Greetings, all. Yesterday, I was doing some reading for class on American electoral habits of the late 19th century. Of course, me being an easily-distracted nerd, I took the thought of elections and representation and...kinda ran with it.
So, in Breland, there is a Parliamentary system which, given the Brelish love for democracy, is probably bicameral. I see a House of Lords and a House of Commons. I've figured that there are 400 seats in the House of Commons, representation based on population, and 100 seats in the House of Lords. Somewhat arbitrary, but whatever.
I looked through Five Nations, and all I could find is that Breland had a democracy, but I found no mention of any races that were discriminated against. Actual participation may vary, but we'll handwave that for now.
Now, if we assume that the racial makeup of the House of Commons follows the distribution of the racial makeup of Breland, then 4% of the 400 Ministers of Parliament (MP), or 16, would be Goblinoids. Seeing as Sharn makes up 5.4% of Breland's population (or 21-22 MPs), and Goblinoids account for 9% of the population there, we have 1-2 of those 16 Goblinoid MPs coming from Sharn.
Now, first of all, I demand a picture, in either Dragon or Dungeon, of a Goblin (Hobgoblins or Bugbears would work too, but wouldn't be anywhere as cool as a Goblin) MP with a monocle and nice clothing (cane optional, but recommended) hobnobbing at a meeting of the Brelish Parliament.
Second, imagine what sort of possibilities this, or similar applications of political theory, gives us DMs.
One of the friends I discussed this with asked if Goblinoids would be gerrymandered into political oblivion. Are the Goblinoids angry at this political discrimination, or apathetic? Would the Swords of Liberty seek to recruit Goblinoids? You decide, DM!
While chatting with this same friend, we went on a bit of a whimsical streak. We wondered if any Goblinoids would support a Goblinoid MP, as he'd act so...ungobliny. We then handwaved it, and (jokingly) decided that he'd be a Blue goblin with 20 INT and three doctorates (History, Law, and Political Science) from Morgrave University.
Now, though, i open the floor to you! What MPs can you come up with? What aids? What factions or parties inside of Parliament? You decide, DM, and tell us!
I couldn't find any details to indicate whether the Parliament is divided into more than one house. Sharn says there are 27 noble families in Breland - perhaps that's the total number of hereditary parliamentary seats?
Five Nations has two clues, though. The first says that the parliament is a mix of hereditary and elected offices and the other is in the Prime Minster's background, which indicates he's a member of the Noble Legislature. Neither of these pieces of information is determinative, however. It's completely possible that the parliament is unicameral with a mixture of different mechanisms for appointment. Some might be in positions for life, others elected at fixed terms, and others up for election when an election is called for by the Prime Minister or the King.
Structurally, I think the parliament is probably quite messy. For centuries, it was just a symbolic body without real power. Whenever the governor-prince wanted to get rid of a troublesome or ambitious relative, he could always assign him an office in parliament. It was only in 895 YK that the parliament came to possess actual legislative power, and this was probably an emergency move by the King to ensure that the nobility would support him entirely during the Last War - if any other nation one, they certainly wouldn't have allowed the Brelish nobles to be members of a true political power such as the new parliament.
As for the composition of the parliament, I'm pretty sure it's going to be disproportionately human. Why? Because human's are the royal race. It's true in the Five Nations that nationality is more important race, but that doesn't mean every race gets equal representation everywhere. Since humans were in charge of Breland during the age of Galifar, the nobility is probably over-represented by them.
I think goblins probably aren't represented at all. Some of it might be racism, but it's even more likely to be due to goblins being almost entirely an underclass race in Breland. Goblins don't have the kind of political power to force. It's notable that while goblins make up 9% of Sharn's population, no goblins are member's of Sharn's city council.
For parallels, look to real-world legislatures. Even though there isn't official discrimination to account for it, you're going to be hard-pressed to find certain groups holding a proportional amount of seats.
