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Demo wrote:I have a question though, if implemented, and the first party to propose legislation cannot pass it, and say the next party does, but then misses on their second motion, does this trigger new elections all over again?
Demo wrote:I'm kind of leaning toward redoing the elections with a 25 seat parliament. It is not an ideal choice, but may be the only one that can give us some kind of working game.
Demosthenes wrote:In case everyone is confused I suppose I can make one unified document for us to examine?
Demosthenes wrote:Please, let's try and move this behemoth by Thursday if at all possible.
Clausewitz wrote:Article 1. Elections
The Clerk of the Parliament must administer a responsible election and its results must be tabulated and certified by the Clerk no more than one month after the preceding election's results were certified.
A simple majority in Parliament has the power to dissolve the government, demand a new election, and/or constitute a new government.
Elections shall be conducted, tabulated, and certified by the Clerk of the Parliament, who will be designated by any successful act that forms a government.
Article 2. Convention of Parliament
Parliament will constitute 100 seats in a single house apportioned by the D'Hondt method according to the results certified by the Clerk of the Parliament.
At the moment the results are certified, the Party Leader holds all the seats apportioned to his party.
Each Party Leader after that point will have the option of assigning its apportioned seats to Party members. Party members may be assigned multiple seats. Whether and how such seats are distributed is left to the determination of individual parties.
All current Clerks of the Parliament shall maintain, certify, and report the assignment of seats from the parties in good faith.
Once the Clerk of the Parliament certifies that a seat has been assigned an MP, that seat may not be estranged from that MP until the next general election conducted by the Clerk of the Parliament, except by the express and public consent of the MP (certified by the Clerk of the Parliament), or by a 2/3 vote of the Parliament to impeach that MP.
This document guarantees no relief or arbitration for disputes within parties. Relief and arbitration would need to be sought through further Acts of Parliament and amendments to this document.
Article 3. Legislation
Legislation may be introduced by any Party Leader that received seats in Parliament, or any MP assigned a valid seat by his party. Every piece of legislation will be a separate thread.
Any piece of legislation that receives more than 1/2 the votes of the Parliament becomes the law of the land.
Votes will be placed in the thread as for, against, or (optionally) abstain. Abstaining votes are counted as votes against the legislation. Seats, until spoken for, are presumed to abstain.
Party leaders may declare the vote of their party on a piece of legislation. Seats assigned to the party leader and seats assigned to members of his party that did not report their position in the thread will be presumed to vote with the party leader.
MPs (that is, people assigned seats in Parliament by their Party Leaders) have the right to break with their party leader if they so choose over a piece of legislation.
Legislation may be withdrawn by its author, in which case no further votes on that legislation are recognized.
No further votes will be recognized on any legislative thread originating with a previous elected parliament after the election that followed it has been certified by the Clerk of the Parliament. This means that all pending legislation dies when election results are certified.
Amendments to this document must receive more than 2/3 of the votes in Parliament to become law.
Laws inconsistent with this document (and any successful amendments to it) are prima facie invalid as inconsistent with the basic law of the nation, but this document guarantees no relief or arbitration if a law is challenged on a constitutional basis. The Parliament may ordain and empower bodies which have the power to grant relief and arbitration in disputes as to the constitutionality of legislation .
Article 4. Formation of Government
At any time, a piece of legislation may be introduced by a Party Leader or MP which forms a government. This legislation, like any legislation, will succeed if it receives the support of 1/2 of the members of Parliament.
An act which forms a government will designate, at a minimum, a Prime Minister and a Clerk of the Parliament. The act of government may designate as many other ministers as it likes. Those ministers will have the power to introduce legislation pertaining to their portfolio, and also the liberty to interpret the legislation passed by Parliament.
The first Clerk of the Parliament is The Right Honourable Dan of the Conservative Alliance. The first Parliament will be convened upon the moment of his certification of the election results.
Ingliz wrote:Article 1. Elections
1. The Clerk of the Parliament must administer a responsible election and its results must be tabulated and certified by the Clerk no more than 2 days after the preceding election's results were certified.
2. A simple majority in Parliament has the power to dissolve the government, demand a new election, and/or constitute a new government.
2(a). A minority government requires a super majority of 66% of the members voting to end its mandate
3. Elections shall be conducted, tabulated, and certified by the Clerk of the Parliament, who will be designated by any successful act that forms a government.
Article 2. Convention of Parliament
1. Parliament will constitute 35 seats in a single house apportioned by the D'Hondt method according to the results certified by the Clerk of the Parliament.
2. Each MP is entitled to one seat;
3. All current Clerks of the Parliament shall maintain, certify, and report the assignment of seats from the parties in good faith.
4. Once the Clerk of the Parliament certifies that a seat has been assigned an MP, that seat may not be estranged from that MP until the next general election conducted by the Clerk of the Parliament, except by the express and public consent of the MP (certified by the Clerk of the Parliament), or by a 2/3 vote of the Parliament to impeach that MP.
5. This document guarantees no relief or arbitration for disputes within parties. Relief and arbitration would need to be sought through further Acts of Parliament and amendments to this document.
Article 3. Legislation
1. A vote of confidence can only be called on legislation introduced by the Government although private member's bills may be introduced by any MP they have no constitutional significance. Every piece of legislation will be a separate thread.
2. Any piece of legislation that receives more than 1/2 the votes of the members voting becomes the law of the land.
3. Votes will be placed in the thread as for, against, or (optionally) abstain. Abstaining votes are not counted
3(a). Each vote will last 72 hours
4. MPs (that is, people assigned seats in Parliament) have the right to break with their party leader if they so choose over a piece of legislation.
