Government of Freedemia

This page is about the government and politics of Freedemia.

See also: Freedemia

Government of Free Reedemia
Constitutional Presidential Republic
Capital	Quentinsburgh
Head of state
• President	Angela Rosenthal
• Vice President	Patrick Houser
• Executive Whip & Vice Executive Whip	Katherine Nelzer, Lily Mae Clarington
Legislature	National Legislature
• Upper house	House of Populus
• Lower house	House of Equal Representation House of Referenda
Judiciary	National Court
Major political parties
No official political parties. Main ideological factions:   Center-Left Authoritarians   Left Soc Libertarians   Conservative Protectionists   Far-Right Nationalists
International organizations
TCC, Ingerish Commonwealth, AN

The National Government of Free Reedemia usually referred to as the Federal or National Government, is the highest level of government created by the constitution as the legislative, executive and judicial authority over Freedemia's thirteen states and all municipalities and counties therein. The seat of the government is located in Quentinsburgh, Quentins.

National Government

Freedemia is a federation, and as such the National Government is the strongest government level with the power to overrule states and municipalities within constitutional limits. The National Government consists of three primary branches (executive, legislative, and judiciary), as well as a separate bureaucracy to handle things such as ethics complaints. This system was made to have a degree of checks and balances, so that no individual branch would have too much concentrated power. The current setup of the National Government was adopted in 1898 as part of the 1898 Constitution.

Executive

The executive branch is headed by the President and Vice President and includes an administration of various advisory positions. The president has the power to veto laws sent to them, though the legislature can override. They are also generally seen as the head of state. Unlike most other countries with a presidential system, the runner up candidate and running mate of each presidential election become Executive Whip and Vice Executive Whip, positions within the administration where they play an advisory role to the president and try to work with them on certain ideas. The Executive Whip is also the 3rd in line for the presidency behind the Vice President, with the Vice Executive Whip 4th in line. The idea behind the Executive Whips is to ensure that candidates with reasonably different ideas are made to work together on a solution that's more problem-solution focused than strictly partisan or ideological, and that candidates coming from different perspectives can help ensure that problems the President and Vice President may not see are brought to light.

Legislature

Freedemia's legislature is tricameral, consisting of the House of Poplators, an upper house where representatives are based on population, the House of Equal Representation, a lower house where each state gets an equal number, and the House of Referenda, which decides whether legislative-introduced bills need to be approved by the public by referendum to become law and oversee referendas initiated by the public. The legislature makes federal laws, and has the ability to override a presidential veto with enough support. The legislature is located in the old Parliament Building at the western end of the Capitol Mall in Quentinsburgh.

House of Populus

The setup of the House of Poplators and Poplator distribution by state.

The House of Populus is Freedemia's upper house, where poplators are elected at large from each state based on the population of the state. While the number of poplators each state gets is based on state population, they are not proportional to the actual population number- the total is set at 49 poplators and states have set amounts of poplators that can be amended to accommodate major changes in population, though this has not been triggered since the establishment of the modern national government under the 1898 Constitution. Together with the House of Equal Representation, the House of Populus introduces bills, debates and amends them, and votes whether to pass them and send them to the president. Both the House of Populus and House of Equal Representatives have to vote to pass a bill for it to be sent to the president to become law.

Poplator Distribution by State

State	Number of Poplators
Quentins	6 Poplators
Jhuandan	6 Poplators
Frankelyn	5 Poplators
Lawrence	5 Poplators
Gaviera	4 Poplators
Tierra Redimida	4 Poplators
Margo	3 Poplators
Edenshire	3 Poplators
Pell	3 Poplators
Windross	3 Poplators
Chavana	3 Poplators
Jhelesie	2 Poplators
Leyshire	2 Poplators
Total	49 Poplators

House of Equal Representation

The setup of the House of Equal Representation, including each state's 20 district representatives and 5 Statewide Representatives, as well as setup of the House of Referenda.

The House of Equal Representation is Freedemia's primary lower house, meant to represent each state internally. Each state gets 25 representatives, for a total of 325. Out of each state's 25 representatives, 20 are elected by districts (each state is divided into 20), while 5 representatives are elected statewide. The House of Equal Representation, like the House of Populus, introduces bills, debates and amends them, and votes whether to pass them and send to the president if voted for in both main houses.

