Reçueçn

This is your official embassy with TWP. May our relations be strong in every season. [/pun]

Welcome to your new Embassy! We just filled up the fridge with goodies.

I will simply go ahead and accept your request here to save you the trouble. This is now your official embassy thread. Here's to the flags of the Crimson Dragon and the Crimson Sun flying in harmony.

Your new embassy has been constructed, and we even left fancy little chocolates on your pillows.

Here is your embassy! We look forward to relations with you.

The embassy applications of The Kingdom of Great Britain, The Pacifican Union, The Confederation, and Equinox are all hereby accepted.

Yes, I would like to add my most sincere, personal apologies to all regions whose requests have been delayed.

If you are an ambassador who applied more than a year ago (and therefore not under the current constitution) you will need to reapply. For the applications over the last 2 months: I will assume the applications of URA, Medio, and Nox are withdrawn based on their appointments as Guardians and DAoWAA, respectively. If this is an incorrect assumption, please reapply here. LS: if your application still stands, I hereby appoint you ambassador to The Pacific. Fish: you are now officially TWP's ambassador to Union of Confederate Regions. Both LS and Fish: Please let the regions you are our representatives to know on their forums that you are now TWP ambassadors. I hope to have a Foreign Affairs Update ready soon for you both to post.

Welcome to the embassy of The South Pacific! We hope this commencement of relations inaugurates ever stronger understandings. As per tradition, the Ambassadorial Room Service has indicated that the cabinets have been stocked with the ambassador's preferred alcohol, as well as complimentary Darkesian chocolate.

As new DAoFA (Deputy Advocate of Foreign Affairs) TSP's request for an embassy is immediately granted. The requests of the other regions will be processed as soon as possible.

As we now have a deputy advocate of military affairs, you can probably apply somewhere in our military forums. Otherwise, if you would prefer to be an ambassador, apply here: http://www.westpacific.org/forums/index.php?/topic/78-foreign-affairs-needs-you-sign-up-as-an-twp-ambassador/

In my understanding, you lost your post when the new constitution was ratified, but thank you for having the goodness to resign willingly, as well, of course, for all the hard work and dedication you put in.

And also 3 abstentions. Congratulations Elegarth! Commiserations PD and Simple Country: better luck next time.

I think I'll abstain too. At least for now.

What would you say are the main differences between your platform and Elegarth's? I'm mostly too lazy to figure it out myself.

I nominate simple country/benjamin mark.

OOC: I thought he was standing right next to me. We're both on our way to the same airplane.

"I'm sorry,but to be honest, Mr. Teukero," Émile replied, "I know little to nothing about the situation in El Sock. I do know that since I've already granted Mr. Koury asylum, by our policies he has the right to be in whichever part of the country he wishes. I appreciate your offer, but you'll have to ask Mr. Koury what he wants--it is not up to me."

Émile Rougemont had flown in to Administration Island with the vote results. The charter had been accepted unanimously. He was just dozing off in his seat marked "Intern/Aide" when he woke up to hear Hassan mentioning Reçueçn. Émile woke to the mention of Reçueçn, now, just as he did at the mention of his own name. Apparently Hassan wanted asylum... Émile had never heard of him, but knew that the Reçuecian policy on asylum was pretty wide open, except in the case of outright terrorists. He dug in the desk and pulled out a sheet of paper. He signed it, not with his own name, but "Reçuecian Representative." "Here, Mr. Koury. Granted." He shoved the paper into Hassan's hand. "You already have asylum here on Administration Island, you realize. I suppose you can't live off the whiskey in the embassy cupboards forever. You can catch the flight back home with me."

All but one of these nations have been removed from the ban-list. (Many thanks on their behalf, and on the behalf of the community. To quote Yy, it takes a village... Could States of Glory be removed as well, please and thank you?

The ministers had deliberated and had signed the charter. But more was needed. As one of Reçueçn's top three international treaties, a couple dozen Reçuecian signatures simply wasn't enough. The House of Lords had ratified the charter. The Mayoral Chamber had ratified it. And now every single regional assembly in the nation had considered it as well. Two thirds needed to ratify, or le Duc de Prévert would announce on the radio the next morning that Reçueçn was leaving The Alliance of The West Pacific. The votes were coming in. West Canton: Aye. Neuchâtel: Aye. Piedmont: Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. The vote that put it over the top came from the canton of Reçueçn. Aye. The vote was unanimous. Fireworks went off in the skies above Reçueçn, Geneva, Bern and Lausanne. Reçueçn's vote for dummies: AYE.

While not outright coercion, the most obvious answer is the endo-cap. If you do not endorse the Delegate, you are only allowed to have 10 endorsements, which is definitely a consequence. Furthermore, going over this limit brings even stronger consequences--ejection. (Take Llamas for example--and he had even endorsed Darkesia.) As for telling WA nations who they may or may not endorse, the example of Llamas again applies. We are not allowed to endorse nations at the endo-cap. Usually people go looking for endorsements rather than looking for people to give them to. So when WAs give their endorsements, if it's not as endotarting, it's usually to do someone the return favor. Thus limiting how many endorsements a person may have is the same as telling others they may not endorse them. (By definition. Not sure why it took me a whole paragraph to flesh that out.) If we did decide we wanted a different delegate, and endorsed that delegate, that candidate would be ejected long before they passed the number of endos Darkesia has. The only other option would be to do it just before the update, raider/coup style. But besides being practically impossible, that defeats the purpose of the democratic process in the first place. Again, I understand the reasons for the policy, and am not proposing its removal (although the lower cap could maybe be raised to 20, in my opinion. Then again I don't know the influence stats.) I just don't think it's completely fair to pretend that the giving and receiving of endorsements is completely voluntary--it's actually highly controlled and dictated.

I had a whole post written and I lost it. The jist of it: I really like Darkesia's comment, but will wait until Cormac posts the next draft to say anything of more substance.

I'm fine with saying that the delegate is supreme in game or that they can decide policy, but I'd also like to point out that we don't currently have elections for delegate via endorsements--there is an endo cap, and people can get ejected for passing it. If everybody decided today that Soandso would be a better delegate and endorsed him, he'd get booted. So saying Darkesia has the most endos, therefore she's in charge, fine. Saying that means that her popularity is directly proportional to her number of endorsements, however, is false. I don't mind not having perfect democracy as much as I mind the people in charge trying to make it sound like we do when we don't.