Wharf Springs
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| Flag of Wharf Springs | |
| Motto: "Burying Government Secrets Since 1482!" | |
| No Map Available | |
| Region | 18 Beech Grove |
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| Capital | Formica Woodtops |
| Official Language(s) | English |
| Leader | President Edward Bernard |
| Population | 604 million |
| Currency | The Coffee Jar |
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The Federation of Wharf Springs is the third largest nation in the 18 Beech Grove region.
History
Wharf Springs was founded in 1947 when the Four Fathers Who Were Our Fore Fathers (FFWWOFF) left numerous Scandinavian nations to colonise a hefty chunk of land reclaimed next to the South Pacific region, known to the locals as 18 Beech Grove. The FFWWOFF were the winners of a competition in Scandinavia to find the most liberal people in the history of the world - stupidly left-wing. Only they thought they had "won". They had in fact been part of a government plot to eliminate a significant amount of the left-wingers who had infested Scandinavia from the beginning. It's all those dark nights. It addles the brain, don't you know?
The 5 million liberals arrived, and decided immediately that a government must be formed in the model of True Liberalism. They tried to consult the people as often as possible, but realised that to grow by 1 million population per year, they'd have to do a lot of bonking.
And So It Was Thus. The Liberals Bred Like Rabbits!
No Government in the real sense of the world was established until population hit around 50 million people. From that point, the people decided that some form of population control was in order. It is a remarkable fact that the first establishment of a democracy was merely in order to set up a centrally-planned system of condom production and distribution.
From that point onwards, the government slowly started to encroach into more areas of society, like every Good Government should. The liberal ways were slowly sacrificed for more and more intrusion. But the people remained Liberal, and their World Was Good.
Only their economy was not. The country grew at a slower rate, but the economy crashed as continued expansion of government responsibilites resulted in higher and higher tax rates. The average tax rate reached 99%, when finally, in a fit of rage, President Edward Bernard suddenly snapped and declared the nation had to undergo serious economic liberalisation, a policy known as Grahamonomics.
Three generations had passed since the FFWWOFF first settled. The people were now more liberal than ever, and their ways had been deeply embedded into the psyche of the people. Unsurprisingly, there is currently deep opposition to the new economic-hardline policies that the administration is implementing.
Politics
Institutionally, the nation is a strongly federated state, with 28 states and a growing in strength federal government in capital city Formica Woodtops. The nation is based firmly on the separation of power doctrine, similar to the USA, but a little more power in the Office of the President.
The Executive branch is dominated by the President and his/her Vice-President, who are elected every four years by a direct ballot of the people. The President can serve for a maximum of three terms. He can select a Cabinet from the general populace, who are then approved by the people in a referendum.
The Legislative branch is comprised of a lower chamber - The House of Liberal Dudes - with 800 members elected from the states in proportion to their population by the AMS electoral system. The upper chamber, The Other House of Liberal Dudes - has 200 members, again elected from the states in proportion to their population, but by the STV electoral system.
The Judiciary has 9 Justices, with a Chief Justice, who are selected by the President, approved by the Legislature and then by the people in a referendum. The justices serve six-year terms, and cannot be re-elected.
Gridlock is a major difficulty within the system. Unless the law being passed is liberal, of course...
Current Political Strife
The present turmoil within the nation cannot be underestimated.
Wharf Springs is a nation undergoing a difficult transition from over-the-top liberalism, where paedophiles were slowly rehabilitated back to society's norms, to a strong, right-wing pro-business government. The government would dearly love to slash the tax rate down to 20% but is fearful of the inflation it would cause. Instead, it is slowly impacting changes across the next 5 years which it hopes will bring in more foreign investment.
It recently resigned from the UN after the impact of The Sex Industry Worker Act caused the economy to grow at an unprecedented level, and drive the people into a sex craze that had not been seen since the Four Fathers first spilled their seed on the fertile soil.
Recent opinion polls put the re-election of President Bernard in serious jeopardy. He has slipped back to third place in the face of considerable opposition from the numerous left-wing candidates. However, the next election is not due for three years, giving the President some time to make an impact and convince people to his point of view.
