08-09-2025, 05:41 AM
(Continued from Above)
The Status Quo-Supportive Features of the Kalistani System
There are three branches of the Kalistani Government, all of which go to support the goal of maintaining the status quo in Kalistan, as well as nearly every social institution across the Empire. The Monarch is the source of all power and they are trusted, and you could also say, are commanded, to rule in the name of the entire society. Her single solitary job is to rule based on the concern for justice and protect the Kalistani System. The administration of justice is a lifelong vocation. It can not be handled by some neophyte, especially one who can attract a simple plurality in a dishonest popularity contest like a liberal election. It can only be trusted to those who's sole vocation is to study and administer justice, every day, insulated from popular pressure and the waves of political fashion, which solely dictate outcomes in democracies.
The Legislature exists to turn the Monarch's decisions into policies that can be evenly and fairly applied. This is their only function. They are not a debate forum, and though they have allowed that in the past, like all things, as the mission and function of the institution drifts toward democracy, problems begin to appear in society. So the Legislature has pulled back on even that. The sole controller of the Legislature is the Institutional Party, who's platform contains two planks: To maintain the institutions of Kalistan's State, and to translate the official utterances of the Monarch into policy for the Empire. The function of the legislature in Kalistan is nothing like the functions of a legislature in liberal societies: there is nothing for interested political actors to "capture" in Kalistan, so there is no reason to have multiple Parties.
The Legislators do serve a somewhat democratic function in that they serve as direct contacts between the people and the Government of the Empire. Deputies explain National policy to the people, so serve as civic educators. But they are also required to serve their constituents, by allowing those in their constituencies to access parts of the government that require higher level intervention on their part. They also take demands of their people up to the Government who either acts independently under existing law, or carries the petitions to the Empress. But a necessarily adversarial legislature is not conducive to social order, and so there is literally no way to facilitate genuinely political discussions within the legislature.
The Courts themselves maintain independence from both the Monarchy and the Legislature. Their job is to resolve all disputes arising under the law. Suits can be brought by citizens, classes of citizens and institutions. The Courts can try criminal trials, where the State is a Party or civil trials between two or more citizens. The Courts are the primary way that citizens can check the Government and the Government can enforce the law. The rules of the court are very formal and largely based on Common Law, with the exception of requiring adversarial proceedings or following codes of procedural justice. In nearly all criminal proceedings, the only time a criminal defendant appears in court is if the case is already resolved: the purpose of criminal proceedings is to determine mitigation which could affect the sentence. The Courts act as trial courts primarily in civil proceedings, where the focus is on even and just application of the law to resolve the dispute.
The entire political system of Kalistan therefore aims at ensuring that the status quo is upheld, in all its myriad facets and nuances. All social institutions are legitimate to the extent that they aim at maintaining social order and staying within the law. In exchange, Kalistan maintains some of the most permissive civil liberties regimes in Terra, allowing people to live whatever kind of life they choose, and as long as it doesn't interrupt the general society, people express their freedoms to the fullest in Kalistan. But the permissiveness of Kalistani society also has a dampening effect on social deviance: Often times, liberal societies which curtail acceptable forms of self expression see a higher level of social deviance and conflict as people tend to adopt what is considered "sub culture" or "socially impermissible" attitudes as a way to be unique, stand out, or claim an identity that is separate from society.
A fantastic example of this phenomenon is what some societies would term "homosexuality." In Kalistan there is literally no policy regarding homosexual relationships between men or women, as it is ridiculous that one's status as a citizen should have anything to do with their sexual attraction for other people. But in some liberal societies that either have formal or informal social and legal prohibitions on sexual relationships between individuals, you tend to see one's sexuality becoming an identity, for obvious social regions (those societies where gay people are under threat, for instance, may need to adopt this identity as part of a subculture for self help and in-group support for protection from either the state or from bigotted vigilantes.) When it is not something that the society has any prohibition on or discrimination against, it is not something anyone bothers talking about: In Kalistan sexuality is as essential as blood circulation, and even in liberal societies, nobody discriminates against a person for circulating blood-- its so mundane that its not even discussed on a day to day basis. In Kalistan, the same goes for drugs, guns, euthanasia, freedom of speech, freedom of the Press and so forth. As long as its not disturbing the social order, it is generally seen as permissible, and therefore entirely unremarkable.
