Constitutional Proposal : Advanced Traditional Government

[Provolution]

Constitutional Proposal : Advanced Traditional Government

Initially, this Constitution Proposal is a version accomodating the inputs of Ashburnham, Strider, Civgeneral and several others, seeking to maintain the integrity of the present traditional system, reducing the number of positions for election, adding a very basic autonomy model for the governors, adding room for high strategy planning accountable by specialty and giving decision-making scope for the implementing directors on a mid-strategy planning. The Constitution is flexible, as it makes the prime minister in charge for filling in missing instructions from Directors, whereas the President will lead the Ministers and assure that all strategic guidelines are being drafted, discussed and polled, then summarized for the reference of the Directors. This proposal is also more kind to the Governors, as these are given a set of powers allowing them to vote in a Governors Assembly over key issues, and to be the main source of minister replacements, as these Governors and Deputies have already proven commitment. This will eliminate minister deputies, and transfer the back-up to the Governors (lasting replacement) and the Prime Minister (temporary back up). Having deputies for a one night show is not necessarily a good thing compared to an Intern for a one night....

1.
For the further develop this thread, and be aware that this is a proposal in the works and not a finished proposal, please keep it civic, avoid threadjacks, flames, insults, digressions, trolls and other issues well covered by the forum rules. I have seen promising threads die out due to all this, and I will avoid that situation to occur by preempting this with a clear signal.

2.
I will ask the moderators to ensure that the intention of the thread is followed
to the letter, so that we can keep this constructive as we can.

3.
Additionally, this means, comment on the particular points, not anything else, as this is a proposal in the works on its own merits. This is not a discussion on strategy-tactic vs traditional, or a discussion on who knows what from which Demogame, but a discussion on how to organize the issues and mechanisms.

We, the people of $COUNTRY_NAME, in firm commitment to our proud and aspiring nation, hereby establish the Constitution of our sacred land. We firmly uphold the belief, that each citizen is entitled
an equal voice in the matters of government and national decisions,
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 the people and to make
possible the dreams and visions of the citizens.

Article A. Citizen Rights
All Civfanatics Forum users who register in the Citizen Registry are citizens of our country. Citizens have the right to assemble, the right to free movement, the right to free speech, the right to a fair and speedy trial, the right to representation, the right to seek to redress grievances and the right to vote.

Article B. Laws and Rules
Governing rules shall consist of these Articles of the Constitution, such amendments that shall follow. No rule shall be valid that contradicts these Articles, excepting an amendment specifically tasked to do so. The Constitution amendments can be added/modified/removed when the need arises.

Article C. Basic Government
The government will consist of the Executive Branch, Legislative Branch and Judicial Branch.

Article D. The Executive Branch
The Executive branch is responsible for determining and implementing the will of the People, and is headed by the President. The President is charged with organizing and monitoring the affairs of the Ministers and Directors, and is also the primary designated player. The President shall take direction from a council of leaders and from other elected and appointed officials via the turnchat instruction thread, including worker actions. The President is also charged with appointing citizens to uncontested elections, the election office, and the Prime Minister position (including city naming). The President will lead the ministers and provide the overall focus for their strategy planning and take the necessary measures to integrate their planning.

Section 1.
Minister of Interior Affairs (Roads, Mining and Agriculture) is legally in charge of planning all long term infrastructure developments, inclusive defensive land improvements, and is also in charge of all Major Wonder construction and enforcing cultural integrity of the nation. Minister of Interior Affairs is also responsible for opening up new territories for colonization as well as setting up new provinces.

Section 2.
Minister of Finance and Science (Slider management policy "Slider Czar", taxmen and scientists, long term research plan for one term), Minister of Finance and research is in charge of all fiscal policies related to sliders and rushes as well as setting up rules for all gold related activities such as upgrades, embassies and other financial actions for one term. Minister of Finance and Research is also responsible for Capital location and Forbidden Capital location, watching corruption levels and finally would be in charge for planning the Space Race builds in case that eventuality occurs.
Minister of Finance and Science is also in charge of setting the trade tax of all national resources traded from a Province.

Section 3.
Minister of Military is in charge of all military land and air units, except settler escorts. In wartime, the Minister of Military would also take control over the Navy. The Minister of Military is responsible for long term strategic planning for the military, which includes force composition, upgrade unit plans, military groupings and organization, rules of engagement, war strategy objectives (target cities) and advocating all military Wonder constructions.

