Departments
Introduction
So far the Liminal State has been described in terms of leadership, but Branches use Departments to do the real work needed for the Liminal State. Departments can be Permanent or Temporary, depending on the project and need.
For example, the Infrastructure Branch would have a Permanent Department to manage the roads, but a Temporary Department may be needed to manage the building of a new high-speed rail line.
Departments are the core of the Branches, and the core of the Liminal State. They are made up of the thousands of individuals doing the real work. While the leadership guides the direction of the entire branch, Department Heads manage their Departments with direction provided by the Branch Officials. Each Department is led by three Department Heads, which are elected into those positions by the Government Personnel that work within that Department, just like the leadership of the Branch is determined by all the Branch Members working for the entire Branch.
Leadership
Candidates for Department Heads must have at least four years of experience within that Department and be 53 years old or younger at the time of the election. Each serve 12 year terms, staggered every four years. Proportional-Rank Choice Voting is used to determine a new Department Head, with the only exception to the typical rules being that there is no Alternate.
Should a Department Head no longer be able to serve in that role, there will be an immediate vote within that Department for a new, qualified, and willing candidate to fulfill that role. The top candidate will assume the term of the Departing Head, but will be considered the junior member.
Outgoing Department Heads are not permitted to serve as that Department's Head again, though they are eligible for any other position within that Department, the Branch in general, or any other position within the Liminal State.
Temporary Departments
If a Temporary Department should be needed, the Branch Officials will use Proportional-Rank Choice Voting to pick the initial three Department Heads from among the eligible and willing candidates to lead the Temporary Department, with the top choice serving 12 years, the second eight years, and the third four years, each less a truncated initial amount to match the regular Election Cycle. Each of these initial Department Heads is replaced in order during the regular Election Cycle and until the end of the project or the period of time the Temporary Department is intended to exist.
With the creation of a Temporary Department, the three initial Department Heads will select the staff for their Department. The Department Heads may hire from outside the Branch if necessary, but staff should primarily be selected from existing qualified personnel within the Branch when possible.
Any Temporary Department whose purpose ultimately ends up to be deemed important enough to continue following instantiation can continue to operate as a Permanent Department so long as the Branch Officials are in agreement and appropriate funding exists.
Independent Departments
Some Branches may contain Departments that operate independently of the Branch Officials’ (and therefore the Executive Group's) direction. By default, this will include any Department that can directly influence the economy, all Enforcement Agencies, all Temporary Departments instantiated solely to perform an official investigation, and anytime it would be detrimental to be influenced for political reasons.
Any Department not explicitly included above may request to operate independently of Branch Officials. The determination of the validity of this request will be decided by the Lateral Branch to the Judicial Branch, using the standard Delegate Vote Method. The request for independence can come from any Leadership Group with Standing.
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