Hi everyone! I am a new citizen who recently joined Wintreath, and it looks like I joined at the right time because elections are going on NOW! As a new member, I'm very excited to jump in and participate, so here's a little about me and why I think I would be a good candidate.
I'm Monkey (as you could probably tell from my username), and I joined Nationstates in 2017. Since then, I've been on and off due to issues in real life that have managed to kept me not so active. I settled down initially in Europeia, and that's where I spent most of my time. I've dabbled in the legislative branch a little bit there through a now defunct institution called the Citizen's Assembly, but I spent most of my time in the executive, where I served a term as the Minister of Culture and I served a couple terms as Deputy Minister of Culture and Interior/Integration. Currently, I am the Deputy Minister of Radio and the Deputy Councilor of Foreign Affairs in Europeia.
I am running for Underhusen because I see it as a great opportunity for me to learn more about the region's laws and how they conduct their government. I've always been interested in getting more involved in the legislative branch, and with this election right now, I think it's a great opportunity for me to jump in and get involved. As a newcomer, I don't have a ton of experience in Wintreath, or even ideas on what I would do, frankly I would try to learn the ropes of the legislative bodies, and try to contribute where I can, and if I see a potential area for me to help the region or propose an idea, I will. That being said, I think it's a little weak to just say 'I want to help the region, but don't have any ideas', here are my stances on some recent issues that were brought to the Underhusen and how I would have responded.
OLIVA:
It seems to me that the main criticism of the bill was that it wasn't practical enough. In government bodies with bicameral legislatures however, I think there is sometimes a conflict when one house simply doesn't like one or two lines from a proposed bill. To me, I would have been in favor of this bill because it seems to reduce the chance of a bill being not passed because of a few lines that the two bodies disagree on. I think that the mechanism that sends it back to the UH is what redeems the bill for me, since it seems that there is a method for both houses to ideally agree on the bill, if one does not. I would have likely voted no on this bill if the OH had the opportunity to repeal lines without sending it back to the UH for a re-vote. I would have voted aye on this legislation.
At-Vote Amendment Act:
To me, I would have been in support of this act for the same reasons above. This seems like it would be a way for legislators to add lines or clauses in a bill at vote to address any problems they may have not seem before. I think this would prevent less bills from being shot down, fixed, and put back up to a vote because of small errors.
New Member Introduction Act:
From reading the thread and my own views, I would agree that this is probably an issue that would be handled by the Tharl of Integration. I would likely not support this as I don't think it's in the purview of the UH.
Regional Legislature Restructuring:
I'm not sure where I stand on this proposal, but I have some experiences from Europeia that might help me. In Europeia, we had an assembly that was generally open to all, and you only needed to sign up to become a member. However, I don't think this lower-house was as successful as the upper House, and had a few boom and bust cycles, and ultimately ended up being disbanded. I am not sure what the legislative atmosphere/relationship between the two houses are here, but I'd like to note that it is a bicameral legislature here, whereas the institution I am more familiar with was a training ground with limited legislative powers. I'm not sure where I would stand on this issue, but I'm not sure if completely opening an assembly would drive activity. I think elections are a way to vet members, make the position seem more prestigious, and it would also allow citizens to hold members of the legislature accountable for activity. Again, I'm not too familiar with the legislative scene here, so I'm open to suggestions.
Extending UH Term Length:
This is a proposal that I see both sides of. Generally with longer terms, there is less pressure to get things passed straight away, and you can account for absences or real life issues without significantly impacting the term. However, I also see the point that we want newcomers (just like me! to start and get involved). An interesting idea might be to have staggered elections (like the US senate), and maybe increase the number of seats. For example, you could have elections every 45 days to elect half of the members. This rotating election system would allow newcomers to jump in and have more opportunities to run while also extending the term limit, but it runs into the problem of having to get adjusted to new members in the UH. I don't know if the pros outweigh the cons.
November and February Holidays Act:
I don't know much about Wintreath's history or culture at the moment, but I would probably be in support of this bill.
Whew. Well, there you go! I know it was a bit of a doozy, but I wanted to give a little more info for my first run rather than just saying "I'll try to improve this region". I'm sure I might have understood the context or reasoning for some bills wrong, so please correct me if there's any mistakes in my logic, I'm still learning! I hope to win your vote come election day, and please feel free to ask me any questions about my stances or my experience!
