Senate Restructuring

[Popo]

Supermajority is 2/3 of the Senate.

Every member can NPC a Senator to vote.

Senate check ins will be mandatory.

Therefore: Senate = Faction?

Senate =/= Faction

The rules are there to give structure to the Republic Senate so that everyone knows where they are, where they want to go, and how to get there. The check ins are mandatory and in place to keep someone who's been inactive for three months from just randomly popping back up with their alt and trying to throw their weight around, despite being absent the entire time and more than likely out of the loop.

The NPC Senators are there to allow all of the Republic to have a say in the government, though there are a few restrictions on that, namely that only active PC Senators can propose Emergency Powers.

 

[Jsc]

Open Faction Recruitment allows for unlimited NPC Senators.

NPC Senators need not check-in to participate.

Therefore: Senate = Unlimited participation?

 

[Popo]

[member="Sam Jhovna"]

Any faction member has the right to debate and vote, using an NPC Senator (Abuse of this ability will not be tolerated).

If folks begin abusing the NPC Senator system, then we'll remove the ability. As it is now, it's a shot to allow those who don't want to RP a politician to still participate in how the faction is run IC'ly. We're trusting the members on this one, but if that trust is found to be ill placed, we'll swap to a PC Senators only system instead.

As it is, I'll be including more on what NPC senators can and can't do later on tonight or tomorrow to help clarify things.

 

[Jsc]

we'll swap to a PC Senators only system instead.

This may not be the substitution you think it is. But we can talk about that later.

Thanks for your enthusiasm and your hard work Popo. I think your doing a great job. I'm just here to find the loopholes now, so they don't surprise us later.

Please note my bias however. While the Jedi Council is easily free to administrate over their volunteers in membership. Members can always quit the Jedi and the Faction moves on unharmed. However, The Senate once again, and by your command, has the ability to administrate over every single member. Be they Admiral, Jedi, Spy, and Entrepreneur. And I firmly believe that the only person who can administrate over every single member, is a publically elected official in the form of Faction Administration. Not a hivemind.

 

[Jsc]

So as not to be a complete debby-downer and look like I'm just complaining, I'll give an alternative idea.

• Faction Administration creates Faction Policy.
• The Senate creates Planetary Policy which are unique to individual planets. Call it a test run.

2 cents. I'm just one member. All you big guy.

 

[Quietus]

This is probably the best iteration of Senate set up I've seen since joining SWRP.

Good work all around, great ideas. Senators should be held accountable, for they are responsible for representing an entire planet within the body. Just like Canon Company heads are mandated to check-in once a month, IMO Senators should also be required to check-in. This won't allow people to sit on a Senate seat without putting in the effort and the time.

If my own senator [member="Alena Beswin"] doesn't show up, I will be putting that NPC senator ability to use.

 

[Popo]

Also, the Senator "ranks" will be going away for the most part. A different NFU ranking system will be put in place relatively soon.

 

[Persephone Callas]

Okay!

 

[Aurelia Saelari]

Excellent.

 

[Popo]

Alright, been a wee bit since I fiddle with this. RL, board stuff, faction stuff, and Factory stuff have distracted me hella bad. Anyways, here's the more or less final draft. I'll leave it up for a bit, get feedback, edit where needed, and implement it this week.

The Senate
- The Senate will be where the laws are created and decisions made. Just like Congress, these guys have a lot of power with a majority vote and can remove the Supreme Chancellor with a Vote of No Confidence. The Senate can also give the Supreme Chancellor Emergency Powers in the event of... Well, an emergency.

• Each System will have 2 Senators
• There will be a check in for the Senate once every 6 weeks
• Senate check ins will be mandatory for all Senators
• Senators have 2 weeks to check in without an announced LOA
• Senators who fail to check in within the 2 week grace period after the posting of the Check In will be removed from the Senator Roster
• Any faction member has the right to debate and vote, using an NPC Senator (Abuse of this ability will not be tolerated).
• Non-Senate faction members should avoid speaking in the Senate unless their testimony or input is requested.
• Bills may be placed before the Senator using the appropriate template.
• Before a bill reaches a vote, it should have some kind of IC background. Backroom deals, Senate debates, or gathering support might make a thread count as a development thread for a bill. Standard SWRP dev thread standards apply: At least ten quality posts.
• The Supreme Chancellor may veto a bill, unless the bill attains a supermajority (2/3) of the Senate. Additionally, a vetoed bill can be re-voted.

