Counties of Caldia

A geopolitical map of Caldia, showing the 26 contaetha in their respective regions.

The counties of Caldia (Ghaillish: contaetha na Ghlítteacht) are sub-national divisions that are used to geographically mark areas of local government. These land divisions were first formed following the arrival of the Verique in imitation of the counties then in use in the Kingdom of Embria. In Embria, counties were used as units of local government. The main function of the county was to impose royal control in the areas of taxation, security, and the administration of justice at both local and regional levels. Through the concept of county corporate several cities were to a status which was deemed to be no less important than the existing counties in which they lay, such as Scariff and Clyte. This double control mechanism of 25 counties plus 5 counties corporate remained unchanged for a little over two centuries until the early 19th century, since then counties have been adapted and in some cases divided by legislation to meet new administrative and political requirements. Over time the counties home to major settlements such as Spálgleann would be absorbed by the municipality entirely. Likewise, in the case of Garrafrauns and Invertwinc lands from their original counties were distributed to neighboring counties following their reorganization into a municipality based county.

Today, Caldia is made up of 26 counties. The counties have a permanent constitutional status. Under the Caldish Constitution, all 26 counties are equal in status. Each county is governed as a such, with the exceptions of Spálgleann, Garrafrauns, Invertwinc, and Shanbally, all of which are both a municipality and a county.

Types of counties

Caldia has 26 counties, the majority of which use the County Commission model. However, there have been three other types of counties in Caldia. They are counties corporate, metropolitan counties, and autonomous counties.

County Corporate

First created during the Middle Ages, counties corporate were small autonomous regions that had the same authority as a county. While they had the same rights and powers as a standard county, counties corporate officially remained part of the county to which they belonged. These were in effect the first city governments in Caldia. The first county corporate was established in the 14th century. While Spálgleann had been established as a chartered city, it remained the only official city in Caldia until the 17th century. Other large settlements instead became counties corporate. The first county corporate was Shanbally, which was officially part of County Clane. Counties corporate were slowly phased out starting in the 17th century, when Garrafrauns received its charter. Elsewhere, they remained in effect until 1965 when they were abolished under the Instrument for Governance of 1965, which amended the constitution to abolish counties corporate.

Metropolitan County

Caldia has four metropolitan counties: Spálgleann, Garrafrauns, Invertwinc, and Shanbally. A metropolitan county is a city that has the same rights as a county. It is similar to a county corporate, however it is both de jure and de facto self-governing. Initially, the only city that was also a county was Spálgleann and this was not by design. Urbanization starting after Caldia began to industrialize saw the city's effective borders envelope the entirety of the County of Spálgleann. Overtime, many of the other municipalities in the county voted to become a part of the City of Spálgleann. The government expanded upon this model with the Instrument for Governance of 1965, which established Garrafrauns, Invertwinc, and Shanbally as metropolitan counties. Many of these cities have populations that are higher than most counties. The government determined separating these highly-populated municipalities from counties would allow for more efficient and representative governance at a county level.

Autonomous County

Currently, the only autonomous county in Caldia is Caithia, which was seperated from Oileáin Oirthir in 1978 via the Caithian Home Rule Bill. An autonomous county has similar rights to a regular county, but is granted a greater level of autonomy, with the devolved government and legislature having the power to legislate in all areas not reserved by the Tionól. In this respect, autonomous counties have far expanded duties than their commission counterparts, and are generally considered closer to devolved rather than local government. Another key difference between autonomous and regular counties is that autonomous counties are granted protection under Caldish law, meaning that they cannot be altered without the approval of their devolved administration.

Politics and governance

County governments have three components:

• The County Council (comhairle contae) serves as the county legislature. National law specifies that the councils may contain between seven and fifteen seats. Due to the small sizes of the councils and the possibility of electing an exactly split legislature with the inevitably resulting deadlock, an odd-numbered council is required.
• The County Executive (feidhmiúcháin contae) is the head of the county's government. The Executive is chosen differently in each county. Counties either have a popularly elected county executive or an executive elected by the councils from among its members. Terms vary from county to county, but typically last between one and three years.
• The County Governor (gobharnóir contae) is the ceremonial head of the county. Governors are formally appointed by the monarch on behalf of the national government. This office mainly functions as a supervising authority over the county and municipality administrations and their decisions can be appealed to him or her. County governors also play a very ceremonial role and act as an official representative of the national government, acting almost as an ambassador.

The four municipalities that are also counties, Spálgleann, Garrafrauns, Invertwinc, and Shanbally, do not follow the County Council model the rest of the counties do. The county executive is the Laird or Lady Mayor and the legislature is the city council. Likewise, Caithia is an autonomous county and is governed in accordance with the Caithian Home Rule Act of 1978. The county executive is the Chief Minister and the county legislature is the Cynulliad.

Elections

The means of election of the council varies from all members being elected in districts to all members being elected at large with various systems in between.

For the single-member districts, Ní Dochartaigh method of single transferable vote or first-past-the-post is used. This depends on how districts, known as wards, are established by the individual county. A county will have as many single-member districts as it will councilors and each district contains an approximately equal population. Some counties have multi-member constituencies with at least two members. These districts are not always equal in population, as a county with seven councilors may have a ward with three members and another with four. The Ní Dochartaigh method is employed for all of these multi-member districts.

Some counties elect their councilors at-large, meaning they represent the whole of the county and not a specific electoral district. These counties use the Ní Dochartaigh method or open list proportional representation. It is most common in counties with councils with more than eleven members.

