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Emperor
Local Time: 00:16
Local Date: November 1, 2010
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: As cuddly as a cactus, as charming as an eel.
Posts: 8,196
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APOLYTONIA CODE OF LAWS
These are the code of laws that we, the new citizenry of Apolotonia, have decided upon. In it, we have declared that we shall form a government of the people, a Democracy, in which -WE- shall choose who leads us. We shall gather the smartest and most wise people of our tribe together, and they shall erect sacrad polls, and they will do their bidding. Let no other nation, barbarian, or calamity stand in our way, WE ARE CIVERS, AND WE WANT TO PLAY!
ARTICLE I: Government Stucture
Executive Branch
This is the administrative section of our nation. The Executive branch is made up of the President and Vice President. These two are required to abide by the suggestions of the ministers, who represent the will of the people.
President:
The President shall physically play the game after referring to his advisors, and generally checking with the people.
Once the turns are played the president shall send out the save game file via e-mail only to all the members of his cabinet and any Apolytonia member who specially request it. The Historian and Reporter must receive saves from the end of each turnchat.
The President is required to host at least one turnchat a week.
The President must have a 2/3 majority before he can change our Government type or mobilize our economy for war.
The President has control over drafts.
Vice-President:
The right hand of the President; he may assist the president in any way currently needed (holding polls, consulting ministers, distributing the save files, etc). In the event the President is unable to play his turn, the Vice-president shall play the turn instead.
Ministerial Branch
Ministers make up the core of our government. They do the hard labor required to point our country in the right direction. Ministers are experts in the area they oversee, and they have the serious task of informing and advising the people on our situation. They are required to conduct polls in order to interrupt the people’s will. They are then to carry out that will, by giving their direction to the President.
All Ministers are allowed to advise and consult with each other. They are also granted the right to petition for changes or actions from other Ministers that may be critical to the their department. Ultimately, however, it is the Minister in charge of his/her section that has the final say in how things are handled.
Minister of Science:
The Science Advisor is the nation’s greatest mind in the area of technological advancement. It is his/her responsibility to advise the president on which techs the people wish to research.
The Science Minister is acknowledged the right to advise the Foreign Affairs minister on matters of Tech trading.
Minister of the Military:
This officer is the principal military advisor to the President and the people, and prepares military plans and reviews overall military requirements for our nation. He/She also has the responsibility to assess threats to the security of the country and keep everyone up to date on these threats.
The Military Advisor is granted the power to set up the army's strategy. He tells what troops to move where, and which battles to engage.
The Military Advisor is granted the right to take an active part in negotiations of Peace Treaties, Mutual Protection Pacts, or a Right of Passage agreements. (Note: The Foreign Advisor calls the shots, but the Military Advisor must have his voice heard).
Minister of Foreign Affairs:
This minister is the government’s chief advisor on foreign affairs and is responsible for carrying out foreign policy. He/She is given the power to enter into diplomatic negotiations with other countries, however should refrain from making commitments until approved by the people.
The Foreign Advisor is granted the power to make peace, accept Mutual Protection Pacts, offer Right of Passage Agreements, and forge Military Alliances. The exchange of all items, except Strategic, Luxury, or Gold resources falls on the broad shoulders of the Foreign Affairs Minister. It is strongly recommended that the Foreign Affairs Minister consult the appropriate ministers when gifts or exchanges are involved.
This Minister is required to consult the Trade advisor when Gold, Luxury or Strategic resources are involved.
Minister of Trade:
The Minister of Trade is the principle authority on all international trade. He/she handles all trade involving the exchange of luxurious goods and resources, and has control over any times that gold may be involved.
The Trade Advisor is granted the power to make/accept Trade Embargos.
City Planner:
The City Planner is truly an artist and an economist, for he is responsible for making the foundation of our nation, cities, as prosperous and successful as possible. The City Planner manages building queues and citizens, but may also request the Public Works minister to improve city tiles when needed.
The City Planner is strongly recommended to accommodate all Ministers who approach him/her with their various needs.
Minister of Imperial Expansion:
The Imperial Expansion Minister posses the important job of placing our glorious new cities.
Miniser of Public Works:
The Public Works Minister is in charge of all the workers and slaves in our empire.
Minister of Finance:
The Financial Minister has the power to control the budget of our civ. That involves assigning income for science, trade and luxuries.
Public Information Servants
Historian:
The Historian logs everything that happens to our nation, however, he should do so without biased to political leaders or parties. The Historian is not allowed to vote in governmental polls.
The Historian may request detailed information on certain things from the President, and shall be granted access to multiple saves per turn (before and after the save has been played).
