Welcome one and all to the Defenders of the Free Republic, a non-ideological, non-political, non-exclusive Citizen's Group. We are an organization devoted to a single goal: the protection of the rights of the citizenry and the preservation of the integrity of our democratic system. Below is our missions statement and our bylaws:

Mission Statement
The Defenders of the Free Republic is dedicated to the protection of citizen's rights, preserving the democratic system of our nation, and ensuring that sovereignty is held popularly by the people -- NOT by an oligarchial group of aristocrats, plutocrats, and bureaucrats. The Divine Right of the People to rule is the most sacred and holy of our national ideals -- if popular sovereignty dies and big government rises, than the Republic is dead.

Bylaws

-This organization is non-exclusive. That means that a citizen who is a member of this group may join ANY other; the Defenders has no agenda and has no political beliefs, so it is open to Doves and Hawks, Scientists and Economists, Expansionists and Isolationists alike.

-The governing structure of this organization shall be as follows:

President: Head of Organization, in charge of administrative duties. Responsible for organizing all group action and preserving the purity of the groups ideals (IE: If any member begins to take part in activities that erode popular control of the government, the President may evict him from the group.)

Vice President: Assistant to President, holds Presidential Powers in his absence.

Public Relations Secretary: In charge of dealing with governmental departments and with other citizens groups. Also a recruiter.

Advocate-General: In charge of working with Justice Department to bring legal charges against those who have committed crimes against the democratic system.

Member: In the spirit of democracy, members are just as important as any officer. They are the heart and soul of the organization. As a member, keep your eyes open for illegitimate activities, report them to the officers, discuss them in this thread, and help decide what action to take. You are the shield of the Republic.

-This organization is not an arm of the government in any way. It is not affiliated with any department, has no political agenda or creed, and is BY NO MEANS a political party. When working with Justice, we act under our rights as free citizens, and nothing more.

-Crimes against the sovereignty of the people are defined as:

Taking office through illegitimate means under our electoral system.

Ignoring the will of the people as stated by binding polls.

Ignoring build qeues and other popularly-formed orders without stating a legitimate reason why.

Abusing the powers delegated to your office.

Administering dictatorial or oligarchial power over the game (IE: Beginning a war single-handedly without the mandate of the people in situations where it was not completely unavoidable; Beginning a similar war after conferring with only a hnadful of government officials and no regular citizens; blatently disobeying the orders of governors, Science Advisor, Trade Advisor, etc. because "your way is better.")

Suppressing the citizens' will in any way (IE: kicking or silencing citizens without cause in Turn Chats, sabotaging polls and threads, etc.)

-If any official of our government is found to be committing such acts, the Member who catches him/her is required to report to the group. The group is required to use the full extent of its power in prosecuting said official to the fullest extent of the law.

-This group believes in a strict construction of the Constitution. No governmental official may utilize powers not specifically delegated to him/her in the Constitution. Stepping over the line of delegated power will incur the full force of this organization.

-I will be the first President. However, all Group Officials will be elected bi-monthly on the 1st through 4th of the month by a voice vote of all members. This is the testing ground for the purity of our democratic ideals.

--------------------------

Everything clear? Everybody on-board? Anyone want a sandwich?

In closing, allow me to remind you that the fate of democracy rests on your shoulders. Many of us have seen the effects of corrupt government on this game. It is not pretty. We are the last defense of this Republic. We must not fail.

--Grandmaster, President, Defenders of the Free Republic

Current Member List:
Grandmaster, President
CivGeneral
Noldodan
Strider
Padma
Bootstoots
Comrade Pedro

I wish to join in this Group :)

I will not join this Group though I will support it as the President of the Philosophers.

Welcome aboard CG. Once we have some more members, we'll hold elections. Any interest in being an official?

Amirsan: We are glad for the support of the Philosophers. I must have a look at your group to see where your ideals lean. ;)

Originally posted by Grandmaster
Welcome aboard CG. Once we have some more members, we'll hold elections. Any interest in being an official?


Im interested in the "Public Relations Secretary" Possition. THough I already told you that in the PCMW in #civfanatics ;).

I would like to join this group, as I feel, at least after last game, that we something like this group.

Glad to have you, Noldodan. I agree about last game. While I did not actively participate in the game, I lurked a bit and have read the archives, and find the discourses that take place disgusting. That is largely why I founded this group. Hopefully we, in conjunction with Justice and the citizenry, can prevent such problems from ocuring.

I'm in. I'll be willing to be the Advocate-General or Vice President, whatever I'm needed for.

And welcome to you, Bootstoots. Once we have a few more members (try for 8, total?) we will hold our first elections for offices. :)

Elections? Bah! The only proper way to have a ruler picked is to have the Lady of the Lake bestow a magic sword onto you....

I'll join this Citizens Group

Originally posted by Vander
Elections? Bah! The only proper way to have a ruler picked is to have the Lady of the Lake bestow a magic sword onto you.... If we had any female players in this game anymore that might be a viable possibility. ;)

Welcome, Strider. :)

Originally posted by Grandmaster
Welcome, Strider. :)

Doesn't look like your going to get to many members, 1st post must be to long :P.

