I am introducing legislation that will abolish the Local Council and have the Administration Team assume the responsibilities of the then-abolished Local Council. My reasoning for introducing this proposal is simple, the Local Council has become a group of glorified moderators who shouldn't be elected. Some will claim that this is anti-democratic, but I call this a sensible move.

Politics should have no part in the moderation of the Regional Message Board. We don't elect people to the Administration Team because we want them to be an apolitical institution responsible for the moderation of our region's means of communication. The Administration Team is a well-trusted group of longtime residents who have responsibly moderated our forum and Discord server. We should extend this responsibility to the RMB.

Amendment to the Charter

THE CHARTER OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC

...

I. CONSTITUTIONAL LAWS

...

(4) Any constitutional law passed by the Assembly that directly affects the gameside community or its home governance, as determined by the Chair of the Assembly, must also receive the consent of the gameside before coming into force, where that consent shall not require more than a three-fifths supermajority in a vote.

(5) Constitutional laws passed by the Local Council hold the same status as those passed by the Assembly, limited in their scope and force to the realms of Local Council jurisdiction, but may not contradict this Charter or any law, regulation, or policy of the Assembly, Cabinet, or Council on Regional Security.

...

V. THE LOCAL COUNCIL

Establishing home rule for the in-game region residents.

(1) The Local Council will be the local government of the in-game community, composed of three or more residents of the South Pacific, and will represent the interests of all players in the region, moderate the Regional Message Board, encourage activity on the gameside, and administrate itself on issues unique to the in-game community.

(2) The Local Council is entitled to self-administration within its jurisdiction on local issues, but may not pass laws or regulations that contradict this Charter or constitutional laws passed by the Assembly. To that end, the Assembly may not enact any law, nor the Cabinet deliver any directive, that is solely related to an issue local to the in-game community, except as done under the terms of this Charter.

(3) The Local Council may not be denied the authority to run regional polls, create and pin Dispatches, and to suppress messages on the Regional Message Board according to a standard moderation policy. However, it may not alter the regional flags or tags, and may not send out mass telegrams, without the approval of the Delegate.

(4) To help promote inter-governmental relations, the Local Council may send a representative to the Assembly whose term must not exceed the Local Council’s. The method of selection will be decided by the Local Council.

...

VII. THE DELEGATE

...

(2) The Delegate will work with the Local Council in moderating the Regional Message Board, fulfilling Regional Officer positions, promoting gameside activities, and representing the preferences of the gameside community.

...

VIII. THE HIGH COURT

...

(5) The High Court may reconcile contradictions within the Charter, constitutional laws, general laws, and Cabinet directives, and Local Council laws and regulations, maintaining the least amount of disruption to the intended purposes of the contradictory parts.

...

IX. THE COUNCIL ON REGIONAL SECURITY

...

(2) The minimum qualifications for membership in the Council on Regional Security are: maintaining a World Assembly member nation in the South Pacific; a Soft Power Disbursement Rating of at least 130,000, or a Regional Influence ranking of Apprentice; 400 endorsements or half the endorsements of the Delegate; and having served at least six consecutive months as a legislator or two terms in the Local Council. The influence and endorsement requirements may be updated by the Council, with majority approval by the Assembly.

...

XII. THE ADMINISTRATION TEAM

(1) The Off-Site Administration Team will be responsible for the technical maintenance of the region's means of communication Discord servers, forums, and the integrity of the database. Administrators will not be given responsibilities of a political nature.

(2) The Off-Site Administration Team will be responsible for the appointment and removal of its own members, except when an administrator is removed from the position following a guilty verdict in a fair trial for abuse of administrative powers. Additionally, new administrators must be approved by a majority of the Assembly before being granted administrator permissions.

(3) The Off-Site Administration Team must create standard administration and moderation policies. These policies will be submitted to the Assembly for a one-week review and comment period before going into effect.

(4) While the Off-Site Administration Team may appoint global moderators if needed, individual Ministers, the Chair of the Assembly, and roleplay moderators primarily will be responsible for the moderation of their dedicated Discord servers and forums.

...

XIII. AMENDMENT PROCESS

...

(2) Any amendment to the Charter or constitutional laws that directly affects the gameside community or its home governance, as determined by the Chair of the Assembly, must also must also receive the consent of the gameside community before coming into force, where the consent shall not require more than a three-fifths supermajority in a vote. Additionally, the Local Council may originate amendments to its structure in the Charter, which must receive the consent of the Assembly before coming into force.

(3) The Local Council will determine the qualifications and processes for amendments to its own constitutional laws.

Amendment to the Border Control Act

Border Control Act

...

3. Powers of the Local Council and Delegate and Administration Team

(1) The Delegate, or a majority of the Local Council, or Administration Team may order a border control action against a nation they determine to be in violation of moderation policy spammers or trolls. The assent of the Council on Regional Security is required if the nation in question is not a low influence nation.

