Ratification of DG VII Ruleset

Do you approve of the following ruleset?


  • Total voters
    24
  • Poll closed .

ravensfire

Member of the Opposition
Joined
Feb 1, 2002
Messages
5,281
Location
Gateway to the West
Do you approve of the Ruleset posted in the next two posts?

Link to discussion

Options:
-- Yes - you approve and ratify the ruleset
-- No - you do not approve, and do not ratify the ruleset
-- Abstain - you have no preference

Poll will be public, and run for 4 days.

At the conclusion of the poll, if there are more yes votes than no, the ruleset is Ratified.

-- Ravensfire
 
We, the people of Fanatikos, in order to create an atmosphere of friendship, cooperation, and pride, establish this Constitution of our beloved country. We uphold the beliefs that each citizen must have an equal voice in the government and ruling of our country, that government itself is a construct of and servant to the people, that rules, regulations, and laws should be established to facilitate the active participation of all citizens and to make possible the dreams and desires of the citizens.

Here, there are many people involved with making the decisions on how the game is played. Instead of all sitting at the same computer, we use the forums to discuss the game with each other. To manage many people playing the game, a government has been formed to provide a structured way for everyone to be involved in the decision making process. We encourage all citizens to take an active part, and to act as a citizen would, to role play their views and actions.

This government is much like real life. It has a Constitution, a Code of Laws, and elections to select Leaders that are responsible for managing certain aspects of the game. Continue reading and you will find all you need to know to participate in the DemoGame.

Article A. Citizenship
All Civfanatics Forum users who register in the Citizen Registry are citizens of our country, and members of the Assembly. Citizens have the right to assemble, the right to free movement, the right to free speech, the right to a fair trial, the right to representation, the right to request an investigation into possible violations of law and the right to vote. Political parties are not permitted.

Article B. Laws of Fanatikos
Governing rules shall consist of these Articles of the Constitution, such amendments that shall follow and lower forms of law that may be implemented. No rule shall be valid that contradicts these Articles.

These rules may not contradict the rules and regulations of the Civfanatics Forums. Moderators may veto any such rules.

Article C. Game Structure
No more than 5 cities built by Fanatikos may exist at any time. In addition, only one city from each foreign civilization may be taken by any means. All other cities that we gain must be razed immediately.

Article D. Government Structure
The government will consist of the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch and the Judicial Branch. All leaders must determine and implement the will of the Assembly.

Article E. The Executive Branch
The Executive branch is responsible for tasks and projects that affect the Nation and is headed by the President.

The President is responsible for control of the slider, worker allocation and resolving disputes between leaders, such as over use of gold. The President is also responsible for all tasks not assigned to another leader.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is responsible for all matters involving treaties with foreign nations and all espionage activities. This includes Trade Embargoes, Military Alliances and the use of Spies to acquire technologies.

The Minister of Defense is responsible the defense of Fanatikos and military planning. The Minister also controls the actions of all Military units.

The Minister of Trade and Technology is responsible for all trade initiatives and research goals. The
Minister also coordinates any plans for spaceship construction.

Article F. Legislative Branch
The Legislative Branch is formed of the Assembly and a Senate of Governors.

The Assembly is made up of all citizens, and is responsible for the creation of new laws and Amendments. The Assembly will present all such proposals to the Judiciary for review.

The Senate is made up of 6 Governors, and is responsible for the well-being of the cities of Fanatikos. Each of the 5 native cities will have its own Governor, and all captured cities will be controlled by the Expatriate Governor. Each Governor is responsible for the care, management, and use of cities they control.

Each Governor may also setup a civic government for the cities they control in any manner they see fit that does not conflict with Fanatikos laws.

The Senate is also responsible for choosing a President should an election cycle complete with no citizen elected as President, and for placing Fanatikos in a state of Mobilization.

The power to declare War is given to the Assembly and the Senate.

Article G. Judicial Branch
The Judicial Branch will consist of one Chief Justice, one Public Defender and a Judge Advocate. These three justices are tasked with upholding, clarifying and reviewing all changes to the Constitution and its supporting laws through Judicial Reviews, and upholding the rights of all citizens through Investigations. The Judiciary will carry out all its tasks in a fair, impartial, public and speedy manner.

The Chief Justice shall have the additional responsibility to organize and conduct the affairs of the Judicial Branch. The Public Defender will act as council to an accused citizen, if the accused citizen wishes. The Judge Advocate will act as the prosecution.

Article H. Elections
The Executive Branch positions, Governorships and the Judiciary positions are all elected positions with a fixed term not to exceed one month.

Article I. Multiple Offices
Citizens may hold only one elected office at any given time, or be a deputy to only one elected office. Citizens may not have more than one accepted nomination at the commencement of the general election.

Article J. Will of the Assembly
Elected Officials must plan and act according to the Will of the Assembly. The Will of the Assembly is the aggregate wish of the citizens of our Fanatikos. It is determined by unanimity in a completed discussion, or by the majority vote in an official poll.

Article K. Recall of Elected Officials
Citizens may request a Recall of an elected official.

