The government of the United Federation of Eurondia, established by the Constitution of 1782, is a federal republic of individual states. The laws of the United Federation are laid out in Acts of Senate administrative regulations, and judicial cases interpreting the statutes and regulations. The federal government has three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Through a system of separation of powers or "checks and balances", each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.

Legislative Branch

The Federal Senate of Eurondia is the unicameral legislative branch of the federal government. The Senate consists of 635 members, Senators, each of whom are elected for a four year term by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies. Each province will always have atleast two Senators. The Senate must give "advice and consent" to many important Presidential appointments, and the Senate must introduce any bills for the purpose of raising revenue. The powers of Senate are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the provinces and the people. The Constitution also includes the "necessary-and-proper clause", which grants Senate the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers".

The Constitution does not specifically call for the establishment of Senate committees. As the nation grew, however, so did the need for investigating pending legislation more thoroughly. The 2001-2005 Senate had 36 standing committees, plus four permanent committees with members overseeing the Library of the Senate, printing, taxation, and the economy. In addition, the Senate can name special, or select, committees to study specific problems. Because of an increase in workload, the standing committees have also spawned some 150 subcommittees.

The Senate has the responsibility to monitor and influence aspects of the executive branch. Senatorial oversight prevents waste and fraud, protects civil liberties and individual rights, ensures executive compliance with the law, gathers information for making laws and educating the public, and evaluates executive performance. It applies to cabinet departments, executive agencies, regulatory commissions, and the presidency. The Senate's oversight function takes many forms:

• Committee inquiries and hearings;

• Formal consultations with and reports from the President;

• Advice and consent for presidential nominations and for treaties;

• Impeachment proceedings and Senate trials;

• Senate proceedings in the event that the President becomes disabled, or the office of the Vice President falls vacant;

• Informal meetings between legislators and executive officials;

• Senatorial membership on governmental commissions;

Studies by senatorial committees and support agencies such as the Senate Budget Office, and the Government Accountability Office, both of which are arms of the Senate.

Responsibilities of a Senator

Each individual Senator must assume three roles. These roles include: legislator, committee member, and representative of their constituents. Often he or she must also juggle these responsibilities with party affiliation.

Powers of the Senate

The Constitution grants numerous powers to the Senate. These include the powers: to levy and collect taxes in order to pay debts, provide for common defense and general welfare of Eurondia; to borrow money on the credit of Eurondia; to regulate commerce with other nations and between the states; to establish a uniform rule of naturalization; to coin money and regulate its value; provide for punishment of counterfeiting; establish post offices and roads, promote progress of science, create courts inferior to the Supreme Court, define and punish piracies and felonies, declare war, raise and support armies, provide and maintain a navy, make rules for the regulation of land and naval forces, provide for the militia, arm and discipline the militia, exercise exclusive legislation in the Capital, and make laws necessary to execute the powers of the Federal Senate.

Executive branch

The Executive branch consists of the President of the Federation and his delegates. The President is both the head of state and head of government, as well as the civilian commander-in-chief of the military, and the chief diplomat. The President, according to the Constitution, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." To carry out this responsibility, he presides over the executive branch of the federal government, a vast organization numbering thousands of people, including active-duty military personnel. In addition, the President has important legislative and judicial powers. Within the executive branch itself, the President has broad constitutional powers to manage national affairs and the workings of the federal government, and may issue executive orders to affect internal policies.

The President may sign or veto legislation passed by the Senate. He may be impeached by a vote of no-confidence in the Senate for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." The President may not dissolve the Senate or call special elections, but does have the power to pardon criminals convicted of federal offenses (though not crimes against a province), give executive orders, and (with the consent of the Senate) appoint Supreme Court justices and federal judges.

The Vice President of the Federation is the second-highest executive official of the government. He or She is appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate. As first in the presidential line of succession, the Vice President becomes the new President of Eurondia upon the death, resignation, or removal of the President, for the remainder of the presidents term. His only other constitutional duty is to serve as the President of the Senate and break any tie votes in that chamber, but over the years the office has evolved into a senior advisor to the President.

All executive power in the federal government is vested in the President of the Federation, although power is often delegated to his/her Cabinet (or “General Ministry”) members and other officials. The President is elected directly by the people in a national popular vote for a six-year terms, and may serve only two terms.

The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the General Ministry and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Federation address to Senate from time to time (usually once a year). (The Constitution does not specify that the State of the Federation address be delivered in person; it can be in the form of a letter, as was the practice during most of the 19th century.) Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of the Senate: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the country'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the General Ministry are responsible for administering the various departments and ministries of Eurondia, including the Ministry of Defense, the Justice Department, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These departments and ministries and their heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations.

