Talk Elections

I had an idea for a game.  A mock Constitutional Convention, either for a fictional country, the United States, or some other.  It could be modern (I have a scenario in mind) or historical (Philadelphia Convention).  We each act as a representative of a state (or, some other governmental body), and we propose and debate things.

Anybody interested?

I'm in.

A Constitutional Convention in a small South American banana republic which has just emerged from the dictatorial rule of a military junta would be fun.

I'm in, but I will be pushing for something purposefully short, vague, and easily amended.

Do you want some new county made up for this game?

A made-up country would be okay, although it wouldn't be my preference.

The modern scenario I had in mind is based off a show I watched on the "History" Channel.  Washington, D.C. is nuked in a terrorist attack, destroying all three branches of government.  In response, the Joint Chiefs of Staff appoints an acting president, and martial law is declared.  Most are perfectly fine with this, but some people are outraged.

A few states send delegates to a convention, with the intended purpose of re-organizing the U.S. government, challenging the legitimacy of the provisional one that has risen after the tragedy.

I explicitly want a new country, like what I proposed above.

Yes.

New country means we need to invent a history and a map and issues and what not. What about one of the Eastern Europe states after the fall of the iron curtain (or after they were created at Versailles)?

How about Argentina post-Junta?

If the game is going to go as slow as deciding what to base the game on from the moderator, this will take an extremely long time.

I'm in and here's my idea for a fictional nation.

I've been just randomly thinking and came up with the nation of "Tranquilita", a fairly sized Pacific Island nation that after gaining independence from Britain in the 1900's, went through a short, ten year monarchy that produced only two rulers. After in the late 1910's and 1920's, a democracy was solidified and a parliament called the "Plebian Assembly" and another higher house called the "Senate" established. All of this changed as the fragile import-export economy collapsed with the whole "Great Depression" splashing out all over the world. With this done, the National Pride Party took shape and came to power during the 1930's and ruled with an iron fist, persecuting the indigenous people and the significant Asian and Japanese culture on the western coast.

When World War 2 came around, Tranquilita was thrust into war as the Japanese Empire outstended it's grasp over the Pacific but with Tranquilita being more eastern, it was protected by a "Curtain of the United States". After the allied victory in WW2, the National Pride Party came under more scrutiny as they were condemned at home and internationally. When in the early 1950's, a popular coup by the popular "National Unity" group, the group of former politicians, military that opposed the National Pride Party. With this, turned National Pride members, National Unity supporters, military men and conservative and liberal thinkers coalesce in the capital of Tranquilita to write a new constitution.

Hopefully that's something. :)

something like this sounds fine. Maybe if we actually were ruled by Japan at one point then reshaped after the war like how the allie powers got to re-draw country boundaries

Sounds great.

All in favor?

Aye. Are the parties going to be Pride and Unity? Or other parties too?

There's going to be other parties.

yes

I suggest we use a real country. That would make things easier, IMO.

Russia?  Maybe Belarus after their authoritarian government is overthrown?

Zimbabwe?

A place in South America.

Cuba

Let's say that the M-22-7 doesn't turn Communist and instead calls a Convention in 1961.

I like that.

Yes.

Might someone explain to me what the M-22-7 is?

OK, then, let's start. We will all be, broadly speaking, followers of Castro, but he will not be interfering. We won't use any assumed identities, only our forum names.

Here's a map of the provinces:

()

From left to right, the provinces are Pinar del Río, La Habana, Matanzas, Las Villas, Camagüey, and Oriente. The large island on the left side, the Isle of Pines, is not part of any province. Power is concentrated in Havana; Oriente is the most backwards province, and the one where the rebels operated in the 1950s.

A brief synopsis of the political history of Cuba:

Cuba received its independence from the United States in 1902. Tomás Estrada, a Protestant residing in upstate New York, was elected its first President. His Moderate Party rigged the ballot in 1906, and the United States intervened, occupying the island for two years. In 1908, José Miguel Gómez, a Liberal, was elected. I consider his presidency to be the best in Cuban history. Nonetheless, he lost the 1912 elections to Mario Menocal, a Conservative. Menocal was elected in 1916 amidst some controversy. In 1920, Alfredo Zayas was elected under the banner of the Partido Popular, essentially the old Moderates rebranded. Gerardo Machado was elected under the Liberal banner in 1924, and was originally quite popular. He pledged to serve only one term, but this promise was somewhat undermined when he amended the Constitution in 1928 to give himself six more years. In 1933, a revolution took place, starting at the University of Havana, which toppled Machado's dictatorial government. One of the heroes of the revolution was a young officer by the name of Fulgencio Batista. However, the man who found himself at the head of the Pentarchy that took power was Ramón Grau, who shortly thereafter became President. In 1936, Miguel Mariano Gómez, son of José Miguel Gómez, was elected President, but for reasons that escape me at this moment, he was quickly impeached and replaced by his Vice President, Laredo Brú. In 1940, Fulgencio Batista was elected President (with Communist support), defeating Grau. His term was in general a success, and when he did not run for reelection in 1944, it came as a shock to many that Grau and his Authentic Revolutionary Party (the Auténticos) won the wartime elections. Grau was a very poor President, and he did not run in 1948, with his candidate being Carlos Prío, who won. Prío faced opposition from the Orthodox Revolutionary Party (the Ortodoxos), led by Eduardo Chibás, who committed suicide during a radio broadcast in 1951. Fidel Castro was a member of the Ortodoxos. In 1952, prior to the elections, Batista siezed power in a coup. He held elections in 1954 and 1958, but each time his only opposition was Grau. On July 26, 1953, Castro and his men staged an attack on the Moncada Brracks in Santiago, which failed and sent them to prison. They were later released, and staged a ridiculously botched invasion in the yacht Granma, but nonetheless managed to find a stronghold in the mountains of Oriente. In the last days of 1958, they emerged form the mountains, and took Havana on January 1, 1959.


Typo, it's M-26-7: Movimiento 26 de Julio. Castro's movement, prior to its becoming the Communist Party of Cuba.

Sounds very good. I'm in.

I guess it's like the M-26-7?

Aye, it's a typo.

I'm in on the Cuba idea.  Should we start a new thread?

I've got my thumb in too many pies/games at the moment, so I'm not getting involved, but perhaps use this thread to hammer out the rules and background (probably don't need much more background, other than what Xahar's provided already) and when the game is ready to launch, start a new thread for the actual convention.

What/Which parties are going to be playing?

Bump.