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The DuQuesne Plan[1] was a political and economical reorganization adopted by the People's Republic of Haven's government in the early 1700s PD.
Named in honor of Legislaturalist politician DuQuesne who conceived it, it was intended to rescue the Republic from impending economic disaster.
In the early 1800s, the Republic of Haven was approaching an economic crisis. Haven's attempts at social welfare and redistributing the wealth using the Economic Bill of Rights was out of control. Greater and greater welfare payments, the Basic Living Stipend, were being made to larger segments of the Dolist population, and deficit spending had become unavoidable. It was determined that if nothing was done to generate new revenue, the economy would collapse and throw the entire nation into chaos.
In order to prevent that economic disaster, the DuQuesne Plan was adopted. The Constitution was rewritten into a Communist-type government, though maintaining the facade of a democratic government, and was effectively transformed into the People's Republic of Haven. The head of state and other high ranking officials were passed down through hereditary lines, rather than being elected. The top party officials received the highest jobs, and the poor received the Basic Living Stipend.
To generate new revenue sources, the People's Republic of Haven turned on its neighbors and daughter colonies. By conquering and looting their economies, Haven could sustain its outsized welfare programs and bureaucratic systems. However, it turned out to be only be a temporary fix. Each new conquest added more dependents, and the military costs needed to seize them were higher than anticipated, reducing the net economic benefit to the People's Republic. (HH1, HH3, HH5)
After the Theisman Coup in 1915 PD, most of the changes made under the DuQuesne Plan were abolished and the Republic was restored to the state its founders intended. (HH10)
References[]
- ↑ The name is probably a nod by David Weber to Dr. Marc DuQuesne, galaxy-conquering-villain-turned-hero of E.E. "Doc" Smith's Skylark series.