the old nobility, the newly formed government moved quickly to redistribute the land, allowing those nobles who wisely capitulated to keep a modest amount of property and wealth but returning the rest to the people. In keeping with millennia of convention, traditional lands were kept intact, divided as they already were into municipalities, each represented in the central government by a duly elected councilor who sat on the People’s Council. The council then, as a whole, appointed mayors for each individual municipality. Thus far, this system has worked to ensure a lack of corruption in local governments, as local politicians cannot bribe, threaten, or otherwise manipulate the local populace into electing them as mayor, and the council bases its decisions solely on a mayor’s credentials and merits.
In addition to the hundreds of municipalities, each major guild of Andoran has a representative on the People’s Council; from the merchants’ and bankers’ guilds to the fishmongers’ and drovers’ guilds, every trade has a voice on the council. The current number of seats on the council is 350, though this can increase or decrease through special legislation, such as would be required if the country acquired or lost territory.
The People’s Council meets in Almas once every 6 months, on the 15th of Erastus and Abadius, though any minister, consul, councilor, or the Supreme Elect can call a special session. All meetings are open to the public, though for a citizen to speak while a session is underway is cause for removal from the building.
Such meetings are presided over by the Supreme Elect. The current Supreme Elect, Codwin I of Augustana, has proven to be a wise, fair, and capable leader, and one who seems determined not to show any favoritism toward his home city. His first term ended in 4709, but such was his