(2) The Delegate or Administration Team Local Council must inform the Council on Regional Security immediately after having ordered a border control action.

(3) The Local Council may enact policy allowing border control actions within its purview to be performed unilaterally by a border control officer. Any change to such a policy must be clearly and immediately communicated to all border control officers.

Amendment to the Elections Act

Elections Act

...

7. Separation of Powers

(1) Offices of the Coalition are the Delegate, the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers, the Chair of the Assembly, Local Councillors, the Chief Justice, and any of their appointed deputies.

Amendment to the Political Parties Act

Political Parties Act

...

3. Benefits to Active Political Parties

...

(2) Political parties may petition the Chair of the Assembly for approval for a subforum. The Chair of the Assembly will verify the qualifications of the party, and if the party meets those qualifications, notify the Off-Site Administration Team to create the party's dedicated subforums.

...

4. Archival of Inactive Subforums

...

(1) The Off-Site Administration Team will non-destructively archive political party subforums if the requirements listed in Article 3 are no longer met.

Amendment to the Regional Officers Act

Regional Officers Act

...

2. Regional Officers

...

(5) The Administration Team will be allotted three Regional Officer positions and granted Border Control and Communications powers.

(5) The Local Council will be allotted three Regional Officer positions and granted Appearance, Communications, and Polls powers.

...

4. Limitations

(1) Border Control power does not grant any legal authority to eject or ban nations from the region when not authorized by security or criminal laws or exercising moderation action.

4× Cabinet minister /// 1× OWL director /// CRS member /// SPSF

My History

(This post was last modified: 09-20-2020, 11:00 PM by Jay Coop.)

Reply

Why don't we just remove border control (or, I mean requesting power) from the LC? And have some apolitical Admins with border control?

(This post was last modified: 09-20-2020, 08:50 PM by Domais.)

Reply

Full support.

Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)

Quotes

"The 1% is like a 1% battery charge. It will die out if it is not charged(the charge is the 99%). But if you don't charge it, it will die for sure, sooner or later"
- Me (2001- Present)

"Change is the world's blood"
- Me (2001-Present)

[Image: 9ehfkQV.png]

Reply

The Local Council has the right to be more than a moderation team, but they have elected to remain like that. Very well. There is no need to abolish the Council because they chose a path that some members of the Assembly dislike.

ProfessorHenn
Legislator

Reply

I don't think abolishing the LC will achieve anything meaningful other than to piss off those who frequent the RMB. I'm against.

Founder of the Church of the South Pacific [Forum Thread] [Discord], a safe place to discuss spirituality for people of all faiths and none (currently looking for those interested in prayer and/or "home" groups);
And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond!

Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi.

Salma 145:8

translate

The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
Psalm 145: 8

Reply

The gameside has two moderation teams, really: the LC and NationStates moderators. Currently our function offsite is more like the NS moderators - they are the ones who respond to things like flaming or egregious spam and can issue lasting warnings or permanent bans from NS. The Local Council handle some of this, mostly calling for people to be banned, either by mods or BC, or by suppressing posts, but from what I've seen the majority of their moderation activity is on the rules they make.

What happens to those rules in this case? Is there any way for the gameside to decide whether they want double posting or roleplay? And if they don't want those, but they're not really OOC offenses, do we have the power to enforce anything against them? None of the moderation team signed up to hang around the RMB and suppress double posts, unlike the LC who have volunteered for that.

I'm in favor of the BC amendment. Not sure on the rest.

(This post was last modified: 09-21-2020, 06:42 AM by Nakari.)

Reply

As ProfessorHenn has rightly argued, the Local Council is a creation of its own desires. It could very well exceed its present mandate and evolve into a fully self-functioning gameside government complete with its very own mini-Admiral General. However, that it has chosen to regulate the behaviour of South Pacificans on the RMB and enforce these rules is its prerogative and one which this body must respect.

Reply

As Henn and Amerion both noted, the LC has *decided* to become moderators; it could choose to do other things.

If anything, it shows the admins (and lets not even get started on that suggestion) weren't/aren't doing enough of it anyhow, which requires the LC to do it.

Beyond the fact that this would need to be vote on by the in-game community, I think this would have disastrous effects.

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

(This post was last modified: 09-21-2020, 11:16 AM by Tsunamy.)

Reply

I feel like the direction of travel has been to grant the gameside greater autonomy over its own affairs (such as the recent amendment allowing the LC to pass constitutional laws). This would be a step in the opposite direction, and not a welcome one.

Reply

I'm in favor of the BC amendment. Not sure on the rest.

The Border Control Authorization is what the LC uses to pre-authorize the CRS to expel spammers. 

Would you prefer the RMB to wait around until the Delegate makes the request?

---

Legislator | Local Councilor | Aspiring TSP Curmudgeon
Messages archived by the Ministry Of the Regal Executive - Bureaucratic Services

---

Reply