House of Referenda

The House of Referenda serves two primary purposes. It decides whether bills introduced in the legislature need to be voted on by the public to become law, as well as oversees referenda initiated by the public, either getting them to ballot or voting them down. While considered a "lower house", because of its unique function the House of Referenda is somewhat independent of the other two houses of the legislature. It is also not involved in the normal bill passing process other than to decide whether something needs to be voted on by the public. Each state gets 2 Referenda Councilmen, and one tiebreaker Referenda Councilman is elected at large nationally, for a total of 27. The election for the at-large Referenda Councilman is often one of the biggest national elections alongside president/executive whip.

Judiciary

Freedemia's judiciary, known as the National Court, handles major cases that involve constitutional rights as well as appeals that reach the highest level of the court system. The National Court is located in the old Royal Palace within the Capitol Mall in Quentinsburgh across from the Executive Residence.

Poltical Party Ban

Freedemia, unlike many democracies, lacks a political party system, with a constitutional amendment banning parties from the political system since the early 1960s. This was largely put in place to avoid party line votes and to encourage voters and legislators to look at each candidate and policy individually. This policy has been criticized by some as rewarding name recognition and reinforcing power structures, but applauded by others for a reduction in partisanship and attraction of a diversity of individualized candidate platforms.

Constitution

Previous Constitutions

1811 Constitution

...abolished the short lived Freedemian monarchy and put into place a sort of beta-parliamentary system with premiers replacing the crown, the single house parliament voting on bills, and open elections for the governing coalitions within the parliament.

However, there wasn't a very strong checks and balances system during this era. Governing coalitions fairly quickly evolved (devolved?) into a partisan system. In addition, voters had no direct say in the leaders of said governing coalitions, and in many cases didn't even have a say in who filled a seat in a region. Coalition leaders and premiers were appointed by the majority coalition/party and were not required to be elected officials from said party. Coalition leaders had no term limits and the power to overrule any decision made by the governing coalition, and similarly, the premier had the power to overrule any decision made by parliament at large (though he or she could be overruled by a supermajority vote).

These would become serious issues and lead to the proposal and ratification of a third constitution that addressed the issues with a clearer checks and balances system, a system that included taking votes directly to the people (this is why the House of Referenda, Freedemia's third legislative house, exists), and a more direct voting system that attempted to decouple candidates from parties so voters could vote based on individual politicians and their platforms.

Besides abolishing the monarchy and putting in place a parliamentary republican system, the 1811 constitution is mostly praised for being revolutionary for women's rights among the former colonies, granting women the constitutional rights to work anywhere a man could, to vote, and to run for office at a time where such was mostly unheard of in countries like the Federal States.

Politics

Major Ideological Factions

As Freedemia lacks a party system, there tends to be a bit more variety in political beliefs represented. However, there are still some main political factions that have formed. Freedemia's politics are currently dominated by center-left authoritarianism, mostly exemplified by support for publicly run government programs along with support for existing bans on things like alcohol sales and drug use. However, left social libertarianism has seen a significant rise in recent years, with more support for legalization of "victimless crimes" and things like sex work and alcohol, pushes for further deregulation and public-private partnerships, and a greater focus on individual liberty. Both groups have a global focus, supporting regional collaboration efforts like the Tarephia Cooperation Council alongside domestic security. In contrast, conservative protectionism is very focused on domestic safety and economy over all else, with the belief that regional cooperation has done more to hurt Freedemia than help and that global connections have put the country at greater risk of conflict. Conservative protectionists are the minority, but have strong support in areas that lost the most jobs to outsourcing like Lawrence and Lenseter.

Major Political Issues

Split over Alliances, Trade, and the Open Economy

An abandoned factory in Lawrence. Many jobs from places like these went elsewhere in the TCC or overseas to countries like the CCA.

Moves like joining the TCC and taking a liberal approach on trade and immigration beginning in the ~1970s made a large impact on Freedemia's rise. The new approach helped Freedemian businesses in tech, fast food, retail, and other major sectors expand and succeed internationally, attracted the best from around the world to its universities and technology/engineering firms, and allowed tourism and entertainment to flourish. These in turn directly helped most cities like Quentinsburgh, Frankelyn, Vandoveur, and Jhuandan thrive and grow. In addition, new direct rail ferry trade routes from Cabelia and Aerágny to the Vandoveur shore helped Frankelyn and Vandoveur thrive as trade-centered port cities on top of their already growing entertainment industry.

