Celestial Dominion of Sion

The Celestial Dominion of Sion, or more commonly, just The Dominion, is one of 5 states of the Republic Stellar Accord of Sion. The Dominion is both geographically and politically central to the Republic and houses the Republic’s capital and governing bodies.

The Dominion government is led by an Assembly of Ministers and Technocrats, with an elected Chancellor sitting at the head. Several top-level agencies and bodies have also been formed over the Dominion’s life time, with state-wide reach and oversight power.

The Assembly is the primary governing body of the Dominion. Consisting of a colelction of Ministers and Technocrats, and a single Chancellor, the Assembly is responsible for all levels of the government. Many specific responsibilities have been offloaded onto additional agencies drafted and overseen by the Assembly, however.

In terms of voting powers, the Assembly is split as follows:

The Chancellor of the Dominion serves as the head of the government. They are elected jointly by the Assembly of Ministers and Technocrats. Each Chancellor serves a term of 7 years, with re-election possible but capped at 2 terms. They can be removed prematurely by a majority vote of no confidence from the Assembly.

The Chancellor’s official duties include representing the Dominion within the Republic and with foreign powers. Additionally, they serve as arbiter between the Ministers and Technocrats within the Assembly. In the event the Assembly is ever locked in a tied vote, or other form of stalemate, the Chancellor is able to make a final decision to allow the Assembly to proceed forward.

Emergency powers are granted to the Chancellor, allowing them to override any Assembly decision, or to make an immediate decision without prior review and voting. However, these decisions must be ratified within 90 days or will expire. If abused, emergency powers run the risk of immediate removal by vote of no confidence.

Ministers are publically elected officials, each representing a member district within the Dominion. These districts are apportioned by population, and can range from individual planets to systems to groups of systems. Ministers are re-elected every 5 years, with no term limits. They hold a 40% voting power in the Assembly, allowing Technocrats more power to ensure their technological fields are held in priority. Ministers are responsible for drafting and proposing laws and budget changes to the Assembly, and are intended to represent the public will.

In practice, however, the Ministers of the Assembly have fallen victim to a slowly growing and deeply rooted corruption. Many Ministers rely on economic kickbacks and corporate donors, and allow these influence their decisions in Assembly proposals and acts.

The Ministers are also commonly gridlocked by internal factionalism, split primarily between three major parties. Expansionists, seeking economic growth, are often backed by corporations, and are commonly accused on selling out to Katar and other external powers. The self-named ‘Technocrats Allies’, purporting to maintaining technological advancement, often prioritizes their own projects.

Isolationists, seeking complete dependence and isolation from foreign nations that are not part of the Republic, are a relatively new faction in the Assembly. They have grown rapidly, and commonly parrot the views and policies of the Isolationist Movement throughout the Republic. Isolationists are suspected to have ties with the Sionian Isolationist Militia - A Republic terrorist organisation that has been violently disrupting foreign relations for the past few years.

Technocrats are appointed experts in various fields in science, engineering, medicine, economids, defense, and infrastructure. Entry into the Assembly as a Technocrat requires nomination by professional guilds, research institudes, or defense boards. Terms are 15 years long with a 2 term limit to ensure continuity.

Technocrats as a whole have a 60% voting power in the Assembly, but this power is limited to experts whos experience falls in a field covered by the bill, or to anyone able to successfully argue their field would be affected. This allows Technocrats to approve or veto new proposals based on technical feasibility and long-term impact on the Dominion. However, in practice, corrupt Ministers have tended to hold more sway through bribing - Or in some cases even blackmailing - Technocrats to obtain desired results, and Isolationist ideals have started to grow among the Technocrats.

Technocrats are also responsible for maintaining oversight of the Dominion’s research programs and infrastructure. Review documents are regularly published by Technocrats, that are ‘mandatory’ for Ministers to address in their policymaking, but have commonly gone ignored. In most cases, these documents are funding and budget requests.

Many Technocrats recognize the corruption among the Ministers as a problem, but feel they lack the power to address it, instead becoming increasingly elitist and insulated. They commonly view Ministers as incompetent at best, malicious at worst, and have come to view their own position in the Assembly as advisors without teeth. Some Technocrats have fallen to their own form of corruption: Collusion with corporate or even external Republic actors for power, seeing no other path forward.

Various state-level agencies have been commissioned and are overseen by the Assembly. Each agency is defined by a bill that was proposed, reviewed, and approved by vote. Under Dominion law, each agency must be re-reviewed and re-voted on every 6 years, though some agency bills define the review period over a shorter time.

The Dominion has a large number of agencies. Some of the more notable ones are listed below.

Responsible for monitoring budgets and ensuring they’re distributed as intended by the bill. Many Technocrats have voiced concerns over CAA reports being ignored by the Assembly if they aren’t politically convenient. There have been several attempts to push for a bill to give the CAA prosecutorial power. Each attempt has been heavily resisted and failed so far.

The Dominion’s state-level police and investigative agency. The Security Bureau works with and oversees local precincts. The Bureau was once tasked with investigating the growing corruption problem but has instead stagnated. Some inside sources report blackmail and threats of budget cuts are responsible.

Manages the Dominion’s diplomacy and relations with the greater Republic and their neighboring member states. The office is split between minister-appointed diplomats and Technocrat policy advisors.

An appointed sister agency to the Republic Liaison Officer. The Federation office is dedicated to the Dominion’s direct relation to the United Arshanov Socialist Federation. This office holds the same structure as the RLO. Recent increase in Isolationist ideals have brought this office under heavier and heavier scrutiny, and is under threat of being dissolved at the next review vote.

A mandatory agency pressed by the Republic. This state office serves as a bridge between the Republic’s Ilarin Peacekeepers (A Republic wide police and investigative force) and the Dominion. Ilarin activity anywhere within the Dominion is rarely viewed favorably, and this office commonly receives complaints. The Peacekeepers have requested authority to address the growing corruption problem, but have been stonewalled by the Assembly as a ‘state matter, not a Republic concern.’

This recently drafted commission is tasked with investigating, exposing, and dismantling corruption within the Dominion’s government and agencies. Naturally, this commission is highly unpopular with the Ministers, but was able to form after the current Chancellor used their emergency powers to grant all technocrats voting rights to the commission’s bill, citing:

The Technocrats’ collective 60% voting power carried the bill through. The Commission has only recently begun its investigations, but is fielded by a variety of personnel from throughout the Dominion.