Executive Council of Polaris

The Executive Council of Polaris is an eleven-member directorial, collective head of state governing the Federal Republic of Polaris. The college of twelve members is responsible for the management of the federal government of Polaris and leads the executive branch of the government. The Council is headed by the President of the Executive Council,and Vice President, who are elected by the membership of the Executive Council, following popular elections.

As of 2017, the incumbent President is Catherine Howebrucke and the office of the Vice President is held by Susanna Koehen-Rusgatt. Superlative authority of the Federal Armed Forces of Polaris is vested in the EAC under an amendment to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Polaris.

Section II, Article VII of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Polaris provides Polaris with the liberty of forming any government, without foreign intervention. Through a recommendation set out by an ad hoc committee commissioned by the Polaris City Council in 2001, the present directorial system was put forward by the committee, citing that it would expand the reach of democracy, and allow for further consensus in regards to executive power within Polaris. The ability to order military actions or declarations of war, grant pardons and reprieves and the ability to veto any congressional legislation, as bills are required to be approved by a majority of members before ascension into law.

Purpose
As a collective head of state, the Executive Council of Polaris is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of law within Polaris. The Council has authority over the Polaris National Guard and matters of national defence. As well, the consent of the Executive Council is required to put legislation from the Legislative Congress of Polaris into force.

Nevertheless, the principle of "congressional supremacy", a variation on Pertish "parliamentary supremacy", is considered a crucial element of Polarian constitutional law. As such, the Executive Council does not engage in a probing, line-by-line evaluation of legislation at hand. The Council seldom rejects a bill from ascension. If a majority of the Council should decide to "reserve" a bill, it must highlight a specific and overriding concern with the legislation in its decision. A motion to reserve is temporary, and will only stay the implementation of the law by ninety days.

The Executive Council is further responsible for appointing high-level bureaucrats, justices to the Supreme Court and District Courts, Ambassadors, and Lieutenant-Governors. The Executive Council will, on occasion, review candidates put forward by the Office of the Civil Chancellor. All appointments are subject to majority consent from the Council's membership.

President of the EC
Although the entirety of the Polarian government is represented by the EC itself, the Presidency of the EC is chosen in order to direct and moderate meetings of the council, and also acts as a personification of the Polarian people, and is bestowed several reserve power over Council matters.

The President is for instance, the final authority on all matters concerning national defence, and is Commander of the Polarian Forces. The authority of the President overrides their colleagues in the Executive Council in authorizing urgent military interventions in foreign countries. The President is also permitted to "reserve" legislation for a period not exceeding sixty days, and return it to Congress for amendments. However, this authority is subject to checks and balances from the rest of the Executive Council.

The President is also considered Polaris' foremost representative on matters concerning international relations, and frequently takes the lead on negotiating agreements with other nations and representing Polaris at international summits and conferences.

Under the Polaris Federation Act, only members elected as associate members to the Executive Council may contest the presidency. The election of the President is done through a simple majority vote of Executive Councillors, including any abstentions. The candidates for President are themselves entitled to vote in this process. Should no candidate meet the threshold, the vote is sent to the Assembly of Representatives to decide through secret ballot, whereby a candidate must again obtain a plurality of votes.

Cabinet Secretaries
Cabinet secretaries are responsible for a specific portfolio, which are distributed among the eleven Executive Councillors. Each of the departments, are in Polarian public administration, "mainline" branches of the Polarian bureaucracy, that act as umbrella organizations for a collection of various dependent agencies. Compared to a typical Cabinet, Polarian cabinet secretaries are reposed much greater executive power and responsibility.

Cabinet secretaries are considered transient positions, and are often subject to shuffling. Shuffling is a common practice undertaken by the President to reward or punish Cabinet secretaries, with demotions and promotions occurring periodically. By convention, the President will typically appoint Secretaries on the basis of their background and areas of expertise. Even then, the President may shift stronger members of Cabinet to portfolios of higher priority. Cabinet secretaries are considered the final authority on all matters related to that department, save where it intersects with the authority of the Legislative Congress or the Supreme Court.Answerable to cabinet secretaries, are Deputy Secretaries, which comprise of career bureaucrats who implement government policies through the bureaucracy. Cabinet secretaries are seldom involved in actual policy implementation, and are primarily used to represent and defend government actions on a certain issue.

Cabinet secretaries will participate in engagements with the media, and travel abroad to meet with counterparts and discuss pressing issues.

In the event that a government does not have enough party members to fill every portfolio, the President has the discretion to designate a member of the Legislative Congress of Polaris as a non-sitting Cabinet Secretary, that would retain all administrative power of a sitting Cabinet Secretary, but will have no voting capability in EC decisions. Opposition members are typically given shadow Cabinet positions as critics, or adopt no portfolio at all.

Elections
All members of the Executive Council are elected as Executive Councillors, as a statewide office. As of July 2013, EC Councillors are elected through ranked ballots (alternative voting) in statewide elections that occur concurrently (and typically on the same ballot) during federal elections. These elections, like all elections within Polaris, are administered and overseen by the Federal Election Commission of Polaris, an independent agency of the Polarian government.

EC Councillors are elected to terms of five years, and are subject to recall measures, which require the signatures of at least 5% of the state population in order to be considered.