Fujai

Bismark at least looks okay with its stone choice, but Louisiana's is just an eyesore to me.

I like architecture, specifically that of government buildings, since they are very representative of their respective regions. So I was wondering, what is your favorite and least favorite US State capitol building, in terms of both placement and design?

Vlagh, Mal, others: if you insist on continuing you arguments, please move them somewhere else where the rest of us don't have to watch. I for one am sick and tired of seeing them everywhere. Now stop, please.

Yes, yes, yes. Count me in as well. (Also provided our independence from the Delegate is once again reaffirmed)

Stop. If there was NPO influence, it was not made by Vlagh. Our leaders let themselves be influenced by the functioning government of The Pacific. It just so happened that Vlagh was Minister of Legislative RP when the dissolution happened. He was only following direct orders from the Delegate, and he wouldn't do anything without the Delegate's orders. That being said, the Voice should not have been dissolved. That violated the belief of separation between the forum and in-game governments, and it also violated our trust.

Yes. 1000 times yes. That's a fantastic idea.

Potentially bureaucratic, but it also cuts down on inactivity, spreads the load, puts more people in government, and combines the knowledge and experience of two people into one Ministry.

How indeed...A duel of puns, maybe? The duelists get a topic, and then they have to take turns making the best puns, and whoever submits first loses? I thought we had arrived at the conclusion that the Delegate would have no power to do that, and any problems with the Voice would have to be dealt with by the Voice, but I don't think that specifically went into the proposal. My interpretation is that the Governors are appointed by the Voice, and they work with the corresponding Guardian if there is one. That way the burden of the Ministries falls to two people instead of one, and they would work together to promote the Ministry. Elegarth and I discussed that there could be a council of the Governors and Advocate (plus others??) to help set policy and such for the offsite. The Delegate would have no power over what the Governors or the Voice choose to do. EDIT: If you don't like the name, then you should suggest a different one.

That sounds like a good idea. A council headed by the Advocate as the representative for the Voice. There could also be rotating seats for members of the Voice. Honestly, I like my proposal better for inactivity. Indicting someone for being inactive sounds a little harsh (not to mention there's not legal system in this proposal). Although a challenge system sounds cool, perhaps a straight knowledge test, an election, something else maybe. A duel of sorts, perchance?

I see now, that makes sense. The Advocate is basically just a chairman. My only concern with the whole Voice running the show (and this problem has been observed in many political systems without an executive branch) is that it will be slow and clunky when trying to address day-to-day issues and emergencies. Perhaps a council with rotating membership (only active members, though) could be there so there is no debate as to what the policy of the Voice is. Also, in the case of an inactive member in a leadership position, there could be an "Inactive Vote" where 2/3 of the Voice votes to replace said official with an interim replacement, and then another vote ending the replacementship (there's a better word for that, I just can't think of it).

If the Voice will choose the Governors, then shouldn't the Advocate outrank the Governors, so that it is the forumside equivalent of the Delegate?

People weren't upset with Vlagh personally (that I know of, at least), rather they were up in arms about the fact that the Delegate had the power to dissolve the forum government at the snap of his fingers (after lots of deliberation, of course). It undermines the whole idea of having a separate and independent forum government. What I meant by this is that the Delegate would be the leader of the in-game government, and the Advocate would be the leader of the forum government, not that the Advocate would have Delegate-like powers in game.

All in all its a pretty good proposal. However, I share the opinion that the governors and the Ministries should be under Voice supervision, and the Advocate rank should be on par with that of the Delegate. This way, the Voice could create or disband ministries should the need arise. The Governors shouldn't be chosen by the Delegate either. He already has the Guardians working with the Governors. It would make more sense if applications went to an "Application Officer of the Voice" who would handle the application procedure with the Voice, then they went to the Voice itself to see which one's passed there, and finally to the Advocate for the final choice. Or perhaps to the Advocate first and then to the Voice in more of an appointment and confirmation style setup. And to be clear, in this proposal, the Minister of Legislative RP position does not exist, correct? EDIT: A definition of goals and a stock of the abilities of all active members would be very beneficial going forward. And the Application Officer would simply receive the applications by a set deadline, then report them to the Voice or whoever for a vote. This simply makes it more formal and a little simpler for the layman to understand. (Sorry for the edits, I accidentally hit submit instead of preview)

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!

