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Hello! I'm George Service. You may remember me from such films as Wintreath's Most Wanted and Arsenic:Tasty But Troublesome.

I'm here today because I need your help. Yes, YOU specifically.

I am running for Underhusen. Yes, me! The new guy. I know!

Am I new? Yes.
Do I have ideas? Yes.
Can I make lists that prove a specific point? Yes.

What I can offer is Yukon spirit. Grit. Determination. A love of gold. A healthy respect for bears.

I will focus in my first term on updating our laws, signing new treaties and supporting the Thanes.

Wintreath is a special place. We must constantly refresh our democracy with new blood. Delicious new blood.

I have shown I am able to be active. I have shown I am a fast-learner. I have shown a willingness to step forward and give it a shot.

You may not know me as long as you know how I work.

Hard. Long. Strong. The best a man can get.

I look forward to your questions.

Vote George Service for Underhusen!

Who are you?

You mention having ideas and updating our laws. Do you have anything in particular in mind?

Welcome to the community and to the race.  Following Tau's question, what makes you a good candidate since you've only just joined...compared to other candidates who are already versed in Wintreath's laws?

Also, outside of just updating existing laws, do you have anything new you'd like to see implemented?

Welcome to the campaign.

For many, the Underhusen is the first step in their leadership/political career in Wintreath...where do you see yourself in six months or a year in the region? Do you have future aspirations beyond the Underhusen?

Who are you?

You mention having ideas and updating our laws. Do you have anything in particular in mind?

Yes! One of the ideas I would love to look at is the Citizenship and Demonym Act. While several past clauses have been rendered void, this act is unique to Wintreath. Most regions seem to consign this kind of thing to their constitution. It would be great to use a discussion around this act as a chance for citizens new and old to weigh in on what are the responsibilities and rights of citizenship.

Another idea, depending on openness to it, is fleshing out the Declaration of Rights section of the Wintreath Fundamental Laws. For example, "Citizens shall have the right to be informed of the reasoning behind any decision to revoke their Citizenship, and shall have the right to appeal that decision".
How are they being informed?
By how long?
By who?
Does the Constitution cover informing on other channels? (e.g. Discord)
Considering time zones, does the right to inform simply mean sending a PM that they may not read by the time that citizenship has been revoked?

Just a few initial thoughts.

Welcome to the community and to the race.  Following Tau's question, what makes you a good candidate since you've only just joined...compared to other candidates who are already versed in Wintreath's laws?

Also, outside of just updating existing laws, do you have anything new you'd like to see implemented?

I would never compare myself to another candidate. I can't change the fact that I'm new. All I can do is try my best to participate and give it a good kick at the can.

My sense is that experience is a trade-off in politics. Understanding can be gained but it takes a long time to shake off old ideas. Fresh sets of eyes on laws or policy can be a good thing.

I hopefully represent a new generation of Wintreath members rising up to take their place.

One thing I would like to introduce into discussion, if it hasn't been tackled already, is closer ties with other regions. I hope to be apart of our region's foreign affairs in the future, nudging us closer to friendship with other regions. One example is UK where I reside (lots of others here are dual citizens too).

Welcome to the campaign.

For many, the Underhusen is the first step in their leadership/political career in Wintreath...where do you see yourself in six months or a year in the region? Do you have future aspirations beyond the Underhusen?

You might not believe me when I say this but honestly I am cool with whatever.

I had no intention of running but was nominated and would rather lose having tried than never try at all. Worst case Ontario (any Trailer Park Boys fans here?), I elevate the debate and show new citizens can contribute.

I am passionate about foreign affairs and culture so I hope to make a contribution there. If that means writing articles for the update or looking absolutely fabulous at galas, great. If that means more, great too.

That's up to the people of this sexy, sexy region.

You mention having ideas and updating our laws. Do you have anything in particular in mind?

