1st Constitutional Congress

[Jack_www]

well spiffor can you make a summery of you view so I can make a poll then?

[Spiffor]

OK, thanks for the question

The "Senatorial" view of Democracy
- The Senate is composed by all team members. Hence, everybody has his say.
- The Senate can give orders on any issue it wants to adress. Other issues are handled by the ministers.
- The Senate needs an absolute (50%) majority to give an order
- If the Senate issues an order, it must be followed by the minister in charge / the President. Nobody can veto this order.
- There is no reason to veto such an order because more than the majority of the team agrees with it anyways.
- The Senate might veto a minister's order, if more than 50% agree. Again, it's more than half of the team.
- If there is a draw in the Senate, the President (or VP) should break the tie.
-Some issues cannot be handled by the ministers alone : declaration of war, regime change, amendment of the constitution. Since the Senate doesn't replace a minister when dealing with these matters, the majority to decide can be other than 50%

Hope this helps to understand the "Senatorial" view of Democracy !

[Jack_www]

well there is a lot that I agree with. I think the main difference is the Presidential veto power that I suggested.

[Spiffor]

Yep
Unfortunately, I don't know if we can compromise on it
Maybe a clause which considerably limits (but doesn't completely forbid) presidential veto ?

Argh, I have no idea

[Jack_www]

Just so you know I am willing to back off my position, I will wait and see what poll results are though.

[Jack_www]

Besides if it gets to be a problem and we realy need it, we can add it latter.

[Jack_www]

Well I just though of a comprimise. I was thinking that the President, while he is in the game, can issue orders when the orders that were given to him would harm us or no longer valid. How about this?

[Tiberius]

Originally posted by Jack_www
Humm, seems to me the Senate is the most power full of all. The 2/3 vote on aproving people to apointments I think is to high, I think simple majority is fine.
Just removing Judges of President when ever they want?

66% is for removing somebody from his office. For appointing somebody, only simple majority will be required.

Also side note, a majority is 50% + one vote of the total votes. But must of you already know that.

Exactly. In 50%-50% situations, the Presidents vote break ties.

[Tiberius]

Added article V about voting procedures.

[Jack_www]

why not have vp break the tie, to give him more things to do.

[Tiberius]

Or it could be like this: have the High Council break the tie.

[Spiffor]

I prefer when one person breaks the tie, it is much more simple this way. I have no qualms on whether the Prez or the VP should break the tie, I'm completely neutral on this question.
I first thought of the Prez to compensate the lack of veto power, but Jack_www's point is also valid.

[Jack_www]

How is this consitution??

Preamble:
We the people of Legoland seek to better the world around them through the development of our lands and the growth of our sciences. We are a peaceful people, but not a passive one. Our lands will be defended at any cost, and our troops are willing and able to march forth against any enemy that deigns to threaten us. The world can be a better place, and it is our job to make it so. In order to reach this goal we the people of Legoland here by form the government that willl rule the Legoland team.

Article I, Section I:

Executive Branch
The qualifications to be President of the Legoland team:
He/she must have PTW, so as to be able to play the game.

The duties of the President:
He/she is the one who will acually play the game for the team according to the wishes of the Ministers and Senate.
When the wishes of the Ministers and Senate are do not come to the President in time or are harmfull due to changes in game, then the President can act on his/her own in the best interest of the Legoland team.
The President is the Head of State, meaning the foreign minister reports to him, and can not make deals with out the President and Senate approval.
Also if on one is holding the Vice President or any minister spot, then the President can appoint a new one to that spot, who will serve untill the next election.

Section II:
Vice President:
Must be able to serve as President any at time.
He steps in when President cannot play the game.

Section III:
Ministers:
The qualifications to be a Minester or Ambassidor of the Legoland team:
They must be an active member of Legoland team.
(Post every week)
There are five minesters in Executive Branch:

-The Labor Minister (Head Engineer)
-The Interior Minister (Master Builder)
-The Defense Minister (Military Architecht)
-The Budget/Science Minister (The Enlightened)
-The Foreign Minister (TBD)
-The Head Engineer (HE) shall be responsible for movement of all workers and the improvement of lands.
-The Master Builder (MB) shall be responsible for planning of city production, as well as selecting suitable sites for new cities.
-The Military Architecht (MA) shall be responsible for the movement of all military units, as well as long-term strategic plans.
-The Budget/Science Minister (TE) shall be responsible for managing sliders and selecting future courses of research.
-The Foreign Minister shall coordinate information from all ambassadors and keep track of treaties, etc.