Section 4.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade is responsible for all treaties and agreements signed with foreign nations, including trade in resources and science. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade needs to consult the Minister of Finance and Science on all technology transfers and the governors on all resource trades for their approval.

Section 5.
Prime Minister is legally in charge of coordinating and mediating between the Directors and responsible for all mobilization and war economy decisions and sanctions military drafts subject to a vote of confidence. The Prime Minister also serves as a operational level decision-maker to fill in for missing instructions from Directors due to their absence and other reasons. The Prime Minister is legally responsible for the City Naming Office, Unit Naming Office, Province Naming Office and Geography Naming Office. The Prime Minister provides summary of every play session.

Section 6.
Director of Colonial Office is in charge of all operational scout, settler and military escort movements and the localization of cities as prescribed by the opened territory by the Minister of Interor Affairs. Director of Colonial Office is responsible for city planning per turnchat, and would consider the placement of future borders as well as operationally lead the navy in peacetime. Director of Colonial Office would also become the Director of Intelligence, deciding upon all espionage missions and embassies tasks. Colonial Office is also the nominal governor of non-provincial cities until these are included in a new province.

Section 7.
Director of Labor and Research Office is responsible for all worker movements and actions on an operational level as prescribed by the Minister of Interior Affairs, and is also in charge of deciding on tactical amendments of the Term Science Plan.

Section 8.
Chief of Staff is in charge of all military operation level plans and tactical decisions as prescribed by the strategy objectives and military structure, formations and force composition planned by the Minister of the Military.
In wartime, the Chief of staff would also take control over the Navy.
Finally, the Chief of Staff is responsible for cooperating with the governors in meeting the needed defense requirements as prescribed by the Military Ministers long term plan.

Section 9.
Director of Central Bank is in charge of operating the slider within the scope prescribed by the Minister of Finance and Science, as well as approving and disapproving all gold requests from other Directors and Governors.

Article E. Legislative Branch
The Legislative Branch shall be formed of the House of the People and Governors of [Insert Nation Name Here].

Section 1. The National Assembly
The House of the People will be formed of the entirety of the citizenry and is responsible for the drafting of new Laws and Amendments to the Constitution. The House will present all proposed Articles, Amendments and Laws to the Judicial Branch for review.

Section 2. The Governors
Governors are responsible for the care, management, use of the cities, and use of lands of a province through the setting of build queues, allocation of laborers on tiles and population rushes. Governors are also given the income of any resource trade deals minus the national trade tax prescribed by the Minister of Finance and Science. The Governors decides on the provincial allocation of the Provincial Budget for improvement rushes, where the Provincial Budget is based on the main income from the trade of resources from the province in question minus the National Trade Tax. .

Section 3. Mayors
Mayors are tasked with the ability to monitor and advise governors for the care, management, and used of the cities. They are limited to the power the governor gives them.

Article F. The Judicial Branch
The elected Judiciary shall create its separate procedures upon election, to be located in the first post of the Judiciary thread. Any change following the Judiciary's acceptance of these procedures will require the Will of the Citizenry.
The Judicial Branch will consist of one Chief Justice, one Public Defender and a Judge Advocate. These three justices are tasked with upholding the Constitution and its supporting laws (if any) in a fair and impartial manner as prescribed by law. 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 individual. The Judge Advocate will act as the prosecution.

Article G. Elections, the Election Office, and Deputies
The Elections determine the elected officials of [insert country name here]. Elected Officials shall have a fixed term of one month, starting from the first of the month. All elected officials must act according to the Will of the People, as mentioned below in Article J.

Section 1. Elections
All elected positions shall have a fixed term of onemonth. Each position will be granted to the candidatereceiving the largest number of votes in that election. In the event of a tie between two or more frontrunners, a runoff poll shall be opened between thosecandidates only. This poll shall run for 2 days, and be repeated as often as needed to resolve the tie. Nominations shall begin on the 24th of each month at 0:00 GMT. Debates will be held on the 26th of the month, at 0:00 GMT. The Elections will be held on the 27th of the month, at 0:00 GMT

Section 2. The Election Office
The Election Office shall be comprised of those citizens
willing to assist the election process. These citizens are
nominated by the President, and are subject to a confirmation
poll. The Election Office shall determine before each election who
will post the threads for that election. The Election Office shall maintain on the initial post of their thread the dates for the current and next election cycle. The Election Office shall solicit and maintain a common list of debate questions for each office. This list shall be posted as soon as possible in each debate thread. Any non-trivial differences in the dates/times threads are posted from the scheduled time should be noted by the Election Office official posting the thread.

