Meritocratic Republic of Trattoria

Meritocratic Republic of Trattoria
Democracy
Tek Level 7
200 systems, 3 extra-galactic colony systems
Player
Colette
Allies
Allied Nations Anti-Immortal Alliance NATO
Enemies
Third Alliance Space Mafia Pwnies Immortal Alliance Peaches
Notable People
see Trattorian Characters

A sample of some of the units in the Trattorian Army in G.R. 2011.

The Meritocratic Republic of Trattoria, or more tersely known as the Trattorian Empire, is a large empire spanning 200 systems and has the ability to conduct inter-galactic voyages. In fact, 3 systems lie outside this galaxy and supply the attinium needed to make the inter-galactic voyages possible and economical. It also has a huge economy relative to its size, being the third-largest in the brikverse by GDP, and also the most highly advanced science and research communities in the galaxy. The government is officially a democracy, with a three branch USA-style representative democracy. Recently, with the overthrow of the government by Intelligence Director Siri, it has been replaced with an absolute kaiserdom. This was mysteriously reversed in the first days of G.R. 2014, allowing Trattoria to revert to its old system of government and elect President Kuroki.

Trattorians have demonstrated technological prowess in its military forces compared to other star nations, having built SHIPs and SHDTs, along with other classified black-ops projects and more mundane upgrades to the rest of the military. While it does seem to suffer a smaller infantry force than most other nearby empires, it makes up for that with a large amount of vehicles and an extensive navy that puts nearby ones to shame. The best teknology, however, is reserved for the Citizens and the civilian sector.

A Trattorian Athenia-class dreadnought, with a Midgetman-class frigate to scale.

History of Trattoria

The history of the empire is relatively uninteresting and unchanging. Regardless, the Trattorians know as solid fact that they were space-dropped onto a habitable planet at the fringe of this galaxy, along with blueprints for war-machines and resources, a thousand years ago. They began building, and within a few years, launched a spaceship into the next system. The colonization has been unstoppable for hundreds of years since then, until it stopped at 150 systems due to security concerns. The last five systems colonized, the farthest away, demonstrated these problems as they broke away to form the Paladins against the Peaches.

An intelligence director by the name of Siri overthrew the government of Trattoria and established herself as kaiser. She attempted changing some of Trattoria's policies, making Trattoria a member of the Third Alliance. She established for herself the position of foreign relations and intelligence in the Third Alliance.

Siri was assassinated in early G.R. 2014, reverting Trattoria to its old democratic government and policies.

Policies of Trattoria

Trattoria has become a major player in galactic politics. Currently, it is anti-immortal, anti-Peach (but not genocidal) and a major backer of the Allied Nations.

At the onset of the AN-TA War, Trattoria took an active role in the Allied Nations. Under Siri's coup, Trattoria joined the Third Alliance.

After the assassination of Kaiserin Siri and the overthrow of her government, the new President Kuroki has returned Trattoria to its old partners, the Anti-Immortal Alliance and the Neu-AN.

Although politicians and diplomats are prominent in Trattorian society, the real power rests with the scientists. Prioritizing economic growth over military strength, the scientists have attained a near extra-legal status though their role in shifting the LRAS and increasing the GDP through research and development. At the forefront of the galactic scientific community, the science department of Trattoria has produced such wonders as perfect miracle-cures, galaxy-destroying neutrina bombs, a complete physical Theory of Everything, and deadly chlorine-trifluoride throwers among countless other innovations.

The Council of Scientists, the ruling body of the Trattorian Science Department

A Trattorian particle accelerator experiment in progress at the Soledad Fermion Super-Collider.

Government of Trattoria

Trattoria possesses democratic institutions but is actually more strongly dominated by meritocracy. Trattoria is a unitary state- the national government retains supreme power and divides the country's 150 home star systems into fifty districts of three star systems each for administrative purposes. The capital is on the homeworld of Trattoria.

Legislative Branch

A hearing of the Trattorian Legislative Committee on Science.

Two elected Legislators represent each district in the unicameral Legislature, for a total of 100 members. The nonvoting Special Administrator, who represents the fifty systems annexed from Valoros, is also usually present at meetings of the Legislature. The Legislature drafts and votes on laws and is non-partisan (no political parties)- each Legislator stands for him/herself and his/her own platform, although the Legislature is relatively homogeneous in ideology in comparison to other nations' parliaments and congresses. The Legislature is empowered to declare war, pass the budget, and annex and determine the status of new territories. It elects a Speaker of the Legislature from the body to chair meetings and enforce procedure, usually the most senior Legislator. Legislators are paid little but usually own a fortune from a previous occupation. Any Trattorian Citizen may run, but the final candidates list on the ballot is sometimes trimmed with a science/mathematics examination. The votes of Legislative districts are weighted by their economic contribution, with each district's two Legislators splitting equally.

