Although I guess it is true that ballot initiatives would be better than an elected regional legislature. The ideal method would be a universal assembly, like the Pacific (sort of still) has.
In regards to attacking Regional Legislatures, I have to disagree. They have served a valuable purpose - they help get new members/members who have been away for a while an opportunity to get involved. After my year long exile into the wilderness, I was able to begin rehabilitating myself by serving in the Mideast Legislature. Valuable members like A-Bob and Purple State started in the Assembly. Without Legislatures I don't think it would be as easy for newbies to get involved, and I see that as one of the big advantages to having elected bodies other than the National ones.
Ben is quite correct here. Regional legislatures are a great source of experience for new Atlasians. Granted there are also Governorships & Lt. Governorships, but without legislatures those tend to be worthless sinecures. Granted some exceptional individuals have managed to put those offices to good use under those circumstances (Vepres, for example), but that aside they tend to make for a poor first experience in Atlasia.
Regional governor and Lt Governor positions, and I agree with you. But nothing is really gained from an elected legislature, in my opinion. The Mideast is the best one, if you're only talking about elected legislatures, but the Southeast and the Northeast have left much to be desired. Nothing you gain in an elected regional legislature couldn't be gained in a universalist one.
The problem with the southeast is that the only people in the region who are active, besides our senators, are myself, KS21, and PiT. The three of us cannot run a regional government. This is why I am not totally against what you people call "strategic registration" when the purpose has nothing to do with parties and everything to do with keeping the regions active. The inactivity is why I am not ruling out the lower house that Agooji proposes replacing it with; this would put the more active junior members in one chamber rather than splitting them up in five separate ones and creating situations where some of us end up talking to ourselves most days of a given month.