This sort of freedom is combined with a strong bias toward general material equality. The Royal Family being the exception, in Kalistan, most people are, for the most part materially equal. Much of this general prosperity comes from long standing socialist institutions which remain in the Empire today: Things like job guarantees through National Service, universal basic income, public housing, Nationalized agriculture and strategic production, and free food, medicine and education paid for by taxes. All these institutions, which the Empire defends and supports, ensures that nobody in Kalistan ever has to go without, while some gorge themselves, a condition of gross inequality which is prevalent in nearly every liberal society, as a feature of liberal society itself. Kalistan aims to reduce actual need to the lowest possible point, and this security frees people to live fully actualized lives.
These features undermine any impulse there may be in society for democracy or self government. The calculus is simple: If you get all of this with or without democracy, then democratic governance becomes a chore, rather than a means to an end. It becomes punishment, because democracy will only reduce these things, or allow them to accumulate and consolidate in the hands of people who are not you. People know this, and they do not want that in Kalistan. They want general prosperity because general prosperity ensures individual prosperity. They want civil liberties, because that means their individual liberties are also protected. They want one set of fair and even laws to govern everyone equally, because that means that only one person is above the law (The Empress, who is the embodiment of the law herself), contrasted to whole classes of people who live either above or completely outside the law in nearly every single liberal society.
Kalistanis view their freedoms in terms of all of society's freedoms. If it ever appeared that one group was attempting to rise to power at the expense of everyone, the rest of society would react to that. Kalistanis may disagree on any number of topics: they are not all of one mind on anything. But they also know that they have the freedom to pursue their own preferences, because everyone is free to do so, and a limitation to that society which ensures their rights and freedom, is a limitation to every individual within that society. This is something that Kalistanis cherish and will fight, have fought, to defend.
Conclusion
In short, Kalistan's long status quo orientation, which has historically been undermined routinely by democracy as a system and competing political factions, ensures that Kalistan will maintain its Institutional Alignment for as long as the State can continue to provide Kalistanis with social order and general prosperity. The State does that easily (because it has the correct priorities, another thing that can't be said for systems where factions compete for control of the Government) and does so in a sustainable fashion. It's zero percent sustainable growth policies ensure a leveling of standard of living, and then people are free to pursue more from the base level of "enough" if they wish. All of Kalistan's institutions are bent toward providing the society as a whole the benefit, to include the monarchy.
Unlike liberals, Kalistanis believe that society is necessary. Liberals imagine themselves to be lone men clearing whole patches of wilderness for their own use and their own well being. But Kalistanis cannot imagine man as a solitary creature. They can not imagine an individual except in relations to another individual. And the two individuals within the context of the larger society. A person outside his society is not a human at all, but a wild animal. Consequently, Kalistanis will oppose liberalism and democracy as a rule as long as they continue to receive any benefit from Kalistan's institutions. Kalistanis believe that the foundation of all of our institutions is Absolute Monarchy--to a Kalistani National, that absolutist monarchy, which is completely insulated from democratic and populist pressure on all levels, exists to ensure the maintenance of those institutions for the purpose of justice and fairness in the society.
There are a thousand institutional barriers to change in Kalistan as well: Each institution serves as a buttress to every other institution, because some faction seizing any Kalistani institution for their own benefit is absolutely anathema in Kalistan. It's violence to every Kalistani who is not a member of that faction. And Kalistanis abhor civil disorder, so it is safe to say they expect Kalistan's government to strengthen, not weaken Kalistan's institutions to protect the entire society against any self-interested faction. They have seen too much of this sort of destruction during democratic periods and have, as a society, decided they want no more of it.
Kalistan and its people are hostile to the notion of democracy that paralyses the government after a close election. The Kalistani system is far less susceptible to this, or the corruption that often accompanies democratic government, and the people know democracies cost the society far more than they provide in benefits. So, the monarchy stays, the Empress keeps her lofty position above society and keeps her absolute power, the legislature keeps its job, and the people gain as a whole from the system, day in and day out, for hundreds of years.
That's the way it is. It's not how it has always been, but the only way it will not be that way for the foreseeable future is if either Kalistan is invaded and the monarchy is killed, which the National Government plans obsessively to avoid, or the Monarch is so corrupt and evil that he or she actually acts like a normal politician in a democracy and just blatantly steals from or hurts the people. And at that point, Kalistanis can fairly easily overthrow a tyrant. But they'll probably just put a different Monarch in the Imperial Seat once the tyrant is hung. Such is the status quo bias of the Kalistani People.
