The Senate of the Rosen Commonwealth is the legislative branch of the federal government of the Rosen Commonwealth. It is a unicameral legislature with 138 members. The Senate meets in the Federal Capitol Complex in São Cedillo. Senators are chosen through direct election, with vacancies filled immediately by special elections. The Senate has 138 members, which encompasses six people from each Republic in the form of two pairs of a man and a woman. The members of the Secretariat-Directory and the Secretary-General are elected by the Senate but are not senators. The Senate convenes from February to November every year. Elections for senators are held every four years. Because each Republic is entitled to the same number of senators, there are large discrepancies between how many constituents one senator represents. In addition, senators are elected in pairs; each Republic has two constituencies of roughly equal population. Senators must be a citizen of the Republic they represent, must be at least 20 years old, and must have a degree from an institution of higher education. Senators can serve up to six four-year terms. The Senate replaced the People’s National Advisory Assembly (PNAA) established in 1983 by the WSPRC under Julian Rybicki. The PNAA functioned as a rubber-stamp legislature, and was a major point of contention within reformist groups in the First Commonwealth. The Senate is nonpartisan; political parties are banned and senators are expected not to affiliate themselves with a political agenda. Similar to Marxist-Leninist principles of “democratic centralism,” senators are also not expected to debate or expressly advocate for the repeal of legislation once it has been passed; within the Commonwealth, this system is referred to as Rosen Consensus Democracy.
Role
According to Article 4.1 of the Second Constitution, the Senate’s role is to “make federal law, manage the economy and trade, declare war, create and audit the budget of the commonwealth government, and elect the Secretariat-Directory.” The Senate has power over financial and budgetary policy through creating budgets, issuing financial directives, and approving executive appointees to positions controlling economics and trade. The Secretariat-Directory collaborates yearly with the Senate Finance Committee to propose a budgetary plan, which the Senate is expected to amend and alter as it sees fit. The Senate can also influence financial policy through levying taxes and tariffs, which it has the power to do with the consent of the Secretariat-Directory. Sales tax, however, is determined on a republican basis. The Senate has the sole authority to declare war and authorize the use of the Commonwealth’s armed forces. Nuclear weapons are under the sole control of a troika composing the Secretary-General, the Secretary of Defense, and the Administrator of the Office of Nuclear Weapons. During the time of the Rosen Republic, the legislature had little authority over the military; Deng Liang, a signatory of the Second Constitution, advocated heavily for a Senate-focused armed forces system. The Senate’s foremost non-legislative role is to investigate and oversee the Secretariat (the executive). Senatorial oversight is delegated to committees, who issue directives that guide the functions of the executive departments. Through the committee-department system, the Senate and the departments share authority and competence in nearly all areas of the Commonwealth’s government.
Structure
Each Republic is allocated two delegations, often called pairs. Each pair comprises a male and a female senator.
The committee system allows senators to study a particular area of competence extensively. As time goes by, senators develop expertise in particular subjects, allowing the Senate to become a more credible body.