The Office of the Supreme Chancellor
- The Office of the Supreme Chancellor includes the Chancellor and his personal staff, as well as the Vice Chair. The Supreme Chancellor acts as the head of state and chief ambassador for the Republic. He or she can also ask for the Senate to create a law to be passed through the Senate, but cannot put it forward himself. He can veto any bill that does not pass with a 2/3 supermajority. In the event of war, the Supreme Chancellor must ask the Senate to declare a State of War before committing military assets to long term martial engagements. During a State of War, the Supreme Chancellor acts as the Republic's Commander and Chief of the military.


The Magistrates and the Magistrate Court
- Formerly the Judicial Committee, the Magistrates keep the rest of the Republic in line with the Republic's legal system. Selected from the more experienced Senators by the Supreme Chancellor and approved by the Senate, the Magistrates monitor the Senate and the Supreme Chancellor to ensure that all aspects of the Republic Government are kept within the boundaries dictated by Law. The Magistrates also hold trials for Republic officials who have violated Republic Law, Enemies of the State, and criminals who have committed atrocities against the Republic and its citizens.

• The Magistrate Office is made up of the three Magistrates and their aides, staff, and Judicial officials.
• There will be three and only three magistrates. One Chief Magistrate and the two Magistrates under them.
• The Chief Magistrate leads any and all legal proceedings and gives the final verdict on any cases.
• Any verdict given by the Magistrate Court is final and requires a unanimous vote of all Magistrates to overturn.
• Magistrates are selected by the Supreme Chancellor and approved by the Senate.
• Magistrates can only be removed by resignation, death, or a supermajority vote of the Senate.

Emergency Powers
- Given to the Supreme Chancellor only by a majority vote on the Senate. These powers allow the Chancellor to entirely bypass the Senate and Magistrates for rapid and decisive actions in an emergency situation. These powers are relinquished after the end of the crisis. Only active, PC Senators can propose to give Emergency Powers. The Magistrates and the Supreme Chancellor cannot call for this to be voted on. A vote for Emergency Powers requires its own thread and will be open for one week before the thread is closed and votes are tallied.


NPC Senators

• Only one NPC Senator per Writer account. Abuse of this rule will not be tolerated.
• NPC Senators may not submit Bills to the Senate. However, they may participate in background, or development, threads for said Bill.
• NPC Senators may not initiate a vote to grant the Supreme Chancellor Emergency Powers.
• Abuse of NPC Senators will result in disciplinary action of the writer which may include the loss of NPC Senator abilities and rights. Constant and/or severe abuse of the NPC Senator system will result in the suspension of the NPC Senator system.

 

[Persephone Callas]

I like it.

Sind the last check in for senators was over a month ago, time to do a new one is at hand.

What will happen to the rest of the committees?

 

[Popo]

[member="Persephone Callas"]
I figure the rest of the committees will be assessed individually and either reformed, left alone, or dissolved where and when needed, honestly. They rarely see use and I think the only two I've seen active or partially active in the last few months is the Finance Committee and the Judicial Committee.

 

[Hanna Ike]

[member="Popo"]
What does this mean for me? I am the Secretary of State, does my position still exist? Cause I gave up running for chancellor and my senatorship for this position.

 

[Popo]

[member="Hanna Vondiranach"]
It'll probably be lumped into the Office of the Supreme Chancellor, but that's a minor detail that'll be dealt with after the major reorganization is done.

