Chapter 250: More Const.i.tutional Reforms
A new day had arrived, and with it, Berengar had found himself thrust headfirst into work and approving his reforms. The first order of business was redrafting his Const.i.tution so that it could apply to the entirety of the Duchy. As the Duke of Austria who had just put down the rebellion of his most disloyal subjects not long ago. Berengar was in a unique position to overhaul his territory.
As such, he was currently in the process of fixing some of the errors of his Const.i.tution that he had previously established. For example, he was moving away from the House of Commons and House of Lords to implement a more streamlined bicameral legislation partially based upon the early days of the United States Const.i.tution from his past life.
A House of Representatives was established as the lower house of his bicameral legislature. These representatives would be voted in by those people who met the qualifications to vote. Such as German men of upstanding character and proven intellect.
The second department of his legislature was the Senate which was voted in by the County Legislatures. Much like America, the House of Representatives would be determined by the total population, while the Senate would have two individuals per State or in this case, County as Senators.
These representatives and senators had a term limit of four years. If deemed incompetent, corrupt, or any other number of charges could be removed by the executive and replaced with a person of his choosing until the next election.
The House and Senate worked was similar to that of the United States but functioned in a more streamlined manner. Those would first introduce a bill, which would be sent to the Senate for retirement or acceptance when pa.s.sed by a majority vote.
From there, it would be given to the Duke where he could either sign it into law, revise it to his wishes and then send it back to the Senate for approval once more, or veto it.
Unlike the American Const.i.tution, there was no overriding of a Duke"s Veto, though the bill could still be reintroduced through the legislative process. However, a veto was usually considered a firm stance by the Duke that he did not desire such a law.
The so-called House of Lords would be repurposed as the Duke"s Council, which essentially acted as a cabinet. Their responsibility would be to help lead Berengar"s reforms while serving under him. The Duke"s council could be appointed and dismissed at any time according to the reigning Duke"s determination.
Part of the Duke"s Council"s responsibilities were selecting a successor to the Duke in the event that the Duke had pa.s.sed away without appointing a successor himself. The process to this was voting upon eligible members of the von Kufstein Dynasty for the position. Whoever had the most votes was chosen.
This was a fail-safe, established so that the most competent successor would be chosen in the event that the Duke was to pa.s.s away before selecting the best candidate from his Dynasty to replace him. The Duke"s Council would only choose the successor in very limited circ.u.mstances.
The Executive Branch of government was ruled by the Duke at a federal level, as for a State and Local level, the reigning n.o.ble of the territory would act as governor. They would still need to introduce a localized form of government such as a State Legislature, and Court System, to aid them in their reign.
The n.o.bility who ruled over their territories were allowed to continue to do so as governors, though the succession laws that applied to the Duke were also applied to all Governors. This was to ensure the most competent person was selected as the Governor of their region.
Of course, each Duke had executive powers, which allowed them to pa.s.s legislation without the approval of the federal and county legislatures. However, these could just as quickly be repealed by the next Duke. This was to ensure the political power of Berengar and his descendants so that they did not just become another powerless figurehead.
With the Legislative, and Executive branches refined, the Judicial branch was further elaborated and based upon the American Republic from Berengar"s previous life. With a supreme court, which determined what was legal based upon the Const.i.tution.
As with all judges, these supreme court justices were appointed by the Duke and served for life. However, if the Duke determined that they had failed to fulfill their duties according to the law and instead operated on some form of personal agenda, he could have them removed and replaced.
This Const.i.tutional system allowed for some semblance of freedom while still retaining significant control of the government in the hands of Berengar and his Dynasty. In doing so, he created a Semi-Const.i.tutional Monarchy; as in practice, Berengar still had the power to effectively make any decision he pleased and could stack the government in his favor.
He also maintained a strict stance of a small, intelligent electorate comprised of full-blooded law-abiding German males, preventing any foreign influence in his elections as the non-german minority had no voting rights whatsoever. Thus maintaining the idea of a united German fatherland for years to come.
