Government of Yamatai

The government of Yamatai is a in which the power of the Empress is limited and is relegated primarily to ceremonial duties. As in many other states, the Government is divided into three branches: the, the and the.

The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Yamatai, adopted in 1951. It is a unitary state, containing 41 administrative divisions, with the Empress as its head of state. Her role is largely ceremonial and she has few powers related to Government. Instead, it is the Cabinet, comprising the Ministers of State and the Prime Minister, that directs and controls the Government. The Cabinet is the source of power of the Executive branch, and is formed by the Prime Minister, who is the head of government. He or she is designated by the Teikoku Gikai and appointed to office by the Empress.

The Teikoku Gikai is the legislature, a unicameral parliament. Its members are directly elected from the people, who are the source of sovereignty. The Supreme Court and other inferior courts make up the Judicial branch, and they are independent from the executive and the legislative branches.

History
Prior to the Sakura Revolution, Yamatai was led by the Empress, who was officially an absolute monarch who at the same time also headed the Imperial Shrine. While the Empress's word was considered absolute, effective power of the government continually shifted between the Grand Miko Congregation, who advised the Empress in her role as leader of the Imperial Shrine, and the Imperial Court, who advised the Empress in her role as the leader of the nation. While the Empress ostensibly made the decisions, she ultimately took little part in governing the country.

The Sakura Revolution in the 1860s led to the Empress becoming a true absolute monarch, delegating her post as leader of the Imperial Shrine to the new Supreme Miko and asserting her control over the Imperial Court. The Greater Empire of Yamatai was proclaimed and the government was reformed with the new Sakura Constitution, resulting in one of the first parliamentary systems in Escar. It provided a form of mixed constitutional-absolute monarchy, with an independent judiciary. The Teikoku Gikai was established in a bicameral form. Members of the House of Nobles were made up of the Imperial House of Yamatai, the Five Noble Houses of Yamatai and those nominated by the Empress, while members of the House of Representatives were elected by direct suffrage. A negative outcome of the Sakura Constitution was the devaluation of the notion of civilian control over the military, which meant that the military could develop and exercise a great influence on politics.

Following the defeat of Yamatai in the Endwar, the Take Restoration enabled the new Constitution of Yamatai to be adopted by the Okabe administration with the approval of Empress Keiko, who intended to replace the previous absolute Imperial rule with a form of liberal democracy. The Empress formally renounced most of her absolute powers over the government, and the Teikoku Gikai was reformed into a unicameral parliament with universal suffrage.

The Empress
The Empress reserves the ability to veto any discussion currently ongoing in the Gikai, and can also block voting on any proposition. She is also protected by laws that prevent the Gikai from voting to impeach the Empress; effectively the Empress still exists outside of Yamataian law, as per Article 6 of the Yamataian Constitution.