Archonate of the Pacitalian Republic

The Archonate of the Pacitalian Republic (Latin: Archonatus Imperiator Res Publica Pacitaliana; Pacitalian: Archonato Imperiatore Pacitaliana) is the constitutionally defined, democratically elected head of state of the Pacitalian Republic and, as such, is the most important and most senior position of authority within the Republic both by influence and by recognition. The Archonate is the principal functionary of Pacitalia's executive branch.

Under Pacitalia's constitution, the role of Archonate is a combination of executive power and ceremonial duties. The Archonate's most critical role is to appoint a prime minister to form and head a government to serve under the Archonate's discretion. The person nominated to form a government is typically the leader of the largest political party or coalition in a recent democratic election. Alternately, the Archonate will judge the appointment of a government upon whether or not that government possesses, or will possess, the confidence and supply of a constituent majority of representatives seated in the lower parliamentary chamber, the Constazione Repubblicana.

The Archonate is also the supreme commander of the armed forces of the republic. They serve as Grand Master (maestro suppremo) of both the Capostication, the highest civilian honour in the Republic, and the Ordinale Merità per la Repubblica, the highest possible Pacitalian military decoration.

Like in other countries, the Archonate, as head of state, is the republic's primary official representative abroad. This differs from the Minister of International Relations, who is a member of the prime minister's cabinet, heads the Directorate of Foreign Affairs, and is responsible for overseeing Pacitalian diplomacy primarily on behalf of the government.

The Archonacy

Pacitalia is a unitary state with a semi-presidential republican form of government. Due to this system, the Pacitalian archonate is not simply a ceremonial figurehead, but, in fact, wields and exercises supreme power and authority within the Republic. The government of Pacitalia, which he or she appoints, performs the entirety of the actual lawmaking but the passage of such laws relies on the expressly signed assent of the archonate.

Role in parliamentary governance

The Archonate's most significant power, arguably, is their prerogative to appoint a prime minister to form and head a government with consideration of the results of the most recent national democratic election. By the strictest interpretation of the Pacitalian constitution, the Archonate is obligated to appoint as prime minister the leader of the victorious political party or cohort from that election. In cases where the government initially appointed is unable to perform their duties with the confidence and supply of a majority of the representatives of the Constazione, the Archonate has the power to:

• declare the parliament void and drop a writ for a new special general election to re-elect representatives to that chamber;
• declare the parliament dysfunctional and suspend it until such time that the representatives in parliament declare themselves able to resume concordance; or
• fire the prime minister and their government and appoint an alternate government within the existing parliament, usually a coalition of willing parties, to assume the responsibility of lawmaking.

If such a coalition is likely not to succeed within the existing parliament, the Archonate will then dissolve parliament and call an election. Alternately, though the parliament is bound by fixed election dates every three years, if the prime minister wishes to seek a new mandate, they may request a dissolution from the Archonate. However, such a dissolution instead affects both parliamentary bodies, but does not result in elections for the archonacy itself. The subsequent government will then serve for up to three years before the next parliamentary election.

Summary of primary powers

Among the other main powers of the Archonate:

• They promulgate laws through the express written consent, by signature, to that law's official documentation. Archonatic promulgation is termed republican assent.
• The Archonate has the power to exercise a veto on any law the Archonate does not feel has had due parliamentary process, through readings, amendments or otherwise, feels qualifies is an impediment to individual liberty and self-assertion, or is detrimental or harmful to the people, the state or the economy; or feels is irrelevant or improper.

Normally, the Archonate is more likely to veto a law if the government appointed holds opposing or different political views and values, a similar situation to cohabitation. If the Archonate has vetoed a bill on the grounds that it has not had sufficient exposure to parliamentary process, they effectively signal that the bill will be assented into law given further such exposure to readings and amendments. A lesser known power given to the Archonate is that they may exercise a veto on a decision of the National Superior Court.

