Politics of Tagmatium

Tagmatium is a unitary constitutional elective monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with one of the oldest surviving legislative systems on Eurth, one which has inspired many of those in the rest of the wurld. The monarch, officially titled the Holy Emperor and Autocrat of the Aroman People and Equal-to-the-Apostles (Laimiaic: Agios Basileos kai Autokrator ton Arhomaioi kai Isapostolos), is both head of state and government. Although nominally bound by the constitution of Tagmatium, in practice the Holy Emperor is an absolute monarch, with very little to prevent the monarch from acting as they see fit. This is partially because the Tagmatine Constitution is uncodified and exists as disparate written sources, such as statutes, case law set down by judges and motions passed by the Senates. It is also partially due to the fact that the Holy Emperor is taken to be God's representative on Eurth and the living figure of the law (Laimiaic: "nomos empsychos"), therefore possessing the ability to override or change aspects of the constitution as they see fit.

Uniquely amongst nations on Eurth, Tagmatium has three legislative bodies - the Senates of Arome, Europatorion and Tagmatika, commonly known as the Sinatos, the Gerouseia and the Synkletos respectively, although they are often referred to as the Sinatos (Anglish: "Senate"), collectively. Although they are considered to be legislative bodies, they act more as advisory bodies for the Holy Emperor - they can pass resolutions that the Holy Emperor may issue as edicts and the monarch might also turn to them for advice on matters. The senates are not directly elected by the Tagmatine citizenship. Rather, the members are there through inheriting their position or by being rewarded for service by the Holy Emperor. The number of members for each of the Senates is capped at two thousand. There is also an element of seniority at play in the senates. That of Arome is the oldest and therefore the most senior, followed by Europatorion and then Tagmatika. Whilst the resolutions passed by the senates are non-binding for the Holy Emperor, tradition has dictated that something passed by all three senates has to be enacted.

Despite having a long history of participation by the population in democratic processes of the state, the history of democracy has been long and difficult. For much of the history of Tagmatium and back into the Aroman Empire, it was tied not just citizenship but wealth, property and faith as well. If a citizen was not of the majority faith of Tagmatium, which has been the Enlightened Aroman Church for most of its history, then they could not take part in any votes. It wasn't until 1957, in the democratising reforms of Leon III, that sufferage was given to all citizens of Tagmatium, without reference to property, wealth or religion. Leon also made the vote for the Holy Emperor a general election, with all those of voting age eligible (with some caveats, such not disbarred due to criminal convictions or medical reasons), rather than just amongst the membership of the Senates. This has been the case ever since.

The Holy Emperor is both head of state and government but they are closely assisted by numerous officials and ministers, who are appointed at the leisure of the monarch. The chief amongst these are the Mesaszon (Anglish: "Intermediary"), the Rhaiktor (Anglish: "Rector") and the Kouropalates (Anglish: "Majordomo"). These three roles are considered the great offices of the Tagmatine state and function similarly to prime minister, minister for the empire and chief of staff respectively. All ministerial and department heads hold office irrespective of any of the Senates, although former ministers and department heads may be appointed to the Senates as a way of rewarding service and enabling imperial control of the events within the Senates.