We'd also have to see a warforged MP, working for the rights of the warforged since the signing of the Treaty of Thronehold. He would want to make Breland a mecca for warforged and work to further the expansion of basic warforged rights.
Breland can actually double-dip here. First, it's the sight of a creation forge, so there are certainly many warforged that were 'born' Brels. Second, King Boranel forced the parliament to recognize the warforged as people in 986, ten years before the Treaty of Thronehold.
Hello, some quick thoughts. We are running a large Goblinoid adventure with a few PC's from Darguun and the rest from Sharn. The best back story is a Hobgoblin, who is now an elite Citadel agent. It is awesome if I use this theory in our campaign, the players are about 13 level now and i really like to implement stories that have several layers.
Off the top of my head i feel that the Goblinoid PM would have many different levels of concerns, one could be as simple as goblinoid rights, or checking on the fairness of goblinoid mercenary contracts. But I think I would like to take it a little deeper, make him have several business concerns with exporting ore and slaves from Darguun. Setting up several contacts in both royal houses for needed labor, to cannith with the Ore, maybe the even spread them out among the Dark 6 for there purposes.
I see him as being a gentle goblin, kind and scholory but underneath a Iron nerve and a drive to become better than his peers. He would use many levels of agents to cover the Illegal activities and i think i will try to turn my citadel agent to match his activities or set him up as a fall guy when the time is right..... Maybe use him and the party to first eliminate rivals in Parliament, other agents in citadel and then allow all there ?good? actions come to light!
Yeah I like this allot, and it is just the first thoughts if you or anyone else have any suggestions please share them?
I would like to say a Changeling would be cool, just to get all the extra "Eberron Races" into the mix, but I kinda doubt a Changeling would get openly elected. One could of course conceal his/her true identity, but that's a bit different.
I don't know about the parliment, but I seem to remember a changeling that openly sits in Sharn city council, so it wouldn't be too strange to see one in the parliment.
About goblinoids in the Parliment, I wouldn't expect one to make it in, they're just too poor. POSSIBLY from a seat of sharn, where the goblin population is highest, but very unlikely.
A warforged wouldn't have made it to parliment yet. Maybe 10-15 years from 998 Yk, if somehow the war doesn't flare up, but not so soon after being freed.
In general I think you need to think about pre-party line voting in British Parliment (without the house of lords as a seperate body) to model the make-up and process of the Brelish parliment.
I believe the seats are based on towns and their surrounding areas, each small town getting an MP, larger towns getting 2, cities getting like 4, and sharn getting 8 or 10.. something like that? Then each of the high noble house getting a member also in the main house, along with a voted at large members from the minor noble houses.
And based on lack of racially segregated towns, I wouldn't expect the racial makeup of the house to follow the makeup of the nation at all - it would be predominately human, with smatterings of elves, half-elves and dwarves.
First of all, I agree that Parliament would be predominantly human, with non-humans comprising half-elves, elves, and dwarves (in that order, probably). Looking at the current US Congressional makeup, we can see that the elected representatives only somewhat closely mirror the electorate in terms of political makeup, but I'd bet that "political makeup" is defined as, "how the nation voted for the President". In terms of "race" and sex, "Whites" and "Jews" are overrepresented, TMK, with "Blacks" and "Hispanics" underrepresented, and men are overrepresented.
Making the Brelish Parliament a balanced system wasn't the point of this thread. The point of this thread (and in hindsight, I did a non-existent job of communicating it) was to bring up the possibility of the Brelish Parliament as a narrative tool for the DM.
In my case, having Goblinoid (or is there a PC name we should call them?
) MPs highlights how very different Eberron is. The "logical" position, ably espoused by Sarlax, is more realistic, and allows for another way to couche racial tensions in Eberron, which in and of itself is novel.So, now I will ask you guys how your Parliament works. What's the makeup? What're the issues? How powerful is it (again, Sarlax has a good point about the power of Parliament)? What factions are there? How will you bring your bunch of boring politicians to life and affect your game?
