Rewriting the NewCon, Part One: Executive Power

Octavian X · May 9, 2003, 22:40

This is the beginning of a seires of discussions with the purpose of rewriting the ailing constituion. My goal is to discuss changes for certain parts of the constitution, using the amendment process already prescribed in the Constituion to complete the changes.

The first part we will look at is the Executive Branch, as described in Article I of the Constituion.

For review...
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The Executive Branch
1. The President
  1. The President shall physically play the game and post the save and a report of the game to the forum.
  2. The game shall be played on a regular and scheduled basis whenever possible,
    1. In the event of a national emergency, the President shall halt play so that the crisis can be resolved.
    2. If the President is unable to play the game on a regular and scheduled basis, the Vice President shall play it.
  3. The President may use turnchats, turnthreads, or any other method approved by the Senate to play the game.
  4. The President must follow the instructions of the Senate and Ministers while playing the game unless the instruction is clearly erroneous, or made impossible and/or harmful by changed circumstances. If the President makes changes to the instructions due to these problems, he must abide by the intent of the Senate or Minister in making the changes.
  5. The President appoints and reappoints Judges to the Court whenever there is a vacancy. Such appointments must be approved by a majority of the Senate as prescribed in Art. II Section 2e.
  6. The President appoints temporary Ministers should any resign or be impeached. The appointment must be approved by a majority of the Senate as prescribed in Art. II Section 2e.
  7. No current Minister or Judge may be appointed to serve in a vacant post.
  8. The President has control over the economy/science/luxury slider and may make changes when he feels they are appropriate.
  9. The President decides what technology to research next.
  10. The President approves all spending requests in the absence of a direct spending law or motion by the Senate.
  11. The President, with the approval of the Supreme Military Commander or Domestic Minister, has the power to draft citizens.
  12. The President must appoint a Vice President and may appoint any other deputy ministers, such as for science and the economy, as he or she feels necessary.
    1. The Vice President must be appointed in accordance with Article VII, Section 6.
    2. The Vice President assumes all powers and responsibilities of the President should the President be unable to perform.
    3. The Vice President shall assist the President in the duties of his or her office whenever possible.
    4. The President may not dismiss the Vice President. The Vice President may only be removed via impeachment.
2. The Supreme Military Commander
  1. The Supreme Military Commander controls all units except settlers and workers.
  2. The Supreme Military Commander controls only the movement of Great Leaders, however he or she shall move the Great Leader to the city of choosing of the Senate when instructed to do so.
  3. The Supreme Military Commander may disband units under his or her control. A Great Leader may never be disbanded.
  4. The Supreme Military Commander may appoint deputy ministers.
3. The Foreign Affairs Minister
  1. The Foreign Affairs Minister has sole power over exchanges and trade agreements with other nations.
  2. The Foreign Affairs Minister may spend gold to establish embassies, but only after the approval of either the President or Senate.
  3. The Foreign Affairs Minister may spend gold on Espionage, but only after the approval of either the President or Senate.
  4. The Foreign Affairs Minister may enter into Right of Passage Agreements, but only after the approval of either the President or Supreme Military Commander.
  5. The Foreign Affairs Minister negotiates peace agreements, but only after the approval of either the President or Supreme Military Commander.
  6. Any trade, exchange, or gift that involves giving away gold must be approved by either the Senate or the President.
  7. Any trade, exchange, or gift that involves giving away workers must be approved by either the Domestic Minister or the President.
  8. Any trade, exchange, or gift that involves giving away cities must be approved by either the Senate or the President.
  9. The Foreign Affairs Minister may enter into any Military Alliance, Trade Embargo, or Mutual Protection Pact, but only with prior approval by the Senate.
  10. The Foreign Affairs Minister may appoint deputy ministers.
4. The Domestic Minister
  1. Is responsible for managing all cities, their production queues, their citizens, and all of the workers and settlers.
  2. The Domestic Minister is ultimately responsible for choosing sites for new cities, disbanding cities, and making rushed production requests.
  3. The Domestic Minister is strongly advised to appoint Deputies and Advisors to assist him or her in this job. A City Planner, Expansion Advisor, and Public Works Advisor are recommended.
  4. The Domestic Minister may draw boundaries and regions within the nation and appoint governors over those regions who can recommend to the Domestic Minister and his advisors how to best manage those regions.
  5. The Domestic Minister may rush any project, but only with the approval of the Senate or President.
  6. The Domestic Minister may also create or alter any system for naming all cities, provinces, geographic features, and so forth; however the Senate must approve that system or change.
5. Chain of Command
  1. In the event that the President is unable to perform his duties, they may be performed by the Vice President, Domestic Minister, Supreme Military Commander, or Foreign Affairs Minister, in that order. Vice Ministers do not substitute for their Minister in this instance.
  2. Should a Minister not be able to perform his duties, they may be performed by his Vice Minister, a Deputy Minister with specific authority, or the President, in that order. However, if a Minister has given specific written instructions, those instructions may not be ignored absent an incident as described in Art I, Sec 1D.
  3. If a Minister is removed from office by a Removal from Office Poll following impeachment, all of his or her orders and deputy appointments are nullified.
6. Deputy Ministers
  1. Any citizen may serve as a Deputy Minister to an elected Minister or President.
  2. One Deputy Minister per elected Minister may be given the title of Vice Minister. A Vice Minister has the full power and authority of the Minister should the Minister be unable to perform his duties.
  3. All Deputy Ministers may be given any power granted to the Elected Minister or President, however the Elected Official must explicitly state what power has been granted to the Deputy.
  4. A Deputy Minister may be removed from office at any time by the Minister or President who he or she serves under, or by agreement of 2/3rds of the Senate.
  5. A citizen may serve as a deputy minister for more than one Minister. However, a citizen may not be Vice Minister for more than one Elected Official.
  6. No Minister, President, or Judge may serve as Vice Minister.
7. Other Powers of the Executive Branch
  1. Any reference in this Constitution to a “Minister” refers to the Supreme Military Commander, Foreign Affairs Minister, and Domestic Minister.
  2. The President and all the Ministers may make Executive Orders, which have the authority of a law, over any matters within their control so long as those orders do not conflict with any current law or the Constitution. Executive Orders may be amended or removed at any time by the maker, a subsequent President or Minister, or as a result of a law passed by the Senate that makes an Executive Order in conflict.
  3. By agreement of 3 of the following: President, Vice President, Supreme Military Commander, Foreign Affairs Minister, and/or Domestic Minister; any law or decision by the Senate that does not receive a 2/3rd majority vote (as prescribed in Art. II Sec. 2e) for passage may be vetoed within 72 hours of being passed by the Senate. A vetoed law or decision is no longer valid. It may be proposed again, however, it will only become valid if it is passed by a 2/3rd majority vote.
    1. Should one of these Ministers be unable to perform his duties, his Vice Minister may cast a Veto vote in his place.
    2. Should there be no Vice President, or should he be unable to perform his duties, no other citizen may cast his veto vote.

