Summary

The form of government established in the empire of Myrmexia by the servant of the hive and the servant of order. It can be summarized as representative democracy by circles of six. Any group of six citizens can join together and form a hex of the first order. Within each hex of the first order, a single member is chosen to act as a representative of the first order. Six representatives of the first order can join to form a hex of the second order. This process repeats up until the highest hex, known as the ultimate council. In this way, power flows from the bottom up. The Emperor selects five representatives of the second-highest order (known as the penultimate council) to form the ultimate council. In this way, power flows from the top down.

General Terms

A hex is a group of 6 citizens who come together to elect one member to represent the interests of all of the members.

A representative is any citizen elected by a hex to represent it.

An Nth-order hex is a hex formed out of representatives from hexes of the N-1 order, which elects a representative to represent the other 5 members of the nth-order hex, as well as every other citizen they represent recursively.

An order is an assembly of representatives from hexes of a given order.

A council is an order which is expected to make decisions as a group, though the senate makes these decisions for their home districts within their hexes (or in "committees" of some other number), with their minister casting tie-breaking votes, while the parliament and ultimate council make all decisions as a single body with the emperor casting the tie-breaking vote. The three highest orders below the emperor are the councils of the hexocracy.

The Orders

A hex of order

is a(n)

citizens represented

represented by a

which has rights and responsibilities

number possible

0th

citizen

1

citizen

sign legal documents, own personal property, form a hex

about 1 billion

1st

Circle

6

Voter

serve on a jury, own land or slaves

about 10 - 160 million

2nd

Cabal

36

Secretary

prepare contracts and other legal documents

about 1.5 - 27 million

3rd

Family

216

Speaker

make accusations and bring cases to court

279,936 to about 4 million

4th

Phalanx

1,296

Officer

enforce the law by commanding soldiers and policemen

46,656 - 279,935

5th

Legion

7,776

Arbiter

interpret the law as a judge and punish criminals

7,776 - 46,655

6th

Assembly

46,656

Senator, Governor, or Tertiary Councilor

see below

1,296 - 7,775

High Order

is called the

citizens represented by each member

members are called

has the power to

number possible

7th

Tertiary Council or Senate

279,936

Senator, Governor, or Tertiary Councilor

determine provincial laws

216 - 1,295

8th

Penultimate Council or Parliament

1,679,616

Penultimate Councilor or Minister

determine imperial laws

36 - 215

9th

Ultimate Council

10,077,696

Ultimate Councilor or Councilor

form treaties, define the rights and responsibilities of the various orders of hexocrats, and repeal or veto laws

6 including the Emperor

10th

Imperial Throne

10,077,696

Emperor/Empress

act as supreme military commander, highest court of appeal, and cast tie-breaking votes in the councils

1

Generally speaking, any representative of a higher order has the rights and responsibilities of all lower orders, but these are typically relaxed in favor of higher-order responsibilities.

Voters, Secretaries, and Speakers are considered private citizens, and hexes of the 1st through 3rd orders are relatively unregulated. Many low-order hexes are "orphaned", not represented in the next higher-order hex. Hexes of the 4th and higher orders are always carefully selected by their members, since the potential gain of forming a higher-order hex cannot be overstated. If mid-to-high orders grow large enough, they will cause expansion of the hexocracy. Officers, Arbiters, and Governors are considered to be part of the government, and always have careers in the military or bureaucracy. Senators and Ministers are thought to work mainly for the people, Senators in the provinces and Ministers in the capital, while Councilors are thought to work mainly for the Emperor.

Lower Classes

Foreigners have the right to personal property, but can not sign legal documents or form a hex, though they may have additional rights depending on the treaties Myrmexia has formed with their home nation, if any.

In general, citizenship is granted to any creature who (1) lives in Myrmexia, (2) can sign their name, (3) can speak, and (4) is not proven to be a slave by legal documentation.

Where slavery is legal in Myrmexia, ownership is limited to voters and must be authorized and documented by a secretary according to local regulations. Slaves do not have the rights of citizens, but can gain their freedom via the destruction of their documents. Though this is usually a crime, a secretary will rarely be able to remember every slave deed he notarizes, and it is therefore the most common way for a slave to gain citizenship in the empire.

Hexocratic Expansion

If the penultimate council grows to 216 members, then the hexocracy will undergo Hexocratic Expansion. The stages of this process are as follows:

1. The Old Penultimate Council elects a New Penultimate Council by forming 36 hexes, each with a new representative.

2. The Old Ultimate Council is dissolved.

3. The Emperor selects five ministers from the New Penultimate Council to form the New Ultimate Council.

4. The New Ultimate Council decides the official terms (names, rights, responsibilities) of the New Order below the New Tertiary Council.

5. The Tertiary Council becomes this New Order.

6. The Old Penultimate Council becomes the New Tertiary Council.