I cannot claim any credit for the new members, as Mal said, it's all the community. However, since you assumed that something was being done, I suppose we might as well start. And welcome to our wonderful land of milk and chocolate, DH!

Hello and welcome to TWP! Feel free to get involved in everything!

Hello and welcome to the forums of The Best Pacific!

Welcome! I'm glad you decided to give the forums a try, you'll love it here.

To be perfectly frank, the government should involve everyone in a positive manner. Currently, not everyone is as involved as they might like to be, and some of us feel underrepresented. This can be anyone's fault, everyone's fault, or no one's fault. That doesn't matter. We can point fingers all day and it will get us nowhere. Some say that the current leadership should be more accommodating, open, and active. Others say that everyone else should have been doing more. In reality, it was probably a bit of both, plus some other assorted reasons. We should get to the meat and potatoes of what was fundamentally wrong with the last government, and try to fix it. These are some of the things I believe the government should incorporate: Having no requirements to be in the legislature (or to be a citizen). Having few appointments, and as many elections as possible, which can help get new people in leadership. Having a more transparent government. Having as few grey areas as possible with explanations of how things work so there is as little confusion as possible. Utilizing a massive recruitment operation to bring in more members. Being friendly towards everyone, and answering all questions without condescension. A completely independent forum government. Having a government formed by the people, not forced upon them by a select few.

No, I don't know how hard it can be. But I'd like to learn, and I'm sure others will step up as well.

Would the Ministries be under the control of the House of Commons with the Chancellor appointing heads and the House confirming them? Or would they be under the control of the Delegate?

Then we advertise. We can send TGs to all active nations that don't participate in the RMB so we can get some responses, then spam out adverts for the forums. Sending personalized TGs to new nations could help. It would make them feel more at ease than the standard welcome and flood of recruitments. We can strive to be even friendlier, and maybe loosen up on the grammar and English rules on the RMB, I have a feeling that they're pushing away some of the younger nations. We can all be friendlier to some of the others, and striving to include them will make them happier and more likely to stay. Making the forums a more central part of the WFE could help as well. There could be links to each of the major subforums, not just a couple. Maybe getting rid of the dojo themed link names could help, but that might be getting a little too nitpicky. We can try sending PMs to the accounts on the forums, since most people have email notifications for those, at least. And we can make more descriptive threads on here telling what things are and how things work on the forums so that there isn't much confusion from the get go. Even PMing new members on the forums with a welcome could serve to increase their activity. Finally, an idea that I've had for a while: A New Nation Affairs Ministry. It would be the task of this ministry to provide a centralized location for all help links, extra help material beyond what already exists, and answers other questions that may be asked. This ministry would not be just for the newbs, of course. Anyone could come here to ask a question about the game, so a different name may be appropriate. It would be located for the most part on the forums (people could TG members for quick questions and whatnot). If it is included in the WFE, then it could increase traffic to the forums and draw in more new nations to take part in and revitalize the forums. Anyway, the point is that there are plenty of options to raise participation, and we don't have to resort to getting rid of the Charter and the Union to do it.

Thank you.

I don't know about an open revolution, but I would certainly like to see the Voice re-instated so that we can try to fix things together instead of accepting a government designed by only the Delegate and a select few. I believe that we can change things around here, and show the entire NS community that we toss out a perfectly good government design every time things get a little slow. We can show them that we will overcome the obstacles thrown at us, and we will come out of it stronger because everyone was involved in the repairs. The new members that came in recently will have a chance to help revitalize the forums, and we can direct even more here if we really push the advertising gameside. We can make the Voice work. We just need a chance.