Varangian confederacy

Varangian confederacy

Flag of Varangian confederacy
Motto: Varangii Semper Liberi. (Varangians Shall Always Be Free)
Map of the Northeastern Quadrant of The Heartland
Region	The Heartland
Capital	Vostock
Official Language(s)	Varangian
Leader	Tsar Konrad Ilyusha Federov I
Population	8.5 billion (August estimate)
Currency	Krona
NS Sunset XML

The Confederated Varangian Nations of New Varangia, Lituva, and Greater Masuria (or hereafter,in short form, The Varangian Confederacy) is an association of culturally, historically, and linguistically similar nations bound togther by a loose confederate government based from the city of Vostock in Greater Masuria. Together these three nations form a geopolitically relevant and economically powerful block of nations in the northeastern quadrant of the Heartland region.

History

Colonies of an Empire

The first Varangians in the Heartland arrived as colonists of the Empire proper, based in the Nationstates region of Wysteria. Together with Texas, Wysteria and the Heartland belonged to a powerful troika of regions called the Triumverage.

Large, multi-nation states systems regularly established footholds in all three regions in the Triumverate, amongst them the Harberians and the Vassfforcians. The Varangians were no different choosing to locate the Colony of New Varangia on the continent of Prudentia in the Heartland.

New Varangia thrived, and through its aggressive economic policies soon grew to rank amongst the strongest economies in the Heartland, ranking amongst the top three in GDP per capita and continously ranking in the top ten in automobile production, wood exports, industrial capacity, information technology, and service sectors.

Rallying to the Cause

In mid-2006, the founder of the Heartland region succumbed to the Vanishing Nation Syndrome. Alerts were posted in the other regions of the triumverate seeking aid to shore up the UN endorsements for the Heartland's delegate to protect the region from invaders. The empire answered the call by placing on of its UN-endowed colonies, Greater Masuria in the region. Greater Masuria claimed a plot on Prudentia northeast of New Varangia. Soon, the empire placed a third colony, Lituva to the east of both New Varangia and Greater Masuria establishing its own troika in the region.

Confederacy and Sovereignty

With three nations in the Heartland and the increasing prospect of becoming a major stakeholder in the region, the leaders of New Varangia, Lituva, and Greater Masuria decided that decision making needed to be streamlined.

Ivan Andreyic, at the time the Colonial Foreign Minister of New Varangia, petitioned the Imperial Valorum in Muscovy, Wysteria for devolution of large amounts of competencies to a parallel government based in central government in Wysteria. Frederico Bossi, the Guarantor of the Valorum, and a strong proponent of devolution to principalities pushed the measure through the Valorum, thus giving the three Varangian colonies a large measure of independence from the empire. The decision was formalized when Imperial Regent Pyotr Orlov proclaimed that a Tsar chosen in the Heartland should be considered the equal to his Wysterian counterpart.

Politics and elections

The current Constitution of Constantinopolis (generally known as the Republican Constitution) was adopted in 1986, and it replaced the Imperial Constitution of 1925. Article 1 of the present Constitution declares Constantinopolis a Democratic Socialist Republic.

The government of Constantinopolis consists of three branches: the Legislature, the Executive, and the Judiciary.

The People's Assembly

The Legislature is a bicameral parliament. The upper chamber of this parliament is the People's Assembly, with 800 members elected every 4 years by universal suffrage. The lower chamber is known as the Agora, and it consists of the entire adult population. Upon reaching 18 years of age, every person is issued with a MVD (Mobile Voting Device), which is a device similar to a mobile phone, used exclusively for voting. The MVD network is kept extremely secure, and each MVD unit can be used only by the person it was built for (the MVD identifies its owner through a retina scan, and it can only be activated by its owner's voice command). Using their MVD's, the people of Constantinopolis participate directly in the law-making process. Not every law passes through the Agora, however - since that would be impractical. The Constitution contains a list of issues which can only be legislated by the Agora (these are generally the issues of the highest importance, including any changes to the Constitution itself); in addition, the Agora can be consulted on any other matter, if at least 1/4 of the Assembly wishes it. To be more exact, the law-making process goes as follows: a proposal for a new law is submitted to the Assembly. The members of the Assembly discuss the issue, and vote on the law. If at least 25% of them are dissatisfied with the result of the vote, they can demand a vote in the Agora. In that case, the proposed law is presented to the people on their MVD's, and they are asked to vote on it (For or Against). The decision taken by the majority of the people becomes final and binding (the law is either passed or rejected).

