| Low Awareness a Persistent Problem for the Cabinet |
Low Awareness a Persistent Problem for the Cabinet
by Kris Montresor Recently the Ministry of Regional Affairs decided to continue the nascent tradition of running a survey on the approval levels of the government and on the awareness on certain issues of regional importance. This was done with the idea of providing an image of how the government is perceived by the broader regional community and what issues are the ones that should be addressed in the future. What follows is an analysis and commentary on the results of the survey, which includes numerical data and written comments that participants provided anonymously. Results from the previous survey were never officially published but can be consulted here and might be referenced throughout this article. Information about the technical aspects of this survey and links to the raw data can be found at the bottom of this page. > Tsunamy as Delegate Overall Tsunamy has high approval ratings as Delegate. Opinion is mostly divided between the Excellent and Good categories, with some isolated cases of Regular and Bad. When asked to explain their opinion, participants highlighted his helpfulness and good intentions, though pointing out his occasional lack of active engagement onsite and constant communication with the region. Some brought up the failure to adopt his proposed bicameralism reforms during the Great Council, particularly when explaining a Good rating as opposed to an Excellent one.
This is consistent with his leadership style throughout the current term, in which his public onsite engagement has focused mostly on three aspects: facilitating the use of mass telegrams for ministerial announcements, promoting WA membership and using regional polls to decide his vote on WA resolutions. It is said however that he remains quite engaged with daily regional governance, and his overall activity levels have allowed him to remain aware of all regional issues. Even if the later parts of his term have been marred with controversy over the denial of citizenships on security grounds, so far the outcry has focused on the questionability of the Cabinet's actions, rather than on him as head of state. > PenguinPies as Vice Delegate PenguinPies has high levels of unawareness and mixed levels of approval as Vice Delegate, something that we expected based on the results of the previous survey. Participants criticized her lack of public participation in regional affairs with some not even knowing her, to the extreme that one participant vowed not to vote for Tsunamy if he kept PenguinPies as running mate in a reelection bid. She also received some praise for her swift review of citizenship applications throughout the term, with some expressing relief that a Vice Delegate would be so effective in discharging their most noticeable duty.
It is not surprising to see PenguinPies have such high levels of unawareness, since Vice Delegates have usually struggled to balance their personal prominence and their role as advisers. Usually the job of a Vice Delegate centers on helping with the implementation of projects and advising the Cabinet on policy discussions. However, it is true that PenguinPies is noticeably one of the least active members of the Cabinet, something that has recently been pointed out. Her last post on the Regional Message Board reportedly was over 250 days ago, which illustrates that point. Promises from Tsunamy to assign her in an assisting role to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, due to the nature of the job, are not likely to increase her visibility within the region, though it could be argued whether visibility is as important as doing a good job. It appears the region believes her performance is at the very least acceptable. > Unibot as Chair of the Assembly [Image: Yz3APCv.png?1]
Comparison already included, since Unibot served as Chair of the Assembly during both surveys Since Unibot has kept the same office between now and the previous survey, it has been possible to compare his results in both. Once we account for the decrease in responses between the two surveys, we can see that Unibot has kept fairly consistent approval levels, though his approval has become more even across the three first categories. His level of unawareness is slightly higher than his approval levels in both surveys. Participants lauded his knowledge of the law and ability to moderate the Assembly, despite adverse circumstances. Criticism focused on his handling of the recent Great Council and how he managed the potential conflict of interest between his roles as Chair of the Assembly and Delegate of the Rejected Realms.
It is interesting to see Unibot draw mixed responses from the public, particularly given the sheer amount of reforms and amendments that have been passed on his watch. This is probably due to the controversies that have also marred his tenure, and incidents like those mentioned above. His high levels of unawareness mean he still needs to make himself known to the onsite community, particularly given his strong support of onsite empowerment proposals, including the passage of his proposal for the establishment of a Local Council. > Eagleswing (Lord Ravenclaw) as Minister of Foreign Affairs While Lord Ravenclaw recently forfeited his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Feirmont has since been appointed to succeed him, his approval levels are being included for informative purposes. Ravenclaw kept a high Excellent rating, though he had moderate Regular and unawareness levels. Participants were not very descriptive in their reasons for giving Excellent ratings, something that changed with Regular and IDK ratings. Those giving him lower ratings argued that any Foreign Minister could have negotiated the Aurora Alliance, that he went too far in his desire to moderate disputes and that he would often display an 'above it all' attitude. His lack of communication with the broader regional community was also an common source of criticism, which would suggest an interest, however minor, in knowing about the foreign dealings of the region.
