Solar Council

The Solar Council was the leading Council of the Solar System, from the time of the Martian Conflict until the start of the Diaspora.

The Consortium had no single overseer such as a president, but rather a High Council, composed of 29 members. Each Councilor (also called 'Elect') had an election district from which they drew their support, and served a 50 [[solar month[[ term. The runner-ups in these elections serve as Vice Councilors, or Vices, and the third-place are sometimes called Terts. In the event that the chief Councilor could not attend, the Vice or the Tertiary Councilor served in their honor. In the event of a death, a new election is scheduled instead - other issues usually resulted in the Vice taking the place of the Elect unless foul play was suspected.

No one who achieved a post as a Councilor at any level (Chief, Vice, or Tert) could run for a consecutive term - they must sit out for a few years and let someone else take their place. Even while the Chief Councilor is in office, and even if she has been estranged from the rest of the Council, even the Tert holds a great deal of political power, and has extensive discretionary capabilities.

For the most part, the Council elected few new laws. Doing so requires a unanimous vote - anything less forced a sunset clause into the order - no longer than 50 Solar Months, making the declaration temporary at best. Changes to the Consortium Articles required, in addition to a significant amount of popular support, the unanimous votes of the Vice and Tertiary Councilors as well. This last only occurred with the Anti-Homogenization Act, a set of laws which has structured human policy for every cycle since.

After the Consortium-Prime War, the council was evicted by the populace, as the provision to vote in a new councilor early had no real limits except for public discontent. The evicted council - and those who supported them, formed the luddite group Cleansing.

After the Purge, the Council has become much looser in nature, due to the Solar Consortium becoming a militaristic geren after Lost Sol.