ATLAS: Atlasians Thinking, Leading, Acting, Solving

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Sounds like it would be quite a good thing for Atlasia.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Because the people who live in the Mideast are more active on in Atlasia.

But I'm wondering if it's coincidence, or if there is an underlying reason for this.

I believe it is because we have an Assembly that keeps people active on the regional level, but that is just me.

     I tend to agree. An assembly where people are elected would be a good thing activity-wise, as the people who get the job would tend to be ones who actually had an interest in being regionally active.

     At least, that's how I explain the difference in activity between the Mideast & the Pacific.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Perhaps the issue of population could be addressed through a little advertising.  Really, a game of this scope and breadth that has lasted this long should have far greater than 100 or so participants.  I'm sure there are tons of people out there who would love to get involved, if they knew about it.  Facebook, MySpace, Twitter?  I'm not as internet-savvy as some of you younger guys.  But imagine what life would be like here if we had something like 300 or 400 registered voters.  This could be possible, if some really active measures were taken to get the word out.

Or even just make sure people on the site know what this is and want to get involved. I was a member on Atlas for a few months before I ventured forth into the mysterious Atlasia. I had no idea what it was when I joined.

     It could be an interesting idea. A huge drive to get people involved in Atlasia.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     My theory is that the Mideast-style legislature leads to the most activity since people need some degree of activity to be involved (true zombie voters would not bother declaring their candidacy in the first place). A Pacific-style legislature or an initiative system allows people to influence the system without taking a really active role or devoting their time to holding an office that's not Senator or Governor or President, so nobody has a real incentive to be active in such a system.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     My theory is that the Mideast-style legislature leads to the most activity since people need some degree of activity to be involved (true zombie voters would not bother declaring their candidacy in the first place). A Pacific-style legislature or an initiative system allows people to influence the system without taking a really active role or devoting their time to holding an office that's not Senator or Governor or President, so nobody has a real incentive to be active in such a system.

This is my thought as well. And those who are elected feel some responsibility to be active and pass legislation.

Which is why I think the number of assemblymen should be increased. It stinks that some people who might want to get elected would lose an election, even though they really want it. I've gotten active, for example, because after the June elections, there will be an open seat in the Assembly, and I want it.

     While it is disappointing to be on the losing end of that, we need some losers if we're to have exciting elections. Considering the lack of competition that Assembly seats draw, increasing the number of seats would hardly help, especially given the lack of people to staff them all. The Mideast was originally going to have five assemblymen. One of the first, if not the first, amendments they passed was to reduce the number to three when they realized how unfeasible it is to find five citizens to hold Assembly seats.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     The problem with large drives to recruit newbies is that many of them either never get involved or fade away in a couple of months. When I've recruited people I have specifically asked them to drop by every couple days or so. It's been pretty successful in large part.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Back in October, the RPP tried to knock off a few super-safe incumbents. The result was that we were ridiculed for wasting our time. If the three major parties were to make a gentlemen's agreement to try to draft candidates for as many races as possible (other than ones that are the subject of certain other gentlemen's agreements ), that could go a long way towards boosting electoral interest as well as giving newbies something to get engrossed in.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Back in October, the RPP tried to knock off a few super-safe incumbents. The result was that we were ridiculed for wasting our time. If the three major parties were to make a gentlemen's agreement to try to draft candidates for as many races as possible (other than ones that are the subject of certain other gentlemen's agreements ), that could go a long way towards boosting electoral interest as well as giving newbies something to get engrossed in.

Well, as one of the "faces" of the RPP, you should engage in these gentlemen's agreements. I hope you can get somewhere with that.

     That actually sounds like an idea. There's still time until the election, so maybe after this week's special election I'll go ahead & do it.

[Associate Justice PiT]

This has nothing to do with the topic, but I believe if the major parties would have primaries to elected their President/VP candidate it would make the parties stronger.

Possibly. But it could also divide the party. If it is extremely close, the losing candidate could decide to run in the general, splitting the party.

The voting system prevents splitting I believe.

