House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion (56 page)

Government

The Grayson’s form of government evolved as the result of the challenges that faced its colonists. Although the Civil War and the Constitution that followed provide a convenient dividing point in its development, the Protectorship and Steadholderships both predate them. The Protector was originally called “Protector of the Faith,” but that was changed to the present title in 1822 PD after decades of debate. The Time of the Five Keys is the term used to describe the period when the Protectorship was legally no more than the first among equals, elected from the Mayhew dynasty by the majority vote of all steadholders and subject in almost all ways in secular matters to the paramount authority of the Conclave of Steadholders. This all changed, beginning in 1337, with the start of the Civil War. At its conclusion, as the triumphant leader of the Moderates following the Civil War, Benjamin Mayhew IV instituted the Constitution of 1357 (deliberately promulgated on the twentieth anniversary of the Faithful’s initial coup) which established the primacy of the Protector and the general form of government that remains in effect.

The Protectorship

The Protectorship, also known as “the Sword,” is passed through the male Mayhew line, and can be traced directly back to the original Oliver Mayhew. Prior to the Civil War, the Protector was elected from all adult male Mayhews; since the Civil War, the Protectorship has passed in unbroken patrilinear succession from Benjamin the Great to the current holder of that office. The Protector serves as both the head of state and head of government for Grayson, and the Constitution grants him far more executive power than is typically seen in constitutional monarchies. All military oaths are sworn directly to the Protector and he has the power to issue direct orders to any military personnel. With the exception of a steadholder’s personal armsmen, no other Grayson armed forces are allowed to recognize a different commander in chief. He is also the only person on Grayson who has the right to organize full-scale military units out of his personal vassals.

Because religion and public life are inseparable on Grayson, the Sword is also responsible for upholding the authority of the Church of Humanity Unchained. It is the Sword’s responsibility to enforce the decisions of the Church if necessary. By extension, the Sword is also responsible for enforcing judicial decisions of the High Court.

The reigning Protector of Grayson is Benjamin Mayhew IX, a direct descendant of Oliver Mayhew, the First Deacon of the Church of Humanity Unchained. His son, Bernard Raoul Mayhew, is his heir.

The Sword is assisted in his duties by the Protector’s Council. Its membership is composed of:

Chancellor: Lord Floyd Kellerman

First Elder: Reverend Jeremiah Sullivan

Minister of Foreign Affairs: Brother Uriah Madison

Minister of Security: Hiram Bledsoe, Steadholder Seneca

Minister of Agriculture: Gregory Mandalow

Minister of the Navy: Truman Womack

Minister of Industry: Brother Jacob Inman

Minister of Justice: Aaron Sidemore

Minister of Commerce: Francis Maxwell, Steadholder Redmon

The Council supports the Protector by serving as his advisory panel, and assists in the high level organization and operation of the government and its bodies.

With the exception of the First Elder, who is automatically on the Council, all Ministers are chosen by the Protector and serve at his pleasure. Although the Constitution does not require him to abide by the advice and consent of the Great Conclave, the Keys and Steaders hold the power of the purse and may refuse to fund a particular ministry if they disapprove of the individual chosen to head it. Prior to the Mayhew Restoration, the Conclave of Steadholders, having taken advantage of a succession of weak Protectors, was able to use this power of the purse to effectively control both the Council’s membership and its policies. That situation ended with Benjamin IX’s reassertion of the Sword’s prerogatives.

The Great Conclave

The Great Conclave, or planetary legislature, is composed of two houses. The senior house is the Conclave of Steadholders, also known colloquially as “the Keys.” The lower house is known as the Conclave of Steaders, collectively referred to as “the Steaders.” As a legislative body, the conclaves are rather more circumscribed than those of other star nations. Because of the Constitution and the almost feudal supremacy of the Sword, the conclaves may not propose or introduce financial bills. National budgets and taxation policy are formulated by the Protector, and the Great Conclave is restricted to an up-down vote to approve or disapprove. Although there is no formal amendment procedure for money bills, the practice of “remonstrance” allows either chamber—or both jointly—to set forth what portions of a proposed money bill they find objectionable, inviting the Sword to craft a compromise acceptable to them. Aside from money bills, the Great Conclave does have the power to create national law and legislation, and the Constitution specifically grants the Great Conclave the power, by majority vote of both chambers, to defund any ministry as a means of avoiding tyrannical rule by the Sword.

The Conclave of Steadholders is composed of the heads of every steading on Grayson and dates from before the Constitution. Members are immune from prosecution in most instances unless the Protector can provide proof of treason, or the Conclave sustains a two-thirds vote of impeachment. The Sword, however, holds the right to remove any Steadholder from office upon his sole discretion for acts of treason. His decision takes immediate effect and may not be contested or resisted, though it may be subsequently appealed to a joint session of the Great Conclave, where a two-thirds majority vote, after presentation of evidence, may reverse the Sword’s decision. A steadholder condemned by the Sword also holds the ancient right of an immediate challenge to trial by personal combat and, if he is victorious, is permanently exempt from any punishment on the charge for which he was condemned. The Keys share the right of legislative veto with the Protector, where a two-thirds majority can override the Protector’s decision. The Conclave of Steadholders also has the right to approve the heir to a steading whose succession is in doubt as well as to approve a regent for any minor heir.

