Government of Lutoborsk
The Lutoborsk is a federation of states under the nominally rescapitan authority of the Vozhd as the Emperor over all Lutoborian property, and as the Standard-Bearer of the Banner of the Wide North. The vozhd is currently Vladibor XII. In practice the Lutoborsk is governed as an oligarchic respublic, with the monarch being mostly ceremonial at the federal-imperial level, in a constant and tense negotiation between various parties and factions. The disorderly appearance of Lutoborian governance to Joriscian political orthodoxy has made it subject to derision as 'Lestrian' for most of modern history.
Vozhd
Imperial Court
The Lutoborian central government primarily consists of various ministry-level Offices organised into the Court's cabinet. Under the original Plinth State understanding of the Lutoborian constitution, the Court consisted of a small number of offices, managing Lutoborsk insofar as it was a personal union of different nominally allegiant states, and primarily assisting the vozhd with his specific, very personal duties in this field. After imperialist reform movements and the two regencies of Svorad of Nemasy and Dobromir Sillis, the Court has become a complete governmental institution comparable to other Joriscian equivalents. But even at the height of imperialist power the Court (and imperial Lutoborian politics by extension) often had a more intergovernmental than governmental character. Ironically it is the confectionist system established by Dragodar Tashukovsk since 2000 that has most successfully exercised federal-imperial powers.
The Court is led by a 'presiding officer' or 'prime minister' — before 1988 the 'regent'. He effectively exercises most of the powers and roles monarchs in other Vaestic countries do, appointing Officers and other high-ranking officials, and organising the execution of policy. He is formally appointed by the vozhd, but in practice usually nominated unanimously by the heads of all Lutoborian states. Since Tashukovsk's influential time in office, all prime ministers observe an eight-year term limit.
The following High Offices are notable:
- Old Offices: pre-imperialist retinue of the vozhd as head of Vladiborovid personal union
- Office of the Seal Keeper — maintains the Blood Registry, tracks noble status and other favours
- Office of the Majordomo (or Office of the Count Palatine) — no portfolio
- Office of the Master of Hays — besides imperial stables also manages Secotic noble ceremonies
- Office of the Standard-Lieutenant — manages custody of the physical Banner in Zhytomir along with the Mokykla of the Magnification
- Office of the Chamberlain — steward of the Lutoborian Imperial Household's lands, placed under the Court from 1945
- New Offices: established after 20th-century imperialist reforms
- Office of the Treasury — Financial and monetary regulation
- Office of Industrialisation — coordinates industrial policy and investments, manages internal and foreign trade
- Office of Knowledgeable Affairs — appoints scholars and supervises their conduct, performs domestic security and investigation.
- Office of Records and Archives — maintains archives, publishes official legislation and policy in a government gazette
- Office of the Harmonisation of Forces Board — military and collective defence
Several dozen more, less important, Officers exist, usually managing local, specific, or temporary political projects. The Okrainy Voivode, though a state head, is customarily appointed from above, and as a result is often considered to be one of the High Officers.
State Apparatus Multidisciplinary Board
The State Apparatus Multidisciplinary Board (Apparatus Board in short) is the highest organ in the Lutoborian governing framework whose members are explicitly first selected for Scholarly qualifications and merit, rather than royal discretion that most official appointments are justified with.
One of the primary functions of the Board is supporting and regulating accumulation of Knowledge at the level of the Banner, primarily scientific and amphimantic activities. The Board's appointed inspectors enjoy a great degree of access to research facilities and institutions throughout the country, including local schools, government bodies, and estates. They work in liaison with specialists about the goals of each project, government involvement and support, the products' application, and the lawfulness or orthodoxy of the pursuit such that it does not fall to heresy; it may restrict or censor projects it determines to be dangerous. The Board distributes and disburses research grants through affiliated melmenes and charities; while this is not a critical source of scholarly patronage, disapproved projects will find it hard to secure support from other sources should the Board produce a condemnation.
Judicially, the Board serves as the supreme imperial character tribunal for character judgement trials. It also coordinates scholarly answers to pragmatic circulars issued by the Imperial Court, serving as a think tank that has produced important recommendations for imperial policies, such as the Hammer of Knowledge Programme in the 1960s. The Board is completely independent from the Court's Office of Knowledgeable Affairs. Although as scholarly regulators their competencies somewhat overlap, the Office mainly ensures scholarly discipline and administrative compliance, while the Board focuses on Knowledgeable work itself.
In principle, and usually in practice, Board members are self-appointed, a privilege granted to the Board by Vladibor IX. The vozhd also has the authority to appoint and remove members.