Cascadian Empire

The Cascadian Empire is a Democratic Empire in the Pacific Northwest of North America, and was a prominent member of the CFS in the The Coalition Wars, being the most significant spying nation in the Espionage War.

Government
The levels of administration are in this order: Township, County, Province, Territory, State, then Nation. Each town is elected a Mayor, each county a Count and Duke, each province a Shuchiki, each territory a Finibus, each state two Senators, and of course the nation being ruled by the Emperor. This is not necessarily a hierarchy, however, as Parliament is made up of representatives from the provinces, and the vote for Emperor is national and uses advanced voting methods. Otherwise, it's hierarchical. Except for Counts, no individual can hold more than one office at any given time.

For Townships, the mayors that hold the most power would be the mayors of Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland. A mayor worth of note is the mayor of Calgary, as Calgary is riddled with controversy and instability despite being the capital of the East Cascades. Mayors are voted on within their town. With larger cities, the entire metropolitan area may vote for mayor. Seattle has the whole metropolitan area vote for a mayor, while Portland has multiple mayors for each district, with a "super mayor" being the mayor for the whole city (as the metropolitan includes Vancouver WA, which crosses county, province, territory, and state lines). Mayors may be in office for 4 years and 3 terms by default, however may be changed by Counts.

Counties are simply a collection of towns. Counts therefore oversee many towns within their county. This means that Counts that control King county, the county that contains Seattle, Metro Vancouver county, the county that contains Vancouver, and Multnomah county, the county that contains Portland are the most powerful. Unlike most other positions in The Cascadian Empire, Counts are voted on between the mayors within the county and not the people within the county, in which typically only mayors are chosen. Counts may be in office for 4 years and 2 terms by default, however may be changed by the Kokoku or the Shuchiki.

There are also county-level council positions called the Kokoku, the leader of which being called the Duke, that is voted by the people of the county as a whole. A Duke's job is to, in accordance to the popular vote of the people, veto county-level legislation, and the Kokoku's job is to vote for the Finibus. Council members of the Kokoku may be in office for 4 years and 1 term by default to which may only be changed by Senate or the Emperor.

Provinces tend to have some of the highest power in the country, despite being quite low in the state hierarchy. This is because a representative from each province meets in the Parliament, in which the Prime Minister is chosen, the second most powerful person in The Cascadian Empire. In the State, however, they must vote and follow the law and pay the taxes of the territory, state, and nation above it. While in Parliament, they are a representative, but while administering their home province, they are known as the Shuchiki. The Shuchiki may be in office for 4 years and 4 terms by default, and this may only be changed by the Emperor.

Territories are simply a collection of provinces, numbering anywhere between 2 and 5. Those that run territories, the Finibus, tend to hold little power, less so than the Shuchiki. However, in the state hierarchy, they indeed hold more power. They are voted upon by the Kokoku of the counties within each province within each territory and are able to create legislation for the territories as a whole. They are subject to being vetoed by the state, however. Finibus may be in office for 4 years and may only serve 1 term.

As of 2165, The Empire of Cascadia has but 4 states. Each state is given 2 senators, one is voted on by the people, the other is voted on by the provinces or territories, depending on the state. Washington and Columbia choose to have the provinces vote, while Oregon and the East Cascades choose to have territories vote. This changes occasionally by popular state-wide votes. The senator elected by the people is called the Kanrisha, and they also administer their home state. The senator elected by the provinces or territories are called the Kanryo and comprise the Lower Supreme Court. The 8 senators meet in a Senate, in which their prerogative is to protect the interests of the states, as well as pass laws the Parliament drafts, or draft laws for Parliament to pass. Senators may be in office for 4 years and 2 terms.

Each state has a capital city. The capital of Washington is Olympia, the capital of Oregon is Salem, the capital of Columbia is Vancouver, and the capital of the East Cascades is Calgary.

Finally, there is the Emperor. The Emperor essentially has control over the nation as a whole, and may veto any law passing through Senate or Parliament, change lower level law or policy at whim, handle wars and foreign relations without requiring consulting Senate or Parliament, among other unchecked powers. Emperors tend not to abuse their powers as upsetting the people and lower administration doesn't help them stay in office for terribly long, and if a super majority vote between the Parliament and Senate for impeachment occurs, the Emperor may be dethroned and the prime minister holds regency until the normal election cycle vote is held. The Emperor is also beholden to the Constitution, to which only the Parliament and Senate may amend. An Emperor may be in office for 4 years and 5 terms max and can only be changed by amending the constitution.

Hawaii is a semi-autonomous region within the Cascadian Empire. Hawaii contains its own Parliament separate from mainland Cascadia and is therefore occasionally exempt from mainland laws and has unique Hawaiian laws, however, still votes for Emperor and therefore is required to adhere to his demands. Internally, it functions similarly to how the old US government functioned, although on a smaller scale. This autonomy and ability to practice their own separate Parliament was among the agreements made during Cascadian annexation.

History
Was originally a despotic nation in Olympia after the bombs fel l after the US fell apart. Conquered Tacoma, rivaled Seattle, conquered Seattle, expanded, experienced a republican revolution called the "Respublikoku Revolution" turning the despot into a Constitutional Monarchy, lost Olympia and parts of Columbia to the then Alaskans, ... ... ..., lost western Oregon and Portland to the old US Government that had regain power in the Hawaiian Islands... ... v2.1 happens, v2.2 happens