Post by Enlightened Refuge on Mar 19, 2012 0:12:58 GMT -5
[Draft Discussion Document]
LUAC Statement of Operating Procedures.
Shaping the Islands for the better!
PREAMBLE
The United Action Committee [LUAC] is an interest group unique to the 10000 Islands region [TKI]. LUAC is committed to promoting the liberal perspective but welcomes conservative input believing that listening to all perspectives produces the best, well-rounded policies.
LUAC hopes to actively participate in elections to support the democratic tradition. During elections LUAC may conduct nonpartisan get-out-the-vote drives. We may also question and rank the liberal views of candidates and political parties in Counsel of Nine elections. LUAC may score candidates on their liberal believes. LUAC encourages political debate and may mediate debates as a nonpartisan third-party.
We try to support liberal thinking throughout the region, in government ministries and other regional organizations. LUAC supports use of PolitiFact as a TKI fact-checker to rate candidates and to keep government officials accountable. LUAC examines current or hypothetical issues from partisan, non-partisan, liberal, libertarian and other perspectives to develop LUAC’s policy on a wide range of issues. Policies will be distributed as widely as possible and depending on the subject may be delivered directly to regional decision makers.
LUAC policies are considered informative and suggestive by nature. They are intended to provide guidance wherever we believe a liberal perspective could be beneficial. Members who choose not to follow LUAC policy will not be held accountable, punished or sanctioned in any way for the way they vote or for providing constructive input. For example LUAC may support a resolution before the General Assemble but Members are still free to cast their WA vote against the resolution.
LUAC member nations remain completely autonomous. Personal Messages [PM] are widely used. A member’s position is quickly severed from their PM, but the Whip. Members’ names are not included in the report the Chair uses to determine policy.
Donations may be made to the LUAC forum account.
[Draft Discussion Document]
WHO WE ARE:
1. Our Mission: to make LUAC a relevant, vibrant and integral part of TKI political landscape to promote liberal action in 10000 Islands [TKI] and the World Assembly [WA].
2. Our Goal: work for democratic advancement throughout the region, ensure government transparency, uphold the regional constitution, support due process, safeguard national independence and promote liberal values.
3. The United Action Committee [Committee] is comprised of the Founder, elected Chairperson [Chair], Elected Whip, appointed Officers, Members and Guests. Responsibilities of each position are described below. The Committee is always in general session on the forum for anyone to make a suggestion or raise a concern. From time to time the Whip will call a Committee of members to vote or provide input concerning specific issues. Committee sessions are found here <insert link here>. Resolve, can we start a thread for debates and one for membership to separate policy from administration.
4. Guests: A guest is anyone who participates in Committee and who is not a LUAC member. Guests are welcome to offer constructive opinions. Guest narrative input will be considered when shaping LUAC policy but their vote will not be counted.
[Draft Discussion Document]
MEMBERSHIP:
5. Members:
5.1. Eligibility: Membership is open to all TKI residences with a valid LUAC application.
5.2. Freedom to Assemble: Members may share their views at any time in on-line discussion or by personal message [PM] sent to the Founder, Chair, Whip or between Members.
5.3. Commitment to Vote: Members are encouraged to vote whenever the Whip calls the Committee to vote on policy or administrative issues [vote].
5.4. Commitment to participate in Committee: Members are encouraged to provide constructive narrative comment on administrative, policy and topical discussions in the forum, or by PM when the whip calls for their narrative input [input]. Constructive comments may be negative or positive, for or against a proposal, as long as comments are intended to contribute to well thought-out positions. All members are encouraged to provide input, even if only to support another member’s position, or to register an undecided. Members are also encouraged to provide their rationale for their position. When analysing input one strong more detailed position may carry the most weight even if most members supported a different weaker position.
5.5. Forum Use: LUAC forum threads maybe used by members to post their opinion on issues before the membership and for ad hoc discussion, but members are asked to keep their comments on topic. There are other threads for chat and role play. Disruptive behaviour could lead to membership being revoked.
5.6. Active Members: Members are considered active members if they responded at least once in the last 5 Committee calls from the Whip under subsections 5.3, 5.4, 5.6-8, 8, 9.4, 11.5 or under subsequent amendments.