One further point, even statistics leave room for the exceptions to the rule. You just need one lucky goblinoid running against a recently disgraced and previously thought of shoe-in candidate to make notable history. What would be even more amazing is if that goblinoid could get re-elected.
One further point, even statistics leave room for the exceptions to the rule. You just need one lucky goblinoid running against a recently disgraced and previously thought of shoe-in candidate to make notable history. What would be even more amazing is if that goblinoid could get re-elected.
And I can just imagine a small cabal of goblins (and maybe other interested non-humans) working to bring about just such a disgrace in order to open up a space in the parliament. Which side will the characters be working on? What fun!
cheers,
Meshon
Paid for by the Committee to elect Doga the Benevolent, Dakkitaka seller and YOUR goblin friend in parliament!
This senate isn't "democratic" in the modern sense, with elections, but much more along the lines of ancient Rome or pre-reform England--weirdly shaped jurisdictions, hereditary seats, senators whose boroughs have been swallowed up by the sea or lost in the Last War to Droam or depopulated.
Now for numbers of members.
There are 27 noble houses in the country. So there are 27 members who are granted hereditary seats. in the Noble Parliament.
Now, let's look at the lower house. 5N says that they are elected to two year terms by town hall meetings from around the country.
I would also suppose that Boranel created a seat for the warforged, after recognizing the value of Bulwark. So there's one warforged member. 1+
Let's also assume that there are similar seats for some other races--the elves are guaranteed one seat as are the dwarves and the gnomes. These racial seats are appointed by the King from prominent members of these communities. 4+
But the majority of seats--let's guess there are say double the number in total from the Noble Legislature 54 total--are democratically elected. So that's 50 or so seats left. Most of these are remnants from the Kingdom of Wroat, from before the War of the Mark, and are concentrated around the Brey River. Some seats are essentially hereditary--depopulated hamlets, places that have been swallowed by the river, areas abandoned to the wild--while others represent huge, thriving populations... Sharn, for instance may not even have representation.
These "rotten boroughs" are frequently held by men in the payrolls of the Dragonmarked Houses--Merrix d'Cannith is rumored to have at least five senators in his pocket.
Also, the Roman Republic had a system of giving the most prominent war heroes senatorial rank--that's how Julius Caesar first entered the Senate (he was eligible anyways, but would have had to wait a few years, his valor earned him a seat in his twenties). So let's guess that there are around 3-5 of these guys... they are in addition to the standard 54 seats.
What does this lower house now look like?
4 members are racial representatives--warforged, elves, dwarves, gnomes, selected by the King every two years
50 members are elected by popular vote
3-5 members who have life long appointments for their military service. These are guys that the great potential allies for the PCs--they've confronted the jaws of death just like the adventurers.
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--Possible Heroic Parliamentarians:
Grand Captain Urug Vaharaag, an aging and battle scarred hobgoblin who led a mercenary company in Brelish service for over four decades. Despite the revolt of Darguun and the chaos of Drooam (he was offered enormous treasure for defecting to either of these revolting states) Urug remained loyal to his paymasters in Wroat, and personally led a series of expeditions deep into Drooam to rescue Brelish humans trapped in the monstrous domain. Elevated to the Parliament in the late days of the Last War, Urug has long been admired by the disenfranchised goblinoids of Sharn
Admiral Bohamen Hana Yadu, a native of Stormreach who was shanghaied into the Brelish navy after serving a brief stint in a Sharn jail. Bohamen served as a regular seaman for twenty years, on various ships, but after the death of the captain and most of the officers of the Vanglorious during the Fourth Battle of the Ravas Point, took command of a boarding action that led to the destruction of six Valenar pirate galleys and the liberation of nearly 500 human slaves, turning the course of the battle and preserving the trade routes to Xen'drik. Bohamen has sailed to nearly every corner of Khorvaire, including expeditions to the Demon Wastes, and one of the first trading voyages to Sarlona. The old salt is ill suited to be a senator--he's barely literate, drinks too much, and has no concept of the courtly manners that are required of a parliamentarian. He's extremely popular amongst the merchants on the Stormreach routes, and has become something of a hero to the hundreds of thousands of Brelish veterans who have little connection with a peaceful society.
