Suggestions for Rules of the House

[Lockesdonkey]

I know it seems a bit premature, but no Parliament is a Parliament without Rules of the House. Now, we don't need as many rules as real Parliaments, since they have to deal with being in an actual physical Parliament with people standing and talking, but there still should be something.

This thread should be used to present ideas for what we should pass as Rules of the House as soon as Parliament is started. We need to have this done ASAP so that we can get straight to governing; passing the Rules will be our first act.

I propose the following rules on voting:

1. Types of voting. There should be three types of voting: public vote, private vote, and unrecorded vote.

• Public votes will be done by posting on threads; this would be the form for most bills. The preferred way to vote would take the form of:
  
  

  John Doe, Member of Parliament for [Constituency] votes ____.

  
  However, this would be acceptable:
  
  

  I vote ___.

  
  If an MP wishes to change his/her vote, then he/she must do so in a separate post and should NOT edit the previous post. The proper form would be:
  
  

  John Doe, Member of Parliament for [Constituency] changes his vote from ____ (post #__) to ___.

  
  However, this would be acceptable:
  
  

  I change my vote from ___ to ____.

  
  I am unsure whether to make it unacceptable to change your vote to "abstain." It's realistic, but is it a good idea?
  
• Private vote: The vote is recorded, but instead of being posted on a thread, it would be PMed to a GM, and the list of who voted for what would not be made public. This is for votes where while privacy is needed, it is also necessary to retain the option of changing the vote.
• Unrecorded vote: A simple private, single-choice poll, for simple matters in which privacy is still required, or at least preferred.

2. Types of vote. I would recommend that there be five ways to vote: Yes, No, Abstain, Yes with rights, and No with rights

"Aye" and "Yea" are acceptable alternatives for "Yes", as are any well-recognized alternatives in a foreign language (e.g. si, oui, da, ja, etc.); not-well-recognized alternatives may be used but must be translated.

"Nay" is an acceptable alternative for "No", as are any well-recognized alternatives in a foreign language (e.g. non, nyet, nein); not-well-recognized alternatives may be used but must be translated.

"Present" is an acceptable alternative for "Abstain"; all foreign-language alternatives must be translated unless the GM doing the counting is known to understand the language.

"With Rights" votes are identical to a "Yes" or "No" vote, but with one additional right: the person who votes "with rights" is entitled to post his/her reasons for voting that way on the voting thread after voting is closed. This should ONLY BE USED if the person is either defying his/her party's whip OR had been previously advocating the opposite position for some time and changed his/her mind immediately before or during voting procedure. Anyone who votes "with rights" who does not meet either of these criteria must be censured.

 

[Head Serf]

Good idea, I say aye.

 

[Equuleus]

Private votes will flood the GMs PM boxes.
It is just better if it is all public.

 

[Red Door]

I vote Yes.

With Rights is important, it must be in there.

 

[Lockesdonkey]

THIS IS NOT A VOTE!

This is a suggestion thread. Don't post just to say "I support this"; I'd like the posts to be constructive.

 

[Splime]

What exactly do you mean by party whip?

 

[Lockesdonkey]

I use the term "whip" in the Westminster sense. I am assuming that parties somehow enforce discipline on its members. Even if they do not, there is usually a party line, and an MP who was previously toeing the line who proceeds to vote against the party line should be able to reserve the right to explain him/herself.

 

[The Yankee]

Failing getting to get party/coalition members to vote in line, the whips at least get a feel for who's going where for the top leadership.

 

[LightFang]

I suggest that votes be made in bold, like the way we do it in the mafia games.

I vote yes on that proposal.

See, like that. Good stuff.

 

[jeps]

Bold, italic, underline, large font, coloured (yes, no, abstain) or anything that makes it look different.

We should also have rules for proposing and numbering bills.

ie

MP John Doe of [constituency] of the proposes Bill#...

This bill states that
1)
i)
ii)
2)
3)
i)
ii)

etc.