Berroll System

The Berroll System is a democratic, parliamentary system of government that was proposed by Edward Berroll, a Billopeshian political analyst, in 1964. The system involves a clear setup of the executive and legislature of a nation's government as well as a number of procedures for operating it. It is considered a very unique arrangement and view of the parliamentary system, almost to the point where it is not identifiable with any other current active systems. It's irregularity has prevented it from becoming a popular system but it is still fully operational in the nation of Billopesha where it was founded. It was officially made the government system of Billopesha in the Billopeshian Constitution of 2005.

Key Characteristics

These are the major features that distinguish the Berroll system from any other government system.

Executive

• The head of state, separate from the head of government, is nominal chief holder of executive power who holds reserve powers, but mainly acts as the state representative of the nation. This involves being the official at any external assembly including any regional or supranational government. The head of state is also the Chief Justice of the judiciary, who is directly in charge of the council or court that organises the constitution but it restricted on the powers over the civil and criminal courts. The de jure (by law) title of Commander-in-Chief is given and this is considerable more de facto (in practice) than in normal parliamentary systems. There is also the power to appoint a 'block' of the government officials of their choice to the upper house of parliament.

• The executive branch is a cabinet. The head of government is democratically voted in, usually by the public, and has the power to appoint the majority of the cabinet ministers. These cabinet ministers are selected from his/her own previously selected 'block' of government officials that sit in the upper house of parliament and although the head of government does not run any part of parliament, he/she still has a seat in the upper house.

• A minister in the cabinet is the deputy head of state who keeps relations between the cabinet and the head of state. No real powers are involved but the same person can act as a minister for another department in the cabinet, usually the foreign secretary.

Legislature

• A bicameral legislature in which there is a upper and lower house, the lower of which is elected by the public. The whole of parliament has the ability to independently dismiss the executive government by a no-confidence motion. The upper house contains academically qualified, head of government appointed and head of state appointed and party appointed members.

• The head of the upper house is a member of the Cabinet who can put any bill into the upper house and is also the deputy head of government. The position is appointed by the head of government from his/her 'block' but has to be democratically approved by a upper house vote.

Blocks

Blocks are fixed number groups of members of parliament that are all chosen in a particular way or have a specific function. They are exclusive to the Berroll system and are a major difference from the usual parliamentary setup. In the system, the following blocks are included:

• Upper House
  • Head of State Block (appointed) = ~10%
  • Head of Government Block (appointed) = ~25%
  • Leader of the Upper House (appointed) = ~25%
  • Partisan Block (voted by party) = ~10%
  • Qualified Block (qualified) = ~30%

• Lower House
  • Independent Regional Block (voted by region/province - appointed into Upper House) = ~10%
  • Constituent Block (voted by constituency) = ~90%

See Also

Direct democracy Representative democracy Politics of Billopesha