MW1: Fifth Most Serene Republic of the Midwest Constitution

[Dereich]

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[Dereich]

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[Dereich]

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Sponsor: Governor Gass

[Gass3268]

Thank you Dereich for bringing this to the floor.

As promised during my campaign for Governor, Constitutional reform is one of my main goals. Our current Constitution, while a positive step forward from previous incarnations, is in many places confusing, unclear, and unorganized. These issues became clear when Ex-Governor Lebron was removed from office. There were no clear causes that I, as Archduke, would be become the next Governor. It was essentially implied. The same issue occurred regarding GAworth moving from PPT to Archduke. Also we are somewhere around 12 Constitutional amendments, with many being pivotal to how our Regional Government works in the Midwest. After consulting with current CJO ilikeverin, former Governor Maxwell, and former Representative Windjammer, I have made the following changes for the 5th Most Serene Republic of the Midwest Constitution:

1. Reorganized the document to provide a logical flow. The order essentially goes: Preamble, Rights, Midwestern Culture, Althing, Governor, Judiciary, LSW Corps, and Continuation of Government.

2. Incorporated the amendments of the 4th Constitution.

3. Defined the Althing as legislature and the Governor as the executive.

4. Made the succession mechanisms between the Governor, Archduke, PPT clear. Hopefully this will alleviate any issues in the future.

5. Gave the CJO a term of 4 years, compared to the current term of 1 year. The Althing can still vote to remove the CJO if he/she has been absent of their duties.

Those are the main changes that were made to our Constitution. I will be happy to take any questions on the changes I made.     

[Gass3268]

Thoughts on this guys?

[Dereich]

I have a lot of thoughts and am too tired to say them all now. But the first thing is that I really don't approve of a four year term for the CJO. That'd be 12 terms for a governor or 24 terms for a representative. If there's going to be a term limit it should definitely be much shorter than that, no more than two years I'd say. However, if the goal is stability and continuity, why have a term limit at all? If you're going to keep someone in office for longer than most of us have been in the game you might as well just keep the incumbent in office indefinitely until removed by the Althing or Governor.


Also, is there a reason that "trustees" is used in reference to public votes in some circumstances?

[Gass3268]

I have a lot of thoughts and am too tired to say them all now. But the first thing is that I really don't approve of a four year term for the CJO. That'd be 12 terms for a governor or 24 terms for a representative. If there's going to be a term limit it should definitely be much shorter than that, no more than two years I'd say. However, if the goal is stability and continuity, why have a term limit at all? If you're going to keep someone in office for longer than most of us have been in the game you might as well just keep the incumbent in office indefinitely until removed by the Althing or Governor.


Also, is there a reason that "trustees" is used in reference to public votes in some circumstances?

Ilikeverin was in favor of an indefinite term, so I could support an amendment on that. I think the term "trustees" was used in prior Constitution, but I'll double check when I get home from work.

[Fuzzybigfoot]

I don't have any objections. 

[Dereich]

I guess I'll propose that amendment since there are no comments on it

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[Fuzzybigfoot]

I guess I'll propose that amendment since there are no comments on it

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Sounds fine to me. 

[Dereich]

Since this was next in the queue anyway, I guess it should be proposed here:

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Sponsor: LeBron

Also, I will assume that my prior amendment is added without objection.

[Gass3268]

I support the first amendment proposed, but I do not like the amendment proposed by LeBron. We are really struggling with basic activity standards now, I don't think adding another member to the Althing would be appropriate.

[LeBron]

Hi again guys. I've been asked to come back and address my amendment. I proposed this back when I was still governor, and my main vision behind this was to do as the amendment says, "increase activity."

The Midwest under several gubernatorial administrations, past and present, have had problems with activity, and I believe one of the main reasons behind that is because unlike three of the other regions (NE, ME, and SE), the Midwest has a smaller legislature. Instead of five legislators, there's only three (and I'm excluding the Archduke when I say three since the Archduke has a very limited constraint of legislative power in the Althing). Meaning if even one of the legislators goes inactive in the Althing (and I from experience have witnessed that happen countless times), the whole Althing can't function properly.