Her Holiness Irisa Oroon, a Priestess of the Sovereign Host who led a rearguard action through the Graywall Mountains, saving nearly 6,000 Brelish refugees and soldiers from Drooam's trolls and ogres. Later, Irisa was stationed along the Aundairan front, where her personal gallantry led to the defeat of a series of Aundairan raiding parties who were devastating communities along Lake Galifar and exposed a conspiracy to join those communities to Fairhaven's rule. Irisa was elevated to the Parliament after the war, when she led a tiny company of soldiers out of the Mourning. She has since refused to speak of the experience herself, but those whom she rescued attest to her personal intervention in saving them.
----
A large part of the popular discontent against the ir'Wyrnarn monarchy comes from the fact that the lower chamber is essentially undemocratic. Sharn may have one, or no votes, while a dilapidated shed (the last standing building of a formerly important town) that is eroding into the Dagger has a vote.
How will you bring your bunch of boring politicians to life and affect your game?
One of my the PCs in my game has a strong tie to the Brelish military from the Last War, and the first adventure involved him being lured in and then semi-betrayed by a member of the Swords of Liberty.
Here's how I envision the future unfolding: given that the Brelish monarch institutionalized the parliament, the idea of a democratic revolution grows stronger every day in Breland. The only thing holding it back is that Boranel is such a popular king. Once he's gone, the Parliament will be able to make a statement like, "The last and greatest king of Breland has passed! Let us now realize the dream of the Brelish royals by establishing a true democracy!" IE, once he'd dead, the 'democrats' will use his death to catalyze a democratic revolt.
As this goes on, I intend on borrowing heavily from the Soviet Union, with democrats standing in for communists, violently insisting that all voices be heard and that all votes are counted. Of course, factions will work behind the scenes to ensure that their own policies are enacted, but they will strive to have the appearance of democracy even as assassinations and disappearances of public figures go on in the background.
Regardless, why would there be a specific racial representative? I thought the whole idea about Khorvaire was that with the exception of "monstrous" races, people associated first with ones nation and race second. Most dwarves, elves and definitely half-elves would think of themselves as Brelanders first, and the idea of a racial representative would seem really odd to them. The exception would be Talenta halflings, Mroar Holds dwarves, Areanal (sp?) elves, and the direct members of the Dragonmarked Houses but those would have no representatives at parlaiment at all. (With the possible exception of Dragonmarked houses who probably have a disproportianal influence on politics in villages and regions highly dependend on them such as Passage for House Orien.)
It makes me wonder about whether or not Dragonmarked Members would actually be allowed a seat on parliament. I doubt they will since they cannot be nobles either...
I like the idea of heroic parlemantarians. Certainly something to spice up politics if that is what your players are interested in...
(Note that I find it odd that IC politics have a tendency to turn into OOC discussions. Our PCs in Eberron certainly do not share the same opinions on democracy as in real. In fact, a recent discussion about Breland's political situation in the campaign showed that most of the PCs are really suspicious of the whole concept of democracy.)
(Note that I find it odd that IC politics have a tendency to turn into OOC discussions. Our PCs in Eberron certainly do not share the same opinions on democracy as in real. In fact, a recent discussion about Breland's political situation in the campaign showed that most of the PCs are really suspicious of the whole concept of democracy.)