Reporters (Newspapers):
These independent agents are bestowed the great privilege of keeping the people informed on the happenings of the game and government, as well as the general environment around us. They should strive to obtain accurate facts, and state things how they are, free of political involvement. The reporters act as a window into the game, serve as a government watchdog, and are general tool of the people.
ARTICLE II: Government Policy
Amendments:
Amendments to this Constitution can be submitted by any member of our nation. An amendment is passed and made official by a 2/3 or greater vote on the amendment's inclusion.
Length of Office Terms:
All office terms shall last one month. A member can run for a different office at the end of his term, but he cannot change offices during it. If a member is elected three times into the same office, that member must run for a different office in his fourth term, or not run at all.
Impeachment and Resignations:
All members of our great nation are recognized the right to bring foreword the issue of impeachment of any government official at any time. Resignations will be handled the same as any impeachments.
A poll will be posted which will expire in no less than 5 days. There are to be three poll options, yea, nay, and abstain. Upon the expiration of the poll, if 2/3 of the people who voted deem impeachment necessary, then the official shall be immediately removed from office. The President shall establish an emergency member to take his/her place until a new election can be held, and a new person voted into office to finish the term.
ARTICLE III: Polling
General Rules:
Polls may be conducted in an ‘unofficial’ format to simply gain information, but CANNOT be used in any official decisions. All of the following rules are regarding ‘official’ polls, which may or may not be used as official results for the actual game. Any unofficial polls must be labeled as so within the first post.
Each official poll should have its rules laid out, as well as a form of expiration, either when a certain event takes place (i.e. ‘when the game starts’), or a time limit (i.e. ‘5 days’). This is to prevent the occurrence of an incident such as if doesn’t include an expiration, and says 3 weeks later "well this poll said this" kind of thing, and use its results officially. Each poll should lay out the potential options, as well as the question in a clear format. The required inclusions for the post are: an expiration date/event, a fair, clear and concise, unbaised question which addressed the issue of the poll, and a general description of what your poll entails. Instead of a description if you wish to post a link to another thread to give a description, that is acceptable as well.
Those who wish to put up a poll are strongly recommended to first discuss the issue in another thread, and bounce around possible options for voting. If someone feels that a poll could have been better made as a 'grouping' poll, or a 'yes/no' poll, then it may be deemed invalid.
Length of a Poll:
Each poll must be open for a minimum of 3 days. This allows enough time for the majority of our members to see the poll and vote in it. Any poll open or taking results in less than 3 days is invalid. This includes 'spur of the moment' polls, that say something like 'This poll ends when turn 5 starts', but turn 5 starts in 2 days instead of 3 - this poll would be invalid.
Fairness and Neutrality:
The first post in a poll thread should be completely neutral. No options are to be suggested for voting, just what each option entails in an unbiased format. The same is true for the voting options. While poking fun at an option will probably be acceptable, if someone thinks that it interferes with a voter’s decision, then they may deem it invalid. If you show bias in your options, then it is no longer fair. So be warned, if your poll is a landslide one way and should win but someone feels that the options you presented are unfair and calls for a validity vote, if it’s deemed invalid your poll is useless.
Poll Format:
Each official poll MUST include either a ‘yes/no’ format, or a ‘group’ format, where similar options are grouped together, where the winning option within the group with the most votes is the official winner. The only time these formats do not have to be followed is in true multiple-choice polls, i.e. ‘Which Civilization should we be: Egyptians, Persians. Etc.’ In these cases, a simple ‘yes/no’ or ‘grouping’ poll does not suffice.
Repolling:
If someone wants to conduct a repoll, then it must be created at least 3 weeks following the initial poll. If a repoll is created before 3 weeks has passed, then that poll is immediately invalid. If a poll is an alternative poll, offering alternatives to decisions made in a previous poll, then it also must be conducted at least 3 weeks following the first poll, or be immediately deemed invalid. Any poll that's general purpose is the same or similar as another poll will be considered a repoll.
Length of Validity:
Poll results are valid until either a repoll is conducted, or an optional expiration on the results of the poll is included (either from an event or a time limit). In any other case, the results of a poll are official until the end of the game.
Invalidity of a Poll:
If these rules are not abided by, anyone may consider the poll invalid. If someone believes a poll to not be following these rules and declares it invalid, then a vote may be conducted among the elected officials listed above to be either ‘valid’ or ‘invalid’. If the poll is deemed invalid, then its results cannot be used for any official purposes regarding the game. A poll deemed invalid cannot be voted on again unless it abides by the rules regarding a repoll.
AMENDMENTS
Amendment I: Minister of the Economy
The positions of Minister of Trade and Minister of Finance are hereby dissolved by this amendment. In their place is the creation of a new office, the Ministry of the Economy.