However, in contrast, increased trade and patronage of goods and industry from other TCC nations like Aerágny, Paroy, and Tigeria directly hurt Freedemian heavy industry, as other nations, especially Aerágny, had the edge on manufacturing ability and cost. Lawrence and Lenseter, home to much of said industry, were hit extremely hard and went into a state of stagnation and decline. Many industry jobs have actually returned in recent years in the form of Cabelia-owned companies opening factories in cities like Lawrence. However, for some conservatives with the strongest "Freedemia First" beliefs, losing ownership of the factories was still a major loss even when the jobs were retained.

This has led to a major political split within Freedemia, where most of the country is strongly in favor of globalization and an open economy but the Lawrence-Lenseter metro is fiercely in opposition. Lawrence State is known to strongly favor protectionism and to vote heavily against globalization/free trade/TCC alliances and those that support it, while metros like Quentinsburgh, Frankelyn/Vandoveur, and Jhuandan that thrive on it overwhelmingly outvote them.

Neglect and Exploitation of Northern Interior

Protests against government treatment of indigenous populations.

In many ways the natural resource exploitation of the northern interior is part of what allows Freedemia to function as a somewhat wealthy regional power, but the region's low population leaves its residents with little voting power, and many of the area's unique issues are largely taken for granted or ignored by the populated and wealthier coastal population.

The rural areas of the northern interior are home to the highest levels of poverty in the nation, with most living conditions ranging from rundown mining towns full of trailer parks to villages of tiny shed homes with unreliable electricity, outhouses and water basins. Fotja Rejt, the largest city in the interior, has slightly better conditions, but is still one of the poorest cities in the nation. The region also sees heavy environmental exploitation, as the location where most of Freedemia's natural/mineral resources are mined. These dirty industries tend to be the largest employers in the north and are notorious for terrible working conditions and insufficient protections for employees and for those living in the area. Pollution and contamination of towns and villages throughout the Northern Interior is common, and the region has the highest rates of cancer and other health issues in the country.

The northern interior also has the highest concentration of Native Tarephian population, partially due to many natives having moved inland during the colonial era to flee the encroachment of the colonies along the coast. In contrast to most other parts of the country where assimilation and erasure of native cultures was emphasized, Budrian culture and language are still strong in the communities of the northern interior.

Many theorize that subconscious racism and prejudice against non-assimilated native Tarephians is the true reason for the geographical neglect and heavy exploitation, similar to deliberate disinvestment in areas de-facto segregated in other nations. However, this is often difficult to prove due to the population and geography factors. The northern interior has by far the lowest and least concentrated population in the nation and a difficult mountainous jungle-filled terrain. Because of this provision of services and infrastructure to the most isolated communities is difficult, and many leaders from the higher populated coasts claim that the investments being asked for are not financially feasible for such a large area with such low population density.

National Stability and Avoiding War as Number One Priority

It's been said that the easiest way to get Freedemians to turn on an ally is to make them fear that their partnership puts them at risk of war. This tends to stand true.

Outside of regions like Lawrence state that have been hit hard by regional competition, support for involvement in the TCC, open trade alliances, and other various global partnerships tends to be fairly high across the board. That support, however, though strong, is extremely fragile. For most Freedemians, regardless of what other beliefs they hold or what stances they have on controversial issues, the number one priority is domestic stability and avoiding war/international conflict. While it hasn't come to be in recent decades, polling has consistently shown that the overwhelming majority of Freedemians would swing heavily in favor of isolationism and disengaging from regional partners in the name of national security and peace.

In many ways, it is the prolonged peace itself that Freedemia has experienced that has allowed the pro-cooperation culture and attitude to thrive in Freedemian government and society. While initially met with skepticism in the 60s and 70s, the idea that a country could have close international relationships and lasting peace/good relations simultaneously is somewhat taken for granted in Freedemian society today. However, polling shows risk of war is the one area where fearmongering is very effective on Freedemians. Unlike concerns of loss of industry or changes in culture, Freedemians tend to be legitimately horrified of the risk of being drawn into international conflicts, and such fears have at times been exploited to rile up a very strong protectionist "Freedemia First" anti-collaboration sentiment among much of the population.

Debates Over Strict Approaches to Alcohol, Smoking, Drugs

Mocktails and other alcohol-free alternative drinks are extremely popular in Freedemia due to the ban on alcohol sales.