Why would it be odd that IC actions or campaign story elements (i.e., IC politics) become a topic of OoC discussions? Don't your players talk about what happened in the game? And don't those discussions sometimes blend into discussions about pop-culture, politics or other real-world topics? The two topics that are most likely to set-off fireworks in mixed company are Religion and Politics. For some reason in my group, while IC religious beliefs are easily kept separate from OoC religious beliefs, the same does not seem to be true for populist hot-button political issues. Our group runs the spectrum on real-world political views, so it says alot about the great game of D&D, that we can get together ever week and have a blast together, even though we hold some very different fundamental beliefs.
Regardless, why would there be a specific racial representative? I thought the whole idea about Khorvaire was that with the exception of "monstrous" races, people associated first with ones nation and race second.
You are right that nationalism trumps race. However, would that extend to people of the same nationality? Would the Brelish dwarf get along better with another Brelish dwarf or a Brelish human?
Concerning racial representatives, my thinking was not that voters would vote for their race, but that every racial group would be roughly equally involved in politics, and would thus contribute MPs roughly equal to their race's population distribution.
Regardless, why would there be a specific racial representative? I thought the whole idea about Khorvaire was that with the exception of "monstrous" races, people associated first with ones nation and race second. Most dwarves, elves and definitely half-elves would think of themselves as Brelanders first, and the idea of a racial representative would seem really odd to them. The exception would be Talenta halflings, Mroar Holds dwarves, Areanal (sp?) elves, and the direct members of the Dragonmarked Houses but those would have no representatives at parlaiment at all. (With the possible exception of Dragonmarked houses who probably have a disproportianal influence on politics in villages and regions highly dependend on them such as Passage for House Orien.)
the reason i included racial representatives is that they follow my general idea: the brelish parliament has not been extensively reformed since shortly after the War of the Mark--when race relations were probably quite different.
You are right that nationalism trumps race. However, would that extend to people of the same nationality? Would the Brelish dwarf get along better with another Brelish dwarf or a Brelish human?
Excluding the effects of longlevity, I would say equally well.
Concerning racial representatives, my thinking was not that voters would vote for their race, but that every racial group would be roughly equally involved in politics, and would thus contribute MPs roughly equal to their race's population distribution.
Sure, but I was replying to the poster who provided a specific representative for each race and that is something I don't buy.
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the reason i included racial representatives is that they follow my general idea: the brelish parliament has not been extensively reformed since shortly after the War of the Mark--when race relations were probably quite different.
Is the parliament really that old? If true, for me it still feels odd to add specific racial representatives since at that time the humans would not have cared all that much about the other races either.
(Note that I find it odd that IC politics have a tendency to turn into OOC discussions. Our PCs in Eberron certainly do not share the same opinions on democracy as in real. In fact, a recent discussion about Breland's political situation in the campaign showed that most of the PCs are really suspicious of the whole concept of democracy.)
Why would it be odd that IC actions or campaign story elements (i.e., IC politics) become a topic of OoC discussions? Don't your players talk about what happened in the game? And don't those discussions sometimes blend into discussions about pop-culture, politics or other real-world topics? The two topics that are most likely to set-off fireworks in mixed company are Religion and Politics. For some reason in my group, while IC religious beliefs are easily kept separate from OoC religious beliefs, the same does not seem to be true for populist hot-button political issues. Our group runs the spectrum on real-world political views, so it says alot about the great game of D&D, that we can get together ever week and have a blast together, even though we hold some very different fundamental beliefs.
Let me rephrase: IC political and religious discussions do not have a tendency to turn into OOC RL ones. Which is not to say that we do not have RL discussions about politics and religion (although our ideas on religion are pretty similar), it is just that we keep those clearly seperate from the game and try to avoid them while playing the game more in an attempt to stay focussed then out of fear of things becoming heated.
erdana">
Is the parliament really that old? If true, for me it still feels odd to add specific racial representatives since at that time the humans would not have cared all that much about the other races either.
the parliament appears to be a pre-Brelish institution--I very much doubt that the ir'Wyrnarn's would have set it up. Further, I doubt that they would have cared much to reform it--the Brelish Kings were always placeholders. They either moved on to become Kings of Galifar back on Thronehold or they were replaced by their nephews and nieces. There's no need to make a more efficient legislative body if that's the situation.