The Status Quo-Supportive Features of the Kalistani System
There are three branches of the Kalistani Government, all of which go to support the goal of maintaining the status quo in Kalistan, as well as nearly every social institution across the Empire. The Monarch is the source of all power and they are trusted, and you could also say, are commanded, to rule in the name of the entire society. Her single solitary job is to rule based on the concern for justice and protect the Kalistani System. The administration of justice is a lifelong vocation. It can not be handled by some neophyte, especially one who can attract a simple plurality in a dishonest popularity contest like a liberal election. It can only be trusted to those who's sole vocation is to study and administer justice, every day, insulated from popular pressure and the waves of political fashion, which solely dictate outcomes in democracies.
The Legislature exists to turn the Monarch's decisions into policies that can be evenly and fairly applied. This is their only function. They are not a debate forum, and though they have allowed that in the past, like all things, as the mission and function of the institution drifts toward democracy, problems begin to appear in society. So the Legislature has pulled back on even that. The sole controller of the Legislature is the Institutional Party, who's platform contains two planks: To maintain the institutions of Kalistan's State, and to translate the official utterances of the Monarch into policy for the Empire. The function of the legislature in Kalistan is nothing like the functions of a legislature in liberal societies: there is nothing for interested political actors to "capture" in Kalistan, so there is no reason to have multiple Parties.
The Legislators do serve a somewhat democratic function in that they serve as direct contacts between the people and the Government of the Empire. Deputies explain National policy to the people, so serve as civic educators. But they are also required to serve their constituents, by allowing those in their constituencies to access parts of the government that require higher level intervention on their part. They also take demands of their people up to the Government who either acts independently under existing law, or carries the petitions to the Empress. But a necessarily adversarial legislature is not conducive to social order, and so there is literally no way to facilitate genuinely political discussions within the legislature.
The Courts themselves maintain independence from both the Monarchy and the Legislature. Their job is to resolve all disputes arising under the law. Suits can be brought by citizens, classes of citizens and institutions. The Courts can try criminal trials, where the State is a Party or civil trials between two or more citizens. The Courts are the primary way that citizens can check the Government and the Government can enforce the law. The rules of the court are very formal and largely based on Common Law, with the exception of requiring adversarial proceedings or following codes of procedural justice. In nearly all criminal proceedings, the only time a criminal defendant appears in court is if the case is already resolved: the purpose of criminal proceedings is to determine mitigation which could affect the sentence. The Courts act as trial courts primarily in civil proceedings, where the focus is on even and just application of the law to resolve the dispute.
The entire political system of Kalistan therefore aims at ensuring that the status quo is upheld, in all its myriad facets and nuances. All social institutions are legitimate to the extent that they aim at maintaining social order and staying within the law. In exchange, Kalistan maintains some of the most permissive civil liberties regimes in Terra, allowing people to live whatever kind of life they choose, and as long as it doesn't interrupt the general society, people express their freedoms to the fullest in Kalistan. But the permissiveness of Kalistani society also has a dampening effect on social deviance: Often times, liberal societies which curtail acceptable forms of self expression see a higher level of social deviance and conflict as people tend to adopt what is considered "sub culture" or "socially impermissible" attitudes as a way to be unique, stand out, or claim an identity that is separate from society.
A fantastic example of this phenomenon is what some societies would term "homosexuality." In Kalistan there is literally no policy regarding homosexual relationships between men or women, as it is ridiculous that one's status as a citizen should have anything to do with their sexual attraction for other people. But in some liberal societies that either have formal or informal social and legal prohibitions on sexual relationships between individuals, you tend to see one's sexuality becoming an identity, for obvious social regions (those societies where gay people are under threat, for instance, may need to adopt this identity as part of a subculture for self help and in-group support for protection from either the state or from bigotted vigilantes.) When it is not something that the society has any prohibition on or discrimination against, it is not something anyone bothers talking about: In Kalistan sexuality is as essential as blood circulation, and even in liberal societies, nobody discriminates against a person for circulating blood-- its so mundane that its not even discussed on a day to day basis. In Kalistan, the same goes for drugs, guns, euthanasia, freedom of speech, freedom of the Press and so forth. As long as its not disturbing the social order, it is generally seen as permissible, and therefore entirely unremarkable.
