Market state

Market state (also referred to as free market state) is a term coined by television presenter Hilary Vance to describe an economic and political system controlled by businesses. Market states are administered by multiple businesses that compete in commerce to convince a consumer to use their services without regulations and restrictions of a government, creating a de facto stateless society in which individual freedom is maximized. It is commonly used to describe the free market revolution of the Western Confederal States and the system of the former Western states.

The term and the system and ideology it represents has been a source of much debate on the libertarian and small-government right, with many anarcho-capitalists arguing that a true "market state" was one that was run by business without the existence of a formal state; other scholars, such as minarchists, posit that a state in which free market capitalism is practiced should qualify as a "market state."

The term has also been applied to pre-1914 Nazali when it was known as the Nazali Territory, a sovereign territory under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Emmerian-Ashizwean Colonization Company. Because the territory was under sovereign control of the company, rather than organized as a traditional nation-state, it has been termed a market state by many scholars.

Origin

Main articles: Revolutions of 1854, Neoliberal Revolution, and Minarchism in Pardes

The origins of the market state can be traced to the early 1800s, with the development and spread of classical liberalism. Liberal revolutionaries attempted to independently install liberal governments of this type throughout the conservative monarchies and autocracies of Lusankya, Taveria, Skandera, Australis, and elsewhere through popular mandate and violence during the revolutions of 1854. Although in most countries the revolutionary causes were defeated, the cause of liberalism survived and eventually became a mainstay of political life in the developed world by the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The 1854 failed liberal revolutions also planted the seed of Marxism and socialism, and in the first third of the 20th century these and other ideologies, such as fascism, arose and joined the political arena. By the middle-late 20th century, Communism, socialism, and other revolutionary leftist ideologies had spread across the world.

However, by the late 1970s, in Belhavia and other nations with long histories of economic freedom and smaller governments, a new movement called "neoliberalism" sprung up that sought to reverse the decades-long growth of leftist economic ideology and restore classical liberalism as the chief political economy of the world. This "Neoliberal Revolution" swept the world in the 1980s and 1990s, emphasizing smaller governments, the power of the free markets and individual initiative, and other non-public alternatives to organizing societies.

In Belhavia and Emmeria, these pro-market forces pushed the so-called "night-watchman state" primarily as the normative model while free market radicals in the Western Confederation, made up largely of anarcho-capitalists, pushed for the complete abolition of the state in favor of business-run "market governments", later termed market states.

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, market-state proponents in Belhavia had declared victory over "Big Government" while by the early 2000s, Emmerian minarchists would cite "major progress" through largely local efforts.

In the Western States, anarcho-capitalists were stymied by the so-called "Western confederal establishment" despite gaining supporters in both the Unionist and Confederate parties. However, these market proponents took advantage during political brinkmanship in August-September of 2014, when a failure to pass taxation legislation triggered a "fiscal cliff" of shutting down the entire Confederal government if the impasse was not resolved, an old 19th-century parliamentary maneuver. However, the Western Congress was unable to resolve the problem and the fiscal cliff became law and the Confederation dissolved, leading to a brief but chaotic transition to market states run by corporate boards based on stock prices and market share on the major Western stock and bond indices.

Variants

Western

Main article: Western Market States

Each market state is individually governed by a board of directors and is frequently referred to as the capitalization system. Although it is debated whether or not government is present due to the nature of a market state. The governing structure is heavily influenced by supply and demand in the free markets ever since the Full Privatization Act. The Western variant is based on a board that comprises a total of ten seats occupied by CEOs - or representatives - of the most influential businesses based on the market share, total revenue and contribution - industry wise in a specific state. These listings are annually updated by the Independent Organization of Transitional Structure (IOTS), which sets up annual criteria, prerequisites and rules by which to stand by if a specific business is willing to run for board candidacy. Subsequently the candidates are picked from each state that comply with the criteria and are granted a seat in the board of directors of that specific state.

The company ranked number one, according to the IOTS, which constitutes the largest amount of market share, investment share, or general influence in the specific state is granted the chairman seat of the board. The representative of the company ranked number two is generally appointed vice-chairman. The voting system within the board itself goes as follows, there is a total of 30 voting ballots: Seats ranked 1-3 have the highest voting power with five ballots per seat, followed by 4-6 with three ballots per seat, 7-8 have two ballots and seats 9-10 have one ballot per seat. The board can pass legislature with >50% of the total board ballots, which requires a minimum of 31 ballots. In addition, in all seven states the chairman has veto powers. Most board seats are occupied by corporate groups, more specifically conglomerates, within the boards there are coalitions/partnerships formed to outvote another coalition/partnerships of multiple conglomerates. It is very uncommon that only one specific company has a seat in the BoD, because of the lack of total market share, (except for IMQO Technologies in South Lake).