If one looks at the history of Wroat, I would imagine that the Kings of Wroat formed the Parliament in an effort to consolidate their rule along the River Brey and the Sword in general. I included the racial representatives in my write up because I can imagine these Kings wanting to attract the skilled members of the various races to their realms, and granting leaders of these communities voices in the parliament would be a means of assuring them that their voices would be heard.
The reason that the Parliament is unique to Wroat, I would imagine is that the events of the War of the Mark focused on Shaaran. Perhaps the second chamber was formed in those days? Perhaps the King was forced to formally acknowledge the power of various landlords or towns? Perhaps it was the aftermath of the war, when the Kings needed to raise permanent armies to ensure that the vile forces that had precipitated the war did not emerge a second time from the ruins of Shaaran?
Whatever the case, the Brelish Parliament may well antedate Breland itself, and its composition should reflect its origin.
Is the parliament really that old? If true, for me it still feels odd to add specific racial representatives since at that time the humans would not have cared all that much about the other races either.
His could be. Yours might not. I instituted this thread not so we could all hammer out the One True Parliament, but so we could come up with a bunch of possible Parliaments.
That way, a DM could pop in, snag the outline of the one that would best suit his game, and run with it.
(And I certainly like the idea of representatives of districts and places that do not exist anymore.)
My questions was not meant to sound judgemental. It was an honest question on whether or not there were any official references to the parlaiment's age. I was honestly curious about that. As for each DM running it the way they want, of course, that speaks for it self ;)
i didn't see any in Five Nations. But it's logical to assume because the parliament is only present in Breland that it was a pre-Galifaran institution.
After all, the ir'Wyrnarns weren't really democratically minded and don't seem to me that they would have wanted or needed to form a parliament--but I can see the Kings in Thronehold sending the least favorite kid out to Wroat, so he can deal with those toothless old Brelish politicians and he can't even live in Sharn.
Yak: Hah. Keep in mind, Sharn wasn't cool for a long period, as it got wreaked in the War of the Mark and just sat there for a long time. And actually....was there an order in which the spawn of the King of Galifar got sent off? I seem to remember Cyre being the traditional firstborn's place.....
Now, I think that Breland had, for a long time, had a democratic tradition. In New England, for example, the towns were democratic, which resulted in a particular mindset for New Englanders.
So, if we export this to Breland, we could have individual communities deciding local affairs democratically, but being governed from above autocratically. Eventually, though, The Powers That Be might notice that these funny meetings the commoners go to not only seem to make them happy, but have some nice side-effects. Eventually, democracy will come farther and farther up until a Parliament is created, except with the House of Lords to counterbalance the House of Commons.
That's one way I can see of approaching it.
The parliament's probably at least a few centuries old, and probably predates Galifar in some form another. As a big frontier-styled nation, it would have been hard for Wroat to directly control the other nobles of the nation. I suspect the parliament developed because it gave the pre-galifar kings of Breland a mechanism for influencing distant nobles without using a military. If they could maintain the allegiance of some portion of nobles in the frontier, those guys could help keep their neighbors in line.
I think that you have a point in the Parliament being established to control border nobles. After all, its a lot harder for a rebel to justify tearing down the government and building a new one when....he's already a member of the current government.
Wroaan establishing the Parliament shortly after the start of the Last War also makes sense in terms of political-strategic decisions. Easier to raise and rally public support if everybody has a say. I also seem to remember reading something about how England was always able to out-spend Germany or France because of Parliament.
So, what factions exist, or could exist in Parliament? I believe that one such is covered in the Eberron books as the people who are rabidly democratic, and want Breland to be a Republic, not a Constitutional Monarchy, when Boranal dies.