Article L. Game Sessions
All irreversible game actions must be made by a Designated Player during a game session using instructions posted in a game session instruction thread.

A special session to accomplish a specific, short goal may be held by the President if there is significant public support. These special sessions do not count as a regular game session.

Article M. Playing the Save
Commission of any game action, by any person other than the Designated Player while carrying out their duties, which is not instantly reversible without reloading the save, is strictly forbidden.

Exception: Determining options in the renegotiation of Peace agreements requires an action of acceptance or war to exit the bargain screen. This may be done but the game must be immediately closed without saving.

Article N. Census, and Amending the Constitution
The Census is defined as the average number of votes cast, dropped fractions, in each of the contested elections in the most recent general election

Amendments to the Constitution must be posted as a Proposed Poll in the discussion thread for at least 24 hours prior to submission to the Judiciary. The discussion on the amendment must have lasted at least 48 hours.

Amendments must pass Judicial Review. If accepted, the Judiciary will post the poll. This poll will be open for 4 days, state the new text and the current text. To pass, an amendment must have a 67% majority of positive votes, ignoring Abstain, and have a total number of votes greater than 1/2 of the census.
 
Section D.1 Freedom of Information
All elected officials will create an official thread. This thread will be used to provide updates to the citizens about their office. The information in this thread should updated frequently in order to accurately reflect the current game situation.

Section E.1 City Placement and Naming
Discussions on city placement and names will be lead by the Governor of that city.

Section F.1 Senatorial Election of a President
The Senate is responsible for choosing a citizen to serve as President if an election cycle completes with nobody elected to the office of President. A Senator will create a thread for interested citizens to post in, and be questioned by the Senate. 3 days after the creation of this thread, the Senate will vote amongst all interested Candidates via Private Message to the Chief Justice or a Moderator. The citizen receiving the most votes is elected President. If more than one citizen ties, a run-off election will be held between only those citizens.

Section F.2 Declaration of War
To declare a war, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will create a normal poll for the House, and a thread poll for the Senate. If more than 50% of the voters, not counting abstain, in both polls support the declaration, war can be declared. If either poll gains a 67% majority in support of war, war may be declared regardless of the other poll.

Section F.3 Declaration of Mobilization
To declare Fanatikos in a state of Mobilization, any Senator may create a discussion about it. After at least 48 hours, a vote may be called for by a Senator. If seconded by another Senator, each Senator must post within 48 hours of the second if they support or oppose the Mobilization. If there are more votes in support than oppose at the end of the 48 hours, Fanatikos is to be placed in a state of Mobilization.

Section G.1 Judicial Procedures
The Chief Justice must post the Judicial Procedures by which they plan to run the Judiciary. These procedures are not binding until 2/3 of the Judiciary accepts the procedures. They may not be changed except through a unanimous decision by all members of the Judiciary. These procedures may not contradict the Constitution or the Code of Laws, but are considered law.

Section H.1 Elections
The Election Office, a citizen’s office supervised by the President, will perform all actions needed for each election cycle.

Each Governor position will be a separate election, and all will be held each term, even if the city does not exist. In the event the city does not exist, the order of priority will be clearly stated in the election description (i.e. Gov. 1, Gov. 2).

The regular election cycle starts at the posting of the nomination threads, and concludes when the last poll, including runoff polls, closes. Nomination threads will be posted 8 days before the end of the current term. Election polls will be posted 4 days later, and will list all accepted candidates for each election. Election polls will be marked private, and last for 3 days.

Each position will be granted to the candidate receiving the largest number of votes in that election. In the event of a tie between two or more front runners, a runoff poll shall be opened between those candidates only. This poll shall run for 2 days, and be repeated as often as needed to resolve the tie.

Except for the first term, all terms will start on the 1st of the month, and end on the last day of that month.

Section H.2 Designated Player Pool
During each regular election cycle, a separate thread will be created during the nomination process for DP Candidates. Any citizen that wishes to be a DP must post in this thread. When the election polls are posted, a separate poll, in multi-choice format, listing each candidate will be posted. Citizens will vote their approval for a candidate by selecting their name.

A citizen may run for an elected office and apply to be a DP in the same term. The DP Pool does not count as an elected office.

Each candidate that receives a vote from more than ½ of the citizens that vote in the poll will be accepted as a DP for that term. The Election Office will put together a list of the Designated Players, ordered by the number of votes in support for that term. In the event of a tie, the order of posting in the nomination thread will be used. All DP’s that actually ran a game session in the previous term will be put below those that did not, regardless of the number of votes. This list will determine the order that the DP’s will be used for game sessions. If there are more game sessions that DP’s, start again from the top of the list.

Should the DP pool be empty, the President is responsible for determining who will be the DP for each game session, using any citizen of Fanatikos to serve as DP.

Members of the DP pool may exchange places as they desire, so long as all citizens involved agree.

Section H.3 Deputies
All Executive and Governor positions will have a deputy. The Deputy is permitted to conduct the affairs of the office as directed by the elected official, or during a planned Absence of the elected official. If no instructions have been posted for an office within 24 hours of the upcoming Game Session, the deputy for that office may post the official instructions for the office.

