Banwa (government type)
A Banwa is a Savaian form of government that unites characteristics of the Asuran Republic with more indigenous Savaian concepts of statehood. In contrast to a monarchy, power is not passed down in a hereditary manner. It is marked by strong federalism to the point of confederalism, collective leadership, communalism and direct democracy on local issues. The idea of a Banwa emerged at the end of the 19th century in the writings of Maalam Bao, a pan-Torangese thinker who was the ideological inspiration for the Linavian All-People's Army which would eventually win independence for Linavia.
As a natively-developed political system, the Banwa has not seen adoption outside of Savai. It is sometimes compared to a form of libertarian socialism or even third positionism, incorporating concepts from across the political spectrum.
Name
The name "Banwa" comes from the Baybaya word Bansa, which means "community" in Newreyan. This term has traditionally been used to refer to a village and encapsulates the idea of a united village where every inhabitant works together for the common good of the community. It is often translated as republic in Newreyan and other Asuran language, which lacks the nuance of the term while being strictly accurate due to the lack of an unelected and hereditary monarch.
History
Government structure
Executive
A key part of the Banwa is a collective presidency, rooted in the idea of the village elders. Bao explained this concept in his seminal work Banwa: A Linavian State from the Past for the Future, stating that "In the village we do not rely upon one man to make the decisions. No man can shoulder the weight of his entire people's responsibility. One voice cannot be the only one heard. Only a council of elected officials can effectively regulate the nation's discourse and guide it. A garden is more beautiful with more flowers." In practice, this takes the form of a council of elected officials who together represent the head of state and head of government. Any executive decision must be made with unanimous support from all members, meaning that executive decisions are forced to be highly non-partisan and therefore appeal to the entire population. In addition to this role, each of the members of the collective presidency heads one of the government's ministries. The presidency are elected indirectly, with each party choosing its nominees for the presidency before they are selected in a proportional way based upon a magic formula which assigns a set number of seats to each of the four largest parties represented within the lower house of the legislature. The members of this house are elected directly, then with the numbers of seats for each party counted the members of the presidency are allocated following a formula of 3-2-2-1.
Magulang
The Magulang, directly translatable as "elder", is the most senior member of the presidency. While their powers are the same as those of the other members of the presidency, they are expected to serve as the face of the administration and represent the Banwa at international summits and over events. The position of Magulang is chosen based upon age instead of time served on the council, an approach some have deemed gerontocratic and dissuading of the youth voice in the country. This is reinforced by the fact that in being based off age and not a direct vote, the Magulang can be from the least popular party in the council and still be the face of the country.
Legislative
The role of the legislative branch of government within a Banwa is smaller than that in most states other states, due to the importance of direct democracy in the form of referenda which are required in order to pass any legislation. It usually takes a bicameral form, with the importance of federalism often leading to the creation of an upper house where each subdivision gains a certain number of seats as well as a more population-proportional lower house which is more representative of the population as a whole. These two chambers have the same competency, but in order to be submitted to a referendum any political objective must be accepted by a simple majority in both chambers. As with the presidency there is an insistence on unity of the different political factions, meaning that there is no concept of a ruling coalition as seen in most parliamentary democracies. This means that parties collaborate with different groups on different issues, meaning that one can often see for example far left and right wing parties collaborating on social issues then voting against each other on economic matters. This system is intended to lower political polarisation, but has been criticised for the slow speed of passing any legislation.
Judiciary
Within a Banwa, the judiciary is highly decentralised and communal. Each municipality has a popular court composed of elected judges who conduct trials in a manner resembling "community justice". The accuser and accused both must represent themselves before the tribunal, who will adjudicate the case before coming to a verdict. Such courts have limited scope, and have been criticised for their non-compliance with western judicial norms. For example, there is no guarantee that the tribunal members are legally educated and in rural areas such tribunals are usually filled by tribal and village elders instead of legal professionals. The absence of lawyers or protection against self-incrimination and accusations of corruption have been sources of criticism for the system, while the system's focus on traditional and rehabilitative justice in contrast to punitive justice have been promoted as an alternative to asuran legalism.
For more serious crimes, such as rape and in some cases murder, as well as complicated legal issues such as financial crime, cases are processed in a western style court. Each district has a district court able to process such matters, which also functions as a court of appeal for municipal cases. Above this there are higher courts for each subdivision, with the highest authority being vested in a federal court which possesses the final say in cases of appeal and is tasked with procedures of cases which concern multiple subdivisions at the same time. There is also a separate constitutional court which deals with constitutional issues.
Decentralisation
A central aspect of the Banwa structure is the strong regionalism of politics. A Banwa is divided into several subdivisions and functions in a loose federal system where the central government, despite having the ultimate authority in political and legal matters, delegates much of the day to day direction of its states to the states themselves. The states are able to determine their own legal code, which allows for laws which respect local religious beliefs and social attitudes. They set their own tax rates, budgets and regulations on the economy.
The idea of a decentralised state is rooted in the logistical necessity of such a system within a diverse nation such as Linavia, which counts several hundred unique ethnic groups within its borders. In the interest of national cohesion and respect for self-determination, allowing groups to practice their own cultural traditions and adapt their economic situations to that of their location is more practical. Following independence, Linavia saw several independence movements amongst its minority populations. Some consider the decentralised state to be an attempt at prophylaxis against this, thought the wars still took place.