That's why I proposed this. The Archduke is the Speaker of the Althing, and as such they should have voting power, but also allowing them to take part in the debate/discussion of bills will help with inactivity. And like other regions tend to show, more legislative members = more legislative activity. In this scenario as well, a tie would rarely have to be broken with 5 voting members.

To address the issue of not having enough activity to go through with this, this amendment only asks for one additional legislator. In addition, one of the things I did as governor was recruit new people to the region to run for lower office (such as the likes of Vega and Joe Mad), so new additional candidates and elected officials can be found. It just takes a little work, and I have confidence you guys would be able to handle that.

I strongly urge the Althing to pass this amendment.

[Gass3268]

Hi again guys. I've been asked to come back and address my amendment. I proposed this back when I was still governor, and my main vision behind this was to do as the amendment says, "increase activity."

The Midwest under several gubernatorial administrations, past and present, have had problems with activity, and I believe one of the main reasons behind that is because unlike three of the other regions (NE, ME, and SE), the Midwest has a smaller legislature. Instead of five legislators, there's only three (and I'm excluding the Archduke when I say three since the Archduke has a very limited constraint of legislative power in the Althing). Meaning if even one of the legislators goes inactive in the Althing (and I from experience have witnessed that happen countless times), the whole Althing can't function properly.

That's why I proposed this. The Archduke is the Speaker of the Althing, and as such they should have voting power, but also allowing them to take part in the debate/discussion of bills will help with inactivity. And like other regions tend to show, more legislative members = more legislative activity. In this scenario as well, a tie would rarely have to be broken with 5 voting members.

To address the issue of not having enough activity to go through with this, this amendment only asks for one additional legislator. In addition, one of the things I did as governor was recruit new people to the region to run for lower office (such as the likes of Vega and Joe Mad), so new additional candidates and elected officials can be found. It just takes a little work, and I have confidence you guys would be able to handle that.

I strongly urge the Althing to pass this amendment.

I really think the activity is too low for us to pass this amendment. I would be open to an idea where we could have a larger Althing if we have more than say 7 people running for office. There is/was a similar provision in the Mideast Constitution.

[Fuzzybigfoot]

Vote? 

[Dereich]

Representatives have 48 hours to vote aye, nay or to abstain on the following amendment:

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[Fuzzybigfoot]

Nay

[Gass3268]

Thoughts?

[Maxwell]

I think it's about time we do away with the awful Althing name.

[TNF]

I think it's about time we do away with the awful Althing name.

I concur. And, I for one, would be fine with completely eliminating the 'silly' portions of the Constitution. If the Southeast can do it, so can we.

I lieu of 'Althing', I propose we rename it the Regional Assembly.

[Dereich]

I've always preferred "legislature" myself, but if we're talking about abolishing the whole "silly" apparatus, what would be left? The Midwest for years has been defined by its weirdness and practically nothing else.

Also, since we're talking about changes, there's no reason to leave the Archduke/Speaker as a non-voting position. It can create trouble when there aren't many active representatives and is less fun IMO.

[Maxwell]

I've always preferred "legislature" myself, but if we're talking about abolishing the whole "silly" apparatus, what would be left? The Midwest for years has been defined by its weirdness and practically nothing else.

Also, since we're talking about changes, there's no reason to leave the Archduke/Speaker as a non-voting position. It can create trouble when there aren't many active representatives and is less fun IMO.

Once I get a chance I will write something more concrete up, but there is a difference between silly names and illegible. I hope we can have a fun name without it being an utter chore to write out every time.

[Gass3268]

I disagree with removing the quintissential Midwestern elements from our region and Consitution. Why would we want our region to be the same as the rest? I could support some minor changes, but a complete overhaul would be too much.

[TNF]

I am going to come up with a concrete proposal soon. I personally would like to see a clarification concerning executive powers, if anyone would be willing to sponsor such an amendment.

[Maxwell]

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Felt like shortening the executive branch portion.