Sainte-Croix

Sainte-Croix, officially the Federal Grand Duchy of Sainte-Croix, is a federal constitutional monarchy in Western Europe, consisting of five federal regions (including the capital region) and one overseas territory, the island of Victorinica. Its neighbours are France to the south and east, the United Kingdom to the north, and Histalpol to the northwest. Sainte-Croix is a federation ruled by Grand Duke Charles III. The seat of government of the grand duchy is Sainte-Trinité, where the Croisian Federal Parliament is located and where the monarchy resides. The five federal regions of the grand duchy are: Britannia, Chilaibourg, Hansealand, Lexovia, and Sainte-Trinité, the most populous being Chilaibourg. Sainte-Croix is a developed and industrialised country, with one of the highest living standards in Western Europe according to the Human Development Index, and one of the wealthiest countries by purchasing power parity. Sainte-Croix is a member of a number of supranational unions and organisations such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Alliance of Independent Nations, the Liberal Monarchist Bloc, and the Lehicro Economic Community.

Politics
Sainte-Croix is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with the Grand Duke of Sainte-Croix being the head-of-state and the Prime Minister being the head-of-government. The powers of the monarch and the government are defined and limited by the Second Charter (la Charte Deuxième), which has been the federal constitution of Sainte-Croix since 1789.

The monarch and the grand ducal family, according to the Second Charter, hold few emergency reserve powers; most of the actions they take must have the approval of the Prime Minister or the Federal Parliament. In wartime or constitutional crisis, however, the Grand Duke/Grand Duchess must meet with the Council of State and take actions in consultation with the council. The monarch is the leader of the Federal Army (l'Armée fédérale de Terre), the Federal Navy (la Marine fédérale), and the Federal Air Force (l'Armée fédérale de l'Air), in addition being the head of the Croisian Crown, and the Sovereign of the Federation.

Charles III is the current Grand Duke and his wife, Marie-Louise II is the current Grand Duchess-consort. The grand ducal couple has assumed the throne in 2011, after the death of Grand Duke Hendrik I, the last monarch. Because the couple does not have children yet, Prince Willem VI, brother of Charles III, is first in the line of succession and thus the Crown Prince of Sainte-Croix.

Like other democracies, the government of Sainte-Croix has three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The High Council of the Federal Grand Duchy (le Haut Comité du Grand-Duché Fédéral) represents the judicial branch, the Federal Parliament (le Parlement Fédéral) represents the legislative branch, and the Prime Minister represents the executive branch.

The Federal Parliament is a bicameral parliament, with three stages for legislation to pass: the Chamber of Representatives, followed by the Senate, and finally the monarch. The Chamber of Representatives, as the lower house, reviews and votes on legislation first. If the legislation passes the lower house, the Senate, as the upper house, then reviews the legislation in order to pass it or send it back to the Chamber of Representatives. If the legislation passes the upper house as well, the monarch must grant Royal Assent for the legislation and make it law. The Chamber of Representatives has 150 seats and is divided proportionally between federal regions based on population, whereas the Senate has 94 seats and is divided equally among the regions.

In addition to the Federal Parliament, each of the five federal regions (as well as the overseas territory of Victorinica) have their own bicameral parliaments. Federal regions also have their own High Councils and Minister-Presidents as well as government cabinets.

There are currently seven political parties represented in the Federal Parliament: Social Democratic Party (Parti social-démocrate), Republican Workers' Party (Parti des travailleurs républicains), Christian Social Federation (Fédération chrétienne-sociale), Liberal Democratic Party (Parti libéral-démocrate), Moderate Coalition Party (Parti du rassemblement modéré), Croisian Progressive Party (Parti progressiste croisienne), and United Left Party (Parti de la gauche unie). All of the parties are either in support of the Royalist Coalition, which is currently in government, or the Republican Coalition, which is in opposition. The Royalist Coalition has been in government since 2004, and is now in its fourth term. Its leader is Celine Bernard, who is the incumbent Prime Minister of Sainte-Croix and Member of the Chamber of Representatives for the North Alexandrette constituency in Lexovia.