So, what factions exist, or could exist in Parliament? I believe that one such is covered in the Eberron books as the people who are rabidly democratic, and want Breland to be a Republic, not a Constitutional Monarchy, when Boranal dies.
The question is exceptional interesting to me, as my campaign just had a very dramatic change: King Boranel was just assassinated.
9 Olarune 998 marked the 80th anniversary of fall of the Glass Tower (Sharn p.32). In the years since, a tradition has developed in which city residents create ice sculptures and hurl them in the Dagger River.
In my game, King Boranel was attending the contests as a guest judge. The 80th anniversary of the disaster was the first milestone year after the end of the Last War. He was attending to show solidarity with the people of Sharn and to bring attention of the horrors of the Last War so that people wouldn't forget. There were also rumors (neither confirmed nor denied) that he would use the ceremony to formally announce his intention to dissolve most of the monarchy's power and establish Parliament as the preeminent legal authority in Breland.
He never got the chance. While Boranel was enjoying the contest from Ocean View, the PCs in my game were battling terrorists in the Cogs to stop them from destroying the tower bases which supported the neighborhood. They were too late, and much of Ocean View crashed into the Dagger River, killing King Boranel.
With his death, I expect Breland to go into near chaos as the nation tries to resolve the question of how best to honor the King - put one of his children on the throne, or honor his (apparent) last wish and elevate Parliament?
Well. Are you using a unicarmel or a bicarmel Parliament? Also, how is representation and election determined in your Parliament?
Are you using a unicarmel or a bicarmel Parliament? Also, how is representation and election determined in your Parliament?
I haven't worked out all of the specifics, but I assume the Brelish parliament is unicameral, with some seats hereditary and others elected. Bicameralism is an unusual idea, and really only took off when the proto-USA couldn't get past states who wants equal representation (based on the idea that they were distinct states, not territories) and the larger states who wanted proportional representation.
I doubt Breland has had such a history. I don't know if there's any canon on the history of Breland's democratic institutions, either. In my game, though, I've assumed that the Parliament was originally entirely hereditary, but in recent centuries, some seats have become elected by traditional or, occasionally, by decree.
The traditional shift could have come from nobles who didn't want to bother with parliament and just sent representatives. A noble having trouble back home with some of his vassals could let them elect who would represent him, and after a few decades of that, the people who just assume it's their right to elect that guy. In other instances, the death of a noble with no issue might have been cause for an election, which in time also becomes a tradition in that area. Finally, there might be cases in which a noble was stripped of his title and his seat turned over to democracy.
In other words, I think of Breland's parliament as similar to the US Senate before the 17th Amendment, when some states appointed senators and others elected them.
With this model in mind, I don't think there's much deliberate distribution of power in parliament - IE, no gerrymandering to achieve certain population ratios for certain groups. Even if a given seat is currently open for election, it's in a "district" which was formed by war and treaties over the centuries. At best, there might be rough parity between fiefs as a result of Brelish kings trying to play nobles off of each other.
The manner of elections is probably chaotic. I doubt Breland has any national election day, no term limits, and maybe not even set term lengths. Because the Parliament was permitted to exist as a tool of the king, I expect the king decides when elections happen, and can do so at large or for specific fiefs. If he wants to punish an unpopular elected leader, he can decree an election to occur only in his fief - or he could call for all elected seats to be up for election. He may even have the power to dismiss a given leader from either a hereditary or elected position, although doing so would be fraught with political danger.
Well, I see all sorts of possibilities for fun....
The big one is that the Prime Minister, or similar, could be seeking to change what you have for elections. Only the Prime Minister can call elections, but he has to call them every X years, unless there's a state of emergency.
........and he's also planning for states of emergency.......
Are you using a unicarmel or a bicarmel Parliament? Also, how is representation and election determined in your Parliament?
