Wintreath Regional Community
A Link to the Past - Archives => The Registry of Things Past - Historic Archive => Frosthold Castle - Wintreath Government => Topic started by: Wintermoot on August 02, 2016, 08:00:46 PM
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In my telegram to the region yesterday announcing Hannah as our new delegate (and she's well on her way to getting the endorsements! Endorse her if you have not!), I mentioned that I've been considering reforming the delegacy. At one time, it made sense for the delegate to be appointed by the Monarch. Besides the Founder, the delegate was the only person that had access to region controls, meaning that in the event that the Founder and Monarch were not the same person, both would be able to update the region. However, with the advent of regional officers, government representatives can be appointed at will, and we currently have several other than the delegate.
Additionally, the inactivity of the delegacy has not escaped me. I lived with it because there has never been much interest in the World Assembly, but if it's possible I would like to see the World Assembly generate some activity in the region, since we have to have a delegate of some kind, after all.
What I am considering is making the delegacy an elected position whose terms run every three months, beginning in September, December, March, and June. I'm calling this the season system, because each term would correspond with a season. If nothing else, the elections would generate activity in the region, provide for a hopefully active delegate, and possibly spur renewed interest in the World Assembly. I have to admit that the Consitutional Convention mess has made me weary of experimenting with democracy in the region, but given the limited purview of the delegate and the general lack of interest in the World Assembly here, I don't believe that will be a problem here.
Before delving into additional details, I would like your thoughts on the concept in general. :)
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I really hope this doesn't lead to a bunch of power-plays. I've seen this go to shit way too often in certain other regions.
If that doesn't happen, however, I think this could be a good idea.
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There's not really much interest in the World Assembly...you think people would consider it worth a power play?
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I like the idea, as a WA member it would be nice to have a census on the issues that are faced in the WA votes.
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Make anything an elected position, and you risk power plays.
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What exactly would an active delegate do that an inactive one doesn't? I guess I don't really understand the delegate's role other than, as you said, having regional controls. Is it more of a roleplay thing to get people more interested in the World Assembly issues?
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Delegates in Wintreath are currently non-executive, right? So yeah, I don't see this as much to fight over for.
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What exactly would an active delegate do that an inactive one doesn't? I guess I don't really understand the delegate's role other than, as you said, having regional controls. Is it more of a roleplay thing to get people more interested in the World Assembly issues?
Well, the delegate votes in the World Assembly, and their vote counts for each endorsement they receive. For example, Hannah has 40 endorsements at the moment, so when she votes it counts 41 times...for her vote plus each endorsement. This is a bigger deal in other regions, like The North Pacific where their delegate has over 1000 endorsements, but it's still a thing, and a reason why people who are interested in the World Assembly might care.
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What exactly would an active delegate do that an inactive one doesn't? I guess I don't really understand the delegate's role other than, as you said, having regional controls. Is it more of a roleplay thing to get people more interested in the World Assembly issues?
Well, the delegate votes in the World Assembly, and their vote counts for each endorsement they receive. For example, Hannah has 40 endorsements at the moment, so when she votes it counts 41 times...for her vote plus each endorsement. This is a bigger deal in other regions, like The North Pacific where their delegate has over 1000 endorsements, but it's still a thing, and a reason why people who are interested in the World Assembly might care.
Ahh! I see your point. But who here is really interested in the WA?
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I'm uncertain...hopefully elections would clarify that. :P
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At some point the question was brought to me (I forget who asked) of who and where these votes would take place...would they be open to all residents on the region page, or to Citizens here on the forums? I was curious about everyone's thoughts there...
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I'm ok with an elected delegate. I'm ok with a appointed delegate. But if they were elected, I would want....requirements before you could get the job.
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Such as?
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A post requirement, a length of citizenship that's mandatory. The monarch to approve the candidate. Something to make sure that the best person gets the job.
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A question I would have is who votes, all members, even the ones not in the WA?
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Well, that's what we're here to determine. :P
I'm guessing most people would rather the person be a Citizen before being able to stand for election.
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I've written a draft for the portion of a decree that would actually authorize this. Any thoughts?
Elections of the Delegate
1) Delegate elections shall begin on the first day of the months of December, March, June, and September, and run for three days. Any person who has been a Citizen for at least 60 days shall be eligible to stand for election to Delegate, and all Citizens shall be eligible to vote for Delegate. Elections shall follow the optional preferential voting system, and the results determined by instant runoff.