This sort of freedom is combined with a strong bias toward general material equality. The Royal Family being the exception, in Kalistan, most people are, for the most part materially equal. Much of this general prosperity comes from long standing socialist institutions which remain in the Empire today: Things like job guarantees through National Service, universal basic income, public housing, Nationalized agriculture and strategic production, and free food, medicine and education paid for by taxes. All these institutions, which the Empire defends and supports, ensures that nobody in Kalistan ever has to go without, while some gorge themselves, a condition of gross inequality which is prevalent in nearly every liberal society, as a feature of liberal society itself. Kalistan aims to reduce actual need to the lowest possible point, and this security frees people to live fully actualized lives.
These features undermine any impulse there may be in society for democracy or self government. The calculus is simple: If you get all of this with or without democracy, then democratic governance becomes a chore, rather than a means to an end. It becomes punishment, because democracy will only reduce these things, or allow them to accumulate and consolidate in the hands of people who are not you. People know this, and they do not want that in Kalistan. They want general prosperity because general prosperity ensures individual prosperity. They want civil liberties, because that means their individual liberties are also protected. They want one set of fair and even laws to govern everyone equally, because that means that only one person is above the law (The Empress, who is the embodiment of the law herself), contrasted to whole classes of people who live either above or completely outside the law in nearly every single liberal society.
Kalistanis view their freedoms in terms of all of society's freedoms. If it ever appeared that one group was attempting to rise to power at the expense of everyone, the rest of society would react to that. Kalistanis may disagree on any number of topics: they are not all of one mind on anything. But they also know that they have the freedom to pursue their own preferences, because everyone is free to do so, and a limitation to that society which ensures their rights and freedom, is a limitation to every individual within that society. This is something that Kalistanis cherish and will fight, have fought, to defend.
Conclusion
In short, Kalistan's long status quo orientation, which has historically been undermined routinely by democracy as a system and competing political factions, ensures that Kalistan will maintain its Institutional Alignment for as long as the State can continue to provide Kalistanis with social order and general prosperity. The State does that easily (because it has the correct priorities, another thing that can't be said for systems where factions compete for control of the Government) and does so in a sustainable fashion. It's zero percent sustainable growth policies ensure a leveling of standard of living, and then people are free to pursue more from the base level of "enough" if they wish. All of Kalistan's institutions are bent toward providing the society as a whole the benefit, to include the monarchy.
Unlike liberals, Kalistanis believe that society is necessary. Liberals imagine themselves to be lone men clearing whole patches of wilderness for their own use and their own well being. But Kalistanis cannot imagine man as a solitary creature. They can not imagine an individual except in relations to another individual. And the two individuals within the context of the larger society. A person outside his society is not a human at all, but a wild animal. Consequently, Kalistanis will oppose liberalism and democracy as a rule as long as they continue to receive any benefit from Kalistan's institutions. Kalistanis believe that the foundation of all of our institutions is Absolute Monarchy--to a Kalistani National, that absolutist monarchy, which is completely insulated from democratic and populist pressure on all levels, exists to ensure the maintenance of those institutions for the purpose of justice and fairness in the society.
There are a thousand institutional barriers to change in Kalistan as well: Each institution serves as a buttress to every other institution, because some faction seizing any Kalistani institution for their own benefit is absolutely anathema in Kalistan. It's violence to every Kalistani who is not a member of that faction. And Kalistanis abhor civil disorder, so it is safe to say they expect Kalistan's government to strengthen, not weaken Kalistan's institutions to protect the entire society against any self-interested faction. They have seen too much of this sort of destruction during democratic periods and have, as a society, decided they want no more of it.
Kalistan and its people are hostile to the notion of democracy that paralyses the government after a close election. The Kalistani system is far less susceptible to this, or the corruption that often accompanies democratic government, and the people know democracies cost the society far more than they provide in benefits. So, the monarchy stays, the Empress keeps her lofty position above society and keeps her absolute power, the legislature keeps its job, and the people gain as a whole from the system, day in and day out, for hundreds of years.
That's the way it is. It's not how it has always been, but the only way it will not be that way for the foreseeable future is if either Kalistan is invaded and the monarchy is killed, which the National Government plans obsessively to avoid, or the Monarch is so corrupt and evil that he or she actually acts like a normal politician in a democracy and just blatantly steals from or hurts the people. And at that point, Kalistanis can fairly easily overthrow a tyrant. But they'll probably just put a different Monarch in the Imperial Seat once the tyrant is hung. Such is the status quo bias of the Kalistani People.
Primary: Institutionalist Party of Kalistan (IPoK), 5146-
Inactive:
Socialist Party of Kalistan (SPoK), 2591-
Inactive:
Socialist Party of Kalistan (SPoK), 2591-