Cabinet, executive departments & ministries, and agencies

The day-to-day enforcement and administration of federal laws is in the hands of the various federal executive departments, created by the Federal Senate to deal with specific areas of national and international affairs. The heads of the 15 departments and ministries, chosen by the President and approved with the "advice and consent" of the Senate, form a council of advisors generally known as the General Ministry, or also the President's "Cabinet". In addition to departments and ministies, there are a number of staff organizations grouped into the Executive Office of the President. These include the Presidential Palace staff, the Security Council Advisory Panel, the Office of Management and Budget, the Council of Economic Advisers, the Office of the Federal Trade Representative, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

There are also a number of independent agencies such as the Senate Bureau of Intelligence (SBI), the Central Security Agency (CSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In addition, there are government corporations such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Armanents Corporation and Eurondia Certified News Corporation.

Direct Demoracy in Eurondia

Any citizen may challenge a law or action that has been passed by the federal senate. If he or she is able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days, a national vote has to be scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority whether to accept or reject the law.

Also, any citizen may seek a decision on an amendment they want to make to the constitution. For such an amendment initiative to be organised, the signatures of 100,000 voters must be collected within 18 months. Such a popular initiative may be formulated as a general proposal or - much more often - be put forward as a precise new text whose wording can no longer be changed by the senate and the government. After a successful vote gathering, the senate may create a counterproposal to the proposed amendment and put it to vote on the same day. Such counterproposals are usually a compromise between the status quo and the wording of the initiative. Voters will again decide in a national vote whether to accept the initiative amendment, the counterproposal put forward by the federal senate or both. If both are accepted, one has to additionally signal a preference. Initiatives have to be accepted by a double majority of both the popular votes and a majority of the provinces.

Also, the Senate often brings issues to the people in the form of a Popular Vote. The Result of the vote can also no longer be changed by the parliament or the government.

Judicial branch

The highest court in Eurondia is the Supreme Court of Justice, which currently consists of nine justices. The court deals with matters pertaining to the Federal Government, disputes between provinces, and interpretation of the Constitution, and can declare legislation or executive action made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law.

Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each province, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. The supreme court of each province is the final authority on the interpretation of that province's laws and constitution. A case may be appealed from a provincial court to the Supreme Court only if there is a federal question (an issue arising under the Constitution, or laws/treaties of the Federation). The relationship between federal and provincial laws is quite complex; together, they form the Law of Eurondia.

The federal judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of Justice, whose justices are appointed for life by the President and confirmed by the Federal Senate, and various "lower" or "inferior courts," among which are the Federal Courts of Appeals and the Federal District Courts.

With this guide, the first Senate divided the nation into judicial districts and created federal courts for each district. From that beginning has evolved the present structure: the Supreme Court, 13 courts of appeals, 94 district courts, and two courts of special jurisdiction. The Senate today retains the power to create and abolish federal courts, as well as to determine the number of judges in the federal judiciary system. It cannot, however, abolish the Supreme Court.

There are three levels of federal courts with general jurisdiction, meaning that these courts handle criminal cases and civil law suits between individuals. The other courts, such as the bankruptcy courts and the tax court, are specialized courts handling only certain kinds of cases. The bankruptcy courts are branches of the district courts, but technically are not considered part of the judiciary because their judges do not have lifetime tenure.

The federal district courts are the "trial courts" where cases are filed and decided. The federal courts of appeals are "appellate courts" that hear appeals of cases decided by the district courts, and some direct appeals from administrative agencies. The Supreme Court of Justice hears appeals from the decisions of the courts of appeals or state supreme courts (on constitutional matters), as well as having original jurisdiction over a very small number of cases.

The judicial power extends to cases arising under the Constitution, an act of the Senate, or a treaty of the Federation; cases affecting ambassadors, ministers, and consuls of foreign countries in Eurondia; controversies in which the government is a party; controversies between province’s (or their citizens) and foreign nations (or their citizens or subjects); and bankruptcy cases.

The power of the federal courts extends both to civil actions for damages and other redress, and to criminal cases arising under federal law. Ordinarily, federal courts do not hear cases arising under the laws of individual provinces. However, some cases over which federal courts have jurisdiction may also be heard and decided by state courts. Both court systems thus have exclusive jurisdiction in some areas and concurrent jurisdiction in others.

The Constitution of the Federation safeguards judicial independence by providing that federal judges shall hold office "during good behavior". Usually they serve until they die, retire, or resign. A judge who commits an offense while in office may be impeached in the same way as the President or other officials of the federal government. Eurondia’s judges are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Federal Senate. Another Constitutional provision prohibits the Senate from reducing the pay of any judge—the Senate could enact a new lower salary applying to future judges, but not to those already serving.

Political parties and elections

Eurondia has a multi-party system, with (atleast) three strong parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone. Eurondia's proportional representation system encourages a multitude of political parties and has resulted in many coalition-governments.

In the Federal Senate elections of 16 March 2003, there were two dominating parties: the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). A new government was formed by the Liberal Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Party together with the Republican Party (ERP).

In addition to the presidential and senatorial elections, there are local municipal elections (held simultaneously in every municipality) every year, and provincial elections every fourth year.