The Executive is known as the Council of People's Commissars. It consists of 15 Commissars and a Chairman, each of whom are elected individually for 4-year terms. The elections for the Council of People's Commissars take place in the same years as the elections for the People's Assembly, but they are entirely separate events. The Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (usually referred to simply as the Chairman) is both the head of government and the head of state. Even though political parties play no role in the election process for the Council, the Chairman and most Commissars are usually the members of the most popular party at the time when they were elected. For example, the current Chairman, Alexander Nikolaev, is also a leading figure in the Communist Party (see below).

The Judiciary is based on civil and criminal law codes, very similar to the ones used in most of the modern nations of the world.

For over 60 years, the major political parties in Constantinopolis have been the Communist Party, the Socialist Party and the Christian Socialist Party. The Communist and Socialist parties are the two main contenders in national elections, with the Christian Socialist Party being a third force that often enters coalition governments with either one of the two main parties.

Constantinopolis also has a significant number of minor parties. The largest of these are the Green Movement, the Anarchist League and the Social Democrat Party. The Anarchist League is widely seen as representing the "extreme left", while the Social Democrats are the "extreme right".

The results of the most recent national legislative elections (held in 2002) are as follows:

The remaining 1.4% was divided between many other smaller parties. In order to be represented in the People's Assembly, a political party must gather at least 1% of the vote.

Economy

Constantinopolis has a powerful socialist economy, whose purpose is to serve the needs of the people and achieve the highest possible standard of living. It is also among the world's largest and most robust economies, particularly remarkable for its stability (largely due to the fact that it is a planned economy) and steady growth over very large time periods. The Constantian economy encourages innovation, and, as a result, Constantinopolis benefits from highly advanced technologies.

Due to its large size and rich natural resources, Constantinopolis has achieved a higher degree of self-sufficiency than most other nations in the world today. However, it is involved in significant international trade with its allies in the Coalition of Anti-Capitalist Economies.

The following paragraphs describe the features of the Constantian economic system in greater detail.

Forms of property

Being a socialist economy, Constantinopolis has established public property over the means of production (the "means of production" are natural resources and tools that can be used for the purpose of economic production - things such as factories, cultivated land, etc). There are two forms of such "public property": Collective property and state property. Besides public property, there is also personal property, which applies to all objects that are not means of production. All three forms of property are discussed below.

As stated above, personal property applies to all objects that are not means of production. In other words, it applies to all items for personal use. For example, everything found in a typical person's home is usually personal property. Personal property rights in a socialist system (such as the one in Constantinopolis) are quite similar to private property rights in a capitalist system, with one important exception: Personal property may not be used for commercial purposes.

Collective property is a form of property over means of production. It applies to almost a third of all cultivated land, in addition to all small enterprises (those with fewer than 40 workers). An enterprise under collective property is an enterprise owned by its workers. Roughly speaking, the workers are "shareholders" in such an enterprise, all with an equal number of "shares". They may organize themselves however they wish, and vote to elect the management. Cultivated land under collective property usually consists of small farmsteads, owned by one or several families. If a farmstead or enterprise under collective property wishes to hire new workers, those workers become additional co-owners of the enterprise or farmstead.

Enterprises that have between 40 and 200 workers are owned in part by their workers and in part by the state. These are usually called "mixed property" (part collective property, part state property). The bigger the enterprise, the bigger the share owned by the state. The state owns a share of 20% in enterprises with 40-80 workers, 40% in enterprises with 80-120 workers, 60% in enterprises with 120-160 workers, and 80% in enterprises with 160-200 workers.

Enterprises with over 200 workers, as well as around two thirds of all cultivated land, are under full state property. Thus, the state owns the vast majority of the means of production. It also owns all other land (including roads, urban land, forests, and wildlife sanctuaries), the country's infrastructure and public transportation system, and, of course, government buildings and other items necessary for the functioning of the state.

A special case of state property is Constantinopolis's media (TV channels, radio, and printed newspapers). These are funded and technically owned by the state, but they are run and managed by their own workers. State employees are strictly forbidden to interfere in the media, and the penalties for breaking this law are very high. Also, since the advent of the internet, the government of Constantinopolis has enthusiastically supported this new form of communication as the end of all restrictions on free speech. The state embarked on an ambitious program to ensure that every household in Constantinopolis owns a computer with an internet connection by the year 2000, and the program was a success. Today, all citizens of Constantinopolis have access to the internet, and over 60% of them have personal websites. This has removed any doubts regarding the freedom of information in Constantinopolis.