The lower house is the Conclave of Steaders. Unlike the Conclave of Steadholders, it was created by the Constitution, ostensibly as a check on the Conclave of Steadholders. It is an elected body with proportional representation based on population. Realistically, for many years it had been reduced to irrelevance by the power of the steadholders. Since the Mayhew Restoration, it has become a source of strength for the Sword, as a solid core of its members, even those uncomfortable with some of Protector Benjamin’s social reforms, are Mayhew loyalists. Like the Conclave of Steadholders, they can introduce legislation but approval must be by both Conclaves.

Following the establishment of the Constitution, the Sword was clearly ascendant. After several centuries, however, a series of weak Protectors allowed the steadholders to reverse that ascendancy by the end of the eighteenth century PD. Prior to the Mayhew Restoration, the Keys acted with
de facto
powers through its ability to dominate the important ministries and, thereby, the government, yet the
de jure
powers were reserved to the Protector. Benjamin IX succeeded in reasserting the primacy of the Sword over the Conclave, due in no small part to the fact that the High Court held that the Constitution had never been changed, that it did not provide for ministerial rule, and that the powers enumerated in it—and thus real power—were therefore still vested in the Sword.

Although the Great Conclave can directly exert only a limited effect on the behavior of the Sword, it does have its own weapons and represents a source of opinion the Protector must take into account. Moreover, because the steadholders are ruling lords within their own steadings, a concentrated opposition among the Keys must always be a source of concern. Opposition by the Conclave of Steaders serves as an index of general public opinion.

Local Government

The Protector maintains authority over all of Grayson’s surface which has not been bestowed to a steading. Only the Sword may initiate the process to create a new steading from unallocated land, although the Conclave has the right of approval. The process is known as a Grant in Organization. Once a steading has been created, it may not have its status revoked except under the most extraordinary of circumstances, such as general insurrection or treason. Because all steadings are autonomous on creation, they are considered national units under the overall umbrella of the Protectorate of Grayson. This makes a steadholder an actual head of state, unlike other aristocratic systems like the Star Empire of Manticore or the Andermani Empire where territories are administered in the name of a higher authority.

Steadholders, as absolute monarchs within their own steadings, have virtually unlimited powers. Even the Sword may not interfere with the purely internal functioning of the steading. The only limitation on legislation within the steading is that it may not conflict with either the Constitution or national legislation. The Constitution guarantees Grayson steaders’ civil rights, including freedom of speech and freedom, protection from unreasonable search or seizure, protection from arbitary arrest, and protection from self-incrimination, but that constitutes only the planetary baseline and a steadholder may extend greater rights to his subjects than are provided by the Constitution. Because personal armsmen are sworn to the steadholder, they are required to follow any order given by the steadholder, even if the action ordered is illegal under the Constitution. The steadholder who gave the order may be held liable, impeached, tried, and convicted of a crime committed by one of his personal armsmen at his command, but the fact that it was the order of his steadholder is a complete defense to any charges against the armsman, civil or criminal, resulting from his actions.

Judicial System

Due to its origins in Idaho in what had been the United States of America on Old Earth, the Grayson judiciary and legal systems are based on the American system as it existed at the time. As such, it is a common law system with legal precedent being the most important consideration.

The judiciary system is at once very simple and very complex. It is simple in that there is a single planetary level court known as the High Court. It is complex in that each Steadholder holds not just executive but also judicial power within his steading.

The High Court can be thought of as the secular extension of the Church of Humanity Unchained. While the Church, in the aftermath of the Grayson Civil War, renounced secular executive authority, it retained sole responsibility for training the planet’s jurists. Thus, while sitting judges are barred from holding a position in the Church, the opinions of the Church still influence judges. In addition, the Reverend has a veto over nominees to the court.

The process of filling a vacancy on the Court involves all three of the major centers of power on Grayson. The Protector compiles a list of at least six nominees. The Reverend, with the assistance of his legal staff, reviews these nominees and is allowed to reject anyone on the basis of their qualifications. This decision is final but he does have to justify it. Once the vetted list has been approved by the Reverend, it is passed to the Conclave of Steadholders, which may also strike names from it upon a two-thirds majority vote. The Protector then chooses one nominee from the vetted list. Under the Constitution, if the Conclave rejects
all
of the Protector’s nominees then the Protector may make his choice from any name on the original list, as approved by the Reverend.

The High Court is divided into an Upper and Lower Division. Each steadholder holds the power of high, middle and low justice within his own steading, and with virtually feudal powers, each can create laws applicable to his own steading. Because there is no uniformity of law among the steadings, disputes that cross steading lines, or that implicate choice of law questions, are heard by the Lower Division of the High Court. In that sense, the High Court’s Lower Division courts are the trial courts and courts of original jurisdiction for these cases. The Lower Division of the High Court also hears criminal cases where planetary law has been violated. Cases that do not meet these criteria are tried in a steading’s own courts, which are the courts of local jurisdiction.

The Upper Division of the High Court is the court of final appeal for cases that originate in the Lower Division. There is no appeal to the High Court from the courts of individual steadings. The High Court also hears cases regarding the Grayson constitution. The number of judges on the Upper Division of the High Court is fixed by the Constitution at nine members.

The steadholders hold the power of judicial appointments to the courts of their own steadings. Although all the steading-level court systems are based on common law, the variations in law and procedure that have grown over the years would require an individual examination of each steading. What the systems have in common is that they are structured as three level systems: trial courts, appellate division courts, and steading supreme courts. Steadholders have the right to institute any laws within their own steadings (indeed, their decrees have the force of law) as long as these laws do not conflict with planetary law or impinge on any of the Sword’s prerogatives, as well as the power of commutation and pardon.