5.7. Right to Vote: Only active members may vote in the election of the Whip, Chair and Founder. This provides a small amount of protection against ballot stuffing as well as a basis to calculate the percentage of voting results.
5.8. Revocation: Any members may ask the Whip to call the Committee for a vote to revoke membership with cause of another member. The Whip will inform the other member as soon as possible. The Whip will have 72 hours to negotiate a settlement and withdrawal request before being obligated to inform members of the issues and call the vote. The Committee will stand on the issue for another 48 hours of voting during which both members may further their claims. Revocation requires a 60% majority of active members.
5.9. Impeachment: Members may call for a vote to impeach the Founder, Chair or Whip. Impeachment requires a 70% majority of active members. Separate votes are required to impeach 2 or more elected officers. Each vote will include a referendum to determine if membership should also be revoked. The vote will be administered as described in subsection 5.7 by the highest ranking elected officer not tainted by impeachment allegation. If such officer cannot be found any member may appeal to the regional founder to administer the vote. Any member calling for impeachment out of malice could face a vote to revoke membership but the Whip will not call the Committee on this issue until the impeachment process is completed and if impeached, the new Whip takes office long enough to have 72 hours to negotiate a settlement.
6. Membership Applications: Information collected in a member’s application may be used to categorize members’ vote or input when analysis is required. Comments and votes by individuals will not be revealed without consent unless already posted on the forum. Applications may be posted in the forum or sent by PM to the Whip. For an application to be valid the applicant must self-identifies their nation state as:
6.1. WA Affiliation: WA member or none WA.
6.2. Political View Point: More liberal or conservative minded.
6.3. Regional Affiliations: Having Political party and or House affiliations, holds elected office, volunteers and /or participates in government programs or large projects. and
6.4. Other Persona: Access to other Nation States giving names and regions (TITO members are exemption under this subsection).
[Draft Discussion Document]
FILLING POSITIONS:
7. LUAC Appointed Officers: Non-elected officers are appointed by the Chair for a term no longer than the balance of the chair’s mandate. These are volunteer positions established to perform specific tasks consistent with this Charter. Duties and designated tasks will be posted in the LUAC forum and will remain posted for transparency and as a guide for future postings. Appointed Officers are granted no privilege or special consideration beyond our gratitude. The Whip will Call a Committee of interested members by PM indicating the closing date to reply with up to 100 words explaining why the volunteering members believe they should be considered. The job (delegated duties and designated tasks) should be designed either to provide new and young members an opportunity to gain training and experience or to perform highly skilled tasks with skill sets the elected officers do not possess. Only after exhausting all practical attempts to fill an appointed officer position with a motivated member should the Chair consider posting an officer position through the Minister of Employment, to be filled with a non-member on an intern basis or in the extreme on a paid basis.
8. Election Requirements Chair and Whip:
8.1. Term of Office: The Chair and Whip are elected for a period of 4 months.
8.2. Limit on Term of Office: No member may hold the same elected position for more than 3 consecutive terms.
8.3. Proof of Liberal Orientation: To be eligible for elected office candidates must be a member of the WA directly or through a puppet nation.
8.4. Campaigning: Members running for office may start promoting their candidacy at any time.
8.5. Election Call: The Whip will call for members to submit their candidacy no later than 14 days before the end of term.
8.6. Committee Election Sessions: The Whip will call the Committee to vote beginning 10 days before the end of term and ending 2 days before the end of term.
8.7. Voting: Members will cast their votes by PM to the Founder.
8.8. Transition: Incumbents and successful candidates will be advised the day before the new term begins. Incumbents will brief and prepare successful candidates for a smooth transition as soon as possible ensuring the knowledge transfer is complete within the first week of the new term.
8.9. Celebration: The new Chair will announce election results to the Committee by the end of the first day of the new term.
