From the notes of Citizen Emilia, Voice of the People

We arrived Tuesday morning to resume our debate on the structure of the executive, which was sidetracked by Charles the previous day. There were three main proposals. With the misguided monarchy defeated, Charles’s Prime Minister, dependent on parliament, still stood as a possible executive. Aguilo preferred a directly elected President. Robert preferred an executive council, with members elected regionally. I favored the council, but Aguilo’s presidency didn’t sound terrible, and a Prime Minister could be okay as well, if the legislature was democratic. My main concern was democratic accountability, and all three methods could accommodate that, but I still generally leaned toward the council.

It was Dauphin who stepped up, with the first of his major compromise proposals. He suggested a 7 person council, with 5 regionally elected members and 2 members responsible to parliament. It cleverly combined direct elections, regional representation, and parliamentary responsibility into one proposal. His final touch was that, in times of war, the council would elect from its own members one specific member to command the military, which allowed for decisive leadership that Aguilo craved. We also quickly agreed on 4 year terms for the elected members, to provide a balance between stability and electoral accountability. I was quite impressed with the way Dauphin combined competing concerns into one new proposal. I was happy to endorse it, until Pepe stepped in to muck things up.

Pepe decides to interject with an educational requirement to hold office, the first of many elitist proposals he would cook up. He claimed we needed expertise at the highest levels of leadership. Robert and Crysta backed me up that this was unacceptable, but Aguilo showed his true colors, with the first of his really militaristic proposals. He suggested either education or service in the military or militia. He was almost too fast with his suggestion, almost like he and Pepe planned this in advance.

I couldn’t believe Robert accepted this proposal, I guess he was satisfied with militia service as a qualification, but it still seemed to go against his otherwise democratic principles. With most of the room accepting the proposal, Crysta seemed willing to concede so I followed her lead. I wasn’t thrilled about the restrictions on holding the office, but the overall structure is still relatively democratic.

During our lunch break I decided to talk to Robert about it, and he explained to me that his primary interest was looking after the interests of his rural constituents. Even the ones who were not part of the militias trusted in their leadership, and would likely understand restrictions of executive office. I didn’t agree but we had a respectful understanding of each other’s positions.

Statement from General Aguilo, Revolutionary Commander - Western Front

On day 2, we could resume our executive discussion. I knew exactly what the country needed, a strong decisive leader. I am sympathetic to the executive council proposal that Robert suggested. We fought a revolution against a centralized tyrant, and a council might divide power so as to prevent tyranny. But we are threatened from all sides by the Royalist Coalition, and we need a single decisive leader, removable if necessary, but with clear authority to wage war. Charles’s prime minister proposal also has a single leader, but if there is no clear majority in parliament, we could face a lack of executive stability, dangerous in times of war.

Dauphin really surprised me with his compromise proposal, it seemed to have something for everyone. An executive council with members derived from both regional elections and parliament, and in times of war a clear leader within the council to command the armed forces. I was still a little uncertain about it, but it did provide strong enough leadership that I could accept it. 

After we had settled on the general structure, Pepe chimed in with an interesting proposal, that only people with university degrees be eligible to hold office in this executive council, which he had named the Directorate. I can understand his desire for expertise in high office, to help guide the people, but I think his concept of expertise was too narrow. I proposed that military and militia non-commissioned and commissioned officers would have plenty to contribute to the government. Pepe seemed a little annoyed, but conceded, and most of the room quickly accepted my compromise as well. This is the first time the agitator gave me a look of disgust, but she kept quiet and accepted the proposal like everyone else. She is more brave with her words when handing out pamphlets to her minions, than she is here in the convention.

Dispatch from Admiral Dauphin, Revolutionary Naval Command

I have read some of the public statements made by other members of the convention. I feel gratified that so many see me as a reasonable moderate, and an architect of compromise. I felt I was merely looking out for my best interests. All three of the major executive proposals had merits. A president provides decisive leadership, a prime minister ensures cooperation between the legislature and the executive, and the council provides regional representation and a check on tyranny. Rather than tear ourselves apart over which was the best, I decided we could reap the benefits of all three proposals. I did nothing less than provide what I believed to be a superior option.

Now, Pepe’s proposal was more contentious than mine, at least at first. He wanted to limit office in the executive council to holders of university degrees, which was expanded to include military and militia personnel at the suggestion of Aguilo. Limiting office based on education or military service sounds like the same kind of elitism we fought a revolution against, but it has an important difference. Monarchy and aristocracy are unearned privileges. Education, as well as military service, are genuine measures of some kind of merit that will provide valuable insight into governance. While I sympathize with the elitism criticism by Emilia, I stand by our group's decision to enact this restriction on the office.

From the Office of Chancellor Pepe, Acting Head of Civil Service

Day 2 - Morning - Executive Structure

There was a conflict between three major proposals on executive structure, but Dauphin stepped in with his first major contribution and suggested an executive council with some elected members and others responsible to parliament. I found the compromise suggestion acceptable, as did the others.

I pushed for an educational requirement to increase the expertise of our governing leaders. This was met with some expected pushback from Emilia and Robert as being elitist. Aguilo begins his push for military influence and suggests either military experience or education as a requirement for office, which I found a tolerable compromise. He has a point that military leaders can have some kind of expertise, even if it's not always the most relevant. At the very least, they probably have a lot of insight on defense policy.

Result - Consensus reached on executive structure.

Form: Seven-person Executive Council.

Composition: 5 directly elected (one per historical region, 4-year terms); 2 appointed by parliament (serve at parliament’s pleasure).

Powers: Majority vote for major decisions (appointments, treaties); internally divide responsibilities. One member, chosen by the council, serves as War Director in wartime and is the sole commander of the armed forces.

Eligibility: University degree or military/militia rank of sergeant or higher.

Titles: Body as a whole is the Directorate, individual members are Directors, during war one member is the War Director.