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REGION OF RIGHT TO LIFE
Established June 1, 2011




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Reforming the Constitution; Three Ideas from the Founder
Topic Started: Wednesday May 24 2017, 01:30 AM (836 Views)
Culture of Life
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William F. Buckley

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The June 2017 election is almost here. As I mentioned on the regional message board, I think the 19th Senate should consider reforming the regional constitution. Here are my three ideas:
  • An Independent Delegate: Since 2012, the President and the WA Delegate of Right to Life have been the same person. In 2012, this made a lot of sense because, in the game, the Delegate was the only nation with whom the Founder could share executive powers. As you might recall, NationStates added regional officers in October 2015, forever changing the dynamics of regional management. Our constitution has not been adjusted to account for this major change, and I've been wondering lately whether it might be a good idea to separate the presidency and the delegacy. The President would be elected forum-side and would continue to serve as the head of government. The Delegate would continue to be elected game-side and would focus exclusively on matters related to the World Assembly -- resolutions, endorsements, etc.

  • An Independent Executive: Related to the proposal above, it also might be reasonable to take the President out of the Senate, thereby separating the executive and legislative branches. Of course, this has been proposed several times in the past. Removed from the legislative process, the President could focus his attention on making Right to Life a better, more active region through various programs, initiated and carried out by himself and his ministers. The role of the Founder would continue to be primarily administrative -- keeping the region peaceful and orderly and enforcing its laws (with the needed assistance of moderators and other officials).

  • A Flexible Senate: A perennial issue in regional politics has been the size of the Senate. Right now, the Senate has three members: the President and two senators. In the past, the Senate had five members: the President, a Vice President, and three senators. The five-member Senate was abandoned, and we returned to the three-member Senate because there were simply not enough players willing to run for the extra two seats. If the second proposal above were adopted, there would be three senators, elected once every four months. I think three is a good number for a region our size, but we should provide for the Senate's expansion for the times when activity and interest are unusually high. My recommendation: the Senate will have three members, unless more than six candidates run. If more than six candidates run, the number of senators elected will be equal to one-half of the number of candidates, fractions rounded down. To prevent tied votes, if the number of senators is even (e.g., a four-member Senate), we could give the President a casting vote.



Of course, the main concern would be staffing -- getting enough players to fill all of the offices:
  • Executive Council
    Founder
    President
    Delegate
    Foreign Minister
    Interior Minister

  • Regional Senate
    Senator
    Senator
    Senator

  • Independent Officers
    Bank Director
    Cartographer
    Justice of the Peace
    News Director
The only possible solution that I see would be to minimize the number of restrictions on citizens serving in multiple offices. In my opinion, the only necessary restrictions would be the following:
  • The Founder may not serve as the President, a senator, or the Justice of the Peace.
  • The President may not serve as a senator or the Justice of the Peace.
  • A senator may not serve as the Justice of the Peace.
Consequently, all 12 regional offices could conceivably be staffed by as few as six players. For example:
  • Executive Council
    Founder -- A
    President -- B
    Delegate -- B
    Foreign Minister -- C
    Interior Minister -- D

  • Regional Senate
    Senator -- C
    Senator -- D
    Senator -- E

  • Independent Officers
    Bank Director -- E
    Cartographer -- F
    Justice of the Peace -- F
    News Director -- A
Edited by Culture of Life, Wednesday May 24 2017, 01:43 AM.
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Free States
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What about this?

Have 5-people senate but with the president being one of its members. Would be a compromise between going for 5 seats and makes sure the president will at least have a voice in the senate.
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Culture of Life
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William F. Buckley

Earlier, I drafted this. Tell me what you think.

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Free States
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Looks good, disagree on term lenght obviously. But if people want to go with 3 months, it's better than what exists currently.
Would prefer the president held the power of veto himself.
And a new issue, I think executive runs better if the president were free to make his choices without having to go through the senate. Legislatures rarely object, only result of requiring legislative consent is slowing the executive down.
Not a fan of anyone being able to issue decrees unilaterally too.

Last thing, maybe I missed, but shouldn't there be something about the judicial system?
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Culture of Life
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William F. Buckley

Free States
Friday May 26 2017, 07:16 PM
And a new issue, I think executive runs better if the president were free to make his choices without having to go through the senate. Legislatures rarely object, only result of requiring legislative consent is slowing the executive down.
The President would have a free choice on his foreign minister and his interior minister. The advice and consent of the Senate would be required for the appointment of independent officers because of the nature of their duties. Like the [wiki]Fed Chairman[/wiki], you want the Bank Director to have wide support. Likewise, you want to reduce partisanship in the areas of cartography, justice, and news.

Free States
Friday May 26 2017, 07:16 PM
Not a fan of anyone being able to issue decrees unilaterally too.
I've had the power since 2011. :P

http://w11.zetaboards.com/NS_Right_to_Life/forum/3118165/

That's not an addition to the Constitution.

Free States
Friday May 26 2017, 07:16 PM
Last thing, maybe I missed, but shouldn't there be something about the judicial system?
There are four clauses about it.

The Senate is the regional legislature and the supreme court. . . .

In accordance with regional law and principles of natural justice, the Senate may exercise its judicial power by majority vote. The Senate has the power to reverse bans and ejections from the region, and it can order that suppressions of posts on the regional message board be undone. Judicial acts of the Senate cannot be vetoed by the Founder or any other official.

The Senate is primarily responsible for interpreting regional law. The hierarchy of regional law is as follows: this Constitution, statutory law, decrees of the Founder, and precedents established by the Senate in previous judicial decisions.

If a senator recuses himself from a judicial proceeding, he may appoint, if he so chooses, another citizen to serve as a substitute judge, provided at least half of the other senators consent.

In 2013, the Senate created the Justice Court and, therefore, eliminated the inconvenience of conducting trials itself, reserving to itself "appellate jurisdiction in all cases" (RTL Code 7:3).
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Free States
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What will be the voting system for president?
Also, wouldn't it better that if a president were lo leave office during his term for a new election to be done to complete the term instead of having the legislature pick the president?
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The RCS
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Billy Graham

Maybe the Delegate and President shouldn't be voted for at the same time, maybe off set the Delegate election in between the Senatorial and Presidential election?
I'm a Proud Southern Protestant Christian from the great state of North Carolina // Conservative Trump Republican // and a Proud fan of the Tennessee Volunteers and the North Carolina Tar Heels
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Jesus, be glorified
Your ways are higher than mine
Washed away every stain, Lord
No greater love than the blood, Lord
- From the song Providence (Broke My Chains)
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Culture of Life
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William F. Buckley

Free States
Saturday May 27 2017, 02:48 PM
What will be the voting system for president?
According to the draft above, [wiki]instant-runoff voting[/wiki].
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New Missouri
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The United Empire of New Missouri

Maybe add presidential term limits.
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Free States
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Culture of Life
Sunday May 28 2017, 03:48 AM
Free States
Saturday May 27 2017, 02:48 PM
What will be the voting system for president?
According to the draft above, [wiki]instant-runoff voting[/wiki].
Why not two-rounds if nobody reaches 50%+1 in the first? At least it would allow people to vote privately through forum polls.
Keeping votes public creates social pressures to vote one way or another that privacy would eliminate.
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Imperial Maryland
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The Imperial States of Maryland
I like the new Constitution mostly. I agree with the RCS that the Delegacy elections should be in between Presidential and Senatorial. Also, I think Senate voting should work where you get as many votes as there will be Senators. Any nation with a majority is elected, and if that doesn't fill it, runoffs.
Edited by Imperial Maryland, Thursday Jun 1 2017, 07:26 PM.
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