Freedemia has fairly strict laws banning the sale of alcohol or tobacco products within the country, as well as public intoxication and public smoking. While possession itself and even private use of alcohol or tobacco products are not illegal, any form of sales or public use is fully prohibited. Freedemians generally cite the damage both can have on others (drunk individuals being more of a risk for drunk driving, domestic violence, etc; secondhand smoke causing damage to bystanders and others) as justification.

Rather than being punished with jail time, there has been an attempt in the past decades to turn sentencing towards rehabilitation. Public intoxication, possession of hard drugs, and crimes (especially domestic violence) committed under the influence of alcohol or drugs come with mandatory rehab sentencing. In addition, voluntary rehab is offered at no risk to those who come forward if they have not committed a crime by these standards.

In recent years, there have been debates over whether this approach is too harsh, with some critics advocating for a more libertarian approach, especially to alcohol. Many cite several other countries where alcohol use is fully legal that don't see rampant drinking-related offenses, as well as have a strong economic benefit from breweries and alcohol-serving restaurants and groups. Some also argue that the banning of safe regulated alcohol has led to many turning to even more dangerous moonshines or to mouthwashes and other products with alcohol content. While similar arguments have been made for smoking and drugs, the understanding of the effects of secondhand smoke and some of the more direct effects of hard drugs have prevented them from gaining any traction. In contrast, the debate on alcohol has continued to grow, though the vast majority still currently support the ban.

As it stands currently, Freedemia has a thriving and somewhat unrivaled mocktail industry, with nonalcoholic mocktail bars and pubs thriving in the place of their alcoholic counterparts (partially because of a lack of competition from them). The industry has seemed split on proposals for less strict alcohol policies, with some wanting to be able to expand offerings and others fearing competition. Some pro-alcohol-policy-reform groups have claimed "Big Mocktail" has lobbied to keep alcohol illegal to help their own industry.

The current leading proposal by pro-legalization groups is to legalize but with strict limits on amount purchased at any one establishment and limits on alcohol content in all sold alcohol.

Foreign Relations

A Freedemian passport, including the Tarephia Cooperation Council logo.

Free Reedemia has an established structure of foreign relations. While historically it had been somewhat isolationist out of pacifist tendencies and fear of war, today Freedemia is known for its regional and internartional collaboration. Freedemia is a founding member of the Tarephia Cooperation Council, allowing free trade and visa-free travel to member nations. Freedemia is also a less active member of the Ingerish Commonwealth and a member of the Assembly of Nations.

Freedemia has especially close partnerships with several neighboring countries in Tarephia and Antarephia, including Paroy, Aerágny, Cabelia, Geare, and Mandatory Meilan. Countries such as Vodeo, Allendea, and Barzona are also close regional partners, and Freedemia has strong relationships with most other Ingerish colonies such as New Ingerland and the Federal States. Freedemia also has many close partners across other continents.

Freedemia is generally understood to aim for diplomacy and mutual understanding with most countries, even those it is not very closely allied with. While relations with countries like Bai, Suria, and Demirhan Devleti sometimes see tensions, collaboration still occurs frequently, and the only countries Freedemia currently does not recognize relations with at this point in time are Antigo and Kuehong, both over human rights violations and militarism.

Partially due to the good relationship Freedemia has with most countries in addition to membership in the Tarephia Cooperation Council and Ingerish Commonwealth, Freedemia has one of the strongest passports in the world.

Strategic Internationalism

Due to the strategic position along the Strait of Lyc, Freedemia is theoretically a ripe target for attack. As such, Freedemia has a fairly large and strong defense-oriented military, but does not use it as an exploratory military.

The typical foreign policy stance is that Freedemia would only go to war when attacked or at very imminent threat of being attacked, and as an anti-interventionalist nation, never to initiate an attack. However, Freedemia will fight back whenever and wherever it is attacked. Freedemia does not attempt complete neutrality, and it will generally assist nations it aligns with using internationalist methods- monetary assistance, diplomatic assistance, and in select cases weapons and assistance. However, it will almost never take militaristic action against another country or in favor of another nation unless put directly at risk. One major exception is Geare, as Freedemia has an agreement with Geare to provide defense services.