I haven't worked out all of the specifics, but I assume the Brelish parliament is unicameral, with some seats hereditary and others elected. Bicameralism is an unusual idea, and really only took off when the proto-USA couldn't get past states who wants equal representation (based on the idea that they were distinct states, not territories) and the larger states who wanted proportional representation.
Five Nations goes into detail about the Brelish Parliament. It is bicameral (upper house is the heads of the 27 noble families/lower house is elected, of undisclosed size).
Are you using a unicarmel or a bicarmel Parliament? Also, how is representation and election determined in your Parliament?
I haven't worked out all of the specifics, but I assume the Brelish parliament is unicameral, with some seats hereditary and others elected. Bicameralism is an unusual idea, and really only took off when the proto-USA couldn't get past states who wants equal representation (based on the idea that they were distinct states, not territories) and the larger states who wanted proportional representation.
Five Nations goes into detail about the Brelish Parliament. It is bicameral (upper house is the heads of the 27 noble families/lower house is elected, of undisclosed size).
Yeah that's similar to the OTHER bicameral idea came from, the British house of lords/house of commons set-up.
I would expect Brelish Parliment to be much more like the British houses than like the early american ones: very unreprentative seats for population (ie Sharn probably needs 3 or 4 more seats, while a little thorp of 15 has legislation saying it always gets one seat) The house would be led by a prime minister (thought that name is not important, could be Chancellor etc) who is able to keep the confidence of the house and is able to directly advise the King on matters of state. Elections were probably scarce durring the war (once every 10 years for a general election maybe) except for bi-elections to replace dead or retired members, and now that the war is over people are looking for more regular elections (every 3 or 4 years)
Are you using a unicarmel or a bicarmel Parliament? Also, how is representation and election determined in your Parliament?
I haven't worked out all of the specifics, but I assume the Brelish parliament is unicameral, with some seats hereditary and others elected. Bicameralism is an unusual idea, and really only took off when the proto-USA couldn't get past states who wants equal representation (based on the idea that they were distinct states, not territories) and the larger states who wanted proportional representation.
Five Nations goes into detail about the Brelish Parliament. It is bicameral (upper house is the heads of the 27 noble families/lower house is elected, of undisclosed size).
Yeah that's similar to the OTHER bicameral idea came from, the British house of lords/house of commons set-up.
I would expect Brelish Parliment to be much more like the British houses than like the early american ones: very unreprentative seats for population (ie Sharn probably needs 3 or 4 more seats, while a little thorp of 15 has legislation saying it always gets one seat) The house would be led by a prime minister (thought that name is not important, could be Chancellor etc) who is able to keep the confidence of the house and is able to directly advise the King on matters of state. Elections were probably scarce durring the war (once every 10 years for a general election maybe) except for bi-elections to replace dead or retired members, and now that the war is over people are looking for more regular elections (every 3 or 4 years)
ah, but here's some other critical info:
1 - the two chambers are divided by a moveable wall, so the King can address both. This leads me to believe that they are not extraordinarily different in size. We know there are 27 members of the noble chamber. At MOST, there are double that in the popular chamber. It is perhaps likely that the two chambers are of an equal size.
2 - There are no parliaments anywhere else in Galifar. so, it seems like this is a pre-Brelish institution. Sharn was a wreck, iirc, until after Breland was established within Galifar. Sharn may well have ZERO representation. Read my post on page 2 for some further thoughts.
3 - 5N clearly states that members stand for election every 2 years. They are elected by Town Hall meetings. Every brelish citizen can attend these meetings--but that doesn't mean that every town gets to pick a senator.
As far as Sharn goes, it says somewhere in Sharn: City of Towers that Sharn has three representatives in parliament. So, it might have a bunch or it might have none, but cannon says it has three. For what it's worth.
well, there you go.
That said, Yakman raises good points (which might be useful to some DMs versions of Parliament). The thought of Sharn having zero population, or being vastly underrepresented, could be a *very* interesting plot point.....especially if there are forces agitating for a renewed constitution....