Imperial Commissions
Democracies function when electorates are informed. With an ill-informed electorate, the choices made from election to election will not reflect the outcomes voters desire. The politicians they elect will implement policies that, at best, don’t resonate with their needs and desires, and at worst actively harm or prohibit them. Lies, strategic omission of important details, obscuring language, unavailability of data, hard to interpret data, and misrepresented data are all barriers to an informed electorate.
The Rodinian political system is awash with all manner of deceptions and misrepresentations from a myriad of political factions, parties, and the Great Houses themselves. The Imperial Government contains, as part of its non-partisan fourth branch under the Imperial Majesty (alongside the Outer Courts, and the Imperial Service), a branch dedicated to the production of data. This is the Imperial Commissions.
The Imperial Commissions are a group of non-partisan government departments operating under the direct supervision of the Imperial Majesty and their ruling Curia Regis. This is a similar position to the non-partisan Outer Courts, hence they’re insulated from both the Great Houses and partisan politics.
The main responsibility of the Commissions is the production of data that’s then made freely available to all Rodinians for their viewing. They gather and publish data on a huge variety of issues and topics, such as crime, economics, government spending, taxation, population change, and more. They generally don’t perform much data manipulation or processing, as most Rodinians by virtue of being superintelligent polymaths can analyze it for themselves and draw their own conclusions. The essential function of the Commissions is therefore simply the labor in obtaining the data and collating it in one place. It’s also regarded as a trustworthy source and the gold standard for the data thrown around during political campaigns.
The Commissions possess a special power to request access to any records held within any government body, which is essentially a delegated power of the Imperial Majesty. In some circumstances this can be appealed to the Imperial Majesty or the Outer Court of Session if the information is deemed to be of a sensitive nature (such as security related). They can also request records held by private organizations, individuals, and the Great Houses, however the bar for this is far higher and must be signed off by the Imperial Majesty.
In a sense, they ensure the executive branch, Zaquroum, continues to do its job effectively in accordance with its constitutional and legal commitments by keeping track of millions of metrics. For example, if a particular cabinet decides to stop enforcing a specific aspect of taxation against Great House habitat holdings, the Commissions will find out and publish it, making it hard to hide such facts from the people.
The Imperial Commissions make it harder to deceive the people, but it’s not foolproof. Those who side with the Great Houses naturally don’t trust anything the commissions put out as it may sometimes run counter to their narrative. In this sense, the Commissions don’t resolve differences of opinion over how to interpret facts. They simply ensure everyone has the facts so they can make up their own minds.
The commissions are led by the Chief Analyst, who sits on the Imperial Majesty’s ruling Curia Regis.
The Rodinian political system is awash with all manner of deceptions and misrepresentations from a myriad of political factions, parties, and the Great Houses themselves. The Imperial Government contains, as part of its non-partisan fourth branch under the Imperial Majesty (alongside the Outer Courts, and the Imperial Service), a branch dedicated to the production of data. This is the Imperial Commissions.
Role
The Imperial Commissions are a group of non-partisan government departments operating under the direct supervision of the Imperial Majesty and their ruling Curia Regis. This is a similar position to the non-partisan Outer Courts, hence they’re insulated from both the Great Houses and partisan politics.
The main responsibility of the Commissions is the production of data that’s then made freely available to all Rodinians for their viewing. They gather and publish data on a huge variety of issues and topics, such as crime, economics, government spending, taxation, population change, and more. They generally don’t perform much data manipulation or processing, as most Rodinians by virtue of being superintelligent polymaths can analyze it for themselves and draw their own conclusions. The essential function of the Commissions is therefore simply the labor in obtaining the data and collating it in one place. It’s also regarded as a trustworthy source and the gold standard for the data thrown around during political campaigns.
The Commissions possess a special power to request access to any records held within any government body, which is essentially a delegated power of the Imperial Majesty. In some circumstances this can be appealed to the Imperial Majesty or the Outer Court of Session if the information is deemed to be of a sensitive nature (such as security related). They can also request records held by private organizations, individuals, and the Great Houses, however the bar for this is far higher and must be signed off by the Imperial Majesty.
In a sense, they ensure the executive branch, Zaquroum, continues to do its job effectively in accordance with its constitutional and legal commitments by keeping track of millions of metrics. For example, if a particular cabinet decides to stop enforcing a specific aspect of taxation against Great House habitat holdings, the Commissions will find out and publish it, making it hard to hide such facts from the people.
The Imperial Commissions make it harder to deceive the people, but it’s not foolproof. Those who side with the Great Houses naturally don’t trust anything the commissions put out as it may sometimes run counter to their narrative. In this sense, the Commissions don’t resolve differences of opinion over how to interpret facts. They simply ensure everyone has the facts so they can make up their own minds.
The commissions are led by the Chief Analyst, who sits on the Imperial Majesty’s ruling Curia Regis.
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