Yes! One of the ideas I would love to look at is the Citizenship and Demonym Act. While several past clauses have been rendered void, this act is unique to Wintreath. Most regions seem to consign this kind of thing to their constitution. It would be great to use a discussion around this act as a chance for citizens new and old to weigh in on what are the responsibilities and rights of citizenship.

The act only has the procedure for obtaining and maintaining citizenship and how it can be removed (such as by the Storting or by the Monarch), it also specifies the Demonym and the Paragon-status. Everything else is set forth through the community and through the Fundamental Laws, I don't really see much of a need to really change the law outside of expanding citizenship potentially, or changing some procedure.

Another idea, depending on openness to it, is fleshing out the Declaration of Rights section of the Wintreath Fundamental Laws. For example, "Citizens shall have the right to be informed of the reasoning behind any decision to revoke their Citizenship, and shall have the right to appeal that decision".
How are they being informed?
By how long?
By who?
Does the Constitution cover informing on other channels? (e.g. Discord)
Considering time zones, does the right to inform simply mean sending a PM that they may not read by the time that citizenship has been revoked?

Just a few initial thoughts.

The vagueness allows for flexibility in the exact situation, generally our Bill of Rights are pretty decent and I wouldn't really alter it beyond maybe adding in new rights. For your questions, they would be informed by message (either by Telegram, Forum Post, Discord DM, IRC Query, Forum PM, or whatever is the easiest way, they would be informed by the branch removing it or the executive, the right to appeal is legally unlimited however the procedure and the bar to meet to have a revocation be overturned is up to the branch/person they are appealing to. 

For failure to maintain citizenship, generally it's in the monthly post by the Monarch, with a mention. For extraordinary circumstances, it depends (fortunately there have only been two situations, one was by administration which falls outside of the Fundamental Laws and the other was by the Storting, as such they were considered legally informed.)

Welcome to the community and to the race.  Following Tau's question, what makes you a good candidate since you've only just joined...compared to other candidates who are already versed in Wintreath's laws?

Also, outside of just updating existing laws, do you have anything new you'd like to see implemented?

I would never compare myself to another candidate. I can't change the fact that I'm new. All I can do is try my best to participate and give it a good kick at the can.

My sense is that experience is a trade-off in politics. Understanding can be gained but it takes a long time to shake off old ideas. Fresh sets of eyes on laws or policy can be a good thing.

I hopefully represent a new generation of Wintreath members rising up to take their place.

One thing I would like to introduce into discussion, if it hasn't been tackled already, is closer ties with other regions. I hope to be apart of our region's foreign affairs in the future, nudging us closer to friendship with other regions. One example is UK where I reside (lots of others here are dual citizens too).

Wintreath doesn't really have politics, at least not as every other region knows it., additionally the foreign affairs thing would more-so be the Executive branch and the Storting has no authority over that, although I don't necessarily think your response answered the question as my reading is more-so about things in the Storting and relating to laws.

You mention having ideas and updating our laws. Do you have anything in particular in mind?

Yes! One of the ideas I would love to look at is the Citizenship and Demonym Act. While several past clauses have been rendered void, this act is unique to Wintreath. Most regions seem to consign this kind of thing to their constitution. It would be great to use a discussion around this act as a chance for citizens new and old to weigh in on what are the responsibilities and rights of citizenship.

The act only has the procedure for obtaining and maintaining citizenship and how it can be removed (such as by the Storting or by the Monarch), it also specifies the Demonym and the Paragon-status. Everything else is set forth through the community and through the Fundamental Laws, I don't really see much of a need to really change the law outside of expanding citizenship potentially, or changing some procedure.

Another idea, depending on openness to it, is fleshing out the Declaration of Rights section of the Wintreath Fundamental Laws. For example, "Citizens shall have the right to be informed of the reasoning behind any decision to revoke their Citizenship, and shall have the right to appeal that decision".
How are they being informed?
By how long?
By who?
Does the Constitution cover informing on other channels? (e.g. Discord)
Considering time zones, does the right to inform simply mean sending a PM that they may not read by the time that citizenship has been revoked?

Just a few initial thoughts.

