L.C. 10.19 - Third Lincoln Constitution

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

It has been many years since I lived in Lincoln; but as a native Hoosier, as the author of the original Northern Constitution, and someone who advised the creators of the Philadelphia Plan against what I felt were the worst offenses of that charter when it was first proposed, I hope the council will not be too adverse to my counsel in this matter. I have written or been a major contributor to no fewer than four constitutions in the last six years, not to mention countless constitutional amendments. This document combines the best parts of the Fourth Constitution, the Second Frémont Constitution, and the original Northern Constitution to create a document that is sound in its construction, simple in its prose, and transparent in the forms of government which it creates for the people. It is a plain, humble, republican document worthy of a great region. No constitution is a substitute for leadership and commitment on the part of elected representatives; what this constitution will do is make the work of worthy leaders that much easier. It comes with my hearty recommendation, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to have a hand in its creation.


Now having said that, I strongly encourage everyone to give the full document a once-over before it is adopted. I read the text several times before it was printed, and already I notice a couple of typos in Article I.

1. All legislative powers granted herein shall be vested in an Chamber of Deputies.

2. The Chamber shall consist of five members, except when there are 9 nine or more candidates on the ballot in a regular election, in which case it shall be 7 seven, chosen every second month by the eligible voters of Lincoln, according to a method of proportional representation prescribed by law.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

So, uh, do people prefer Deputies or Delegates as the name for the members of the legislature? I used deputies in the top matter because that was what Kaiser used in the bill of rights, but I don't really care and we can change everything to say Delegates if that sounds better or whatever.

Just to be clear, "Delegates" was a typo on my part. I meant "Deputies."

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

My suggestion was to call it the "General Court" or the "Bimonthly Meeting" to give the chamber a distinctly Northern/New England feel. "General Assembly" works too.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

General Court is good.

Also bimonthly elections are fine. Nothing wrong with that. The 3-leg 4-gov system would become very annoying very quickly under presidentialism. Was bad enough before.

What would the term for General Court member be?

I meant title of the office. 

Oh lol.

Variety of options, I guess. Could still go with "Deputies" or any other generic term like that.

Alternatively could try something like making the full title "Member of the General Court" but just referring to them individually as "Hon. [Member Name]" or "the Honorable Member" individually.

Just as long as it's not "Councilor". Or "Assembly(wo)man"/"Assemblymember" which I've always found rather clunky.

I've always been partial to just "member."

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

S019's amendment is very poorly written and riddled with ambiguities, but I would recommend striking "if it has less than two thirds support of the chamber" from the original text, or at least amending it to read "if it shall have passed the chamber with fewer than two-thirds the votes of its membership" to make it absolutely clear what "two-thirds support" means.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Not sure where y'all are in determining the size of the general court, but I§2 somewhat concerns me with its wording in that it implies the general court only exists during election weekend. I would suggest amending it to more closely resemble the (former amended) language of the Frémont constitution, to wit.

2. The General Court shall consist of a number of members chosen at-large every [nth] month by the eligible voters of Lincoln according to a method of proportional representation prescribed by law. When the number of candidates is five or fewer, one less than that the number shall be chosen; when it is greater than five but less than nine, five members shall be chosen; when it is greater than nine, seven shall be chosen.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I don't understand why it needs to be so simple,

Yes, this is the root of the problem we have been having for several weeks now.

government is inherently complex,

Wrong.

and dumbing it down

lol

is a bad idea, imo

It would be hard to come up with an idea worse than tiered vetoes or four-month legislative terms!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Why is it called the General Court?

It is the traditional name of the legislature of several New England states. Some people wanted a more uniquely Northern name than "Chamber of Deputies" and it was one of the ones I suggested.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

It is very annoying that people keep posting in this thread accusing of delaying and whatnot, when they opposed the four month term that did pass the legislature. Quite frankly, it's pretty clear they only care what the legislature thinks when it agrees with them.

Yeah that is how politics works. Majority rule!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Fun fact: this is the most debated bill in the history of the regional government board.

In stark contrast to the last attempt!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Idk what S019 is talking about, this has been one of the most focussed and efficient legislative deliberations I have seen in my time in Atlasia. Very weird that he just refuses to learn anything new about democracy and thinks this is a virtue!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Congratulations Lincoln!