There are additional powers and duties of the Archonate:

• "Suspend" a proposed law rather than veto it and subsequently refer decision to a public referendum
• Dissolve both parliamentary chambers — the Constazione, Pacitalia's lower legislative body, and the Senato, the upper house. Performing such an action automatically triggers a national election.
• Order the use or the disarmament of Pacitalia's nuclear and mass-destructive weaponry (MDW) arsenal
• Appoint magistrates to the National Supreme Court and National Appellate Court to fill vacancies
• Receive the foreign ambassadors of other nations.
• Pardon or otherwise provide amnesty to people convicted of a criminal offence
• Commute a death sentence that was delivered prior to the abolition of the death penalty to a lesser punishment
• Override a ruling of the Directorate of Customs and Immigration and grant asylum or any other declaration of refuge to an individual or group on humanitarian grounds

The Archonate is, officially, the primary representative — the "face of the nation" — abroad for both the Pacitalian Republic and its people. They fulfill the duty to perform visits of state and is at the head of the order of succession in representing Pacitalia at international or regional conferences and summits.

Election

Under the terms of the Pacitalian constitution, the Archonate is the senior-most political figure in Pacitalia. The Archonate is elected to serve a single, six-year term, which begins at midnight on 1st January of the year immediately following the election. The election is usually held alongside parliamentary elections at the end of November, with a runoff (if needed) taking place in early December.

The role has a hard term limit, forbidding any Archonate from running for re-election to a subsequent consecutive or non-consecutive term. Originally, the role allowed Archonates to serve a second term, but a constitutional amendment was passed in 2013.

The Archonate is elected by direct, popular vote by any Pacitalian citizen 16 or older, or legal permanent resident who is at least 25 years of age. To run as a candidate, the person must be at least 20 years of age (the age of majority), be a Pacitalian citizen, and have no major offences on their criminal record.

Process of election

Pacitalia uses a runoff to elect its Archonate. The actual election process for Archonate unfolds over several months, with three key dates each election cycle.

Political parties typically hold primary elections approximately three months before the first stage of voting, marking the official start to the campaign. As primary candidates need to campaign to win enough support to be nominated, the archonal election technically begins in the spring of that election year. Larger parties tend to hold remote or online voting, while smaller parties will tend to gather members at a convention and reach a decision on a nomination through attendance quorum. Alternatively, smaller parties may view their chances of winning the election to be unrealistic, and instead choose to endorse a candidate from another party that is ideologically similar to their own. As party leaders may be appointed as prime minister in a future government, archonal candidates are typically other prominent politicians, such as former prime ministers, or current or former Members of the Republican Parliament, Senators, cabinet ministers, regional presidents, and mayors. Archonal candidates are also frequently prominent activists, businesspeople, or other well-known individuals.

There are no legal limits or constraints on campaigning or fundraising after the nomination is finalized; therefore, nominated candidates may immediately begin to campaign for the election without threat of disqualification or penalty.

First round

The first round of voting is held the same day as parliamentary elections.

In the first stage of voting, any candidate who receives a share of the popular vote that is at least 50 percent, plus one vote (a simple majority), is the winner, and a runoff is not required. Due to the large number of parties running candidates, it is rare that any candidate will reach a majority in the first round of voting. In elections where no candidate wins a majority in the first round, the top two candidates advance to a runoff, and the remainder are eliminated.

Second round

The second stage of voting is held on the same day of the week, either one week or two weeks after the first stage. The constitution allows the sitting parliament or the chief justice of the National Supreme Court to delay the second round of voting by up to six weeks, or, alternately, suspend it indefinitely, under exceptional circumstances, such as political and/or economic instability, epidemics of disease, wars or terrorist attacks. In the days following the first round and leading up to the second, remaining candidates continue to campaign and fundraise. Eliminated candidates may continue to fundraise to relieve campaign debts. They may also choose to endorse one of the remaining candidates in an attempt to influence the election, although voters will likely vote along ideological lines — or vote for whatever remaining candidate they believe is the lesser of two evils — regardless of such endorsements.