The whole of humanity has never agreed on a single form of government, but with the so-called L-PRACG system of governance, it can be said that the race has largely agreed on a common framework for government.
After the collapse of the ancient nation-states during the Big Divide, people turned to locally organized civic groups to provide the basic services of government. Often these ad-hoc groups came together to solve a particular issue and ended up taking on matters of security, trade, and justice by default. Basic principles varied wildly from culture to culture and place to place.
Eventually, as civilization built itself back up from the ravages of the Autonomous Revolt, civic groups began to band together. Larger groups had greater collective bargaining power and were able to specialize on certain aspects of governance. Thus was born the Local Political Representative Association of Civic Groups, more colloquially known as the L-PRACG (pronounced ELL-pragg).
In modern society, L-PRACGs are responsible for the day-to-day services of government, including security, taxation and regulation. Often L-PRACGs are organized around a central tenet (such as governmentalist or libertarianism), culture (Japanese, West African, Texan) or geographical area (the Shenandoah and Harper L-PRACGs). Other L-PRACGs use formulas or free market tenets to determine the blend of services they provide. While some L-PRACGs are localized in one particular place, the vast majority are not.
Luckily, nothing prohibits citizens from joining more than one government at a time. (This freedom was in fact codified into law by the efforts of High Executive Toradicus in the year 145.) Most people today hold three or four simultaneous citizenships and rotate to new governments every few years. Likewise, in a free market system, L-PRACGs are constantly shifting their policies and priorities to attract new members for their tax base.
It’s not uncommon to subscribe to a local L-PRACG near one’s home to provide basic neighborhood services; a vocational L-PRACG to streamline one’s work life; and a personal L-PRACG that practices the tenets of one’s particular creed or culture.
Founded in 143 through the tireless lobbying efforts by Prengal Surina and High Executive Toradicus, the Congress of L-PRACGs was intended to be an organization that could treat with the Prime Committee as an equal.
The Congress’ main function has turned out to be the settling of inter-L-PRACG conflict. Given that there are tens of thousands of L-PRACGs spread throughout human space, the administrative aspects of coordinating laws and dealing with contradictions are formidable.
Most of the Congressional representatives are elected directly by L-PRACG citizens, but some representatives are still appointed by L-PRACG management. As of this writing, there are over 2,200 representatives on the Congress headed by a single Speaker. Given its large membership, the Congress tends to be slow to make decisions and often professes opinions far outside the mainstream of public opinion. This in turn means that the Congress generally has a difficult time commanding the drudges’ attention.
Since the ascendancy of Len Borda to the head of the Defense and Wellness Council in 302, the Congress’ power has been limited. Governmentalists loyal to Borda control the Speakership and a slim majority of seats. Critics complain that under the leadership of the current Speaker, the Congress has become nothing but the Council’s rubber stamp. There is a strong opposition element in the Congress, however, led by the radical libertarian Khann Frejohr. Political watchers agree that given a strong enough catalyst, the scales of power could easily be tipped to the libertarians.
The major governing body of the centralized government is the Prime Committee. However, since so many of the traditional functions of government have become the province of the L-PRACGs, the Committee is largely a legislative body and an umbrella organization to the various branches of centralized government.
The Prime Committee is divided into 23 voting and 6 non-voting groups known as bailiwicks. Voting members of the Prime Committee include the bailiwicks of:
Non-voting members of the Prime Committee include the bailiwicks of:
The number of representatives on the Committee from business interests has always been a concern of libertarians. They charge that no government in the history of humanity has ever been so slanted towards the concerns of its business class; governmentalists counter that this slant in fact provides for a great degree of stability in what would otherwise be a very rocky system. In 200, High Executive Par Padron took action on the libertarian complaints by arranging the passage of a resolution which decreed that the Congress of L-PRACGs will always hold a one-member majority on the Prime Committee.
There is a growing movement in the libertarian side of the aisle for a non-voting representative from the various groups of the diss. Many expect that this will be passed into law within the decade.
The world’s largest military and intelligence organization, the Defense and Wellness Council was founded in 107 by the newly formed Prime Committee. Technically it falls under the jurisdiction and oversight of the Committee, and its single High Executive and six Lieutenant Executives are appointed directly by the Committee.
In practice, however, the Defense and Wellness Council has been the dominant voice in governmental affairs for many years. Its research budget alone far outstrips that of the entire Prime Committee by many orders of magnitude. Not helping matters is the fact that the Committee has a history of appointing strong-willed, independent thinkers to the post of High Executive.
The Council’s peacekeeping officers have a complicated relationship with the tens of thousands of private L-PRACG security forces throughout human space. In years past, the Council’s ubiquitous troops acted mostly as backup and support for private L-PRACG security; the Council’s pledge of neutrality kept its officers distinctly above the fray of inter-L-PRACG conflict. Under Len Borda’s tenure, however, the Council has largely moved away from its supporting role and become a force acting on behalf of the central government itself.
A number of political entities exist that claim no fealty to the central government and do not follow its edicts. Among these are the Luddite government in the Pacific Islands, the numerous tribes and clans in the Pharisee Territories, the uncounted numbers of the diss, and certain orbital colonies and remote outposts beyond the reach of the Council’s military forces.
Still, the Committee and the L-PRACGs do treat with these outside governments fairly regularly (see Dogmatic Oppositions and the Diss L-PRACG movement).
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Excerpted from “MultiReal” by David Louis Edelman. Copyright © 2008 by David Louis Edelman. Reprinted by permission of Pyr, an imprint of Prometheus Books. Excerpt licensed under a Creative Commons License.