Hello Atlasia.
Amidst all the campaigning, tickets say time and time again that they have a platform but they're just working on it, or we'll see the full platform in due time. Well we actually have a platform now. Not later.
The platform itself is the full breadth of our ideas as they stand. Throughout the campaign, small details will change, and new ideas will be added,
and when that is the case, this thread and our campaign thread will be updated with them.Now, without further ado..
(
Post 1: Game Reform
Post 2: Domestic/Economic Policy
Post 3: Domestic/Economic Policy Continued, Improving Foreign Affairs, Closing Statements.)
Game Reform
There are two major problems with the Senate as it stands.
One; elections for senators largely hinge on personality, not new ideas, and in-party challenges are far and few between.
Our ticket supports the implementation of a five-session consecutive limit on Senators. This equals out to a grand total of
10 months or two and a half terms (for those elected in a special election) in office before the Senators must step down for one or two sessions before running for election again.
A more active Senate requires,
more voices to be heard, and this is why an 10-month (2.5 term) consecutive limit is essential. It allows more individuals to be cycled into the Senate, and given a chance. The time to step up and actually make the tough changes begins with the election of the Marokai/Purple State ticket. If senators facing term limits want to continue to participate meaningfully in the game, they are able to by running for office in their region or seeking a Cabinet position. This ensures that their experience is shared beyond the confines of the Senate. Too often senators reject Cabinet offers or dismiss regional activity because of their standing in the Senate.
That is bad for the game.Two, a Marokai/Purple State Administration will reform and streamline the rules of the Senate, making sure that debate is full and active, not a small group of senators participating while the rest watch from the sideline.
This means spelling out a code of conduct for senators, outlining what level of activity is expected by their peers.- A Senate That Functions Better.
There is another problem with the Senate lately: it has difficult actually
running itself. This problem must end and will end under a Marokai/Purple State Administration. That is why Purple State, if elected to be my Vice President, has made the following promise:
I would also like to announce that if elected as your Vice President, I will keep the Senate running under my powers as President of the Senate. This means that I will not only cast tie-breaking votes, the minimum amount of work, but I will model Bacon King during his time as Vice President: an extremely active VP starting threads for legislation, opening and closing votes and making sure the trains run on time.
This assures the body will continue to function as it should, and under our previous 10-month (2.5 term) consecutive limit proposal, assuages any worries that it will continue to simply muddle along.
We are committed to a strong and active Senate, and we will do all within our power to make it happen.As I said earlier in the Campaign thread, the load on the Game Moderator has become obscene. Though I believe it to be an incredible advantage, if not an outright
necessity, to have an active and consistently updating GM, that is not always possible as the demands of the real world will always distract people from the job. Therefore, we propose the following:
That's why I believe it is time for the implementation of "Game Advisors." Two GM "assistants", if you will, that assist and periodically perform the duties of GM themselves when the Game Moderator himself is unable to do so. This will allow people who do not want to or are not able to do the entirety of the duties themselves, to still participate in running the game. Considered the "Junior Game Advisor" and "Senior Game Advisor", these two individuals will be directed by the Game Moderator himself.
For example, the Game Moderator himself could divide duties between himself and the two Game Advisors, by allowing the Junior Game Advisor to handle foreign affairs, the Senior Game Advisor to handle Economic Affairs, and the GM himself handles Misc. news stories and legislative analysis. Such a division of duties, or any combination thereof, could allow a much lighter load shared by the three. By sharing the burden, I believe it is possible for much more effective and frequent updates from the office of the GM.
The Marokai/Purple State ticket
supports formal implementation of the process known as "deregistration" with efforts made to make sure that it is done carefully and doesn't cause serious conflict with any elections or court action. We support the
act proposed recently in the Senate by Senator Lief to this effect, and should it fail, we will make further efforts during our Administration to implement a deregistration process.
- Executive Legislative Agendas for Future Administrations.
This ticket believes strongly in executive legislative agendas,
allowing Administrations to be more active in legislating, and
proposing things on their own. The Lief Administration did a very good job of proposing ideas and working with Senators, as was the Purple State Administration that I served in.
That's why, if we are elected,
a Marokai/Purple State Administration will push for an "Executive" slot in the Senate legislative que, allowing for instant and unfiltered legislative proposals from the President and Vice President. The act of simply allowing for a formal delivery system for a legislative agenda from the executive will, we hope, establish precedent that will be followed by
all Administrations to follow, for introducing a formal legislative agenda on behalf of the White House.
- Empowering Regions in Regional Senate Elections.
In December of 2009, there was a
proposed Amendment that I supported in theory, that would have allowed
regions to changes the means of election in their regional Senate elections. There were, however,
major flaws: the Amendment did not have clear enough safeguards to prevent against abuse or poisoning democracy by altering vote requirements or candidacy rules.
A Marokai/Purple State Administration will
reintroduce this central idea, with more stringent protections to make sure that the elections remain fair, and open to all, while still adding a unique flavor to each individual region's Senate election.
It will empower regions to spice up their Senate elections, changing the drab predictability of regional Senate elections
while having the power remain firmly in regional hands. During the Purple State Administration, I authored the "
Regular Question Time Made Interesting Act" which would allow for a monthly venue for informative and amusing back and forth between the White House and the public.
A Marokai/Purple State Administration will enforce these schedules, asking the Secretary of Internal Affairs to open these threads on time each month. We strongly believe in the principle behind this Act, and we believe we can make it work.
We will make the Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs an "unofficial" game position with the same authority it holds now. This will ensure that current officials with experience running elections are able to help the Secretary of Federal Elections and Registrar General without giving up the ability to hold a more
meaningful office.
We strongly support altering the Consolidated Criminal Justice Act to allow for "the Mint Exception;" situations where those who seek to take on a new identity in Atlasia will not be punished for honestly failing to de-register their previous identity, (should de-registration pass) or waiting for their previous identity to expire.
We strongly support and will propose new efforts to continue Wiki consolidation started under the previous Purple State/Marokai Administration, to make the Wiki more easy to navigate and easy to read.
We will propose transfering the authority over the Introduction to Atlasia Thread from random civilian appointments to the authority of the Registrar General.We will encourage and work to create more small efforts designed to better integrate new members into the game and keep their attention:
So we will be encouraging better "new member orientation" programs, like improving the "Introduction to Atlasia" thread and promoting a mentor program for new citizens,