If a special election takes place and there is one seat at stake, first-past-the-post is used regardless of the county's regular electoral procedures. Counties that use the Ní Dochartaigh method have at times criticized this practice.

The diversity in electoral systems has been criticized as confusing and inefficient. However, among the counties themselves and national governments there has been little desire to standardize the system. The constitution gives counties the right to determine how their councils are selected.

Regular county elections are held every five years nationwide. The last election was on 12 June 2015.

Duties

Counties are responsible for supervising local state administration that is not otherwise assigned to government agencies. The elected county commission oversees the governance and bureaucratic affairs of the county, primarily in regards to public transportation, waste services, education, and culture. Counties are also responsible for fire and ambulance services and were previously responsible for police services.

County commissions are responsible for working with the elected health boards and implementing their resolutions.

There are several government agencies that are organized on a county basis. Some of these agencies include the national police service, employment and social services, and public assistance services.

County governments also coordinate their political goals with the national government, often through the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Municipal Relations.

List of counties

Arms	County (contae)	Type	County seat (suíomh contae)	Population	Region	Code	TCs	Governor (gobharnóir)		Executive (feidhmiúcháin)	Coalition
	Aerach	County	Clyte	761,402	Southern	I	12	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	PSD
	Ballina	County	Mhothair	29,102	Highlands	V	3	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Centre
	Bouladuff	County	Cahir	614,502	Southern	G	8	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	PSD
	Caithia	Autonomous	Lloidas	46,128	Oileáin Oirthir	Z	3	Órla Ní Fhlannagáin		Aoife Nic Dhiarmaid	PSD-Trawlers'-The Wave
	Clane	County	Scariff	494,287	Southern	H	10	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	PSD
	Fahamore	County	Portnahinch	233,744	Southern	N	7	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	PSD-Caldish Dems
	Folcthagh	County	Scillimona	247,962	Lowlands	P	7	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Liberty-Centre
	Garrafrauns	Metropolitan	Garrafrauns	973,261	Central	B	16	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	PSD-Greens
	Holyhead	County	Inagh	240,785	Southern	E	8	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Liberty-Holyhead Independents
	Invertwinc	Metropolitan	Invertwinc	782,587	Lowlands	F	12	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	PSD-Greens
	Knockdale	County	Kildale	47,953	Sudreadharr	Y	3	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Centre
	Liathróidí	County	Benderloch	45,049	Highlands	U	3	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Centre
	Liscannor	County	Abbeyfeale	250,590	Central	J	7	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Liberty-Independents
	Longford	County	Dunore	436,869	Highlands	K	10	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	PSD-Greens-Ind.
	Mannes	County	St. Paul	358,291	Southern	C	7	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Liberty
	Oileáin Oirthir	County	Leòdhas	246,942	Oileáin Oirthir	T	7	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Centre-Liberty
	Sackmannan	County	Cloghel	56,948	Highlands	W	3	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Centre-Liberty
	Scalghan	County	Kilkelley	178,579	Lowands	Q	4	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Nationals
	Scarp	County	Hushinish	54,405	Sudreadharr	X	3	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Scarp Independence-Nationals
	Shanbally	Metropolitan	Shanbally	549,839	Southern	D	14	Person Mac Person		Bhioctoria Nic Mhaoláin	PSD
	Shillelagh	County	Roscrea	264,015	Central	M	7	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Liberty
	Skryne	County	Glennock	374,962	Central	L	7	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	PSD-Centre
	Spálgleann	Metropolitan	Spálgleann	1,372,565	Southern	A	20	Person Mac Person		Saoirse Itakura-Ní Shuileabháin	PSD
	Taois	County	Benbaun	92,457	Highlands	S	3	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Centre-Liberty
	Tarenny	County	Cobh	148,465	Lowands	R	4	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	Caldish Dems-Centre
	Tóinderry	County	City of Tóinderry (City)	401,583	Lowands	O	12	Person Mac Person		Person Mac Person	PSD-Centre-Greens
Total				9,257,180			200 (of 399)

Map

With county codes, which have been official since 1965.

• A: Spálgleann
• B: Garrafrauns
• C: Invertwinc
• D: Shanbally
• E: County Holyhead
• F: County Mannes
• G: County Bouladuff
• H: County Clane
• I: County Aerach
• J: County Liscannor
• K: County Longford
• L: County Skryne
• M: County Shillelagh

• N: County Fahamore
• O: County Tóinderry
• P: County Folcthagh
• Q: County Scalghan
• R: County Tarenny
• S: County Taois
• T: County Oileáin Oirthir
• U: County Liathróidí
• V: County Ballina
• W: County Sackmannan
• X: County Scarp
• Y: County Knockdale
• Z: Caithia

Counties of Caldia

Proposed regions

Caldia's county system has been criticized as outdated and inefficient. Critics of the system have begun to advocate for a transition to a regional model for subdivisions. They argue this would bring the country more in line with subdivisions seen elsewhere in the Euclean Community. Some also claim that consolidating counties into regions would save money, as fewer sub-national governments would be operating and providing public services. These new, consolidated subdivisions would reflect Caldia's geographic and cultural regions.

Supporters of the county system argue that it allows for more direct, representative government and for public services to better serve the people who use them. There are some concerns that the consolidation of counties into regions would allow for the metropolitan counties to dominate the new subdivisions, taking resources away from other areas. This is especially the case for Southern Caldia, which is home to both Spálgleann and Shanbally.