Ravenclaw certainly had much less contact with the region in non-political circumstances, understandably so considering he presented his persona as that of a diplomat, rather than using the more informal personas of his colleagues in the Cabinet. His attitude would sometimes cause issues with others, most notably fights with Punchwood on the Regional Message Board, when discussing the staffing of the Foreign Ministry. His Excellent rating is much higher than even his unawareness, which would suggest that despite his criticism, people acknowledged his accomplishments as lead diplomat. > Sporaltryus (Henn) as Minister of the Army We acknowledged that Henn has only served for half a term, meaning the public might not have had enough time to know him. However, the overwhelming imbalance of his rating towards the unawareness side show that even if the lack of time is considered, there are serious problems with his visibility. Most commentaries from participants highlight the little time there has been to adequately judge his performance, while others suggest that he himself disappeared and enacted no reforms after running a campaign promising to end the inactivity in the military.
Henn is apparently considered one of the least active and noticeable Ministers. While he is consistently active in Treasure Island roleplays and other areas of the forum, results seem to indicate that his presence as Minister is not felt. His main failings could be in mounting an effective recruitment campaign and adequately advertising whatever missions were organised. He has admitted as much in his reelection campaign, where he has been questioned over his failure to enact much needed reforms. With the other two candidates unable to participate in update missions, it is likely that he will lead the stronger bid. However, his visibility and recruitment skills will continue to be issues, unless he works hard to fix them early in the next term, should he be reelected. > Kringalia (Kris Kringle) as Minister of Regional Affairs Kringalia has mostly Excellent ratings, with a relatively minor amount of Regulars. Comments are mostly positive, highlighting his management of the Fellowship Programme, the several projects that his Ministry undertook to keep the South Pacific active and his willingness to help newcomers. Some participants did criticise his would focus on political discussions and arguments more often than he would do his job, something that actually became more prominent during the last few weeks of his term, which resulted in a few of the Regular ratings.
Kringalia has been fairly successful at keeping the region engaged and aware of what the Ministry of Regional Affairs was doing. Even if not all announced projects were completed in time, and even if some are still pending, he showed concrete actions, which most likely contributed to his high approval ratings. His high activity levels, frequent roleplaying on Treasure Island and posting on the Regional Message Board would explain his low unawareness level. Still, quite a few of his projects are so far unfinished or finished but unpublished, as a comparison between his Ministry Reports and public records will show, which is a negative point on his tenure. > Cabinet of the South Pacific Overall the Cabinet has very good approval ratings, the high unawareness of its individual members notwithstanding. Participants highlighted the work ethic of the Cabinet and their willingness to risk its own reputation for what it thought was best for the region. Most participants simply said that the region was doing well and thanked the Cabinet for it. Others questioned how much has the current Cabinet actually done, saying that much of what was promised has not been accomplished and that many policies are nothing but the same from previous Cabinets.
Even if the current Cabinet has a slightly worse rating in comparison to the previous one, it has very good approval. It could be argued though that the Cabinet is a more abstract body to the average resident, meaning that it is more difficult to judge how good of a job it is doing. With each Minister having their own approval ratings, the overall Cabinet approval is not so relevant to their performance, nor does it serve as a particularly useful measure of approval. Still, this Cabinet is finishing its term with a healthy approval rating, showing that the region holds in good regard the work that has been done. Questions on Regional Issues, Identity and Participation > Recall of Regional Events While a relatively minor event now, the defamation charges filed by Belschaft top the list of most remembered regional events, followed closely by the 2015 Great Council. Overall the more dramatic or wide-reaching events are at the top of the list, explaining the additional presence of events like Belschaft's citizenship removal and the use of polls to decide the regional vote on WA resolutions. These events were dramatic or had a direct relevance to the broader region. Less dramatic events like the recall of CrimsonTideFan or the appointment of Arbiter08 to the Committee for State Security are not so remembered, even if they were quite consequential at the time.
These results stand in contrast with the results of the previous survey, in which the top events were cultural, with some exceptions, and the more dramatic issues were in the middle. This might be part of a wider perception that during this term there have been more dramatic or serious events. It might be tempting to argue that more recent or continuous events are better remembered, as suggested by the high position of the defamation charges and the use of regional polls. However, a closer look at the list shows recent discussions like the Charter of the High Court at nearly the bottom, while past events like the appointment of Kringalia to the Committee for State Security are near the top. It is more likely that events are listed on the basis of how far-reaching their effects were, either in terms of tangible consequences or the extent of the publicity that each received. > Association of Adjectives We included a question on the association of adjectives to know how residents perceived the South Pacific and to have a better idea of what the regional identity is. Are we tropical region? Are we a fun region? Are we a dramatic region? While these results do not determine what we actually are as a region, they do tell us how the region is perceived by its residents. It can be seen at first glance that the most descriptive articles are: democratic, friendly, tolerant, peaceful and fun. It can also bee seen that the adjective least associated with the South Pacific is raider, with some participants also selecting drunk, bold and tropical.