8.10. Bi-elections: The Founder will call and administrate bi-elections if the Chair or the Whip resigns or must leave office with more than 4 weeks remain in the term. This duty may be delegated to an elected officer remaining in office. Candidates will be given the first 2 days after the call to announce their intent to run. The Committee will be called to vote from the third day until the fifth. The Founder and remaining elected officer will assist with the transition and the results will be celebrated 1 week after the office became vacant.
[Draft Discussion Document]
DUTIES - WHIP:
9. Whip: The whip. The whip supports duties of the Chair, enforces membership discipline and is tasked with raising and maintaining membership. The whip is responsible to:
9.1. Recruit: Conduct at least 2 membership drives focussing on players who have newly joined the region.
9.2. Validate membership: The Whip will review applications and assist members when applications are incomplete. Once per term the Whip will remind members to keeping their application information updated.
9.3. Administer Suspension: The Whip can unilaterally revoke membership privileges for omitting the truth or providing incomplete or false application information, on their original application or update requests. Members can appeal their suspension in a PM to the Chair and copied to the Whip. The Chair will consult the Whip before granting a final decision.
9.4. Administer Committee Call and Debate for LUAC Policies Sessions: The Whip calls the Committee with a PM to all members explaining how to respond and the closing date. The PM outlines known facts, and considerations and decides whether to include the facts in the PM or reference where the facts are posted. The Whip and Chair may encourage group synergy by asking questions that draw out ideas during debate. The Whip may schedule time in the chat room for real-time idea building.
9.5. Report Committee findings to the Chair: The Whip will compile, categorize usually against application data, analyse and report on outcomes, considerations and recommendations raised by members to the Chair. The Whip may be asked to collect addition information from members and other sources until the Chair has enough information to declare policy.
9.6. Enforce Member Discipline: The Whip ensures members’ comments in forum and PMs are constructive, appropriate and kept reasonably on topic. The Whip will respond to any complaint of disruptive behaviour from a guest, a member or personally observed act. The Whip will investigate all sides of a complaint and attempt to negotiate a resolution between principles. The Whip may call the Committee to consider revoking membership under subsection 5.7 whenever the Whip considers the behaviour serious enough or negotiations have failed.
9.7. Enforce Sanctions: The Whip will enforce any sanctions under subsections5.7 and 5.8 against a member, guest or former officer, to the Whip’s best ability permitted under NationStates rules.
9.8. Call Candidates: One of the last duties in the Whip’s term of office is to notify members when and how to submit their intent to run for elected office in section 8 elections. The notice will go to all members and will include the election closing date when all votes are to delivered to the Founder.
9.9. Delegate: The Whip may delegate any of the above duties to elected or appointed officers subject to the Chair’s approval.
9.10. Serve in the Chair’s Absence: The Whip will be responsible for the conduct of the Whip and the Chair’s duties in the Chair’s absences for periods no longer than 4 weeks. It is expected that the Whip will appoint and oversee 1 or 2 volunteer officers to perform delegated tasks.
[Draft Discussion Document]
DUTIES - CHAIR:
10. Chair: The Chair is responsible for LUAC operations including overseeing the duties of the Whip, keeping in mind that the Whip is also elected. The Chair’s duties include but are not limited to:
10.1. Appointing Officers: The Chair is ultimately responsible for all LUAC work and overseeing all appointments in accordance with section 7. The Chair will announce the name of the appointee and reference the forum post of duties 2 days before the appointment is to begin. Should any member object, they can PM their concerns to the Founder who can try to negotiate a resolution between all parties involved. If resolution between all parties cannot be reached, The Chair’s decision stands. Any parties remaining dissatisfied can run for change in the next election, move to impeach, or move to revoke membership depending on circumstance and seriousness.
10.2. Announcing Election results: The new Chair announces officer election results for the Chair, Whip and perhaps at some point, the Founder. The Chair makes the results known to incumbents and successful candidates when final results are available. Results are announced to the members no later than the first day of the new term.