Section IV:
Ambassidors:
They deal directly with all other teams in the game.
They are primary ones who talk and negoicate deals with other teams. Allthough the President can also when leaders on other team are involved in talks as well.
They report directly to the Foreign Minister.

Article II, Section I:
Senate:
Qualifications for Senators:
Everyone is member of Senate.

Section II:
Powers of Senate:
They can remove any minister, the President, Vice President, or Justices of Court if they have comiited High Crimes or have abondon their post.
Once the Senate impeaches them by a majority then the Sumpreme Court hears the case and decides if enough evidence to kick the person out of the team.
The Senate will have the power to declare war on anther team, and this power will always stay in Senate.
The Senate has power aprove or dissaprove treaties the President signs. Untill Senate aproves the treaty it is not binding on the Legoland team. Once the treaty is aproved it is the law of the land.
The Senate can issue its own orders, and they must be followed over the orders of the Minsiters.

Article III : The Supreme Court
- The supreme court shall consist of three judges, appointed by the President at the beginning of his term.
- Judges can either be retained or removed by an incoming, new President.
- If 2 out of 3 judges vote to hear a case, the case will be presented to the court for trial.
- The court's main responsibility is to deal with cases regarding constitutional interpretation, or cases with
severe consequences (treason, abuse of office, etc.), or cases which the public is unable to settle.
- the court can remove citizenship if a Lego citizen is found to have commited high crimes against team
- Any case rejected by the court may be settled by the citizenry.

Article IV:
Amdening the Consitution:
Once a admendment is drafted it must be introduced to Senate. The Senate must aprove it be a two thrids vote. At least half the Senate must be present during vote.

Article V:Elections
- Any voting procedure, regarding any subject, in any institution of Legoland, requires a majority of 50% + 1 of the votes to be declared valid, if not specified otherwise in the articles I to IV of the Constitution.
- In situations with multiple choises vote procedures, the option/candidate with the most votes is declared winner, if not specified otherwise in the articles I to IV of the Constitution.
- If any voting procedure ends with no clear majority (50%-50% situations) the Presidential vote breaks the tie.
- any voting procedure regarding any subject, in any institution of Legoland, requires that 50% of the members of the respective institution must vote, if not specified otherwise in the articles I to IV of the Constitution. Otherwise the vote is declared void and must be repeated.
All members of the Executive are elected by the Senate and need a majority or most votes if they have more the two people running.

Article VI: The citizens

Section 1: The Rights
[Somebody with better writer skills than me please help: I want to say that all citizens are equal, they have
the right to express their opinion on any matter concerning Legoland, they all have the same rights to be elected in any executive position, etc etc]

Section 2: The Responsabilities
[again: every citizen is responsible to act in Legoland's best interest, etc etc]
Edited: I think you can edit this directly. Apparently we can edit each others posts. Plase don't erase my draft, though

[Jack_www]

anther thing to think about, if we want to move game along faster, we need to make a consitution that can do that.

over here there is disscuss on it some what

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=68772

[ZargonX]

Here is a little fill in for Tiberius' draft:

Article I: The citizens

Section 1: The Rights

As all the bricks in a foundation are equally important, so too are the citizens of Legoland. Ever citizen carries rights and burdens of responsibility that are no greater, nor no less than any of their fellows. All speak with an equal voice, and no voice should go unheard. So long as a citizen stays involved with the affairs of the land (posting at least every 4 days?), they may seek, or be appointed to, any office in the land. A civilization built on a foundation such as this shall no crumble from within, nor be toppled from without.

Section 2: Responsibilites

It is every citizens duty to make known their thoughts on the state and future of our land. Only through open discussion can we find the proper path to choose from. It is also every citizen's duty to serve in the best interests of the land. A citizen must no willfully pass on information to our foes that would endanger our safety nor give away our secrets.