List of Historical Leaders

Modern Democracy Era (1898-present)

Executive Leaders 1898-Present

Years	President	Vice President	Executive Whip	Vice Exec. Whip	Notes
1899-1903	James Elman (C)	Linus Frellworth (C)	Theodore Whitla (F)	Algeria Dreyser (F)	First administration to serve under the current Freedemian Constitution.
1903-1907	Theodore Whitla (F)	Algenia Dreyser (F)	James Elman (C)	Linus Frellworth (C)	In an upset, Whitla and Dreyser would beat incumbents Elman and Frellworth.
1907-1911	Algenia Dreyser (F)	Reginald Fredney (F)	Jacque Renee-Pierce (C)	Ian Brierhelm (C)	Dreyser becomes the first female president or executive leader to be elected directly (not to have taken office upon the death of the premier/president).
1911-1915	Algenia Dreyser (F)	Reginald Fredney (F)	Fredrick Tandy (N)	Andrew Browning (N)	With their mild but Freedemia-exceptionalism-based platform, Tandy and Browning become the first Nationalist Party candidates to make Execuitive Whip. Dreyser's reelection would also mark the 100th anniversary of the 1811 Constitution that gave women the right to vote and run for office- a celebratory touch for the first elected female president.
1915-1917	Fredrick Tandy (N)	Andrew Browning (N)	Fennerson Shrubell (F)	Charles Penn (F)	Tandy and Browning become the first Nationalist Party candidates to be elected to the presidency. Tandy would become extremely sick with Freedemian Influenza, forcing him to step down.
1917-1919	Andrew Browning (N)	Fennerson Shrubell (F)	Charles Penn (F)	vacant	By technicality, if something happens to the president, the vice president takes over and the executive whip becomes VP and so on. As such this led to a strange scenario where the president and vice president were of opposing parties. This led to Browning not being able to do much as president and being voted out in 1919.
1919-1923	Fennerson Shrubell (F)	Christian Duncan (F)	Nelson Silva (FC)	Jared Qubert(FC)
1923-1927	Gerald Darden (N)	Deak Patterman (N)	Nelson Silva (FC)	Carolyn Casey(FC)	The newfound success of the Freedemian Centrist Party leads to a sharp split in the vote allowing Darden of the Nationalist Party to win the election. Unfortunately unlike Browning, Darden's nationalist policies were much more extreme and increased in extremity after the election. Darden was a brash man who wanted to show the world that Freedemia was the best in a time where the world was facing massive instability and potential war, even going so far as to deliberately pick fights with surrounding nations. Silva fought Darden's agenda tooth and nail as executive whip, which contributed to the popularity that allowed him to become president in 1927. The Nationalist Party would never win another national election.
1927-1931	Nelson Silva (FC)	Carolyn Casey (FC)	Adrien Meller (F)	Henry A. Parnell (F)	Silva spent much of the administration fixing problems that Darden had created. Silva's presidency was largely uneventful but was highly esteemed due to Silva appearing as the face of sanity and stability after Gerald Darden's presidency.
1931-1935	Anthony C. Segani Sr. (FC)	Greene Akerson (FC)	Henry A. Parnell (F)	Joseph Bobbinns (F)	Segani was a very popular president, elected to two terms. While his presidency was uneventful, he was considered one of the best presidents for helping keep Freedemia stable during and after times of international instability.
1935-1939	Anthony C. Segani Sr. (FC)	Greene Akerson (FC)	Jennifer Parnell (F)	Charles Rhinesworth (F)	After Henry Parnell's failure to win the presidency in 1931, his wife Jennifer, also an active politician, ran. She too would lose to Segani Sr.
1939-1943	Clarence Bond (F)	Anthony J. Segani Jr. (F)	Robin Rogers (C)	Patrick Hansey (C)	Bond was somewhat popular for being a man of character and avoiding hyperpartisan conflict, but overall did very little during his presidency and chose to not run again after experiencing health problems near the end of his presidency. Segani was largely seen as an imitator using his father's name to get elected due to his lack of experience and politician-jargon-esque responses, so he was not chosen to replace Bond in the 1943 election.
1943-1947	Robin Rogers (C)	Patrick Hansey (C)	Carlos Laffey (FC)	Jeremiah Stern (FC)	Failing to put up a compelling candidate in place of Bond, the Freedemian Party fell out of contention. Former executive whip Rogers became president with promises to get things done that Bond failed to do. She too would largely fail to do any of the things promised.