Economic planning

The Constantian economy is managed through three main agencies: the Central Planning Commission, the State Bank, and the Commission for Resource Management. From 1935 onwards, the economy has been directed by a series of four-year plans (previous to that, there had been a transition period from 1925 to 1930 and a five-year plan from 1930 to 1935). For every enterprise, the planning agencies define the quantity and ratio of economic inputs (e.g., labour and raw materials), a schedule for completion, all wholesale prices and nearly all retail prices.

The process of drafting a four-year plan begins roughly six months before the plan is scheduled to be implemented. This means that the process begins in the month of February of the year immediately following an election year; it is therefore the first major task of any newly-elected government (and, often, a certain direction in economic planning is a key feature of a political party's electoral platform).

The Central Planning Commission sets basic guidelines for economic planning. It drafts at least four different plan proposals that specify the general direction of the economy and general economic policies. These proposals are then submitted to the Agora (the lower house of parliament, consisting of all adult citizens of Constantinopolis). The Agora votes and chooses which proposal should be implemented (this vote is essentially a referendum on general economic policy). A "none of the above" option exists, in order to enable the people to reject all proposals if they believe the Central Planning Commission did not give them a real choice (by making the proposals too similar), or if they believe all of the proposals are too far removed from their needs and wishes. If the "none of the above" option wins, the Central Planning Commission must draft new proposals.

After the approval of a proposal by the Agora, that proposal becomes the basis on which the new economic plan will be built. Combining the broad goals laid out by the approved proposal with data supplied by lower administrative levels regarding the current state of the economy, the Central Planning Commission works out a set of preliminary plan targets. The task of planners is to balance resources and requirements to ensure that the necessary inputs are provided for the planned output.

Economic planning is done on a sectoral basis. In other words, the main plan contains sub-plans for each sector of the economy. The Central Planning Commission sends the preliminary plan targets and figures downwards through a planning hierarchy that has a pyramidal structure. Each agency in this hierarchy receives the data required for its own activity, takes it through a process of detailed elaboration, and then breaks up the resulting sub-plan into different chunks that are sent down to different branches of the agency. Those branches follow a similar process and send their even more detailed data to lower units, until it eventually reaches the level of individual enterprises.

Enterprises are called upon to develop the most detailed plans covering all aspects of their operations so that they can assess the feasibility of targets, thus opening up the most intense bargaining phase in the planning process. As the individual enterprise drafts its detailed production plans, the flow of information is reversed: enterprise managers and even rank-and-file workers often participate in the planning process at this level. According to poll data, roughly 70% of all workers took part in discussions on the drafting of the most recent economic plan (adopted in 2003). Also at the enterprise level, labour unions often get involved in the planning process, bargaining with managers in order to advance the interests of the workers.

Once they are completed, the enterprises' draft plans are sent back up through the planning hierarchy for review. This process also entails bargaining, with all parties seeking the target levels and input figures that best suit their interests.

After this bargaining process, the Central Planning Commission receives the revised estimates and compiles them into one nationwide economic plan. Then, the redrafted plan is sent to the People's Assembly (the upper house of parliament) for approval. If the plan fails to receive the approval of a simple majority, it is sent back to the Central Planning Commission together with a list of issues that the Assembly wishes to be fixed. This has only happened four times in the history of Constantinopolis. If the revised and re-revised plan fails to gain the approval of the Assembly three times in a row, it is abandoned (and a new plan must be drafted from scratch, going through the entire drafting process described above). So far, this has never been necessary.

The review, revision, and approval of the four-year plan are followed by another downward flow of information, this time with the ammended and final plan containing the specific targets for each sector of the economy. At this point, implementation begins and is largely the responsibility of enterprise managers.

General economic statistics

Currency: socialist credit (currency code: SC); 1 SC = 100 CC (centicredits)

Exchange rate: 1 SC = $1.7891

Gross Domestic Product: purchasing power parity - $15,536,200,000,000 (8,683,800,000,000 SC)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $36,947 (20,651 SC)

Distribution of wealth - Gini index: 8% (an index of 0% would represent perfect equality and one of 100% would represent perfect inequality)

Population Below Poverty Line: none; the right to a decent standard of living is guaranteed by the Constitution and upheld by an extensive system of welfare and state pensions

Unemployment Rate: 0% (the right to work is guaranteed by the Constitution, and upheld by means of economic planning)

Labor Force: 295,700,000

Religion

The Constitution of Constantinopolis recognizes the separation of church and state, and stipulates that the free exercise of religion (or the lack thereof) is a basic human right guaranteed to all persons living within the borders of Constantinopolis.

