Council of Commoners

The Council of Commoners is a partially elected group of an unspecified amount of councillors who provide an advisory role to the High Council and the Prince-Sovereign of Montebianco by representing the interests of the common folk, the guilds, and the petite bourgeoisie. The Commoners are also responsible for providing a judicial role in the country should citizens require, and have the means to pay for, a trial.

The First Commoner, who is special in that they sit on the High Council, is elected by majority from the Council of Commoners. He has the privilege of speaking first, thus setting the agenda in Commoner meetings. The Second Commoner and Third Commoner are also elected by majority, serving in place of the First should they be unable to attend. Other roles in the Council of Commoners are also elected and include: Wardsmen, who take attendance and ensure non-councillors do not interfere with proceedings; Criers, who are responsible for spreading announcements of emergency meetings to councillors; and archivist, responsible for taking and arranging meeting minutes. Terms are year-long, with there being no term limit.

Seats on the council are rewarded to businesses and organisations in the city, who then send representatives. Larger organisations tend to be rewarded more seats, though this is not always the case. The councillors meet in Serrentino fortnightly. A special meeting is held once a year to re-elect all elected positions.

History

Since the foundation of an independent Serrentino, the city has had the Curia of Serrentino to act as the ruling body. In 484 AIC, the Curia recognised the first Veles as the first Prince-Sovereign. In the 650s, the Curia, with its power and influence slowly waning over the decades prior, was formally dissolved. The bourgeoisie thus had little direct political influence and the masses even less. Guilds were formed in this power vacuum, ensuring that the landed in the city had at least some influence with each other.

After the end of the Sotiran Uprising of 789 and the chaotic years that followed, the Council of Commoners was established with the hopes that an assembly would prevent another civil war. The first meeting of the council was also the smallest, with there only being 60 members appointed by the Prince-Sovereign: 30 representatives for the Church, 20 to the Guildhall, and 10 to a few favoured businesses.

Councillors

Seats in the council are allocated by the council itself to certain organisations and individuals in the city who choose representatives of their own choosing. These councillors usually serve for life. There is no upper or lower limit on the number of members in the Council meaning at points in history the number of seats have varied from below a hundred to over a thousand. Enterprises do not have to be native to Serrentino in order to gain seats, however they do have to have presence in the city - for example Societas Makesini was appointed a seat after it opened a branch in the city. Councillors do not to receive a salary, which leads to the consequence that most councillors are wealthy.

Even though the Montebianco military is not directly represented, the armouries and shipyards that supply them are. Because of this, the military wields some influence in the Council. Some seats are also allocated to the church. Other organisations that are represented include: the National Theatre, the Theatre Guild, merchant groups such as the InterNational Banking Clan and Tourmaline Brotherhood as well as noble families such as the Legionculia.

Because of the requirement that member organisations need property in the city, some businesses from outside the city and nearby towns have proxy councillors who are actually assigned to the Guildhall. The business, who has then bought membership into the guildhall, thus has some influence in the council.

Factions

The Council of Commoners hosts many factions vying for influence (in order of influence):

• Guilds - representatives of craftsmen, banks, businesses, and the Guildhall, approximately 50% of all councillors.
• Hawks - representatives of army workshops and naval shipyards, approximately 15% of all councillors.
• Plains - representatives of trader interests outside of the city, approximately 10% of all councillors.
• Hills - representatives of religious organisations, approximately %5 of all councillors.
• Peacocks - representatives of theatres, museums, and other artistic organisations, approximately 5% of all councillors.

Functions

The agenda is one of the following:

• Allocating/rescinding seats to a certain organisation.
• Expressing approval/disapproval to legislation proposed by High Council.
• Proposing legislation to the High Council.
• Deeming an arrest unlawful.
• Issuing a fine to an organisation.

The First Commoner speaks first on the issue at hand, introducing the agenda. They are followed by the second and third commoners. Then the First Commoner chairs the debate. A precedent exists that the faction leaders are given the first opportunities to speak.

Any speaker can call for a motion to move to voting procedures at any time, calling for an immediate vote to end the debate and vote on the agenda in question. All functions require 66% majority to pass. Votes are cast by councillors dropping pieces of pottery into one of two vases for the yays and nays.