NationStates | Dispatch | [Constitution] Coalition of Democratic Nations: Accords of Conduct and Regional Governance

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[Constitution] Coalition of Democratic Nations: Accords of Conduct and Regional Governance

I. Definitions

Coalition of Democratic Nations/CoDN: The region that this document applies to.

WA (World Assembly): A feature of the Nationstates site. This serves to prevent the secret use of puppet accounts.

Resident: Person(s) with account(s) in the coalition of democratic nations.

Citizen: Any resident in the Coalition of Democratic Nations holding WA membership for one of their residing accounts. Exceptions shall be made for Taralus and The united socialist states of communia, who shall remain citizens for as long as their accounts reside in CoDN without interruption. If one ceases to exist, or leaves the CoDN, citizenship is revoked unless an account or a puppet of that individual is in the CoDN and in the WA.

Binding Vote: A poll which requires residency and WA membership to vote in, having mandatory legal or policy impacts. Examples include elections and abdications. A WA account must be used by a citizen to cast such votes.

Office eligibility: Citizenship.

Roleplay or RP: In-character gaming related to the participating nations' accounts.

Gameplay: All non-roleplay functions and uses of the Nationstates game and region, including administrative and social functions.

Founder: For the purposes of this document, Founder refers to both the Quevola account and whatever account safeguards it. Any actions to be taken by the Founder are to be taken using the Quevola account.

Roleplay Admin or RP Admin: The figure responsible for managing the aspects of organised regional roleplay.

WA Delegate/Chairman: The most widely endorsed WA member in the region. This citizen acts as the leading figure within the region in any non-roleplay aspects. The Delegate should hold binding polls unless unavailable to do so, in which case the RP Admin or the Founder may take this responsibility over.

II. Preamble

As of the drafting of this document, the region stands at a crossroads. Though we have done our best, there is still one great issue which continues to affect us all. One major problem which endangers out stability, and which disallows us from taking the necessary actions to ensure the well-being of the region, is immediately evident; the current Constitution.

The concept of being ruled by a Senate, with several restrictions which hamper the government's ability to act and administer the region, has failed. It is this same method of governance which at one point prevented the banning of a major regional threat, a person largely responsible for the destabilization of our government more than a year ago.

We can no longer maintain the stance that administering a region can be done with a constitution so heavily inspired by real nations. We can longer have as many set positions and complex layers of law when the region does not hold the member base for such a system. Even the CoDN, at its height of around 460 members, could not maintain such a system of governance indefinitely.

This is why a new system of governance must be implemented. It is the belief of this document's signatories that a heavily simplified system of regional administration, acknowledging our region's nature as an internet roleplay community, is the solution. A system in which only the positions needed to manage the non-RP issues are created, instead of a complex government, and a judicial system left to relative disuse.

The purpose of the CoDN-ACRG is thus: to reform the region into a roleplay-focused community, with simple rules and a simplified administration to keep the non-roleplay aspects of the region operating smoothly. This new proposal draws inspiration from other regions, and aims to finally turn our community away from the current, overly complex government. It is meant to be malleable and small.

The "Constitution and Bill of Rights Reforming the Coalition of Democratic Nations" is hereby repealed, and replaced by this document effective upon its passage.

III. Positions

1. Regional Chairman (World Assembly Delegate): This individual manages day-to-day issues in the region, not related to roleplay. This pertains issues such as embassies, border control, regional defence, and the banning of disruptive members.

To facilitate the administration of the region, the WA Delegate will have the right to appoint sub-positions in the form of Officers, as provided by Nationstates' features. These sub-positions may be created or dissolved at the Chairman's will. The WA Delegacy must have its own Deputy Chairman, an appointed position which can receive endorsements and become delegate if the acting Delegate is unable to continue his/her duties. This individual may or may not be given power and/or tasks by the Delegate.

2. Roleplay Administrator: The Roleplay Administrator is the leading figure of roleplay within the region. All roleplay aspects such as cartography, time, RP banishment, moderation, and other RP affairs will fall under the Roleplay Administrator’s authority.

The Roleplay Administrator will be capable of assigning his/her own sub-positions to aid in the management of the region’s roleplay. Positions such as RP Moderators, Cartographers, etc. may be included, however the RP Admin is given freedom in creating or dissolving sub-positions. The RP Admin shall be able to pass documents regarding roleplay.

The Roleplay Administration must also have its own Deputy RP Admin, in case the current one can no longer continue its functions. This individual may or may not be given power and/or tasks by the RP Admin.