Of course, he once more allowed a transitional period of ten years where he still ruled as an absolute monarch. This transitional period could be further extended by the Duke if deemed necessary. This way, he could slowly a.s.similate his territory into his new style of government.
After drafting these const.i.tutional reforms, Berengar sighed heavily; he had spent a lot of time and effort revising his Const.i.tution. It would also likely change in the future when he went from Duke to King, to Emperor. For now, this was the best effort he could put forth.
With this, Linde arrived in his room and placed a flagon of beer on Berengar"s desk, and in her own hands was a goblet filled with milk. She took a look at the reforms and noticed the exhausted expression on her lover"s face. After doing so, she sighed before commenting on Berengar"s work.
"You do realize that when word of this gets out, the neighboring Duchies and Kingdoms will be even more upset with you than they currently are. You are single-handedly overhauling centuries of governance into something new which greatly strips away the n.o.bility"s power."
To this, Berengar laughed as he grabbed ahold of Linde"s perfectly shaped face before expressing his views on the matters at hand.
"Sure, the n.o.bility loses their ability to draft troops, issue their currency, and own all of the lands. However, they will still act as de facto governors of their territory and will have more wealth than before when my reforms go into place.
At the moment most n.o.blemen gain their wealth by taxing poor peasants. With the industrial age upon us, businesses will boom, and goods will be sold. The common people will grow wealthier and afford nice houses, which the currency they use to purchase the land to build those houses upon will go into the hands of the n.o.bility, who currently own that land.
It is not like I am taking all of the lands of n.o.bles away from them. They will still have vast swaths of territory, and they will more than make up the loss of land with shares in the businesses that are bound to sprawl across Austria in the coming years.
The n.o.bles may not hold all of the wealth of the Duchy in their hands, but they will be wealthier than they were before, and that is all that matters. When the neighboring Kingdoms realize that our realm"s n.o.bility is more affluent than they are, they will grow envious and spiteful.
They might lash out against us, but we have the power of industry on our side, and their feudal armies have already proven not to be the match of my professional army."
Hearing Berengar"s long-winded speech about the forthcoming age, Linde grew wide-eyed as she imagined what it would be like. She greatly admired Berengar"s vision for the future and the lengths he was willing to go to to achieve it.
Thus she wrapped her arms around her lover, and gazed at the latest draft of the Const.i.tution, and asked another question that was on her mind.
"In the end, all the power rests in your hands, doesn"t it? Everything else is just a ruse to appease the commoners and the n.o.bles. According to this Const.i.tution, you can pretty much replace anyone you don"t like in the government with someone who supports you."
To this, Berengar smiled and took a sip from his beer; after doing so, he thought about it deeply for some time before responding.
"The average person can"t be trusted with any semblance of political power. Even if I were to make my population fully literate, the ma.s.ses would never understand the inner workings of government. They inevitably will vote into power people who promise to give them the most benefits at the expense of the Nation.
With that, corruption will take hold of society, and the Nation will slowly decline into total collapse. Only by maintaining an educated and intelligent electorate can a Republican-style government genuinely thrive. However, the more literate people become, the more they will ultimately want representation.
Thus if I try to hold onto all the power like a Despot, there will inevitably be a revolution. Creating a lasting Empire is built upon compromise. With this, I hope to make a long-lasting system where our descendants maintain power, and those intelligent enough to understand how the government works are placated with appropriate representation of their interests."
Hearing this, Linde nodded her head, and a sly smile appeared on her face.
"In other words, the Duke knows best, right?"
To this, Berengar chuckled before responding.
"I suppose you could say that…."
Thus with this, the Const.i.tution of the Duchy of Austria was drafted, in a system that somewhat resembled a limited republic, while still giving significant control to the n.o.bility and the Duke.
Berengar had carefully drafted a const.i.tution that he felt limited the negative effects of const.i.tutional republics, and monarchies alike while still maintaining a significant degree of control for himself, and his Dynasty.