Imperial Advisor

From ShireWiki
Jump to: navigation, search
The distinctly unofficial logo of the Imperial Advisory Council.

The position of Imperial Advisor was created in the Summer of 2004 by Kaiser Raynor XI. The position was created so that the Kaiser could get unbiased advice and help from some of the senior-most citizens in the nation. Raynor's original plan was to put three people on the Council - a "yes man" a "maybe man" and a "no man". The yes man would be someone who tended to share the Kaiser's opinions, the no man would be someone who tended to disagree with the Kaiser, and the maybe man would be someone who was often neutral. Few Kaisers have chosen to follow his example.

The Advisory Council

The Imperial Advisors meet in secret with the Kaiser and sometimes the Steward on the Imperial Advisory Council. In this secret council, the Kaiser may ask for the guidance of the advisors, or the advisors may make suggestions to the Kaiser without his asking. It also has become customary to discuss Bills that a minister or advisor wishes to submit to the Landsraad to maximize the chance that such Bill is passed by the aforesaid federal legislature.

Since its creation, the Council has been heavily used by Kaisers. There is no voting in the Council, and it holds no formal power in the Imperial Government.

During the Fourth Era (started by Mors V), Leto III returned to the original plan of Raynor XI by appointing a "yes man", a "no man" and a "maybe man", a practice which quickly fell into disuse under subsequent Kaisers.

Selection of the Advisors

As the job of the Advisors is to help the Kaiser govern the nation, a good amount of experience is a prerequisite for the job of Advisor.

Typically, advisors have been citizens of Shireroth for years, and many have been former Kaisers themselves. In days past the idea behind selection was that the Kaiser ought to pick three advisors to serve him: one who shares his ideals, one who opposes his views, and one who is more or less neutral towards them. This theoretically allowed the Kaiser to get a general overview of the spectrum of thought in the nation.

Nowadays - due to profound changes in the governance of the Imperial Republic, among others the Imperial States becoming the backbone of Shireroth - it has become somewhat of a custom for the group of Imperial Advisors to be composed of the Imperial Ministers, the heads of state of the Imperial States, a representative of the Imperial Dominions, and such other individuals as the Kaiser deems worthy for service as Imperial Advisor.

The aforesaid arrangement provides for much more unity in government policy - in days past Imperial Ministers were often loose cannons who had not the slightest bit of a notion of what their colleagues were up to - and secures the input of the Imperial States of which the opinion nowadays really matters, especially concerning domestic matters whose are within the purview of the Imperial Government but touch upon their interests.

Specific Advisory Councils


See Also: The Kaiser, The Landsraad, Imperial Decrees