Challenge: describe "your" country

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Mine would just be a nationalist's parody of America. However, I think I can whip up some lengthy piece to submit at some point.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Cathconia

Lying in the western half of the world, Cathconia is a land of freedom. Its history is marked by a long line of leaders dedicated to the defense and expansion of both the country and the Republican form of government. The main political disagreements have been over whether Cathconia will remain a freer nation of independent settlers and farmers, or whether it will bolster its Eastern industrial economy.

The Western portion of the country is marked by vast rolling planes, mountains, and deserts, which were divvied up into squares some century and a half ago and are owned largely by ranchers, farmers, and the like. These people are parodied by other countries as ignorant brutes beholden to "God 'n' Guns", however, we all know better. Meanwhile, the East is dominated largely by industrial cities, chock full of ethnics, whether white or other. These people are largely employed in industrial positions.

Religiously, the country is not completely up to "shape". Despite a large portion of the country identifying with one religion or another, actual regular attendance of certain services is less than one might expect. Nevertheless, it is religious well beyond that of other nations, and Cathconia has been mocked as such across the ocean.

Overall, the citizens of Cathconia are known for their national pride, subdued yet present religiosity, independence, work ethic, and all the rest.

From a political standpoint, all leaders are elected by popular vote. A longstanding commitment to the extension of its democratic and republican form of government has existed going back to its earliest days. In recent decades, this view of foreign policy has been looked upon oddly by fair-weather allies, judging its recent actions in other countries as brash and pig-headed. Nevertheless, a robust military (to protect freedom, you see) has won hard-fought victories of late. Immigration is rather open, Cathconia being seen as a "nation of immigrants" and various ethnic communities dot the fruited plain, making for a diverse and tolerant land.

Cathconia's leaders have typically either been military men or otherwise form humble origins, the ideal of someone serving their country or coming up from the bottom being glorified in this country. Wealth is rather fluid and stories of old, landed families disappearing and decaying are as common as tales of brave immigrants revolutionizing certain industries.

All around, the perfect country.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Doing this instead of my Forensics class reviews.

Cathconian Political Parties

Cathconia has traditionally been divided between West and East. Contemporary political parties formed about 130 years ago.

The Cathconian Party

The Cathconian Party, part of a strong Eastern Cathconia tradition of pro-industry, pro-finance, is formed around a few key principles. First off, high tariffs to protect domestic industry. This has been seen in the past as both a pro-business and then later a pro-labor stance. As well, in later years, though there was still a large amount of support from Eastern businesses, a trust-busting faction developed. On immigration, they are typically the more opposed faction and thus have had to deal with large immigrant communities in Eastern cities. As well, they tend to support higher taxes and large, paternal welfare programs. They've been opposed to a large number of "Republican" foreign interventions, viewing them as distracting from more internal conflicts. There is a Western faction, comprised largely of impoverished farmers that are wary of immigrants and rather anti-internationalist. The stereotype of an Cathconian Party voter is either an Eastern fatcat corporatist "statist", though in lesser use is a xenophobic farmer.

The Republican Party
The Republican party is your traditional Western Cathconian party. They favor low tariffs, domestic quasi-libertarianism (though immigrant communities have provided certain moralistic traits to the party). They are welcoming of immigrants, viewing them as increasing the fabric of what was originally an immigrant's country. In foreign policy, they might be called "expansionist" or even "pro war" given that a central part of the Republican Party's ideology is expanding democracy and the republican form of government to all corners of the globe. This in the past has involved protecting burgeoning independent republics in Cathconia's own hemisphere. The stereotype of a Republican Party voter is a cowboy with little interest in helping his fellow man and a disdain for most other countries (aside from of course those that Cathconia has liberated).

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Doing this instead of my Forensics class reviews.

Cathconian Political Parties

Cathconia has traditionally been divided between West and East. Contemporary political parties formed about 130 years ago.

The Cathconian Party

The Cathconian Party, part of a strong Eastern Cathconia tradition of pro-industry, pro-finance, is formed around a few key principles. First off, high tariffs to protect domestic industry. This has been seen in the past as both a pro-business and then later a pro-labor stance. As well, in later years, though there was still a large amount of support from Eastern businesses, a trust-busting faction developed. On immigration, they are typically the more opposed faction and thus have had to deal with large immigrant communities in Eastern cities. As well, they tend to support higher taxes and large, paternal welfare programs. They've been opposed to a large number of "Republican" foreign interventions, viewing them as distracting from more internal conflicts. There is a Western faction, comprised largely of impoverished farmers that are wary of immigrants and rather anti-internationalist. The stereotype of an Cathconian Party voter is either an Eastern fatcat corporatist "statist", though in lesser use is a xenophobic farmer.

The Republican Party
The Republican party is your traditional Western Cathconian party. They favor low tariffs, domestic quasi-libertarianism (though immigrant communities have provided certain moralistic traits to the party). They are welcoming of immigrants, viewing them as increasing the fabric of what was originally an immigrant's country. In foreign policy, they might be called "expansionist" or even "pro war" given that a central part of the Republican Party's ideology is expanding democracy and the republican form of government to all corners of the globe. This in the past has involved protecting burgeoning independent republics in Cathconia's own hemisphere. The stereotype of a Republican Party voter is a cowboy with little interest in helping his fellow man and a disdain for most other countries (aside from of course those that Cathconia has liberated).

History of the parties:

The Republicans were at one point the dominant party in Cathconia. After a string of twenty years of victory, a growing anti-immigrant faction, made up of some Eastern and Mid-Western voters, began to grow in power. After nearly winning an election against the Republican nominee, the party reformed, adopted a specific economic and foreign policy platform, and was able to win a comfortable victory, breaking what was then a 28-year string of victories. The Cathconian Party began an era as the pre-dominant party thanks to growing industry that they supported. Today, we are in an era of divided government, though it is said by historians that the Cathconians have won the economic battle--a more industrial economy--however that Republicans maintain greater popular support and have the "spirit of the nation". The isolationists in the Republicans have had to moderate to a more "internationalist" stance in recent years.

In the beginning days of the republic, the economic and political battles were largely the same. In the East and on the coasts was the powerful National Party, supported by "big money" and the like and favoring economic modernization. Meanwhile the Liberty Party was the party of the West and the interior. However, it only came about around fifty years into the nation's history that the "Whig" party--descended from the Libertarians--took a strong "Republican" foreign policy stance, building a massive navy during a stint in power to protect not only the country, but burgeoning republics in the hemisphere. At around the same time, the Nationalists, then fading, took the position of siding with the more powerful monarchial countries "across the pond". When the Whigs became more rooted with the landed gentry and less focused on their original founding ideas, a war hero from conflicts to the South who'd made his name fighting in jungles for a new republic would run on a "Republican ticket", ushering in the groundwork for a new party system.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

     The Republic of Peteria

Haven't read through your entire thing, but how do you ban a party that falls under one of the buzzwords you listed? I'm sure there's some lengthy trial process and maybe some precedent of "I know it when I see it" or something like that.