As a result, a great number of different religions have adherents in Constantinopolis, and relations between them have been peaceful and friendly for many decades. According to the most recent census (held in 2003), the religious composition of the population is the following:

Nearly all the Orthodox Christians in Constantinopolis are adherents of the Constantian Orthodox Church, an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church.

Society, culture and related issues

Constantian society is very open and egalitarian. Inequalities of wealth and social status, while they do exist, are tiny. This, along with the fact that the bourgeoisie dissappeared a long time ago with the abolition of capitalism, gives Constantinopolis the qualities of an almost classless society. There is a strong sense of community and solidarity among people, fostered by Constantian culture and education. Education, in fact, accounts for a larger share of social spending than any other social program.

The Constantian education system is entirely free and public, including all the universities. Most Constantians consider the notion of charging money for education to be repugnant and immoral. Discrimination based on wealth (particularly the wealth of one's parents, not one's own wealth) is regarded with the same disgust as discrimination based on gender or skin colour.

Also thanks to the egalitarian nature of Constantian society, the crime rate is extremely low. Theft is unheard of, because the possible benefits of stealing too small to be worth the risk (in other words, why take the risk of stealing from your neighbor when he is not much richer than you are? You have very little to gain, and a lot to lose). The occasional murder does still happen, but it's almost always a crime of passion.

More info coming soon.

Foreign Policy

By all economic and military standards, Constantinopolis is a world-class superpower. Therefore, its foreign policy is of significant importance. This foreign policy is officially defined as revolutionary interventionism. In brief, it comes down to the following principle:

"Constantinopolis seeks alliances with all socialist, communist or anarchist political movements and nations. Constantinopolis will intervene militarily on the behalf of any socialist, communist or anarchist political movement or nation when that political movement or nation calls for assistance."

This policy was largely the result of a combination between the desire to foster World Revolution and the acceptance of the fact that global capitalism will have to be defeated one step at a time.

Constantinopolis is a member of the Coalition of Anti-Capitalist Economies, and therefore it shares the CACE's mutual defense policy. However, the other CACE member states generally do not share Constantinopolis's interventionist foreign policy, a fact that has been a constant source of frustration for Constantinopolis. Many successive governments of Constantinopolis have tried persuading the CACE to create a unified military force and take a more aggressive stance against global capitalism, but to no avail. This major difference of opinion has resulted in occasional clashes between the Constantinopolis delegate and the delegates of other CACE nations. At one time, when the CACE refused to take decisive action to support a certain leftist revolution against an oppressive corporate police state, the Constantinopolis delegate stormed out of the conference room, calling the other CACE representatives "a bunch of naive, starry-eyed, cowardly hippie peaceniks". He officially apologised and resigned the next day, thus defusing the diplomatic crisis - but Constantinopolis went ahead and supported the revolution unilaterally.

In general, Constantinopolis does not maintain diplomatic relations with capitalist nations, but it does recognize their governments as long as they are democratic. Constantinopolis does not recognize the legitimacy of any undemocratic governments, and in many cases the official policy of Constantinopolis towards the members of those governments is to consider them equal to - or worse than - common criminals.

On certain rare occasions, Constantinopolis may form alliances with some capitalist nations, if they are democratic and highly progressive welfare states. For the moment, there is only one such ally of Constantinopolis: The Republic of Syskeyia

A specific note should be made of the relationship between Constantinopolis and The Eternal Noldorin Empire of Menelmacar. According to a poll taken in June 2004, the people of Constantinopolis - as well as those of a number of allied nations - overwhelmingly see Menelmacar as "a long-standing bastion of oppression in every shape and form, from its dictatorial government to its ultra-capitalist economic system". This has caused immense tensions between Constantinopolis and Menelmacar. While the two nations have never been formally at war, they have had numerous skirmishes over the years. Justinian Tiberius famously described the government of Menelmacar as "a band of arrogant, greedy and murderous oligarchs who have grown so accustomed to their priviledged positions of wealth and power that they've started to believe their own elitist delusions of grandeur". According to a recently-passed law, any member of the Menelmacari government who sets foot on the territory of Constantinopolis is to be shot on sight. Diplomatic relations between the two countries are quite naturally out of the question.