2) In the event the position becomes vacant, the Monarch shall attempt to fill the position with a candidate from the previous election. If this is not possible, a special election shall be called to fill the vacancy.
Authorities and Responsibilities of the Delegate
3) The Delegate shall have the authority to determine their World Assembly votes, which carries the weight of their endorsers; and shall be able to delegate this authority to others as they see fit.
4) The Delegate shall build and maintain the highest number of endorsements in the region, taking action to ensure that they are endorsed by as many World Assembly nations as possible.
5) The Delegate shall represent Wintreath in communications regarding the World Assembly, unless it would be more appropriate for the Monarch to do so.
Reaffirmation of Constitutional Privilege
6) As per Article II Section 2 of the Fundamental Laws, the Monarch may modify or repeal these authorities on either an ad-hoc basis or through modification of this Decree. As per Article II Section 5 of the Fundamental Laws, the Monarch may dismiss the elected delegate as his or her discretion.
Modification of the Decree
7) The Monarch may modify this decree at any time, and shall notifiy the regional community of doing so by creating a new post in the topic in which the decree was published detailing the modifications made.
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Why have it so that the replacement comes from the previous pool of candidates? I'd either have it so that the monarch appoints the successor or appoints a placeholder until the special election.
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I thought it would be a compromise that wouldn't involve a special election, but still involve people that were involved in an election. It's a very early draft, and subject to change. I have until December, at least. :P
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I see nothing wrong with it. I like how it stands.
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I like it. :) Couple questions:
How will section 4 work? Are WA nations supposed to just endorse the new delegate and unendorse the old one each time it changes?
What does "delegate their authority to others" in section 3 mean?
Is there a term limit, or could one theoretically be the delegate forever?
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Happy to answer your questions. :)
That's pretty much how Section 4 would work...just like when we transitioned from Reon to Hannah, when we changed in the future people would be asked to unendorse the old delegate and endorse the new one. It's a bit tedious, but since we would only have four elections a year I don't think it would be a problem.
Section 3 would allow the delegate to set up any system for determining the votes. For example, in many regions the delegate puts it up to a forum vote. We used to do that early in our history as well, but Reon ended the practice when he became delegate.
I'm not really a fan of term limits in NationStates...in elections, I think it's best to leave it to the people to best determine whether the incumbent should remain or not. If the fact that they've served for a long time becomes such a big issue that people care about, they'll vote to remove them from office without a term limit.
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I'll just add that there's something satisfying about seeing the previous delegate lose the endorsements, and the new one suddenly gain so many. It makes it official, and after a tough election battle, it feels good for the delegate.
This is speaking from experience in The Revolutionary Council, which has sadly CTE'd.
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I know you've spent some time as a delegate, @Laurentus...hypothetically, what would make you want to run for delegate here?
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The WA becoming less awful? :P
EDIT: In all seriousness, I'm a very competitive person by nature, so the simple fact of having elections has me tempted, but for the wrong reasons. It's pretty much like a dog chasing tyres, with no thought for what to do when he catches it.
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Now I know that when I'd like for you to take on something, I should make it competitive :P
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Do so at your own peril.
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/me chuckles
Oh you. :P
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Ok, with December coming quickly I want to finalize this...I'm just stuck on one thing. It's required for candidates to be Citizens, but should we have the elections on forums or through a poll on the region page?
Doing though the forums is how we've always done elections, but especially now that we're distancing the forums from NS and soon allowing Citizens not to maintain a nation, the idea of having nations vote is appealing and would open up the vote to people that are not interested in becoming Citizens. On the other hand, other than requiring that they be in the WA we can't verify voters on the poll as well as we can voters on the forum. Any thoughts here?
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There seems to be benefits in both ways. If it was on the forum, we could discuss and tell why we vote the way we did, and we could pm you if we wanted their vote to be private, but we can't do either of those if it's a poll on the regional page.
If you did it as a poll on the regional page, then you would have to change it so not only citizens can vote because that's what your draft said.
I would probably be for having the election on the forums.
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Well, unless our WA Delegate is going to vote according to how Wintreans vote (e.g. Creating a voting thread on our forum for each bill), I don't see why we shouldn't just have the WA nations residing within Wintreath vote through a regional poll in Nationstates.
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Hey Sapphiron, it's good to see you again. :)
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Thanks :P