The functions of the Ministry of Economy will precisely be :
- To adjust the sliders in agreement with the People or the President. These two get actually to decide who should get what budget. The minister of economy should only give documented advice.
- To check if cities produce a good amount of money, and petition the city planner to build marketplaces and banks where it has to be. The minister of economy has no direct power on cities however.
- To check if resources and luxuries are well dispatched in the empire, and to petition the minister of public works if different. The minister of economy has no direct power on workers.
- To establish trades with the AI involving resources, luxuries or gold.
- To haggle gold amounts in a trade decided by the foreign minister. The minister of economy has to agree with trades involving goods among other things (example, he has to agree to a suggested "Fur for IronWorking" trade). The minister of economy has no direct power on trades involving gold among other things, but no trade goods.
Amendment II: Posting the SAV
The passage:
"Once the turns are played the president shall send out the save game file via e-mail only to all the members of his cabinet and any Apolytonia member who specially request it. The Historian and Reporter must receive saves from the end of each turnchat."
is hereby replaced with:
"Once the turns are played, the president shall publicly post the save game file for all members of Apolytonia to download."
Amendment III: The Apolytonian Court
This amendment hereby creates an official Apolytonian Court (hereafter refered to as "The Court")
1. Purpose:
The Court is constituted to rule upon: contested disputes involving legal interpretation, validity of polls, violations of the Constitution, or any other legal dispute of national importance.
2. Construct of the Court:
a. Size of Court:
The Court is composed of Five Justices. Each Justice is to be appointed by the President, and each must be approved by a simple majority of the populace in an Approval Vote.
b. Installing the First Court:
The First Court appointed, upon ratification of this amendment, are to be chosen to staggering terms. One member will serve for one month, two will serve for two months and the remaining two will serve for three months. These first Justices of the Court will be appointed in the following manner: President selects 2 (3 month terms), Vice President selects 1 (two month term), Minister of Imperial Expansion(two month term) selects 1 and Econimics Minister selects 1 (one month term). All appointments must be approved by a majority vote of the public.
c. Terms in office:
There is no limit to the number of terms a Justice may serve.
Each Justice serves a term of three months in length, except as indicated above in 2b. All appointments and re-appointments must be approved by a majority vote of the public.
d. Senior Justice:
The Court is to select a 'Senior Justice', who will be responsible for ensuring that a timely report is published for each decision made by the court that communicates the rationale behind the decision; and make sure that the decision is stored and archived. Failure to provide the report is grounds for an appeal. The Senior Justice will also preside over any hearings before The Court.
e. Other Governmental Posts:
A Justice may not serve in any other governmental post.
f. Reappointment:
At the end of that term a Justice may be reappointed by the President. In cases where a Justice is not being re-appointed by the decision of the President, the President may be bypassed in this process if 75% of the populace re-approve the Justice in a vote. Any citizen may create such a poll. Such a poll would have to conclude before the term is completed.
3. Case Structure:
a. Quorum:
A quorum of at least 3 Justices must be involved in any ruling that is made. Should The Court be tied about how to rule on an issue, any non-voting justice is to then review the case and vote.
b. Rulings:
All rulings are immediately official and final except where appeals are granted.
c. Appeals:
Appeals will be granted if there are grounds to believe that an error in the application of the law has been made. Any citizen directly involved in the case may make an application for an appeal. If 3 or more of the 5 judges decide to grant the appeal, a new trial will be created to examine the case. In that case, the current verdict is placed on hold until after the appeal process.
d. Injunctions:
The Court cannot halt the game to make a decision without a 2/3 vote amongst the people. In case of an emergency due to timing of a turnchat and poll of the populace, the Court may halt the game for 72 hours, but only by unanimous vote of the Court and only if a specific case has been presented to them that must be decided prior to the turnchat. In the emergency case, the Court would immediately have to present a 72 hour poll to the people for their approval of the Injunction. If not approved by the time of the poll's closure, the game immediately resumes where it was before.
e. Case Presentation:
The Court cannot act on any issue until a non-judicial citizen of the nation brings forth an Issue to The Court. Issues to The Court should be posted publicly and must involve a dispute that The Court is empowered to rule upon.
Amendment IV: Bill of Rights
Clause 1: No person shall be denied the right to become a citizen of Apolytonia.
Clause 2: No citizen shall ever be denied the right to vote in any poll.
Clause 3: Free speech shall not be abridged unless it violates apolyton rules.
Clause 4: No one shall be banned permanently from participating in the democracy game, excluding those who are permanently banned from apolyton. Note that people may still be banned for any amount of time, as long as it is not permanent.
Clause 5: The right to associate into any form of organization shall not be denied.
Clause 6: No citizen may be punished in any way without due process of law.
Clause 7: The government may not knowingly hide information or give false information to the people.
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