Space Program

Constantinopolis first began considering the possibility of beginning its own space program in the late 1960's. During the 1970 election campaign, the Socialist Party made the establishment of a space agency a key point of its electoral platform - partly in order to show that they were not any less progressive than the Communists. After winning the elections, the Socialists delivered on their promise and established the United People's Space Agency (UPSA) in 1971.

The UPSA spent the 1970's taking the same first steps that had previously been completed by other nations' space programs. Sattelites were launched, then manned spaceflights began to be made, and a space station was built. Later, in 1983, the UPSA put a man on the Moon. But much greater leaps in technology were soon to be made.

The Communists had won the elections of 1982, and a communist Basileus (the now-famous Justinian Tiberius) had also been elected the same year. Constantinopolis began working more closely with other socialist countries, as well as the rare few who had established communist societies already. One of these was the high-tech space-faring nation of Freebodnik IV. Technological exchanges with Freebodnik IV greatly boosted the space program of Constantinopolis. The UPSA put a man on Mars in 1993 - only a decade after its first Moon landing - but, before that, it had already launched its first Ion Cannon Sattelite in 1988.

A space view of the first ion cannon test.

Constantinopolis never had a nuclear program, and it never sought one. Thus, it never constructed any nuclear weapons. Many of its enemies did have nuclear weapons, however, and top military officials in Constantinopolis had been trying to find an adequate response for over a decade. In the late 1980's, a solution was finally found: orbiting ion cannons. An ion cannon strike from low Earth orbit has almost the same destructive power as a nuclear detonation, with two distinct advantages: First, there are no side effects (like the radioactive fallout from a nuclear weapon). An ion cannon can pulverize an army with no damage to the nearby civilian population. Second, unlike missiles, ion cannon blasts cannot be intercepted or destroyed in mid-air.

As of 2005, Constantinopolis has put a classified number of Ion Cannon Sattelites in low Earth orbit. It is known, however, that their number is above 16.

The UPSA continued to advance by leaps and bounds in the 1990's, even establishing a human colony (Constantine Europa) on Jupiter's moon Europa. Also, military space ships were built and launched for the first time in the late 1990's and early 2000's, giving Constantinopolis a sizable space-faring war fleet.

Milestones of space exploration by the UPSA:

• 1972 - First artificial sattelite launched
• 1975 - First manned spaceflight
• 1980 - First space station completed in Earth orbit
• 1983 - First man on the Moon
• 1988 - First Ion Cannon Sattelite enters operation
• 1993 - First man on Mars
• 1997 - In collaboration with a number of other nations, including Freebodnik IV, the colony of Constantine Europa is established on Jupiter's moon Europa
• 1998 - First military space ship launched
• 2000 - First battleship commissioned
• 2001 - The UPSA joins the Coalition of Anti-Capitalist Economies Space Agency.
• 2003 - Unmanned probe successfully lands on Pluto

As of 2005, the main objective of the UPSA is to complete the exploration of the Solar System and establish more human colonies. The idea of sending a probe to Alpha Centauri has also been discussed, but so far no efforts have been made in that direction.

National Anthem

The national anthem of Constantinopolis, since 1925, is 'The Red Flag' (written by Jim Connell in 1889). Its lyrics are as follows:

The people's flag is deepest red,
It shrouded oft our martyred dead,
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,
Their hearts' blood dyed its every fold.

Then raise the scarlet standard high.

Within its shade we'll live and die,

Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,

We'll keep the red flag flying here.

Look round, the Frenchman loves its blaze,
The sturdy German chants its praise,
In Moscow's vaults its hymns are sung
Chicago swells the surging throng.

It waved above our infant might,
When all ahead seemed dark as night;
It witnessed many a deed and vow,
We must not change its colour now.

It well recalls the triumphs past,
It gives the hope of peace at last;
The banner bright, the symbol plain,
Of human right and human gain.

It suits today the weak and base,
Whose minds are fixed on pelf and place
To cringe before the rich man's frown,
And haul the sacred emblem down.

With heads uncovered swear we all
To bear it onward till we fall;
Come dungeons dark or gallows grim,
This song shall be our parting hymn.

See also

• List of famous Constantians
• Basileus
• Byzantium
• Council of People's Commissars
• Communist Party of Constantinopolis
• Socialist Party of Constantinopolis
• Christian Socialist Party of Constantinopolis
• Social Democrat Party of Constantinopolis