In some market states such as the South Laker and the Torchlander variant there is a form of direct democracy attached to the system, which includes the right to submit a constitutional initiative and a referendum, both of which may overturn the decisions put forth by the Board of Directors and County-level Directors.

Judicially, the Private Iudicia whose judges are appointed by the the county-level boards, consisting of local private firms - that loosely cooperate with the state-level board of directors - interpret laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional based on the constitutional interpretations of the county board. For this reason the system of the Western market states has often derogatory been referred to as a corporatocracy, Isabella Belfort of Liberty Watch called the judiciary system "a biased bunch".

Tippercommoner

Prior to the end of the Tippercommon Civil War in 1986, the Tippercommoner province of Hyperion operated as a de facto market state. Originally an incorporated territory by the Republic of Tippercommon after the state gained independence from the Ulthrannic Empire, Hyperion was Tippercommon's last frontier. Unlike the fertile territories that are now a part of modern day Ayton-Shelvay, very few Tippercommoners ventured into Hyperion to claim land and establish settlements. However, after the discovery of what is now known as the Western Desert Oil Field in 1909, oil companies, entrepreneurs, and laborers flocked to the territory, supported by the Western Railroad line constructed under a state contract in 1911. The oil boom would see a massive expansion in the territory's population, with the province's modern capital of Sweetwater City being first settled in 1910. During this time, Hyperion still lacked a formal government. Rather, the territory remained a patchwork of land grants and corporate leases. Settlers typically lived in homes owned by oil companies off of their wages as laborers. The territory's food supply was also largely dependent on the Western Railroad who had contracts with only the largest oil companies. This patchwork would eventually be consolidated into Tippercommon Oil (now Republic Oil), which maintains its monopoly over Hyperion's oil production to this day.

Essentially dominated by Republic Oil and the Western Railroad, citizens of the territory were subject to company policy rather that state rule. This would lead to dissatisfaction and unrest amongst the working class laborers residing in the territory, especially with the rise of prominence of the left-wing National Party in the early 1920's and the devastating economic crash of 1927-1928. Even so, Tippercommon's oil magnates and railroads maintained control over Hyperion through the 1930's and 1940's, imposing their own law on Tippercommoners who lacked proper constitutional protection through their own hired guns.

When the unitary Republic of Tippercommon was federalized into the present-day Unified Tippercommon Republics in 1947, the Old Parliamentarians who were favorable to big business used their Parliament majority and Chief Minister seat to halt the movement to change Hyperion's status from incorporated territory to a republic. This move would afford it the right to form a regional parliament and elect representatives to the UTR's Federal Assembly and Senate Chamber. With its accession blocked, Republic Oil, Western Railroad, and the newly founded Sunset Electric Company would maintain control of Hyperion through land grants and lease agreements with the UTR government. In addition, Hyperion population continued to live within Hyperion at the behest of these three companies. Members of the Communist and National Party lead labor movement in Hyperion were routinely suppressed by the corporation's private police forces and could be deported at any moment as the majority of the territory was essentially private property.

This powder keg would eventually burst in 1986 when the Free Hyperion Movement began its insurgency in Hyperion and in Ayton-Shelvay (which at the time lacked parliamentary representation as well). At the civil war's end with the signing of the Treaty of Ambrosia in August of 1986, Hyperion would be granted the right to form its own regional parliament, elect its own governor (the first Governor of Hyperion was the leader of the Free Hyperion Movement), and elect its own representatives to the national parliament. At the time, Hyperion was the only territory to be governed by the UTR Communist Party. Initially, there was a large push for increased government regulation of the energy industry in Hyperion. However, since 2010, Hyperion has been classified as a "enhanced commercial zone" and is currently governed by a Unity Party governor.

Commentary

Support

• Template:Country data WMS Western Market States - Before the dissolution of the Western Confederal States Senators of the Confederate Party described the creation of the regime as unfortunate, but a necessary move forward. Internal disagreements between the leading political parties within the Confederacy resulted into a complete shutdown of the state apparatus. As an alternative those with significant power pre-dissolution, namely the venture capitalists and companies, took over power. The so-called "big business" types constituted a significant part of the Confederate Party and indirectly supported the shift of powers. An internal movement within the Confederate Party, The Coffee Party movement, supported and until this day supports the free market state on many key policies, such as small government and no taxes. Its support covers at least 35% of Westerners according to international and domestic polling.

See also

• Business in the world
• Minarchism in Pardes
• Neoliberal Revolution
• Municipal privatization
• Conservatism in Pardes
• International Libertarian Alliance
• International Conservative Conference