Multiple Capitals more common?

Bluesock

Banned
South Africa is quite unique in that it has 3 capital cities. Pretoria is the seat of the executive and administration, Cape Town is the legaslitive Captial and Bloemfontein is the Judicial Capital with highest court of appeal there. To add to this, even though it is not designated as a national capital the seat of the constitutional court is in Johannesburg which is also the biggest city and de facto "economic" capital of the country.
How can we make this state of affairs more common in other countries?
 
Simply make the US and Australia put some things in their biggest cities, instead of planning a capital city to contain all government institutions. South Africa is like that because the capital of each colony didn't want to give up the revenues it had derived from hosting government institutions when the Union was formed.
 
West Germany puts its capital in Frankfurt rather than Bonn. When Germany reunites, the Bundestag remains in Frankfurt whereas other stuff gets moved to Berlin.

The Whites win the Russian Civil War. With Petrograd now pretty much a border city, it is decided that the government capital should be moved to Moscow. The whites restore the monarchy and keep the monarch in Petrograd, far from the actual affairs of government and thus making the Tsar far less able to influence government matters.
 
For The UK
Birmingham as the legislative capital. London still has the legal and financial sectors. The civil service is based in Oxford. That way there is more "political government"
 
Canada sort of does this by moving boring bureaucracies to smaller cities in need of federal payroll revenue.
This can prove embarrassing for towns like Chatham, New Brunswick. Originally home to an RCAF fighter base, it declined in importance after CF-101 Voodoo interceptors retired during the early 1980s. Then it was a AAA school for a while, then an AFV overhaul facility, etc. until it became the bureaucratic headquarters for the National Firearms Registry. The NFR proved a huge, cumbersome and ineffective bureaucracy and was eventually abolished as a waste of federal tax money when the long-gun registry was abolished.
Now only pistols and similar “restricted” civilian weapons are registered in Canada.
Sometimes, dispersed federal bureaucracies only “buy votes” in economically depressed ridings (voting districts).
 
Does "multiple" include countries with two capitals? Because those are pretty common. And I assume we're not including countries that are in the midst of civil war, or have unrecognized states within their borders.

What about India? I could see Delhi, Bombay, and Calcutta becoming co-capitals. Some Indian states have winter and summer capitals, so it is plausible in principle.
 
i came up with a multiple-capitals idea for Brazil in my ASB ATL (not sure if it'll go through at this point--the whole thing is under heavy revision at the moment) as part of a deliberate analogy to OTL's South Africa while still mainly being its own thing--Rio de Janeiro is the executive capital, an alternate version of Brasilia is the judicial capital, and Salvador is the legislative capital, with Sao Paulo being Johannesburg in analogy
 
i came up with a multiple-capitals idea for Brazil in my ASB ATL (not sure if it'll go through at this point--the whole thing is under heavy revision at the moment) as part of a deliberate analogy to OTL's South Africa while still mainly being its own thing--Rio de Janeiro is the executive capital, an alternate version of Brasilia is the judicial capital, and Salvador is the legislative capital, with Sao Paulo being Johannesburg in analogy


Would each have a small federal district (the size of rio’s when it was the capital)?

Could also be fun if the monarchy is kept and the emperor stays in Rio but several government functions are transferred to some planned Alt-Brasilia
 
Would each have a small federal district (the size of rio’s when it was the capital)?

Could also be fun if the monarchy is kept and the emperor stays in Rio but several government functions are transferred to some planned Alt-Brasilia
*shrug* it's still in extreme-early development as an idea
 
For The UK
Birmingham as the legislative capital. London still has the legal and financial sectors. The civil service is based in Oxford. That way there is more "political government"

The 2022 General Election sees Parliament confirm the full closure of both Houses as of 2025. Although initial plans were to move into existing government buildings in London, other ideas included Lord Fosters construction of a temporary installation on Horse Guards Parade. However, the Prime Minister follows suggestions that each House of Parliament would relocate to a different city - with the House of Commons relocated to the Manchester Central Convention Complex, and the House of Lords relocated to the International Convention Centre in Birmingham.

When the Houses of Parliament have been refurbished, a process that takes much longer than expected (ten years rather than six), the new cities are established as the new seats of government with the adjusted infrastructure required, with London remaining the official capital and the seat of the monarchy.

When an English Parliament is created at the tail end of the refurb, it takes it's base within London itself.
 
The 2022 General Election sees Parliament confirm the full closure of both Houses as of 2025. Although initial plans were to move into existing government buildings in London, other ideas included Lord Fosters construction of a temporary installation on Horse Guards Parade. However, the Prime Minister follows suggestions that each House of Parliament would relocate to a different city - with the House of Commons relocated to the Manchester Central Convention Complex, and the House of Lords relocated to the International Convention Centre in Birmingham.

When the Houses of Parliament have been refurbished, a process that takes much longer than expected (ten years rather than six), the new cities are established as the new seats of government with the adjusted infrastructure required, with London remaining the official capital and the seat of the monarchy.

When an English Parliament is created at the tail end of the refurb, it takes it's base within London itself.
Not plausible I'm afraid; the Parliamentary nature of the UK government means that the Legislature has to be co-located with the Executive, including all major government departments.

It's why the various proposals to move Parliament to a different city during renovations were never considered seriously. I'd consider this to be ASB.
 
Not plausible I'm afraid; the Parliamentary nature of the UK government means that the Legislature has to be co-located with the Executive, including all major government departments.

It's why the various proposals to move Parliament to a different city during renovations were never considered seriously. I'd consider this to be ASB.

London could still be the judicial capital (as well as the royal one), since the UK Supreme Court is in a separate building.
 
London could still be the judicial capital (as well as the royal one), since the UK Supreme Court is in a separate building.
That does nothing to resolve the problem of the various MP's & Lords who are also government ministers, and thus need to be in more than one place at once.

There is a reason why Whitehall came into existence....
 
That does nothing to resolve the problem of the various MP's & Lords who are also government ministers, and thus need to be in more than one place at once.

There is a reason why Whitehall came into existence....

With (a) modern telecommunications and (b) decent(ish) transport links, how much does this actually matter any more?
 
I could see one of the Branches of Government choosing to stay in New York City when the decision was made to move the Capital to Washington DC.
I could see Congress refusing to go to the Swamp on the Potomac and the President and the Supreme Court moving to Washington.
 
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