The Post-War Consensus

Part of the bulletin series of articles

Summary

• Vekllei is governed by an executive council of peers called the Directory.
• The directory is made up of Prime Ministers who are forbidden from participating in political parties, as part of Vekllei’s nonpartisan democracy.
• The principles of consensus are important for the Vekllei style of governance, and contribute to the stability of the country.

Although policy is fought over within executive bodies in Vekllei, the principles of consensus are that results should be respected and that it is important for the government to present a unified front. These principles were founded in the far-ranging and diverse nature of the Commonwealth, in which irreconcilable disagreements threatened permanent political paralysis that would destabilise Vekllei’s fledgling postwar democracy.

Vekllei democracy is ostensibly nonpartisan, meaning that it does not have formal political parties. Instead, candidates for election present five policy points which they commit to represent in office.

In practice, disagreement and consensus in Vekllei mimics the cascading federalism of its political system. There are many different levels of executive, and a single executive has multiple functions within the political framework. In each case, disagreement happens privately and consensus is presented publicly.

For example, a Sorda is an office of two prime ministers, usually a man and a woman, representing a republic. The Directory is made up of eight Sorda. Individual PMs may disagree about an issue, but within the Directory they are expected to represent a single office and thus present a single point of view. The Directory itself, as part of the Council routinely has major political disagreements but presents policy as a unified government.

This culture is a feature of Vekllei’s council-based society, in which workplace democracy and recreational activities alike are often governed by multiple people. In this style of decision-making, factionalism and partisan behaviour have to be restrained to prevent the paralysis of the executive. As such, private disagreement and public consensus is a natural feature of this style of government.