Government of Aspen
| Espenisch: Espen Rengering French: Le Gouvernement d'Aspen | |
 Lesser coat of arms of the Kingdom of Aspen | |
| National Government overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 28 November 2018 |
| Type | National Government |
| Jurisdiction | Kingdom of Aspen |
| Headquarters | Kungshafn |
| Minister responsible | |
| Key document |
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| Footnotes | |
| ^ The constitution has been superceded by the Provisional Government Decree effective 31 July 2021. | |
The Government of the Kingdom of Aspen, generally referred to as His Majesty's government, is the national government of the Kingdom of Aspen. the Government is led by the Prime Minister, who appoints all other ministers of the state. The Government has been led by the Social Democratic Party since 2021. The Prime Minister and six most senior ministers form together the Cabinet of the Kingdom of Aspen.
The Government is responsible to the Aspen Parliament which elects the Prime Minister and confirms all other ministerial appointments. Although the Government may propose legislation, attend parliamentary debates, and answer questions from the opposition, members may not vote on legislation. This is a system that is rather unique to Aspen where there is a partial separation of powers. In order to form a government, the Prime Minister must command the confidence of the Parliament; the Prime Minister may be removed through either a constructive vote of no confidence, or a snap election.
Although the Prime Minister is the head of government, executive power is officially vested in the Monarch of the Kingdom of Aspen (Currently James II), however the constitution limits how much involvement the monarch may have in the day to day operations of the government and a vast majority of his executive prerogatives are delegated to the Prime Minister and Cabinet with the exception of during states of emergency, whereby the monarch may exercise some functions not normally afforded to him, however this requires a two thirds vote by the Parliament and the unanimous consent of the Cabinet.
History
The first Government of Aspen was the Imperial Government, led by the Chancellor, who was responsible to the Imperial Council and the Aspen Emperor. The Chancellor is in many ways equivalent to the Prime Minister of the current Kingdom of Aspen, however they were different in many respects, including that the Chancellor also served as presiding officer of the Federal Council and that executive power was entirely vested in the Emperor and his Privy Council.
The Chancellery of the Aspen Empire existed from its inception in 2018 until the Parliament Act of 2019, however between the first charter and the Parliament Act, the Constitution of the Aspen Empire was established and reformed the institutions of government. The executive powers of the Emperor were reduced (however they were still extensive) and the power of electing the Chancellor was transferred from the Federal Council and granted to the newly formed Imperial Diet and Cabinet positions were transferred to the new Imperial Government. However, these changes would not last and in April 2019 the Parliament Act greatly changed the functions of the government.
After the Parliament Act the Council and Diet were completely replaced with the Senate and House of Commons and the Chancellery became obsolete, instead the office of the Prime Minister of the Aspen Empire was established as the foremost leader of the Government. Since 2019 the office and duties of the Prime Minister and government have remained relatively constant with the exception of brief times of crisis.