Branches of a Tree: An Essay on the Duties of Government
Published in 197
Annotated in 205
This volume contains the political theories of Florello Lacroix, Founder and first Grand Master of the Twilight Crux. Much of the content is highly distasteful to the typical noble reader.
Possession of this tome is worth **** Research Point per session, on the subject of ****. You may only use points from one book on this subject in a year. If delivered to the Church, this tome is worth **** Church Prestige Point. With a year of study and **** Research Points, this tome will provide information on the topic of Governmental Change.
Dedicated to my daughter. May her children grow old in a kinder world.
When I originally composed this treatise, Valentin Komaru reigned in the Royal Capital and faced political opposition from a powerful Church. On its face, Komaru has changed enormously since that day: Valentin Komaru's son Alessandro has broken the might of the Church with the support of the merchant class, and all of Komaru appears united in its desire for peace. Nevertheless, I hold that the illusion of change is just that: a thin veneer of difference that masks, not solves, the tensions of class that seethe within the kingdom. This is not presented as a challenge to the virtue of Alessandro Komaru's intentions or to the other noble families' sincerity, but rather as a cautionary note.
The box that cages the tree of Komaru is on the verge of shattering. Only by acting now may right minded leaders influence what emerges.
In the 197 years following Paraceln's Vision, whatever that might have been, Komaru has blossomed in countless ways. Komaru City, by all reports a sleepy river-town, has grown to become the country's greatest metropolis. War, once the scourge of the countryside, has scarcely troubled the nation as a whole. Farmlands have been expanded, roads have been paved, sewers have been dug, and what was once a kingdom of feudal manors and scattered towns has become a great realm of sprawling cities and bustling mercantile activity. And yet, for all of those changes, for all of the aftereffects of the Vision, the greatest event in the kingdom's remembered history, the government of Komaru itself has not changed at all.
...
Every action engenders a response. This is a basic truth, taught to scholars but intuitively known by every child. When one object moves, it affects its surroundings, and the greater the force of the action, the greater the change it produces. This is true in all things, save within the walls of the Royal Palace. There, it seems, change in the world without cannot penetrate. Rules are suspended, and stasis and tradition reign. It is a marvel that the kingdom's 200 years of traditions have escaped the need to evolve to match the kingdom they govern. But can it continue forever?
During and after the Interregnum, many scholars concerned with matters of government questioned my opinions on the Lord Protector. Here, they asked, is a great change. Is this not a realignment of Komaru's government behind religious values? I agreed with them,, for the Interregnum did represent a dramatic shift in the nature of the kingdom's governance. But, I cautioned them, it was not a stable change, for even the Lord Protector anticipated that his reign would not outlast the End Times. What would be truly interesting would be what would come after the pause for the End.
...
For the sake of this essay, I will describe any government as a provider of security. Governments do so through two separate methods: restrictions on behavior, and aids to survival. Laws are restrictions on behavior imposed by the government to provide security by telling the governed what is or is not acceptable behavior. Law enforcement is an aid to survival grated by the government to provide security by enforcing restrictions on behavior. Some governmental actions, such as taxes, manage to simultaneously do both. By taxing a peasant, the government restricts the peasant from owning every third egg, but gathers wealth that allows them to provide the road that lets them take their other eggs to market.
A good government provides useful aids to survival and restricts socially destructive behavior. Any government action that does not do one or the other is corrupt. The ideal government balances every right surrendered with an aid to survival, such that every restriction ("You may not harm another human") is answered with an equal or greater benefit ("You will never be harmed by another human"). Some traded rights are simply not worth the benefit provided.
By this definition, the present Komaran government is riddled with corruption.
...
One example of corruption within Komaru is the practice euphoniously know as primula veris. In an example of a restriction on behavior aimed at increasing security, the government forbids rape. However, the traditional noble right of primula veris permits a lord the right of first refusal of the affections of those he governs. The tradition is rooted in a tangled skein of history. It is an extension of the restriction against rape: a man who defiles one of a lord's subjects has taken something of his. It is an opportunity for social advancement: every commoner has the opportunity to catch a noble's eye and advance through his or her interest. It is a reward for the burden of governance. But, most of all, it is a formalized exception to the law forbidding rape. The benefits it provides go against one of the very restrictions it is intended to support.
This issue reared its head at the dawn of the Interregnum, The anti-Sone riots in the Royal Capital can be traced back to primula veris. The riots themselves were in response to the Sone family's capture and execution of Sophie Montmercy, self-proclaimed heir to Shiliya. Before her death, Montmercy's brutal guerilla warfare left numerous Sone nobles dead or castrated. But her crusade itself began when a Sone noble forced his affections on a young novitiate outside the walls of a Church nunnery.
Like so much of Komaru's history, what ends in blood began on unchecked lust.
...
In 197, the Komaran government consists of roughly three governmental branches: the Crown Prince, the Royal Council, and the nobility. Each branch possess its own set of checks over the others, as well as its own powers and responsibilities.
The Crown Prince
Ostensibly, the sovereign ruler of Komaru represents the highest governmental agent in the kingdom. The Crown Prince possesses the day-to-day responsibility for determining Komaran governmental policy. Practically, he is effectively sanctioned as the most powerful noble in the country, granting him a level of authority to determine government actions not equaled in any other governmental branch.
Checks:
Over the Royal Council: The Royal Council possesses no special exemption from the Crown Prince's powers. The tradition of law permits him to levy any punishment against any member at his whim. Practically, only the collective threat of their strength as nobility prevents him from doing so.
