Historical Arrangements
Traditionally, the Overlord and each of the Underlords had a bureaucracy to support them. The Bureaucracy was traditionally headed by a number of Secretaries, each in charge of a portfolio area.
Secretariat
Since the dismissal of the Underlords, the Secretaries form the Secretariat, a committee jointly responsible for the duties of the former Underlords. Each Secretariat is now responsible for administering an Octant.
Overlord Kate was very clear about the joint responsibility. Secretariats cannot blame a single member for failure in a particular area. One goes down, they all go down.
Uniform
Although rarely worn in practice, as members of the Bureaucracy usually wear civilian business attire, the Bureaucracy has a Cobalt Blue uniform available for wear on formal occasions.
This uniform is sometimes seen worn by reception staff, Secretariat Security officers and members of the Secretariat themselves on formal occasions.
Rank
Seniority within the Bureaucracy is denoted by one’s Band and Grade, and sometimes by one’s Stream. There are four Bands, as follows in order of seniority:- Administrative Band
- Senior Band
- Executive Band
- Secretariat Band
The Administrative and Senior bands are also divided into parallel Streams:
- Administrative
- Technical
- Specialist
Within Bands and Streams, seniority is determined by Grade, as follows:
Bureaucracy Bands, Streams and Grades
Administrative Band
Administrative Stream
- Administrative Grades 1 to 10
Technical Stream
- Technician Grades 1 to 10
Specialist Stream
- Specialist Grades 1 to 10
Senior Band
Administrative Stream
- Senior Administrator Grades D – T – B – P
Technical Stream
- Senior Technician Grades D – T – B – P
Specialist Stream
- Senior Specialist Grades D – T – B – P
Executive Band
- Undercrat Grades 1 – 2 – 3
- Local Overcrat*
- Octant Overcrat
- Overcrat
- [Codex Prescribed Office]†
Secretariat Band
- Junior Secretary
- Assistant Secretary
- Governor‡
- Under Secretary
- Secretary
* Local Overcrat is a grade intended for use for the person in change of the operations of a Bureau on a single world off Zargonia. On Zargonia itself most Bureaus do not use this grade and so in practice, an Undercrat 3 on Zargonia is often equivalent to a Local Overcrat in authority. However, while the intent of the Local Overcrat grade is as specified, some Bureaus have Local Overcrats in charge of Administrative Regions on Zargonia itself (the Administration Bureau is particularly noted for this.)
† Holders of Prescribed Offices are not subject to the seniority of the Secretariat with regard to powers and performance of duties Prescribed in the Codex.
‡ Governor is a specific role sometimes considered equivalent to its own stream within the Secretariat Band. However, while the same number or letter grades are considered equivalent in the other streams, Governor has a designated position of seniority between Assistant Secretary and Under Secretary. In the climb up the greasy pole of bureaucratic seniority, most will jump directly from Assistant- to Under Secretary, and it is common for an Under Secretary to take on a Governorship even though it is technically a demotion. Governors are also sometimes promoted from Overcrat (or even Undercrat) positions.
Bureaus
Bureaus are the divisions of the Bureaucracy. Bureaus exist to support some function of the Dominion. They are generally created because the Overlord decides some aspect of society needs to be administrated, organised and managed, or because the Codex prescribes a person be appointed as an Official in charge of a function and that Official requires administrative support to carry out those duties.