Republicanism in Cycoldia

Republicanism in Cycoldia is the political movement that seeks to replace Cycoldia's monarchy with a republic. Supporters of the movement, called republicans, support alternative forms of governance to a monarchy, such as an elected head of state. Monarchy has been the form of government used in Cycoldia exclusively since it was founded, with no interruptions from the monarchal government.

Previously, under the Anti-Dissent Act of 2019, republicanism had been made illegal, until the later amendments to the Anti-Dissent Act which altered the terminology, though it has still not been upheld or tested in court. The current status of republicanism has broadly been accepted to be legal, with most recently the Labour Party having openly stated their platform towards the abolition of the monarchy until their later retraction of this policy. Historically republicanism has been largely unpopular, with a majority of Cycoldians stating they strongly support the monarchy.

History

During early eras of the General Assembly, the Anti-Dissent Act of 2019 was passed, which illegalised both the advocation of overthrowing the monarchy as well as illegalising advocating for the removal of the government. This was passed despite Kristopher Eastham, a noted republican advocate and founder of the Democratic Party, being the sitting Prime Minister during the passage of the act. Eastham later was charged with violations of the Anti-Dissent Act, as well as Ethan F., the figure who caused the July 7th Crisis, having been similarly tried under charges of the Anti-Dissent Act. Ethan had lost his bid for the position of Deputy Prime Minister, and was later charged for "illegally advocating for the unlawful removal of the Crown".

Later under Motion #76, which was written by His Highness Marcus Paul, the Marquess of Crystal Bay, had fully made "attempting to overthrow the Crown" an illegal act, with it formally codifying it to be punishable by exile. The motion had passed 7-0-0, which similarly showed early government's more stringent opposition towards republicanism. Despite never having been repealed, Motion #76 has not yet been applied against anyone advocating for a republic, with the most recent application of it being against Arthur Lacey-Scott and Patrick Kenny, who was charged with attempting to overthrow the Crown alongside charges of treason.

In modern day there is was one active and publicly republican political organisation, that being the Labour Party, which was founded by former General Assembly Member Lewis Ross, who later lost their seat in the December 2023 Cycoldian Special Election to Monarchist Party candidate Ronald de Bourbonelle. In later months, Ross removed republicanism from their official party policies after poor electoral results in a special election in February 2024.

Opinion polling

Polling Results

Dates conducted	Pollster	Client	Sample size	Monarchy	Republic	Undecided	Lead
08–10 Aug 2024	Olympia Polling	Empreton Holdings	12	75%	8%	17%	67%
18–22 Jun 2024	Olympia Polling	Empreton Holdings	28	71%	18%	11%	53%
10–12 Apr 2024	Olympia Polling	Empreton Holdings	15	60%	20%	20%	40%
12–19 Mar 2024	Olympia Polling	Empreton Holdings	21	76%	19%	5%	57%
5–7 Feb 2024	Olympia Polling	Empreton Holdings	15	80%	7%	13%	73%
19–22 Dec 2023	Local 2 Empreton	Empreton Holdings	19	68%	21%	11%	47%