The Allied States of Graham and Palmer is a country on the northernmost tip the Southern Continent, the southernmost landmass in SPPf Realms.

Graham and Palmer

Flag of Graham and Palmer
Motto: Alea iacta est (Latin: The die is cast)
Region	SPPf Realms
Capital	Ciudad en El Hielo
Official Language(s)	Spanish
Leader	John Rodriguez
Population	~440 million
Currency	phi
NS Sunset XML

Regions

The regions in Graham and Palmer are:

• The Province of Graham
• The Province of Palmer
• The Commonwealth of Adelaide Island
• The Province of Tierra del Feugo
• The Independant City of Ciudad en el Hielo
• The Southern Territories
• Unorganized Territory (Galapogos Islands)
• The Republic of the Faulkland Islands (automnomous)

Politics

The executive of Graham and Palmer is the chansellor, who serves Graham. The chansellor holds power over domestic issues (i.e. can sign or veto bills approved by the Senatus, pardon accused parties, select a cabinet, etc.) The executive is elected directly, all regional governments (with the exception of the RFI) chose a cantidate, and the one that recieves the most votes nationwide become chansellor, the one that recieves the second most becomes prime minister. The prime minister holds power in external issues (i.e. declaring war, signing treaties, etc.), and serves Palmer.

The legislature is a unicameral house called the Senatus. Each senater is elected from their respective district in their regional governemnt. The more peolpe that are in the region, the more district and thus more senators it has.

The highest judiciary of is a board of seven on the High Court of Appeals, they must be selected by the prime minister, approved by the senatus, and than the chansellor to attain a seat. Before this they are interviewed by the attorney general to see impartiality.

The main party of Graham and Palmer is the Red-Green Alliance, a left wing party that is mainly strong in more urban areas and almost all of Graham Land and Palmer Land. Their main rivals are the Conservitive Capitalists, who contrary to their name are a more moderate party that hold in the smaller non-monarchies, and the Libertarian Christians, a right wing group that holds power only in the territorial legislature of the S. Territories.

The political structure of the RFI is virtually the same as the country as a whole. It's main party is the Commonwealth Party, whose main objective is separation from Graham and Palmer, though from there it's population is more split.

The Constitution of Graham and Palmer garentees freedom of speech, relgion, assembly, and also guarentees "equality regardless of class, race, or gender." It finally promises: "Between such entites that are on one side religion, and on the other of secular government, an inpregnible wall shall be maintained."

With the elections in November 2006, the Red-Greens have campaigned against much of what was put in the C-C's, and they have taken notice. The once Empire of Graham and Palmer is now the Allied States of Graham and Palmer. Then the Imperial Army became the People's Army. Even all the royalty in the nation has been eliminated. R-G's have been pleased, but they still disagree on the relatively pro-big business politics of the C-C's. Their main candidate for chansellor (replacing Edubijin Díaz), Alfonso Ruiz, has moved for more restrictions on large corporations, though he also has stated that being lax with smaller ones is alright to him. This has upset the more liberal side of the party, which has backed Díaz. A recent poll has put support for Ruiz at 56%, while Rodriguez holds only 10%, and Díaz 33%.

History

A result of the collapse of the Grand Imperium of Graham Land and Palmer Land during the Grahamain Civil War, the new nation (then Empire of Graham) consisted of only Graham, Tierra del Fuego, and Ciudad en el Hielo, the rest of the country was the Kingdom of Palmer. Following the Adelaide Treaty seven years later, the two were consolidated, and formed the Empire of Graham and Palmer under Emporer Litrón II. The country faded into obscerity, and not much was done in it and no one really took notice of it until a drug lord hid in its mountains.

However, after thirteen years, something snapped. Riots started all over the country, demanding freedom. And, with the help of the army, the people got it. The new constitution gaurenteed political freedoms, and after this political parties formed.

The major ones were the Democratic Socialists, the Communists, and the Greens, followed by the Conservitives and the Capitalists. These almost immediately formed into two factions: The Coalitions of Democratic Socialists, Communists, and Greens, and the Conglomorate of Conservitives and Capitalists. These are now virtually never referred to by these names, but by the shorter R-G's and the C-C's.

From the beginning, the economy was down below. The Red-Greens lost much ground in the first round of elections after the revolution. In fact, the chansellor was a Conservitive-Capitalist. A large Liberitarian Christian turnout in the S. Teritories almost completely pushed the Red-Greens from them. And following this, a period of lax business regulations followd. Corporations sprungin what was once the most anti-business nation in the region. They held in office for four terms.

Origin of Name

The Allied States of Graham and Palmer gets its name from its two largest regions, the Province of Graham and the Province of Palmer.

Major Cities

• Ciudad debajo del Hielo-capital
• Biscoe City-capital of Graham
• Port of Agassiz-capital of Palmer
• New Schwabenland City-capital of S. Territories
• Shackletontown-capital of Adelaide I.
• Rio Grande-capital of Tierra del Fuego
• Stanley-capital of the RFI
• Amundsenborough-city in northern Graham

Exports

Mostly fish, books, and uranium.

Military

The military of Graham and Palmer is a slowly growing mass that is split into four factions: The People's Army (led by Field Marshal Lon Talon), The People's Air Fleet (Air Marshal Tony Vandenez), The South Seas Armada (Admiral Jorge Martinez), and The Red Shock Marines (Commander Alfonso Montoya). The policy towards the military is Graham and Palmer is simply to grow but not spend too many resources on it.

NS Stats

• Government Category: Capitalist Paradise
• Government Priority: Social welfare
• Economic Rating: Strong
• Civil Rights Rating: Excellent
• Political Freedoms: Excellent
• NS Description:
  • "The Allied States of Graham and Palmer is a huge, socially progressive nation, renowned for its punitive income tax rates. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, intelligent population of 434 million are either ruled by a small, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

• • "It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Social Welfare, Education, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 76%. Private enterprise is illegal, but for those in the know there is a slick and highly efficient black market in Book Publishing.

• • "Citizens are expected to be proficient in at least five languages, the government is making attempts at curtailing the flood of spam emails with little progress, burglary is widely regarded as the national sport, and truth is often impossible to tell from fiction on the evening news. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is crippling, probably because of the country's utter lack of prisons. Graham and Palmer's national animal is the Emperor Penguin, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the phi."