Eklektikos
Eponymous
As would I, particularly since I would have voted another way had I given the issue more thought at the time
The Constitution
We, the people of (Civ Name), in order to create an atmosphere of
friendship and cooperation, establish this Constitution of our
beloved country. We uphold the beliefs that each citizen must have
a 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 the people and to make possible the dreams and
desires of the citizens.
A. 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 excepting an amendment specifically tasked to do so.
B. All Civfanatics Forum users who register in the Citizen Registry are
citizens of (Civ Name). 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 demand
satisfaction and the right to vote.
C. The government will consist of the Executive Branch, Legislative
Branch and Judicial Branch.
1. The Executive Branch is headed by the President (Despot,
King, etc, depending on government form), the overall Leader
of the land, and shall include a Council of Leaders, each of
whom heads a department that is responsible for one major
facet of the country. Each of these Leaders will be
generally responsible for the items found under the
respective Advisor in the Civilization III game and esoteric
aspects that fall under their department name.
a. The President shall be the designated player of the
game. The President is responsible for following the
legal instructions of all Leaders during play of the
game.
b. The Council of Executive Leaders, in order of
precedence:
1. Domestic
2. Foreign Affairs
3. Military
4. Science
5. Culture
6. Trade
2. The Legislative Branch will be formed of two houses, the
Senate and the Congress.
a. The Senate will be formed of the Provincial Governors,
each of whom are a Leader responsible for the care,
management and use of the cities and lands of a
province.
b. The Congress will be formed of the entirety of the
citizenry. Congress shall have the primary duty of
creating laws.
3. The Judicial Branch will be formed of three Leaders and is
tasked with verifying legality of legislation, interpreting
rules, and determining when violations of the same. Each also
has a specific area of additional responsibility.
a. The Chief Justice is the overall head of the Judiciary
and can fill in for either lower position. The Chief
Justice is responsible for maintaining the legal books
of the country and the mechanics of Judicial Procedure.
b. The Judge Advocate functions in a role of prosecution
and attorney to the state when allegations of rulebreaking
have been made.
c. The Public Defendant functions in the roll of defense for
any and all accused citizens.
D. All offices will be filled via election with terms ending at each calendar
month.
E. No person shall hold multiple Leader positions simultaneously.
F. The average of the number of votes cast in each of the most recent
contested elections shall constitute an active census of citizens. The
highest vote total of these elections shall constitute a full census
(the Congress). A majority of the Congress shall be required to amend
the Constitution. A 2/3 majority of the Senate shall be required to
ratify said amendment.
G. Elected officials must plan and act according to the will of the people.
H. Game turns will only be progressed during a public turn chat.
I. The constitution, laws and standards of (Civ Name) can never be contrary
to the rules and regulations of the Civfanatics forums. Moderators may
veto/correct any such items.
Originally posted by Octavian X
Let's see...
Things that come to mind immeadiately on the original...
1. -No deputies are mentioned. Do you plan to abolish them altogether?
2. -'Right to Assemble' is no longer as clearly defined. This opens a hole for political parties
3. -The stuff about the title of President depending on gov't may confuse some newbies
4. -Perhaps we could reduce the number of council positions
5. -No procedure whatsoever is mentioned
Originally posted by Octavian X
Let's see...
Things that come to mind immeadiately on the original...
-No deputies are mentioned. Do you plan to abolish them altogether?
-'Right to Assemble' is no longer as clearly defined. This opens a hole for political parties
-The stuff about the title of President depending on gov't may confuse some newbies
-Perhaps we could reduce the number of council positions
-No procedure whatsoever is mentioned
That last point is a particular concern to me. We need to define HOW we do things. People can, and will, do whatever they want. Either we'll be working under unwritten rules (something we don't want), or anarchy will grip the forums (another something we don't want). Or maybe I'm just feeling apocolpytic.
Also, in response to donsig's 4 points...
1) Heck no. I will fight this to the very last.
2) Rather than leaving them undefined (leader to the chaos I already fear), I suggest consolidating excutive power. Some departments do less than others. We could effectively go down to Interior Dept (combo of dom, culture), FA Dept (combo of FA, trade), Science (with control over tech trades and science slider), and Military (as is).
3) Again, define if we want calendar/year based system. I'm still afraid of unwritten rules. I wouldn't be opposed to basing elections on game years.
4) I completely agree. With the amount of procedural leeway that is becoming apparent, mods would have almost excessive power. If we made donsig's suggest change #3, a mod could come to power and put off elections indefinetly...
There is still the overriding presence of Article G. The will of the people shall prevail. This means you don't need to worry about somebody taking over the presidency and staying there for the whole game (unless the people want that). You don't have to worry about deputies disappearing (unless the people want that). Etceteras, etceteras...
Originally posted by Shaitan
Okay, work up a sample schedule based on game years. Figure a formulation of approximately 8 chats per term with an average of 3.2 turns per chat (that was our average in DG2). That's an average of 26 turns per term. We can increase/decrease as appropriate for the relative lengths of turns later. This is more of a proof of concept exercise.
Term Begins Nominations Elections Last turn
1 4000 BC 2150 BC 1750 BC 1450 BC
2 1425 BC 490 BC 290 BC 150 BC
3 130 BC 460 AD 560 AD 650 AD
4 660 AD 1060 AD 1160 AD 1250 AD
5 1255 AD 1455 AD 1505 AD 1550 AD
6 1555 AD 1752 AD 1772 AD 1790 AD
7 1792 AD 1872 AD 1892 AD 1910 AD
8 1912 AD 1971 AD 1981 AD 1990 AD
9 1991 AD 2050 AD