The Judiciary does not use deputies. In the event of an Absence, a pro-tem justice(s) may be appointed by the Chief Justice (or Judge Advocate if the Chief Justice if absent) and confirmed by the President and the remaining justice if not also absent.

If both the Chief Justice and the Judge Advocate are absent, the Public Defender may appoint pro-tems to the other seats, with Presidential approval.

Section H.4 Vacancies
The President will appoint a citizen to any Vacant office. If a deputy exists for that office, the President must offer the appointment to that citizen. This appointment may be challenged by any citizen by that citizen posting a confirmation poll within 24 hours of the appointment.

If an elected official does not post in the DG forums in 7 days without prior notice, any citizen may request the Judiciary to investigate. The Judiciary, by a majority vote, may declare the office Vacant at the conclusion of the investigation.

Section H.5 Confirmation Polls
A confirmation poll is used, where permitted by law, to give citizens the opportunity to challenge certain actions. If a challenge poll does not exist for such an action, any citizen may create such a poll. This poll must be created within 24 hours of the action, should ask “Do you approve of <description of action”>, contain Yes, No and Abstain options, and run for 2 days. If the action concerns a citizen, the poll must be marked private. Otherwise, it must be marked public. When the poll closes, if the majority of citizens, not including abstain, voted No, the action is overturned. Any other result confirms the action.

Section J.1 Polling Standards
Polls posted by an elected official on an area they control are considered official and binding unless specifically stated otherwise. Polls posted by citizens, by officials outside their area or by officials in their area explicitly noted as such are considered unofficial, and do not bind officials in any way. Officials should, however, take such polls into account during planning.

The description and initial post for all official polls should be stated in a clear and neutral manner.

The initial post should contain a link to all relevant discussion threads. Each option should be explained if not immediately clear. The time frame for the poll, and how the results will be interpreted should also be in the initial post.

All official polls must be open for a minimum of 24 hours to be binding. They are strongly encouraged to be open for at least 3 days.

Official polls should be flagged as “Public” unless directly concerning another Citizen.

Section K.1 Recalls
Any citizen may create a thread requesting the recall of a specific elected official. This post must include the reason the recall is requested.

Should two additional citizens post in that thread supporting the recall within 24 hours of the initial post, the Chief Justice (or Judge Advocate if the recall is for the Chief Justice) must create a Recall poll. This is a private poll, asking in Yes/No/Abstain format if the elected official should be removed from office. This poll should run for 4 days.

If 2/3 of the citizens voting support the recall, ignoring abstain, and the total number of votes is greater than 1/2 of the census, the citizen is removed from office, and the office is declared Vacant.

A Recall may be requested no sooner than 7 days after a previous attempt in the same term on the same official.

Section L.1 Game Sessions
All irreversible game actions must progress during a game session, while reversible game actions (i.e. build queues) that adhere to legal instructions can be prepared offline. During each session, the designated player must provide a log of their actions in sufficient detail to replicate their actions.

A Game Session Instruction Thread must be created at least 2 days before the chat by the Designated Player for that session. Should a thread not be created in a timely manner, the President may create one. Game Sessions must be at least 3 days apart, no more than 7 days apart. The initial post should contain the date and time of the game session, a link to the save to be used for that session, and if the game session will be on-line or off-line. If the game session is off-line, a citizen may post a confirmation poll for that session. If the confirmation poll fails, the DP must reschedule the game session as an on-line session.

All official instructions must be posted in the current game session instruction thread. Instructions must be clear and defined. Officials must post their instructions at least one hour before the scheduled start of the game session. However, officials may make changes to their instructions up to an hour before the chat, so long as those changes are clearly noted. Officials that do not post instructions for a game session are considered to have given the DP complete control over their area for that game session.

The game session may last for as long as there are relevant instructions, until a posted instruction says to hold the session or when the DP decides to end the session. Once a game session is over, the DP must post a summary of that session, a detailed log of their actions, and a save in the instruction thread and in the summary thread.

If the DP for a session does not show up, or is unable to continue, a substitute DP can be chosen for that session. This substitute is chosen from the President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Trade and Technology, in that order.

Section N.1 Amending the Code of Laws
Amendments to the Code of Laws must be posted as a Proposed Poll in the discussion thread for at least 24 hours prior to submission to the Judiciary. The discussion on the amendment must have lasted at least 48 hours.

Amendments must pass Judicial Review. If accepted, the Judiciary will post the poll. This poll will be open for 3 days, state the new text and the current text. To pass, an amendment must have a majority of positive votes, ignoring Abstain.
 
RegentMan said:
Woot! We're becoming a civilized people!

I think I'm better off not commenting on this one. :crazyeye:
 
RegentMan said:
Responded sooner than I expected, Strider!

You were expecting me to respond at all? That's a weird one. :lol:
 
I dislike two provisions of this ruleset, but have no problems voting YES anyway. This is our best quality ruleset in 4 games, measured in terms of matching what it intends to do.
 
Ill vote yes on this one. Though there are some tings that I disagree with, but Ill live with them.
 
seeing as this poll has passed, we should probably put the ruleset in the constutition thread...
 
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