5. Legislation may be withdrawn by its author, in which case no further votes on that legislation are recognized.
6. No further votes will be recognized on any legislative thread originating with a previous elected parliament after the election that followed it has been certified by the Clerk of the Parliament. This means that all pending legislation dies when election results are certified.
7. Amendments to this document must receive more than 2/3 the votes of members voting to become law.
8. Laws inconsistent with this document (and any successful amendments to it) are prima facie invalid as inconsistent with the basic law of the nation, but this document guarantees no relief or arbitration if a law is challenged on a constitutional basis. The Parliament may ordain and empower bodies which have the power to grant relief and arbitration in disputes as to the constitutionality of legislation .
Article 4. Formation of Government
1.The government is to be formed by the largest grouping with a single-platform and single-leadership organisation in Parliament.
2. At any time, a piece of government legislation may be introduced by the Prime Minister, a member of the ruling Party or grouping elected to that position by members of that ruling Party or grouping. This legislation, like any legislation, will succeed if it receives the support of more than 1/2 the members voting. The first bill introduced by a new government is always a vote of confidence.
2(a). Government legislation is defined as any legislation introduced by the Prime Minister or any legislation introduced by a government MP that pertains to specific policy contained in the Party platform
3. The government will designate, at a minimum, a Prime Minister and a Clerk of the Parliament. The government may designate as many other ministers as it likes. Those ministers will have the power to introduce legislation pertaining to their portfolio, and are at liberty to interpret the legislation passed by Parliament.
4. The first Parliament will be convened upon the moment of the Clerk of the House certifying the election results.
Gnote wrote:Forming Government
1) Election occurs.
2) The clerk counts all votes, determines which are legitimate, and which are spoiled ballots, and then distributes all of the seats in parliament based on the percentage of the vote each party received in the election.
3) The party with the largest number of seats as per the clerk's designation has the first chance to form government. This must take place within one week of the clerk's designation of seats.
4) The largest party is free to choose not to attempt to form government. If this occurs, or if the time period of one week lapses before the attempt to form government is made, the next largest party has the next opportunity.
5) A party attempting to form government will do so by trying to pass an initial piece of legislation. This piece of legislation must contain some key administrative components that the GM and GM council should iron out. Some suggested components:
- tax rates (personal, corporate, property, sales)
- minimum wage
- banking structure
- age of majority and voting age
The point of the legislation is not to put forth the party's entire governing platform, but rather to hit some key components required for the functioning of government. Subsequent legislation will fill out the rest of the platform.
The legislation needn't be so broad as to include the 'political' functions of government. In other words, the party attempting to form government does not need to specify the number of ministries or cabinet positions it will employ, or the people who will occupy them.
6) The attempt to pass the initial legislation will be viewed as a confidence motion. If the motion passes by a majority of votes cast (50%+1 of the votes cast on the confidence motion itself), the party is deemed to have the confidence of the house, and will be allowed to govern until such time as a lack of confidence is displayed in the form of a vote.
7) If a government secures the confidence of the house, but then fails to pass a subsequent piece of legislation it proposes, this will be viewed as a lack of confidence in the government, at which point one of two things will happen:
a) The Game Master notes the lack of confidence in parliament, and calls on citizens to elect a new government.
b) Another party informs the Game Master that it believes it can garner the confidence of the house. The Game Master must then decide whether he or she believes this party does have a legitimate chance to form government. If the Game Master believes this party does, he or she can grant them that opportunity. If their chances appear slim, the Game Master will call an election. If multiple parties request an opportunity to form government, the first chance to gain confidence will lie with the largest of those making the request.
People have expressed some concerns with this proposed method in the past. I'll try to address some of them here:
1) Why should the largest party get the first chance to form government?
Basically, one of the parties needs to have that first chance, and the largest seems to be the most logical, since it was able to garner the most support.
2) What if a combination of other parties has more seats than the largest party?
This will all sort itself out in time. If this combination of other parties is strong, it will be able to block the first attempted legislation by the largest party, and that party will not be able to gain the confidence of the house. This will reoccur until such time that one of the parties within this combination of parties will have a chance to form government. At this point, the combination / coalition will have its chance to seek the confidence of the house.
3) How can parliament display a lack of confidence in a government once they have passed the initial confidence motion?
By voting down subsequent legislation.
4) If the largest party doesn't have sufficient seats to constitute a majority, how would they ever pass a confidence motion?
By building alliances amongst the other members of parliament. Essentially, the largest party gets the first shot to form government, but if they want to garner the confidence of the house, they need to put forth legislation that will be acceptable to enough other MPs. This is where the political part of the game comes in, and is where alliances are built.
5) What about coalitions?
Coalitions will manifest as votes occur. There needn't be any distinctions made between formal and informal coalitions. If two parties agree to work together, they can do so by voting together on various pieces of legislation. If the two parties want to attempt to form government together, they can display their lack of confidence in the current government, and try to seek the confidence of parliament themselves
I wrote:We shall be following Clausewitz's proposed constitution as the law of the land
-Block voting is disallowed insomuch as a party leader may enter a thread and vote once for 12 votes worth of voting credits. However, beyond this the parties may vote however they wish. This MUST be instituted. I'm sorry to say it this way, but if you don't like it, you're playing the wrong SIM. Bloc voting as-is is simply not fair to parties who's members are most active. It is unfair to punish them with the rule of law for voting members who are no longer playing. People disappear on the internet too easily. Staying around and playing the game should be rewarded, not penalized.
-On voter elgibility: An eligible voter shall be defined as a user who has met both the following criteria: 1) 100 posts and 2) A member of the Politics Forum for at least one month.
- By wat0n
Some examples: https://twitter.com/OnlinePalEng/s[…]
- By skinster
^ :lol: :lol: :lol:
- By Godstud