     The use of preference voting actually does give one incentive to do so as they would not materially damage their party's odds of winning. However, they would hurt their party in the long run by reducing the level of partisan solidarity between party members.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     The GM should be required a minimum level of activity. That aside, it would be nice if the GM worked with the President to implement the President's agenda, by emphasizing issues that tie into bills that the President would like to pass.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     An idea I've had was to have a noticeboard of upcoming elections. That way when a new member joins they can see what offices there are to run for. If they run a campaign for some office, then they help contribute to a more active Atlasia & hopefully will get to see the fun that can be had in being an active participant.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     An idea I've had was to have a noticeboard of upcoming elections. That way when a new member joins they can see what offices there are to run for. If they run a campaign for some office, then they help contribute to a more active Atlasia & hopefully will get to see the fun that can be had in being an active participant.

That is a fabulous idea and perhaps a great responsibility to give to the SoFA. That would keep everyone more organized, allow the SoFA to keep track of his own work, etc.

     I was thinking of adding it to the Introduction to Atlasia thread. That way when they are referred there, that information is there alongside everything else they ought to know when getting started in Atlasia.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     An idea I've had was to have a noticeboard of upcoming elections. That way when a new member joins they can see what offices there are to run for. If they run a campaign for some office, then they help contribute to a more active Atlasia & hopefully will get to see the fun that can be had in being an active participant.

That is a fabulous idea and perhaps a great responsibility to give to the SoFA. That would keep everyone more organized, allow the SoFA to keep track of his own work, etc.

     I was thinking of adding it to the Introduction to Atlasia thread. That way when they are referred there, that information is there alongside everything else they ought to know when getting started in Atlasia.

I would be happy to add that, if I knew when the elections were myself

https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Office_Holders

     You can figure it out based on when the terms end. Mideast Assembly is voted on every two months, every other time coinciding with the Gubernatorial election.

[Associate Justice PiT]

To prevent candidacies such as mine (absolutely a terrible idea on my part), what if we amended the constitution to prevent one from running for a national office (senator, president, VP) until they had voted in at least one regularly scheduled national election (special elections don't count). This gives them a familiarity of how national campaigns are run, and what it takes to win. It also ensures that, unless they join right before an election (not likely) they have some experience and familiarity with Atlasia.

     Let me ask you this, though: did you have fun campaigning for the Midwest Senate seat?

[Associate Justice PiT]

To prevent candidacies such as mine (absolutely a terrible idea on my part), what if we amended the constitution to prevent one from running for a national office (senator, president, VP) until they had voted in at least one regularly scheduled national election (special elections don't count). This gives them a familiarity of how national campaigns are run, and what it takes to win. It also ensures that, unless they join right before an election (not likely) they have some experience and familiarity with Atlasia.

     Let me ask you this, though: did you have fun campaigning for the Midwest Senate seat?

At first, until I realized that I had no shot, then I felt newbish and ignorant.

     The point of running campaigns in Atlasia is to have fun. As long as they don't realize it, there's nothing wrong in newbies campaigning for offices that they cannot win.

[Associate Justice PiT]

To prevent candidacies such as mine (absolutely a terrible idea on my part), what if we amended the constitution to prevent one from running for a national office (senator, president, VP) until they had voted in at least one regularly scheduled national election (special elections don't count). This gives them a familiarity of how national campaigns are run, and what it takes to win. It also ensures that, unless they join right before an election (not likely) they have some experience and familiarity with Atlasia.

     Let me ask you this, though: did you have fun campaigning for the Midwest Senate seat?

At first, until I realized that I had no shot, then I felt newbish and ignorant.

     The point of running campaigns in Atlasia is to have fun. As long as they don't realize it, there's nothing wrong in newbies campaigning for offices that they cannot win.

However, they may get a bad reputation like GPORTER, and then they won't ever win an office. Reputations seem to stick here.

     Don't talk about war with Canada or diplomatic relations with "Franco" & your reputation will probably fare pretty well.

     You do raise a good point in that it is dangerous to run when you are unfamiliar with Atlasian politics, but people here are understanding. If it is an understandable mistake then it won't be that big of an issue six months down the line.