 

[Selena Halcyon]

One thing that is paramount is a way to make sure that people do not just plop alts as senators. Something that hindered this faction for a lot of last year was that people from other factions just plopped in alt senators and only RP'd in the senate forum. Naturally issues came up as those writers used those alts to advance their main factions cause by hindering the Republic. Keep in mind that the majority of the Republic's member base will always be the Jedi, so making it not easy for people that main Sith factions to plop down an alt and screw with the faction is important.

The only reason I am pointing this out is because the senate was a problem for the faction in the past. I would hate for it to once again become a problem from the past when there were many who went to great lengths to make it less of a problem.

I would advise keeping senate RPing away from making Bills. The culture around bills was very bad for the faction for a number of reasons. Biggest one is that very few writers really have the political acumen to conceive of Bills that work in a Galactic Republic where the senate represents thousands of different cultures. It is best for the Senate to focus on the issues on a galactic level.

Also, I would encourage hunting down a post I made about encourage political character progression somewhere back. Essentially it boiled down to making it hard for alts to just appear as senators. Instead the goal was to make political characters function like a lot of other character types in that you start low ranking then advance. You would not start your characters as senators, but instead as smaller level politicians. Then through RPing and activity would earn promotions. I believe the biggest reason it did not gain much traction was a lack of political RP interest at the time. However, I still think there is something to the idea of encouraging people to climb up to the position of senator (what would be to many politicians the peak of their career) rather than just start there.

 

[Popo]

[member="Selena Halcyon"]
Unless you are willing to take the time and effort to RP IC'ly or help out OOC'ly in a meaningful, constructive way, stop trying to help.

The Republic has always canonically revolved around the Senate. Was it a bit slow? Yeah. Democracy works like that. Get used to it. Don't like it? Find somewhere else. You have that right.

I'm going to very simply put why it's being reorganized and why it's being restructured in this way specifically. Ready?

With these edits and after the rough patches are smoothed out down the line after some use, the Republic can run itself. The SC turns into a guide. A lookout. He points out when things look rough and gives a yes/no to things where he needs to. The Senate makes the decisions, the Senate makes the calls, the Senate becomes the beating heart of the Republic as it should be.

As for the NPC Senators, you probably didn't read that far. Lemme clear that up. Under this system, you can only have ONE NPC Senator per WRITER account. No more spamming, no more BS, no more causing political drama. NPC Senators can't even PROPOSE bills. They can help MAKE them, but not PROPOSE them. They've been changed from a "imma toss a wrench into all this" and turned into a way that faction members who don't want to make a Senator character can actually vote on things without having issues or having to make a whole other character to do so.

Bills will have the same template, although I may change that a teeny bit later down the line. Proposals will still go the same way. Majority rules. SC can veto, but not against a Super Majority.

As for Senator ranks, I stated earlier they were going away. Consider them torn down. You want a senator? Cool. Register one and select a planet. Two per planet. Any more folks wanna represent that planet, you'll have to choose another one or act as staff for that Senator until you can step up when they step down.

As for the inevitable question you may or may not ask, but are most likely thinking, specifically the "what makes you think this will work/what makes you think you can set this up this way and make it work", li'l background on me. I'm a Political Science major. My mother is a Political Science major and has her Masters in the field. My 2nd cousin who won't shut the kark up at family reunions? Al Gore. My 3rd cousin who is too frigging nice and moderately annoys me about things? Jimmy Carter. Various first, second, and third cousins across the states and even in other countries like Germany, Israel, and Scotland? Political Science majors with various qualifications. Runs in the family. If I don't know something on how something works or doesn't work, I have a lot of people that I can ask.

So, like I said. If you're not going to help this faction IC'ly and OOC'ly and just wanna armchair it, take your armchair somewhere else, please.

 

[The Hound]

has this taken affect yet?

 

[Vaudin Miir]

Senators have a say? Votes? Where is Bard, I need a drink and some music.

 

[Popo]

Alrighty. My goal is to get this in place by Monday night. I'll be starting today most likely. I'll also be removing some things and adjusting others to mesh with this new path the Senate is taking. Keep an eye out, folks.

 

[Persephone Callas]

Fantastic!