View Topic

This is my idea for UH reform. I just want to see what people think.

(1) We merge the UH and the OH together. The exact name of this new body can be determined later, something like Wintreath Senate or Wintreath Council or Wintreath Upper Assembly, something like that. They will be half appointed and half elected (so they must always have an even numbered amount of members) to keep the original goal of the UH and the OH intact. The Monarch will also have final Veto powers but can be overridden by a super majority.

(2) An Open Assembly shall be created for anyone to use, they can propose legislature, debate and pass laws. Any citizen may have the right to vote in the Assembly. Standard voting time will be 72 hours unless extended by the reformed house or if the Open Assembly decides to extend time.

(3) One non-skrifa member must be appointed by the reformed house to be the OA (what the Open Assembly shall be referred to here from now on) to be the Arbiter. It shall be his job to try and get people involved in the OA, get people in to vote (the more vote, the better) and to organize the OA, put up debate and vote topics and to pass on any legislature passed to the reformed house.

(4) Proposals in the OA need 70% of the votes to be aye to bypass the reformed house. If the number of aye votes is higher than 50% but lower that 70% the proposal shall go the the reformed house to be passed. If less than 50% of the votes are aye, the proposal fails. I realize that this number is a bit arbitrary and would be willing to change it.

(5) The reformed house shall not be allowed to pass legislation on their own (propose and pass laws without the OA, unless a higher authority states that the legislation is a) to vital and pressing to be sent to the OA first or b) to mundane or clerical in nature for the OA. Right now I'm split on the higher authority being either the Arbiter or the Monarch.

(6) The reformed house will have 2 month terms with no term limits. They will elect a speaker from their number to run the day to day business of the reformed house.

(7) The Arbiter shall be re-appointed or replaced immediately after a speaker is elected, as such, it shall be the reformed house first order of business. The Arbiter may also be fired if 70% of the OA vote to do so.

(8 Members of the reformed house may propose legislation in the OA but cannot vote on it.

(9) Conflicting proposals (2 proposals that would conflict with each others goals or make each proposal impossible to carry out) will be passed to the reformed house regardless of how many votes each proposal has if both pass. Meaning if one proposal has 76% Aye and another has 67% Aye, both will be sent to the reformed house. The reformed house will vote for ONE proposal to pass and the other to be rejected.

(10) Since the reformed house has an equal number of members, in the case of a tie the Arbiter will cast the tie-breaking vote and ONLY in this case may the Arbiter vote in the reformed house.

This is my idea for UH reform. I know it is far from perfect and would like your opinions on this before I proceed in the UH. Thank you and have a nice day :]

Way too complicated with very little to show for it, in my opinion. Also, this should probably be moved to the Convention.

Way too complicated with very little to show for it, in my opinion. Also, this should probably be moved to the Convention.

I see. What, in particular, is to complicated?

What if the two conflicting proposals passed with over 70% aye votes and with a significant time interval? This will bypass Clauses 4 and 9.

My problem with it (and other proposals where the UH remains) is that it doesn't prevent the inactivity problem in the reformed house. Also, the term limits would need to be at least doubled to prevent the constant elections we have now.

How will mundane/clerical and vital/pressing be differentiated from any other law? And if such laws can bypass the OA, what is the point of even having an OA?

Another thing is that it's not stated anywhere exactly how many people will be in the reformed House, and it sounds like their duties can be carried out by far fewer people, thereby cutting down a lot of bureaucracy. For instance, why is this preferable to one Speaker who presides over the Open Assembly, with the possible creation of a few other officers, and veto power going directly to the monarch?

That clause about a higher authority being able to bypass the OA already means that said authority can declare just about anything too pressing to go through the OA.

This would give the illusion of it being an open assembly, but really the status quo is all that will remain, with the possibility of widespread corruption if the higher authority is given to the Arbiter.

"Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

My feeling is that even if we can't provide the legislature with more things to do to drive activity, people would like to see the legislature streamlined...and this is kind of the opposite of that. If we're going to have a chamber of appointed and elected people, why not just keep what we already have? And then adding an open assembly on top of that...that would involve a lot of people in a legislature that doesn't have much to do as it is.

I see your concerns and understand that in this current form it is unlikely to pass. As such, I intend to support the Open Assembly proposal in the UH.

Thank you for the honest discussion.

I apologise if my words were too harsh. You're doing a great job, North.

I apologise if my words were too harsh. You're doing a great job, North.

I'll take well intentioned harsh words over cushioned lies. It's OK, Laurentus :]

I'm honestly just trying to do the best job I can without ending up like I did in Equinox.

You won't end up like that here. You're far too nice a person, and far too great a resource.

I've just recently been examining my behaviour, and come to the conclusion I pay far too few compliments, and criticise far too harshly, even when something is worth complimenting. Just know I wouldn't have voted for you if I didn't think you could do a good job.

Wait... what'd they do to my dear cousin in Equinox!!!!?? 
I must've been eating Ramen noodles and missed that discussion...

Wait... what'd they do to my dear cousin in Equinox!!!!?? 
I must've been eating Ramen noodles and missed that discussion...

You want to know why I'm so against summary banning? Go ask Asylum in Equinox what happened, then you'll know.