The vagueness allows for flexibility in the exact situation, generally our Bill of Rights are pretty decent and I wouldn't really alter it beyond maybe adding in new rights. For your questions, they would be informed by message (either by Telegram, Forum Post, Discord DM, IRC Query, Forum PM, or whatever is the easiest way, they would be informed by the branch removing it or the executive, the right to appeal is legally unlimited however the procedure and the bar to meet to have a revocation be overturned is up to the branch/person they are appealing to. 

For failure to maintain citizenship, generally it's in the monthly post by the Monarch, with a mention. For extraordinary circumstances, it depends (fortunately there have only been two situations, one was by administration which falls outside of the Fundamental Laws and the other was by the Storting, as such they were considered legally informed.)

Welcome to the community and to the race.  Following Tau's question, what makes you a good candidate since you've only just joined...compared to other candidates who are already versed in Wintreath's laws?

Also, outside of just updating existing laws, do you have anything new you'd like to see implemented?

I would never compare myself to another candidate. I can't change the fact that I'm new. All I can do is try my best to participate and give it a good kick at the can.

My sense is that experience is a trade-off in politics. Understanding can be gained but it takes a long time to shake off old ideas. Fresh sets of eyes on laws or policy can be a good thing.

I hopefully represent a new generation of Wintreath members rising up to take their place.

One thing I would like to introduce into discussion, if it hasn't been tackled already, is closer ties with other regions. I hope to be apart of our region's foreign affairs in the future, nudging us closer to friendship with other regions. One example is UK where I reside (lots of others here are dual citizens too).

Wintreath doesn't really have politics, at least not as every other region knows it., additionally the foreign affairs thing would more-so be the Executive branch and the Storting has no authority over that, although I don't necessarily think your response answered the question as my reading is more-so about things in the Storting and relating to laws.

Some of what you said is fair enough.

I was just trying to generate some ideas. These are the kinds of discussions that get had when you bring up new ideas. Occasionally the new ideas are good, occasionally they lead to different/better ideas.

From what I've been told, activity/antiquity has been an issue at times in the UH so it's good to have people throwing stuff out there even if some of it has been addressed before.

 

I personally don't think there's anything wrong with reviewing the existing laws and making sure they still work for us. Perhaps one issue to revisit is whether a NS presence should be required to gain Citizenship, given that we now occasionally get members from outside NationStates and they're currently forced to join NS to become a Citizen.

To more specifically answer the question of how people are informed, generally it's by forum post. As Chanku indicated, regular revocation of Citizenship due to inactivity is posted on the forums with mentions to each person, and they can restore their Citizenship by reviving their nation and reapplying. When the Storting stripped Citizenship from Govindia, the reasons were included in the bill and he was aware of it through the entire process.

I personally don't think there's anything wrong with reviewing the existing laws and making sure they still work for us. Perhaps one issue to revisit is whether a NS presence should be required to gain Citizenship, given that we now occasionally get members from outside NationStates and they're currently forced to join NS to become a Citizen.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that I still haven't seen Chanku's evidence for stating that the Community Citizenship Amendment Act wasn't already intended to do this, leading to the Citizenship Requirements Rectification Act quite directly stopping non-NS citizenship apps from being a thing.

Considering time zones, does the right to inform simply mean sending a PM that they may not read by the time that citizenship has been revoked?

I'm not sure that the time that they're informed is particularly relevant; it happens after the citizenship is revoked, and they're not banned and have time to appeal.

I personally don't think there's anything wrong with reviewing the existing laws and making sure they still work for us. Perhaps one issue to revisit is whether a NS presence should be required to gain Citizenship, given that we now occasionally get members from outside NationStates and they're currently forced to join NS to become a Citizen.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that I still haven't seen Chanku's evidence for stating that the Community Citizenship Amendment Act wasn't already intended to do this, leading to the Citizenship Requirements Rectification Act quite directly stopping non-NS citizenship apps from being a thing.

I actually think I may have misremembered some details, I've been looking for what could have lead to this memory.