3. Elections and Appointments: The only two elected positions are the World Assembly Delegate and the Roleplay Administrator. Every other position in the government consist of sub-positions, or Regional Officers, which can be dissolved and created at will by their respective government figure. Positions are not mandated by terms, and may be occupied by the same individual indefinitely.

4. Impeachments and Limitations: At least 40% of citizens must motion for new elections to be held, in order to replace the current WA Delegate or Roleplay Administrator. If such an event occurs, the Delegate, or another individual if necessary, must issue a regional telegram calling for nominations. A nomination period of 72 hours must be completed. A simple regional poll lasting 72 hours will be used to determine the next Delegate/RP Admin. The winner shall be determined by a simple plurality. If a perfect tie for the most votes occurs between two or more candidates, a 24-hour poll is to be held with only those forerunners. If a tie for the most votes occurs again, the incumbent RP Admin shall choose the result if the vote is for his/her position, or the incumbent Delegate/Chairman shall choose the result if the vote is for his/her position. A Deputy shall fulfill the same role if the elected incumbent is unavailable. If none of these avenues succeed, the Founder account shall declare the victor.

Motioning for a new election can only happen, at the most often, after a minimum of 60 days has passed since the previous election cycle for the position in question ended. The end of the previous election cycle shall be defined as when the incumbent entered office. If an unforeseen interruption of tenure has occurred, the interruption shall not count as part of the 60 days unless the rightful Deputy was put in place during the interruption. If an emergency Delegate/RP Admin enters into power, the limit will be 60 days minus the time the original holder of the position was in office since last election cycle ended (if there was a last election cycle). If the current holder of the Delegacy/RP Admin position loses the election, that person is required to withdraw from office as soon as possible (and, if failing to comply, shall be removed by the Founder account, the RP Admin, or the Delegate).

IV. Banishment and Sanctions

1. Regional Chairman (WA Delegate): The Regional Chairman, and his appointed officers, have the ability to exercise the power of banning or temporarily banning a certain account from the region, or to suppress certain posts, as well as impose other sanctions.

2. Roleplay Administrator: The RP Admin may have an individual banned from roleplay. Temporary suspensions may be put in place, making the recipient of the punitive action in question unable to participate in any RP during the duration of the suspension. Map claims of temporarily suspended roleplayers shall be protected. Permanent RP banishment removes the individual from the map and prevents him/her from ever participating in any roleplay activity within the region, unless overturned. Other measures can be applied by the RP Administrator, and his/her respective sub-positions, if it is deemed necessary for the well-being of the region's roleplay.

V. Community Guidelines
The following guidelines are not law, but rather strong advice for all citizens.

1. Roleplay: The signatories of this document strongly recommend against...

a) God-modding: Committing acts of RP, be they news posts or actions, that defy the established reality. Playing other player's character(s) or deciding the other's actions without consent. Giving your character what is agreed upon on an out-of-character basis to be an unfair advantage or ability that is commonly thought to not fit the setting.

b) Trolling: Committing acts of RP, be they news posts or actions, intentionally resulting in anger in others and/or intentionally preventing others from roleplaying to their desire. Writing an inflammatory RP post expecting to get a rise out of other players and receive heated responses.

c) Meta-gaming: Using prohibited out-of-character information in an in-character activity.

Failure to comply with these guidelines makes one especially likely to receive sanctions from the RP Administration.

2. General Behaviour: The signatories of this document strongly suggest against the following...

a) Trolling: Purposefully and repeatedly aggravating other players in order to provoke a reaction out of them.

b) Griefing: The use of harassment, aggressive pressure, or intimidation towards another player for personal beliefs or for coercion.

c) Fighting: A heated discussion between two individuals who are not attempting to provide evidence for their arguments and find a common ground, but are doing everything in their power to force their opinion on the other.

Again, failure to comply with these guidelines could result in sanctions from the Regional Chairmanship.

VI. Alterations and Replacement

If more than 50% of the citizens on the region motion for a SPECIFIC alteration to this document after its passage, a vote on the alteration shall be held for 72 hours, with at least two thirds of citizens being required to implement the alteration. The original text of this document, and all previous versions of this document, must be recorded following any changes.

The same process shall be followed for replacing this constitution. If the required motions are provided, a regional telegram declaring a nomination process for alternative constitutions must be issued. This nomination process lasts for five days. The following poll must include all proposals as well as the 'incumbent constitution'. At least two thirds of citizens must vote in favour of a single document for it to be implemented. If no document receives two thirds or more of the vote, the 'incumbent constitution' shall remain in effect.

VII. Supporting Signatures

Paglaum (World Assembly Delegate, Cartographer, Original Author)