Section 3. Appointments
The President will appoint a citizen to any vacant office from the nominations from the Governors Assembly. This appointment may be challenged by any citizen by that citizen posting a confirmation poll within 24 hours of the appointment.

Article H. Multiple Poistions
No person shall hold multiple positions of leadership (President, Vice-President, Department Leader, Judiciary, Provincial Governor, Deputy) simultaneously.

Article I. Census, and Amending the Constitution
The census shall be defined as the average number of votes cast, dropping fractions, in each of the contested elections in the most recent general election.Ratification of Amendments to the Constitution shall require each of the following.

Section 1. Time Limits
A poll which is open for at least 96 hours, which states the text of the proposed new section(s), the text of the section(s) being replaced, and posing the question in the form of yes / no / abstain.

Section 2. Citizen Approval
A 67% majority of Yes votes over No votes, Abstain notwithstanding.

Section 3. Census
A total number of votes greater than or equal to 2/3 the census current at the start of voting on the amendment, dropping any fraction therein.

Article J. The Will of the People
Elected officials must plan and act according to the will of the people. The will of the people will be determined through discussion and polls, formal or informal. If pertinent discussion is done outside the scope of the DG forums, then it must be documented in the Turnchat Instruction Thread 6 hours prior to the commencement of the turnchat by the appropriate leader.

Article K. Turnchats/Turnchat Instruction Thread
All irreversible game actions must progress during a public turnchat, while reversible game actions (i.e. build queues) that adhere to legal instructions can be prepared offline.

Section 1. Turnchat Instruction Thread
A turnchat instruction thread must be created at least 3 days before the chat. All official instructions must be posted in the current turnchat instruction thread. Instructions must be clear and defined. Officials must post their instructions at least one hour before the Turnchat. However, offcials may make changes to their instructions up to an hour before the chat, so long as those changes are noted. The Designated Player shall be charged with the creation of a date and time for all public turnchats.

Article L. CivFanatics Forum Rules
The constitution, laws and standards of Japanatica can never be contrary to the rules and regulations of the Civfanatics forums. Moderators may veto any such constitutional amendments, laws or standards.

Article M. Commission of Game Actions
Commission of any game action by any person other than the Designated Player while carrying out their duties that 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. Rights Reserved to the People
Rights reserved to the people As provided by Article A of this constitution, all actions not forbidden by forum rules, or by this Constitution, are presumed to be within the right of every citizen. Actions prescribed by this Constitution may be substituted by other similar actions, provided such substitution lies within the spirit of these rules.

Article O. Provinces
The area contained within the national boundaries of Japanatica shall be divided into areas called provinces, each of which is under the control of a Governor as stated in Article E. of theConstitution. These boundries must be defined and approved by the House well ahead of expansion, and may extend beyond the cultural boundaries. City locations shall be determined by the Will of the People.

Article P. Freedom of Information
All elected/appointed officials are charged with the duty to post enough information for the citizens to make a informed decision. This includes information from the save, discussions, and past polls.

Section 1.Ministry Threads
Each Minister shall post a basic department update, every turnchat, inside of the respective Ministry thread.

Article Q. The Naming Commission
The Naming Commission is charged with the task of creating a list of names for use by the Designated Player in the naming of cities and units.

Section 1. City Naming Order
The order shall be decided by the date joined in the registry and subject to a Naming Code as prescribed by the Office of the Prime Minister.

Article R. Bloc vote and poliitcal organizations
Bloc vote and forming and running political organizations calling for the election of a candidate, a law or supporting one side in a legal case is illegal.
However, political organizations calling for the promotion of certain natural resources, luxuries, technologies, wonder localizations or military units are perfectly acceptable within the freedom of speech and the right to organize.

 

[GenMarshall]

This is the consituton that I would accept.

I would add onto the part about the Mayors that they should be appointed by the Governor of the respected province .

 

[blackheart]

This is the consituton that I would accept.

I would add onto the part about the Mayors that they should be appointed by the Governor of the respected province .

Either appointed or elected (as Rik Meleet tried to have it, I believe).

