fandomhigh | Interstellar Relations, Monday, 5th Period

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interstellar relations

Interstellar Relations, Monday, 5th Period

As the students filed in, they could see the SmartBoard activated again, this time with a map of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Twelve seats were marked with signs, one for each colony. In addition, a packet of papers awaited each student, including an outline of the Colonial government, a copy of the Articles of Colonization, and a few ~~backdated~~ issues facing the system.

Roslin hovered near the desk at the front of the room, arms folded, one hand gripping a cup of a hot liquid. She smiled tautly, adjusting her glasses as the clock ticked to two p.m. “Okay, kids, let’s make sure we have a seat. Those of you in the marked seats, put the signs aside for now. You’ll need those next Monday. Today – we’re launching into the bookkeeping side, so maybe we can have a little fun next week.

“The government of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol,” she continued, gesturing to the map behind her, “was established by the Articles of Colonization approximately fifty-two years from this point. It establishes three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.

“A little different from that of our current location, the executive branch of the Colonies consists of the President, the Cabinet, and the Vice-President. The president is elected by popular vote; the vice-president is nominated by the Quorum of Twelve, and then elected to office, also by popular vote. The line of succession follows down through the vice-president, and the Cabinet, who act as advisors. As Secretary of Education, I was actually 43rd in line.”

She tapped on the screen and the map of the Colonies was replaced by a diagram, showing the links between the executive and legislative bodies. “The Colonial legislature is a bicameral system, consisting of an upper body and a lower body. In this, it's actually more similar to the British parliamentary system than the
American system.

“The upper body, known as the Quorum of Twelve, is like an elected House of Lords. There are, as the title suggests, twelve members, each one an elected representative from the Twelve Colonies.

“The lower body is called the People’s Council. It provides the proportionate representation, similar to the House of Commons.”

The lecture continued, with the former president outlining the judiciary system, and discussing the relationships between all the branches. This was highlighted by yet another chart on the board.

“And that, as they say, is that.” Laura powered off the screen with a remote control, then the lights came up. She adjusted her glasses across the bridge of her nose one more time. “Now...any questions about the system or the issues facing the system?”

She then dismissed the class a few minutes early, a reward for putting up with the dry lecture.

[OCD ~~coming~~ up -- have at. If you wish, pick a Colony from the list linked at the top of the lecture. If not, I'll randomly assign before class next week. If you're left without a colony, don't worry. I have a different job in mind for you....]

[ETA: Not sure what's going on with the links. They're showing up fine in the code, but seem to be adding on something I *so* didn't sign off on. Check the OOC thread for the updated links if these continue to be a problem.]

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This is a little more free-form than usual, but sometimes you just have to roll with it. Laura had almost forgotten what it was like not to have every moment of her day planned...

Luke spent most of the time doodling than taking notes, but he finally raised his hand to ask a question. "With so many planets, how do you coordinate an election?"

Teddy tosses a note onto Luke's desk.

You going to the Club Fair...thing after class?

Luke read the note--it took him slightly longer than it would someone whose native language was English--and nodded. "You?" he mouthed back.

Teddy nodded back and whispered, "Coolness."

Teddy leaned back in his seat and managed to pay attention to the lecture for five whole minutes before breaking and folding a piece of paper in the shape of a space ship and tossing it at Luke. Teddy was clearly a model student.

Re: Questions/Discussion

tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com - 2006-09-18 21:31 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Questions/Discussion

hera-rises.livejournal.com - 2006-09-18 22:17 (UTC) - Expand

"We have efficent interplanetary communications and travel, so the difficulty hasn't been so much with coordinating the elections, as it is tallying the votes." She paused. "Each planet is responsible for their own voting system. One of the key issues each term has been to standardize the procedures and systems across the Colonies. It was successful during our previous administration, with only two hold outs: Sagittaron and Gemenon."

Under her breath, she added, "...two colonies that marched to the beat of their own drums."

Of all the classes to fall asleep in, this was probably one of the last ones Anders would have wanted to fall asleep in, so he was doing his best to stay awake. Unfortunately this pretty much took the form of him propping his head up in both hands and squinting a lot, which meant that note-taking was kind of out of the question.

As she circled the room during her lecture, Laura made sure to tap her currently unbroken pencil on the corner of Anders' desk in emphasis...and to make sure he was awake.

"I'm awake, I swear," Anders said, giving her a bleary-eyed smile. "Just not feeling well."

"Ma'am, are the Quorum of Twelve elected from the members of the People's Council?" Peter asked. "Or does one stand seperately for that position?"

"One would stand separately for the Quorum." She pursed her lips, trying to think of an example. "The current German government includes a house composed completely of nominees from the governors of the states within the republic. In the case of the Colonies, this person is elected by the people, rather than being nominated by the planetary governor.

"Does that clarify it a bit?"

Peter stilled noticeably at the mention of the German government, but he nodded. "If I may ask another question? If there are twelve Colonies, where is the mother country? Why are they not governed by the colonising power?"

"With the Articles of Colonization, Caprica became the capital of the colonies. We didn't have a 'mother country', per se," she said. "We were all refugees from another planet -- Kobol -- many generations ago. The Articles are a culmination of all the various attempts we've made since then, to govern ourselves.

"That common origin is what binds us together, rather than a 'mother country'."

Re: Questions/Discussion

once-a-king.livejournal.com - 2006-09-18 22:41 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Questions/Discussion

hera-rises.livejournal.com - 2006-09-19 00:35 (UTC) - Expand

Isabel took notes wondering if any of this would be useful when she got back to Antar. Finally she raised her hand and asked a question. "How do political parties work? Are there a few that are common across all the colonies? Or are they unique to the needs of each colony?"

"Each colony has certainly developed their own personality; the more diverse their populations, the more diverse the party system. On Sagittaron, for example, there has been a long history of unrest. As a result...there are many parties, few of whom have ever been able to cooperate and agree on any one thing." She gave a rueful smile. "A lot of minority parties tend to split the vote until few, if any, are happy with the outcome."

"Read up on Ralph Nader and the Greens here in the US," Isabel replied. "Particularly in regards to the election of 2000."

Roslin nodded and made the mental note. "I'll do that." She added a smile. "Thank you."

"So, has there ever been conflict between the colonies? I mean, with them being on different planets I imagine it would be easy to suceed from the group."

"There's always been conflict between the colonies," Laura replied. She folded her arms across her chest, regarding the cat-boy. Her mind was still having difficulty wrapping around that little bit of reality. "Only on a few occasions, has it pushed beyond political, and resulted in armed warfare."

"Do you have rules for warfare between colonies then?" Schrodinger asked. "Codes of conduct, like that?"

Laura pursed her lips. "We do. It's very similar to what is called here the 'Western tradition' -- we discriminate between civilians and combatants; attempt to employ proportionate responses; and treat captured combatants humanely."

If they're human, she added silently.

Parker frowned, looking over the material, then raised her hand. "Professor Roslin? What form does the judiciary branch take? Are judges elected or appointed under the Articles of Colonization?"

"On the local level, some judges are elected," Laura replied. "As you progress toward district, you begin to see appointments. The colonial equivalent of the Supreme Court is fully appointed, as it is here."

"Twelve judges, I assume? One from each planet?" Parker frowned. "Are there more or less political wrangles between them, than their our between the Quorum of Twelve?" She cocked her head. "And are there any significant differences in your, for lack of a better term, Bill of Rights?"

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