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Well, discuss. What specifically do we want to change, other than to simplfy the document as a whole?

Aidun · May 10, 2003, 08:46

Quote:

Originally posted by Aidun
It would be fun to start with monarchy and get a constitutional crisis halfway: civil disorder, republicans shouting at the palace, demanding the abdication of the king. The symbol of the authoritarian rule of the king: the state prison is being stormed.
But the king does not want to abdicate: republicans, backed by the armed forces, who still demand a large sum of unpaid salary, battle with the royal troops, backed by the monarchists. Finally the republicans win and storm the palace. The king is captured and accused of high treason. The is being executed on the plaza before the palace.

Instead of an autocratic govenment, the nobles choose a new government type: a republic. A council of nine nobles, elected by the nobles that are not in the council governs. None of the council members is responsible for one particular department. All council members are responsible for all departments: cityplanning, production, foreign affairs, and defense.

The chairman, appointed by the council members leads the discussion. He posts threads in which proposals on every department can be made and argued, about which tha council members vote in the turnchat.

Each of the council member represents a groop of nobles. He has to keep those nobles voting for him so that he can take part in the discussions and decisionmaking of the council.

Parties can play an active role in this system. Their main goal is to get as many representatives in the executive council as possible and heavy debates between parties should occur daily between the parties because all is up to discussion. There is not a minister who decides what the policy on a department will be and what strategy is being used in war, it is the council that decides, by vote.

On important decisions like war, the council can decide to let all the nobles speak.

What do you think about this democratic concept? Quite different from the system we used in the former democracy game. Its a bit like indirect Athenian democracy: no ministers, but also not the entire population is ruling the state so that it is still workable.

Think about this.

Aidun