It is satisfactory to see residents associate the region with positive traits, particularly ones that we often pride ourselves of espousing. At the same time, it is slightly disappointing to see that residents do not associate the region with the tropical adjective, since it has often been claimed that we are a tropical region. This is probably one area where more cultural work could be made, to ensure that, aside from the more generic, albeit positive, adjectives, we have a better defined regional identity. It is also interesting to see how residents associate the region less with the raider identity, and more with the defender and non-aligned adjectives. Granted, not everyone might have a full understanding of their meanings, but at some level it does give us an indication of the region's proclivities, towards a more compassionate or at least non-aggressive side of the military spectrum. Likewise, some less noticeable terms like inclusive also deserve attention and promotion, particularly since the Government has a longstanding objective of including more residents in the governing process, as was most recently explained in the 2015 Great Council and the debate to create a Local Council. > Participation in the Regional Government Measuring the interest in participating in the regional government is quite important, since one of the most frequent questions is whether the government should involve the onsite community, and whether the onsite community even wants to be involved in governance. These results indicate that there definitely is interest in participating, in fact the same percentage of participants express interest in participating during the previous survey. However, when we ask if enabling onsite means of participation would encourage participation itself the responses are somehow unexpected:
Either because participants are already involved in the forum and approve of it, or because those who want to get involved feel participation on the forum is good, there is not as much interest in non-forum involvement as we expected. It is constantly said that the Government should not concentrate its proceedings on the forum, and certainly some residents do share that view, but on the whole the results do not show the overwhelming Yes that we had expected. Still, initiatives like the Local Council are important not only to empower the onsite community, including that 31% that did believe non-forum participation was needed, but also to foster the beginnings of a new generation of regional leaders.
Technical Information:
Former Delegate of the South Pacific
Posts outside High Court venues should be taken as those of any other legislator. I do not participate in the regional server, but I am happy to talk through instant messaging or on the forum. Legal Resources: THE MATT-DUCK Law Archive | Mavenu Diplomatic Archive | Rules of the High Court | Case Submission System | Online Rulings Consultation System
I find it just a tad odd that you would include a comparison to ONLY you and Hen as the MoRA. If you are going to compare one former Minister to the current you should have done this across the board.
You also have a typo in the MoRA chart. You are not the CoA.
I understand your point, and agree it would be better to make some changes. I have added spoilered comparisons in all positions, and left the single-survey graphs as the main ones, for the sake of consistency and objectivity. Thanks for the suggestion, and for spotting the typo.
Former Delegate of the South Pacific
Posts outside High Court venues should be taken as those of any other legislator. I do not participate in the regional server, but I am happy to talk through instant messaging or on the forum. Legal Resources: THE MATT-DUCK Law Archive | Mavenu Diplomatic Archive | Rules of the High Court | Case Submission System | Online Rulings Consultation System
Overall I find the results intriguing. Certainly something to think about.
Thank you for all this research Kris!
I remember the days where politicians didn't even bother with the RMB and things have started improving! Escade ~ Positions Held in TSP ~ Delegate | Vice Delegate Minister of Regional Affairs, | Minister of Foreign Affairs | Minister of Military Affairs ~ The Sparkly One ~ My Pinterest (03-18-2015, 08:57 AM)Escade Wrote: Thank you for all this research Kris! And RA. I started the poll up, mind you Kirs improved it a lot. Plus other members helped. I could see my comment's quite a lot in this report and mine and Raven's fight. It was pretty interesting and I defiantly think we need to become more tropical. Europeian Ambassador to The South Pacific
Former Local Council Member Former Minister of Regional Affairs Former High Court Justice
Indeed. Punch deserves the credit for opening the discussion on this survey.
Former Delegate of the South Pacific
Posts outside High Court venues should be taken as those of any other legislator. I do not participate in the regional server, but I am happy to talk through instant messaging or on the forum. Legal Resources: THE MATT-DUCK Law Archive | Mavenu Diplomatic Archive | Rules of the High Court | Case Submission System | Online Rulings Consultation System (03-18-2015, 05:29 PM)Kris Kringle Wrote: Indeed. Punch deserves the credit for opening the discussion on this survey. No you do, I didn't do much for this. You analysed it, added questions to it and came up with the idea you deserve the credit for this. Europeian Ambassador to The South Pacific
Former Local Council Member Former Minister of Regional Affairs Former High Court Justice
I meant for opening the discussion on conducting the survey. I had forgotten it was time.
Former Delegate of the South Pacific
Posts outside High Court venues should be taken as those of any other legislator. I do not participate in the regional server, but I am happy to talk through instant messaging or on the forum. Legal Resources: THE MATT-DUCK Law Archive | Mavenu Diplomatic Archive | Rules of the High Court | Case Submission System | Online Rulings Consultation System |
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