1947-1951	Hunt P. "Daffy" Daffenschmidt (TSP)	DeeDee Hallister (TSP)	Jeramiah Stern (FC)	Beverley Park (FC)	Daffenschmidt, better known as "Daffy" and a member of the Tri-State Party, won largely on advertising himself as the guy who could get things done and being the first to use catchy jingles in radio ads and television commercials, standing in stark contrast to unpopular incumbent Rogers or the overly monotone Jeramiah Stern. Daffenschmidt was the first and last Tri-State Party member to win a nationwide election in Freedemia. However, a series of scandals involving Daffenschmidt trying to increase or reduce the amount of states in Freedemia to enact the Tri-State Plan and his tendency for "evil authoritarianism" ensured he would not be reelected and his presidency would be remembered largely as a sad joke.
1951-1955	Sean Bond (FC-I)	Julian Gaviera (FC-I)	Bennet Denley (C)	Samuel Flynn (C)	Sean Bond, the son of Clarence Bond and a card carrying Freedemian Centrist, ran in 1947 as an independent after growing tired of watching years and years of party-line drama and nothing getting done, partially on the platform of ending political parties. While many within the Freedemian Centrist Party were furious, his ideas caught on among the people and Bond won easily. Daffenschmidt would lose by large margins with Denley of the Conservative Party becoming executive whip. Bond spent much of his term improving the education system and putting together an infrastructure plan for the future.
1955-1959	Sean Bond (I)	Julian Gaviera (I)	Katrisse Henderson (FC)	Lay Brenner (FC)	For the 1955 election, Bond stepped up his fight against political parties. After a tough primary where he was opposed directly and heavily by the funding of the Freedemian Centrist Party, Bond was able to win in the runoff by massive margins. During his second term, Bond successfully got the amendment dismantling and banning political parties added to the constitution.
1959-1963	Sean Bond	Julian Gaviera	Victor Rubin III	Jay Lee Ramirez	Bond would run for a third term and win in a landslide with no serious challengers. During this administration Bond funded the creation of the modern FreedemiRail system as well as a plan to transform Quentinsburgh-Freedemia Airstrip into a global-quality international airport. The airport would later be renamed Sean Bond International Airport in his honor. This was the first election where all candidates ran as independents.
1963-1967	Wallace Sanderson	Sierra Kirby	Ralph Cleary	Abbott Jhinden	Sanderson would be to foreign policy what Sean Bond was for domestic infrastructure. Overseeing much of the revamp of the Quentinsburgh-Freedemia International Airport and starting major improvements on other international airports in cities around the country, Sanderson also worked to improve connections and relations with surrounding Tarephian countries and with countries around the world. This opening up would eventually lead to much growth for the Freedemian economy, with tourism starting to boom near immediately and with many companies founded around this time or in coming decades finding global success rather than being constrained to Freedemia.
1967-1968	Wallace Sanderson	Sierra Kirby	Abbott Jhinden	Paulie Frettigie	Sanderson became very ill partway into his second term, presumably with some sort of cancer. He stepped down to receive treatment in early 1968 and would pass away in 1970.
1968-1971	Sierra Kirby	Abbott Jhinden	Paulie Frettigie	vacant	Due to Sanderson stepping down, Kirby became the new president with Jhinden as her VP. Unlike for Sanderson, economics and foreign policy were not Kirby's strongsuits. Jhinden would effectively lead the administration, with a slightly more protectionist spin on Sanderson's opening up. This is partially why the global boom for Freedemian companies was delayed until closer to the economic and technological boom of the 80s. Tourism, however, did continue to flourish.
1971-1975	Abbott Jhinden	Edward Francis-Roberts	Sierra Kirby	Brett West	Jhinden, generally seen as the engine behind the Kirby administration, would win handily over her in the 1971 election, continuing the protectionist slow opening of the Freedemian economy.
1975-1979	Edward Francis-Roberts	Samuel Minal	Fredrick Baum	Bo Whellesenki	Francis-Roberts would come into office continuing much of Jhinden's economic policies, while opening up substantially for more trade and collaboration with neighboring Paroy. In this way Francis-Roberts was almost the middle ground between Jhinden's weak protectionism and Sanderson's open economy focus. Baum and Whellenski however were stronger in favor of increasing immigration and Freedemia's place as a regional power Francis-Roberts would oversee .
1979-1983	Fredrick Baum	Andrew Ames	Edward Francis-Roberts	Samuel Minal	Baum's more liberal approach on opening up to the world for tourism, education, and industry was well received, and voters ushered him into office in 1979 over Francis-Robert's attempt at reelection. Baum is known as one of the key leaders that started Freedemia down its current globalization-friendly trajectory, and the Baum Doctrine named after him reflects this some.