Over the nobility: The nobility possesses no special exemption from the Crown Prince's powers. The tradition of law permits him to levy any punishment against any member at his whim. Practically, only the collective threat of their strength prevents him from doing so. However, were the balance of power within Komaru to change such that the Crown Prince's power as a noble exceeded that of the rest of the nobility, then the Crown Prince could safely destroy the nobility and replace it as he wished.
The Royal Council
The Royal Council's principal duty is to appoint the Crown Prince and oversee his performance of his duties. Of all the bodies of government, they are weakest on actual power: they matter at the choice of a new sovereign, but otherwise principally occupy their time acting as representatives of their personal or familial interests in a formalized arena. As such, the possess substantial personal power, but little governmental power.
Checks:
Over the Crown Prince: The Crown Prince's appointment is subject to the approval of the Royal Council. As such, the Crown Prince initially requires the Royal Council's approval. Furthermore, by a two-thirds majority vote of no confidence, the Royal Council can revoke the Crown Prince's status and appoint a new sovereign. However, once the Crown Prince is in office, this check is more of a legal formality than anything else. If a portion of the Royal Council possesses the collective military and/or political potency necessary to unseat the Crown Prince, the vote itself becomes simply a formality. In actuality, the Royal Council possesses no check over the Crown Prince save those that can be levied against an ordinary noble: the restraint of superior force.
Over the nobility: The Royal Council possesses substantial power as a legal community. This is useful in addressing the behavior of individual nobles. However, as a body, the Royal Council possesses no formal, unified tools for the censure of individual nobles. To act against a noble who engages in corrupt behavior, the Royal Council dissolves into a larger group of nobles intent upon ensuring their collective power.
The weakness of the Royal Council is eminently shown by its role in in the dawn of the Interregnum. Before the Interregnum, the Royal Council was displeased with the Crown Prince's increasing demands upon them for new 'servants', but possessed no venue to act upon this displeasure. After the Church seized control of the Royal Capital, the Royal Council was quick to recognize the Lord Protector, but in truth they had little choice: had they opposed the Church, none of them would have left the Council hall alive.
The Nobility
The nobility reign over the physical geography of Komaru. While dukes and marquis hold the majority of apparent power, in practice viscounts and barons do most of the actual governing. Within a noble's estate, the noble creates and enforces law. As long as the noble escapes the attention of a more powerful noble, each is free to govern as they choose.
Checks: Over the Crown Prince: United, the nobility possesses the power to easily eliminate the Crown Prince.
Over the Royal Council: Each member of the Royal Council is also a noble, and nobles are appointed to the Royal Council. Royal Council members possess no special protection from the nobility, and are generally chosen to represent the interests of the nobility.
As can be seen from the analysis of the branches of government, much of Komaran politics are based upon individual and combined strength to enforce opinions on government, This means that the person most able to restrict behaviors rules. However, it completely disregards the second service of government: the ability to provide aids to survival.
...
Komaru's present governmental system is rooted in its history, but as a kingdom, Komaru has forgotten its history. Because of this, a political scholar is instead forced to conjecture how the events of the past led to the present day. It is not well known, for instance, that Komaru was once ruled by a king. However, once stated, it comes as little surprise to anyone. That the king possessed great governmental power is likely, and that the Royal Council was created as a way of constraining that power is equally likely. I conjecture that the king's power rose and fell cyclically: when the king grew too strong, the creation of the Royal Council checked it. Then, when the king grew too strong again, he became the Crown Prince. When the Crown Prince grew too powerful yet again, the Royal Council claimed the right to choose his bride. And so it infinitely continues.
In the present year, the Royal Council's ability to control actions of the Crown Prince has again grown weak. To balance that, another check must arise. It remains to be seen what that check will be, but without a doubt, one will emerge.
And with Alessandro Komaru on the throne, the Royal Council seems willing to bend over backwards to accommodate him and avoid his wrath for their disloyalty during the Interregnum. If anything, the imbalance grows steadily worse. I believe Alessandro has the chance to be a good Crown Prince, but be he good or bad, the foundation he rests upon will remain the same.
...
The origins of the monarchy are fascinating to speculate on. Did one Komaran warlord unify the kingdom in ancient times? Are the broken legends of the king's duty to the world indicative of some ancient truth? Many strange legends surround the monarchy: hints of incest, magic, and destiny. All of these stories are intriguing, but they do not address the truest criticism of the present governmental system:
Amidst all the checks and balances, the people governed hold no power of their own.
In ancient times, that may have been true. Churlish, scarcely-educated farmers may have used stick to plant rice in furrowed trenches, dependent upon the courage of their noble benefactors to protect them. Those times are not present times, however. Today, education is not simply the right of the nobility.
Every day, dozens or hundreds of displaced commoners find their ways to Komaru's cities. There, they have the chance to earn benefits of upbringing previously reserved for the nobility. There, they transcend the limits placed on them by their "common blood". There, they have the chance to become every bit the peers of those who would rule them.
And yet, there is no chance for them to play a part on their governance.
Every day, the common folk grow smarter, bolder, and richer. Every day. another hundred souls learn to hate those who practice primula veris upon them.
History may not have revealed how the static government of this kingdom will change next, but I believe I already know what the future will ultimately bring: the common folk of the kingdom will gain a monopoly on force, and they will bring the present system down.
...
When a noble reads this essay, they may believe that I preach treason in what I write above. But I do not. I am an old man, and more than anything else I seek an end to corruption, to violence, and to fear. Already, I have lost two children to violence, and the most precious parts of a third. The change will happen. It is up to each of us to do our part to make it a blessing upon us, not a curse.