Oh well, we can do just as much in a small group.

Yes, sometimes size can simply hinder the workings of a group. A small group of individuals who are dedicated to the ideals of the this group, and who are not fencesitters who joined to be in one more Citizen Group, can accomplish as much as or more than a large, unfocused organization. ;)

Originally posted by Grandmaster
Yes, sometimes size can simply hinder the workings of a group. A small group of individuals who are dedicated to the ideals of the this group, and who are not fencesitters who joined to be in one more Citizen Group, can accomplish as much as or more than a large, unfocused organization. ;)

Well, if it makes you feel any better, this is the one and only citizen group I (currently) have any plans on joining.

Well, if you only plan to join one, I'm glad and honored that its this one.

On a more businesslike note, is anybody here contemplating running for a Judicial position in Term 1? Obviously, having a member of this organization as a part of the Judiciary would ensure our ability to exercise our rights as citizens and to help co-ordinate cooperation between this private firm and the public law system.

Of course, it wouldn't be a "party" at all. No block voting or anything like that. Or else I'd have to litigate you for breaking the law. ;)

Originally posted by Grandmaster
Well, if you only plan to join one, I'm glad and honored that its this one.

On a more businesslike note, is anybody here contemplating running for a Judicial position in Term 1? Obviously, having a member of this organization as a part of the Judiciary would ensure our ability to exercise our rights as citizens and to help co-ordinate cooperation between this private firm and the public law system.

Of course, it wouldn't be a "party" at all. No block voting or anything like that. Or else I'd have to litigate you for breaking the law. ;)

Don't look over in my direction, I've never liked the judiciary to begin with, and I have no intentions to run for any poistion this term. I've got to recover whatever repuation I use to have. Once that is complete, THEN I'll think about running for something, but I doubt it.

Originally posted by Grandmaster
Well, if you only plan to join one, I'm glad and honored that its this one.

On a more businesslike note, is anybody here contemplating running for a Judicial position in Term 1? Obviously, having a member of this organization as a part of the Judiciary would ensure our ability to exercise our rights as citizens and to help co-ordinate cooperation between this private firm and the public law system.

Of course, it wouldn't be a "party" at all. No block voting or anything like that. Or else I'd have to litigate you for breaking the law. ;) I might run for Judicial office in Term 1, though I'm not for sure.

I am not sure if I want to run for the Judicary. I know I want to run for Military and Judical now :).

I hope that either or both of you sees fit to run. You'd both make good candidates for any Judicial position, so far as I'm concerned.

While I do not yet know just how involved I will be in this DG, I *will* join this group, GM. :)

Is that an "I *will* later..." or an "I *will*, now...", boss? ;)
Either way, welcome to the Defenders. Glad to have a Moderator.... err, another Regular Citizen ( ;) ) on board.

Make it I will *now*. ;)

I still don't know how active I will be, though....

(And this is DZ's domain - I don't "Moderate" except in emergency. :) )

I doubt were going to get 10 people anytime soon, so after say we get one more person, run the election ;).

Over in the Civ3 Forums, He is a Mod. But here, he is a citizen (But he should be respected no different ;) )

Fine, sounds like a plan. One more member, and then we elect officers.

Do you suppose you could add my name to the roster? I signed up a few days ago.

We have 6 members... that enough to run a vote, or do we need atleast one or two more?

ill join, though you should make the first post more interesting, try putting bold or ittalis in or changing the colour it keeps people interest longer

Grandmaster, are you here or do we have to wait for you to come alive and get this citizen's group running again?

Sorry, I was on vacation for the last couple of days. I think we have enough members for elections now. First off, who's interested in what positions? This post will act as a nomination (or self-nomination) tracker. We'll run nominations for the next two days, and then vote. Sound good? Also, when you nominate yourself or somebody, please say why. ;)

Presidential Candidates:
Grandmaster (Accepted)

Vice-Presidential Candidates:
Strider (Accepted)

Public Relations Candidates:
CivGeneral (Unaccepted)

Advocate-General Candidates:
Bootstoots (Accepted)

I nominate Grandmaster for Pres

Hey guys, would you give me the possiblity to join this group? After that what can i do in the group? And were i do the discussion if i you accepted me?

Comrade Pedro, of course you can join. The more members the better. :) As far as what you can do, that depends on what you want to do. If you just want to be a regular member, than you can help us in keeping an eye on the government, making sure everyone plays within the constraints of the law. If you notice any foul play on the part of our fine leaders, than you bring it up in this thread, we talk about it some, and then we take whatever actions we think is needed (PM the person in question, go to the Judiciary, etc.) Now, if you want to be an officer, than you can look at the job discriptions on the front page. That'll clarify that for you.

As to nominations...

I will gladly accept Strider's nomination of me for President. :)

And I will nominate Strider for VP and CivGeneral for Public Relations. Strider would make a fine VP because he seems to be a straight shooter when it comes to constitutional issues (as anyone who played DG3 can see.) CG would be great for PR because he networks well with other people and is dedicated enough to post new threads and send out mass-PMs when needed. ;)

I'll accept the nomination.