1983-1987	Fredrick Baum	Andrew Ames	Mallory Brown	Dixon Rickle	Baum's globalization focus would continue through his second term. Freedemia would be a founding member of the Tarephia Cooperation Council in 1984, fully opening up the Freedemian economy to surrounding nations. However, the 1986 oil spill in Mandatory Meilan off the Freedemian coast would shift focus from economy to environment as Freedemians questioned the impact continuing with oil could have. As such, the 1987 election would be more about the future of Freedemia's energy production methods.
1987-1991	Sarah Gerbertson	Leroy Stansel	Andrew Ames	Brandon Lopez	VP Ames, originally the favorite for election, would fail to adequately address the sudden environmental movement, as would executive whips Brown and Rickle. This allowed then lesser known mayor Sarah Gerbertson of Vandoveur to jump into office on an environmental focused platform. The Gerbertson administration began a shift away from gasoline towards hybrids and leads to an eventual transition more towards natural gas within Freedemian production and use alongside the hybrids/electric. There was also a shift towards further development and adoption of solar and hydroelectric, along with a doubling down on nuclear. The shift away from gasoline would also lead to significant investment in public transportation and the FreedemiRail network to further improve the system. This period also saw substantial economic growth as Freedemia rode the wave of the tech revolution with the founding of companies like Stepstone Technology.
1991-1995	Sarah Gerbertson	Leroy Stansel	Hal Boreen	Michelle Simpson	Former health executive Hal Boreen came close to an upset running on a healthcare reform platform to include basic primary care for all Freedemians and increase access/hospitals in rural areas. Gerbertson would work closely with Boreen to enact many of his ideas. This administration also saw a continued emphasis on infrastructure in relation to environmental health. However, Gerbertson was criticized going into the 1995 election for repeatedly siding with oil and gas companies for natural gas over renewable electric. Many saw this as a betrayal, and Gebertson would lose the support of many of the environmental groups that had kept her in office previously.
1995-1999	Robert Kenderson	Doug H. Thomas	Harris Graham	Marco Nelson	Gerbertson and Stansel would choose not to run again due to losing support over the environmental flip-flopping. Boreen would also not run, believing he'd accomplished what he'd set out to with healthcare. This led to former vice executive whip Simpson not having enough support to make it past the primary, and businessman Robert Kenderson would win over Lenseter mayor Harris Graham. Kenderson would enact many policies that directly hurt the lower class in Freedemia, and would later be charged with corruption over creating and using back-room political funding channels.
1999-2003	Harris Graham	Marco Nelson	Janet O'Brien	Cara Harolds
2003-2007	Cara Harolds	Anne Redsten
2007-2011	Cara Harolds	Anne Redsten
2011-2015	Cara Harolds	Anne Redsten
2015-2017	Angela Rosenthal	Patrick Houser	Thom Morganson	Brent Nelson	Coming into the election as underdogs, Rosenthal focused on reform to existing political and educational systems in favor of health and equity, while Houser focused on ideas to bring Freedemia further to the forefront of green infrastructure and technology. The combined vision would propel Rosenthal to the win, with Morganson's focus on avoiding international conflict and encouraging Freedemian use of Freedemian products propelling him into second. Morganson would step down in 2017 to take care of his daughter, who developed a rare form of cancer within the first year.
2017-2019	Angela Rosenthal	Patrick Houser	Brent Nelson	vacant	Nelson, a former Lawrence mayor, trended slightly more protectionist than Morganson, with some degree of opposition to Freedemia's integration with the TCC and opposition to supporting businesses of surrounding TCC countries "at the expense of Freedemia's own". He frequently fought Rosenthal and Houser on their regional perspective. While this gained him much support in Lawrence state, it drastically lost him support almost everywhere else.
2019-2023	Angela Rosenthal	Patrick Houser	Katherine Nelzer	Lily Mae Clarington	A slight upset, due to a large amount of strong candidates making the primary ballot, Nelson would narrowly come in third in the primary, getting knocked out of contention, with Thoughtbite founder Katherine Nelzer and eccentric former Vandoveur mayor Lily Mae Clarington edging out Rosenthal on a campaign centered around cybersecurity, a libertarian approach to sex work and "victimless crimes", and a stronger stand against human rights violations domestically in the inland states and abroad. Rosenthal and Houser would, however, soundly win the runoff with about 62% of the vote.