 

[Strider]

I don't really like how you re-did the Executive Branch, but this proposal is otherwise decent. Of course, it's no hidden fact that I am not a big fan of seperating/merging departments.

On other things:

Article B. and Article T. is the same thing.
Article L. and Article S. is also the same thing.

 

[classical_hero]

I don't really like how you re-did the Executive Branch, but this proposal is otherwise decent. Of course, it's no hidden fact that I am not a big fan of seperating/merging departments.

On other things:

Article B. and Article T. is the same thing.
Article L. and Article S. is also the same thing.

Articles T and S can just be removed.

 

[mhcarver]

Section 1. Judicial Procedures
The elected Judiciary shall create there procedures [B]once elect it[/B], to be located in the first post of the Judiciary thread. Any change following the Judiciary's acceptance of these procedures will require the Will of the Citizenry.

I know this is small but will someone please change this to elected and instead of mandating the procedures be in the first post could we use striders language which went something like must be easy to access at all times? this is just my preference since I would like the first post to consist mostly of your standard welcome and listing quorom

 

[Strider]

Articles T and S can just be removed.

That was why I was pointing them out, for he can remove them.

 

[Provolution]

strider and mhcarver, the changes are done, quiet and easily, no drama.

 

[Ashburnham]

I was wondering what others thought of the following part of Provo's proposal:

Section 2.1 The Governors Assembly
The Governors Assembly is tasked to elect a Chairman of the Governors Assembly,
and must thus leave his Governorship to his Deputy. The Governors
Assembly has the mandate to set the National Trade Tax, Veto Drafts, Amend
Provincial Borders, Nominate one wonder city per Province, Name Trans-Provincial
and Extra-Provincial Landmarks and finally approve all wonder builds sanctioned 
by the people. The Governors Assembly is formed as soon as the nation reaches three provinces.

Section 2.2. The Chairman of the Governors Assembly
The Chairman of the Governors Assembly is tasked to lead the Governors Assembly, 
leading discussions and setting up polls within the Governors Assembly Mandate. 
The Chairman also nominates the candidates eligible for replacing ministers and directors 
leaving their office mid term, from the Governors and Deputies in the Governors Assembly.

I'm not exactly sure we want to muddle the duties of the Governors by creating a mini-House especially for them. To me, it seems like the duties the Assembly would be tasked with (deciding on Drafts, naming landmarks, etc.) could simply be handled by the citizens in general.

Throughout the Demogames, the Governor positions have been the most straightforward, most Civ-like positions in the government. And they have consistantly attracted people to those positions. I don't think we need to include unnecessary bureaucracy into the Governor offices, and certainly not when it can be handled by the people in general.

However, these are only my opinions, I would be interested in what other people had to say about Sections 2.1 and 2.2.

 

[mhcarver]

Ash, I am somewhat against the above article because I remember hearing it was innefective in the past. However as DGV was my first DG I could be wrong but the people voted against making another Senate, which I think(sorry if i'm wrong) was the same thing as the above proposal

-mhcarver

 

[ravensfire]

In DGIV, we tried assigning the slider and budget to the Governors through the Senate.

It failed. Miserably. Look through the archives, and you'll see lack of posting, discussion and general apathy.

Mid-game, we created the Ministry of Finance and Labor which controlled the slider, the budget and workers. This worked a great deal better.

So yes, we tried it. In general, and even with a great deal of prodding and effort, it failed. May it stay in DG IV, never to return again.

-- Ravensfire

 

[YNCS]

The Governors Assembly is tasked to...set the National Trade Tax....

I believe the National Trade Tax should be set by the Finance Minister and approved by WOTP.

 

[Provolution]

Fair enough, I will add in Mhcarvers, Ravensfire and YNCS amendments and see where it goes. I will delete the Governors Assembly, transfer the National Trade Tax to the Finance Minister as approved by the people. All quiet and smooth, no drama.

 

[DaveShack]

To make things easy decision-wise, would you be able to post a concise list of the differences between your proposal and DG5? I'd like to use DG5 as the comparison vehicle and post the differences between it and the various alternatives, and want the proponents to do their own comparisons if possible.

 

[Provolution]

I would cross reference with the DG5 consitution and make a list of pros and cons, since I am more an analyst than a sales person.

 

[DaveShack]

Just something which lists the differences in as few words as possible, please.

 

[Chieftess]

This discussion has a poll. It is also summed up in other government structure threads. This thread will now close.