I'll nominate Bootstoots for Advocate General.

I'll accept.

Ill also accept my nomination

GM, I think this is all were going to get nominations wise. About one for each poistion.

Well, if you want to be impatient about it... :p
Alright, how about this: anybody with any more nominations speak now. As of 12:00 Eastern Time tomorrow, nominations will be closed, and any positions with only one candidate (IE, all of them) will be filled by said candidate.

S'alright? S'alright.

Also, our first piece of business. The Judiciary is up. It would seem one of our members, Bootstoots, is an assistant justice. Cyc is the Chief Justice. We should try to form a working relationship with him and the other Assistant Justice.

I know i'm being a little jerk in here, but when the game starts? Or was it started alredy?

The game had already started. We have created the game and are preparing to settle our first city.

Where can i follow your actions?

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=74125

That thread has the save games and the logs of the chats. One note of warning: DON'T play the save. At all. No starting revolutios to check anarchy time, no spying on other civs, nothing like that. It's like the number-one law here.

And if i do something in the save game and didn't show to anybody, even if this thing was made unvoluntary, i will be pushined in the same way?

And other thing: When other games appear, how do i know which of them is yours?

1) If it's an accident, it's an accident, but if you do for some reason experience "the future" in the game, then don't tell anybody about it or use that information to our advantage at all and you'll be fine.

2) I'm unsure what you mean. Any games you find in that thread will be our game (Demogame 4.) They post the save after every playing (not always every turn.) No other games will appear in the Demogame forum.

Originally posted by Comrade Pedro
And if i do something in the save game and didn't show to anybody, even if this thing was made unvoluntary, i will be pushined in the same way?

And other thing: When other games appear, how do i know which of them is yours?

Comrade Pedro,

While it is true, that if you play the save and don't tell anyone, you probably won't get caught, you are still cheating. You are violating both the spirit and the letter of the law - and that's wrong.

Part of the challenge of this game is the unknown, of discovering something that will alter the plans carefully crafted over several days. Playing ahead in the save ruins that - you would be in discussions with knowledge you can't share with others. Please, don't play the save in any way unless you are the DP in a game play session. Respect and honor the concepts of this game.

-- Ravensfire

OK, now i understand :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

NOW, i understand: In all Demogame IV there is only one game. That it's! I thought each group (i think a group is what we are) have one diferent game.

I'm really a jerk!

Comrade Pedro: There is only one Civ3 democracy game going on in these forums. This group, the Defenders of the Free Republic, is just a group of the players keeping an eye on the whole game, in hopes of avoiding some of the "unpleasantness" that has occurred in the previous demogames. :)

Yeah, i got now.Thank's :)

Originally posted by Comrade Pedro
I'm really a jerk!

Nope! Just a person with a good, honest question! As the whole "Thou Shalt Not Play The Save" thing is probably our most inviolate rule, I, for one, do greatly appreciate your asking the questions you did. I would much rather discuss this in a thread such as this, than in a Citizen Complaint thread.

Glad to have you playing!
-- Ravensfire

Thanks Ravensfire and Padma. You put it better than I could have. ;)

Well, what can i say? Thank's for the advices and for the praises :).

howdy!

id like to join this group!:)

and even before achieving membership i have my first question ;)

where do these chats take place?

thnx in advance

Originally posted by dreiche2
howdy!

id like to join this group!:)

and even before achieving membership i have my first question ;)

where do these chats take place?

thnx in advance

The chats take place on IRC.

The server is irc.irc-chat.net and the channel is #turnchat. You can access it by going to the very bottom of any page and clicking chatroom, once there type /join #turnchat and your be there.

so, am i accepted?

btw, what do the defenders of the free repuplic think of the current ongoing discussion regarding the judiciary?

Of course you're accepted. ;)

As to the Judicial Election discussion, I currently don't see a need for us as a group to form a consensus. There is no constitutional issue at stake that I can see... it's really just a discussion about the means to a completely legal, legit, and favorable end. Personally, I would support the concept of having three polls posted consecutively after each has previous poll has finished. The first would be for the CJ with all the candidates. The next would be for the first AJ, with all the candidates EXCEPT the one elected to CJ. The thrid would be the same, minus the two already elected.

Also, our elections are finalized. I am Pres, Strider is VP, CG is PR, and Bootstoots is Advocate-Gen. :)

Anyone still alive within this Citizens group, or must I rally the troops?

Originally posted by Strider
Anyone still alive within this Citizens group, or must I rally the troops?

Im still alive

Something that is kind of on the topic of this Citizens groups, and will hopefully bring some in-member discussion.

The judiciary has been packed with CC's and judicial reviews, so packed that one judiciary so far has not been able to fully complete them before the end of the term. Does anyone have any "fixes" for this?

I will join this worthy group.

EDIT: Wrong thread

How do I join this group?

How do I join this group?
Game's over. This group is disbanded.