Federal Diet (Erishlands)
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Realm Diet Reicesdagen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | Reicesthing Londsthing |
| History | |
| Founded | 3 January 1813 |
| Leadership | |
President of the Reicesdag | Xaulw Hounesun, Royalist since 3 January 2021 |
President of the Reicesthing | Thourstain Yang, Democrat since 3 January 2021 |
Speaker of the Londsthing | Zobre Neulesdohter, Democrat since 3 January 2021 |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 277 (208 Representatives; 69 Senators) |
 | |
Reicesthing political groups | Government (37)
Opposition (32)
|
 | |
Londsthing political groups | Government (78)
Opposition (70)
Independents (60)
|
| Elections | |
Reicesthing voting system | Closed list Two-round proportional |
Londsthing voting system | Closed list dual mandate |
Reicesthing last election | 6 November 2020 (first round) 5 December 2020 (second round) |
Londsthing last election | 6 November 2020 |
Reicesthing next election | 6 November 2024 (first round) 5 December 2024 (second round) |
Londsthing next election | 6 November 2024 |
| Meeting place | |
| Reicesdagen Building Fzurzborg Erishlands | |
The Reicesdag (Erish: Reicesdagen [ˈʕ̞äi̯ːt͡ʃʰɐs̪ˌd̪ɔːʕ̞ɐɬ], "Realm Diet") is the federal parliament of the Erishlands. It is the only federal institution that is directly elected. The Reicesdag is divided into two chambers, the Reicesthing and Londsthing, which together with the Bondsraud participate in the federal legislative process. The Reicesdag is established by Article IV, Chapter 1 of the Constitution of the Erish Confederation (Erish: Grouðloxo Xerscbondem), which lays out its composition and powers. The Reicesdag meets in the Reicesdag House (Erish: Reicesdag'shousoð) in Fzurzborg. As of 3 January 2021, the presiding officer of the Reicesdag, the President of the Reicesdag, is Senator Xaulw Hounesun.
The Reicesdag was established in 1813 when the Constitution of the Erish Confederation came into effect. Under the original Constitution, the Reicesthing and Londsthing acted as the upper and lower houses of the legislature respectively; the Bondsraud was not generally considered a part of the regular legislative process. Over the course of time, however, changes in political contexts, the growth of the reach of the federal government, and gridlocks have led to the transformation of the Reicesdag into what observers call "semi-bicameralism".
The Reicesdag has several functions. As the federal legislature, it creates laws on areas of federal jurisdiction, but the Constitution also empowers it to legislate on certain areas of state jurisdiction. Such federally-created state laws, however, require the consent of the Bondsraud, thus establishing the two bodies in a relationship similar to the houses of a bicameral parliament. The Reicesdag itself is split into two chambers, the Reicesthing and Londsthing, though the two share their standing committees, and sit jointly on several matters like the annual budget. The most important differences between the two chambers is that the Reicesthing has the exclusive power to hold the Cabinet to its confidence, and the Londsthing can initiate, amend and pass bills without the Reicesthing consent.
Erish citizens elect the entire Reicesdag every four years. The overall number of seats in the Reicesdag is proportional to the overall population as determined by the federal census, with the current Reicesdag having 277 seats. 69 seats belong to the Senators of the Reicesthing, elected through a national two-round proportional vote. The remaining 208 seats belong to the Representatives of the Londsthing, and are apportioned to the states based upon their population and elected by dual-mandate voting, with each constituency represented by two Representatives. Midterm elections for the Reicesdag can only be called over deadlocked legislation, and the elected Representatives and Senators only serve out the remainder of the four-year term.