Executive Branch

The executive branch is nominally headed by the President and Vice President, determined by a nationwide popular election with a procedure similar to Legislative elections. Due to the unpredictable nature of democracy, the President possesses little de facto power, which instead rests in the cabinet of merit-selected bureaucrats. The Cabinet consists of six Chief officials heading their respective departments:

• The Economics Department

• The Science Department

• The Foreign Relations Department

• The Legal Department

• The Education Department

• The Armed Forces Department

Each department is led by a Chief official and usually a ruling council: notable ones include the Chief Comptroller and the Board of Governors for the Economics Department, the Chief Scientist and the Council of Scientists for the Science Department, the Chief Ambassador and the ambassadors to the BrikVerse's G8 nations for the Foreign Relations Department, the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the Armed Forces Department, the Chief Attorney for the Legal Department, and the Chief Chancellor for the Education Department. Each Department usually possesses further subdivisions- the Science Department has Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Engineering sub-Departments, while the Armed Forces Department has Army, Navy, Fighter Force, and Marine branches. In the event of presidential assassination, the line of succession is the Vice President, the Speaker of the Legislature, and then the Chief cabinet officials in the order introduced above. The executive branch would avoid the last outcome however, as an ambitious Chief cabinet official could abuse the presidency's powers and seize control over the other Departments and Trattoria.

The Armed Forces consist of conscripted sub-citizens. The command structure (aka generals, admirals, air marshals, commandants, etc.) are almost always doled out as political favors to Citizens, with promotions from the ranks done only rarely.

Judicial Branch

Blue collar crime is rare to nonexistent in Trattoria and the robotic police force exists primarily to keep visiting foreigners in line. Crimes against sub-citizens (such as soldiers, test subjects, or subjugated foreigners) committed by Citizens are not prosecuted as sub-citizens possess few or no legal rights. Foreigners guilty of crimes as well as undocumented immigrants are dealt with depending on the power and prominence of their country of origin. White collar crime occurs however, with the Legal Department investigating general white collar crimes committed by Citizens and the Economics Department's Comptrollers specializing in financial crime and economic treason. Citizens are guaranteed a right to fair trial, and Trattorian courts follow typical adversarial format with a judge and jury. Trattorian courts rely more heavily on technology than their counterparts in other countries, including polygraphs and neural scans. Even upon conviction, judges are usually lax in sentencing (a short stay in prison) unless there is something especially offensive about the crime in question (such as Dr. Kruszewski's usage of a Black Box anomaly), in which case execution, citizenship/Ph.D. revocation, or exile may be imposed. Verdicts may be appealed in higher courts, and the Supreme Tribunal (consisting of nine senior justices) has the ultimate say on any legal matter in Trattoria.

Culture of Trattoria

Trattorian Citizens enjoy high incomes and quality of life.

Trattoria highly values intelligence and academic prowess, believing intellectual acuity to be the key to its prosperity. Consequently, Trattorian citizenship requires a Ph. D. that satisfies national education standards, which is most easily achieved through attending a Trattorian university (which are consistently ranked among the highest in the Brikverse, paid for entirely by the government for prospective citizens). After completing such rigorous training, a Trattorian citizen is then entitled to a near-utopian lifestyle free of crime, poverty, sickness, hunger, etc. with a usual median salary of around seven to eight figures. Combined with heavy under-population, plentiful resources, and Level 7 Tek, the Allied Nations consistently ranks Trattoria as having one of the highest qualities of life in the Brikverse.

In exchange, Trattoria lacks or bans many activities that other countries in the Brikverse take for granted. There is no sex, no marriage, no drugs (except for RbT, which has by now been quashed), no metal music, etc., a lifestyle which minifigs outside of Trattoria believe is abhorrent. Reproduction is conducted artificially, with heavy genetic engineering geared towards maximizing intelligence, and marriage is replaced by an 18-year legal contract to raise a child, often assigned via lottery. Trattorians are actually physically incapable of romantic love or sex.

Like many other great nations in the brikverse, Trattoria's prosperity is built upon the backs of slaves. Or in this case, prospective citizens who failed academically and therefore forfeited their right to full citizenship. Those incapable of following Trattoria's rigorous curriculum are usually assigned as sub-citizen conscripts in the military, or even as scientific test subjects in more egregious cases. This attitude extends towards the rest of the Brikverse as well, with the phrase "unenlightened imbeciles" commonly used to refer to foreigners.

"Life in Trattoria is good, as long as you're on the right side of the scalpel."

Additional Information

Characters

A list of some important Trattorians can be found on the Trattorian Characters page.

Locations

A list of some important Trattorian star systems and planets can be found on the Trattorian Planets page.