10.3. WA straw polls: The Chair will canvass Members by PM on how they intend to vote for legislation before the WA. The Chair will receive and count member’s votes, but does not vote. Should member votes for and against result in a tie, then LUAC has no position on the issue. Likewise, should the difference in votes for and against equal one vote, so if cast the Chair’s vote could potentially create a tied result, then LUAC has no position on the issue. The Chair will post results in the LUAC forum. Results should be simple strong and clear. All LUAC needs to relate is whether we are for, against or has no position on the proposed legislation. The straw vote count should be kept for historical record and audit review but releasing numeric values conveys misleading information counterproductive to our objectives such as marginalizing the result of a close vote or small committee turnout. LUAC will strive to disseminate LUAC’s WA policy as widely as can possibly be negotiated to promote awareness for WA members of LUAC’s position on Liberal values wherever those members are found.
10.4. Manages Issues: The Chair prepares issues for the Whip to administer. The Chair determines the priority of issues and may keep a list of lower priority issues awaiting Committee Call. The Chair determines how long the debated will last. The more complicated the issue, the longer the committee should stand to electronically debate the issue. The Chair researches the issue to determine any considerations members should consider.
10.5. Announcing LUAC Policies Positions: The Chair will interpret the Whip’s report on the issue. The Chair is not strictly bound by the majority opinion or any findings in the Whip’s report. The Chair will immediately announce new policy to the members. The Whip’s report and the Chair’s policy statement will be posted when the Chair distributes the policy. The policy will be distributed as widely as possible. The Chair is responsible to determine if policy content should limit distribution.
10.6. Expand LUAC external influence: The Chair is charged with finding ways to increase LUAC influence as an integral part of the TKI political landscape. Accordingly, the Chair seeks ways to disseminate LUAC policies and positions as widely as possible to promote liberal views in as many regional threads as possible. Only the Chair has the authority to represent, liaise and negotiate on behalf of LUAC with regional officials. If ever necessary the Chair will represent LUAC outside the region but only with prior approval from the Region’s Founder.
10.7. Internal Influence: The Chair shall strive to find ways to make LUAC an even more relevant and vibrant organization.
10.8. Financial Accountability: The Chair will maintain records of taco donations and approve all taco expenditures.
10.9. Delegation: The Chair may delegate any of the above duties to elected or appointed officers.
10.10. Covering in the Whip’s Absence: The Chair will be responsible for the conduct of the Whip and the Chair’s duties in the Whip’s absences for periods no longer than 4 weeks. It is expected that the Chair will appoint and oversee 1 or 2 officers to perform certain delegated tasks.
[Draft Discussion Document]
DUTIES - FOUNDER:
11. LUAC Founder: Having a Founder ensures stability. This is especially important for LUAC as as organization that changes its leadership at least 3 times a year. The Founder’s most important duties come in times of transition like a constitutional monarch.
11.1. Recognizing the Original Founder: In recognition of the original Founder’s dedication and commitment, Paffnia shall hold the position of Founder subject to resignation or impeachment.
11.2. Delegation: The Founder may accept delegated duties from the Chair or the Whip. The Founder may not delegate duties.
11.3. Regular Duties: The Founder serves as a valued information resource to the Chair, Whip and members.
11.4. Duties during Section 8 Elections:
The Founder administers elections every 4 months for the Chair and Whip: receiving votes, counting votes and announcing results to incumbents and candidates.
The Founder has the sole discretion to nullify results for unfair practices in which case, the Founder provides all members with the reasons why election results were overturned and Calls a second election process. The Founder’s call must state that members only have 48 hours to announce candidacy and campaign. New candidates may join the race. Candidates from the first process should reaffirm to let members know they are still interested. Nevertheless, all votes are counted. If any member calls to revoke the membership of a candidate under subsection 5.7 (presumably for unfair election practices) the election process will be put on hold for 3 days where under these circumstances the Founder also administers the subsection 5.7 vote.
11.5. Duties during Subsection 5.8 Impeachment: The Founder would generally administer impeachment voting processes as the highest untainted official. This duty includes ensuring fairness of the voting process. If the impeachment request also includes a request to revoke membership the Founder or highest untainted elected officer administers concurrent separate voting under subsection 5.7 and 5.8.
11.6. Elected Founders: The Founder is considered an elected office because once the original Founder ceases to hold office, it becomes an elected position. The first elected Founder and all Founders thereafter will hold office for a period not exceeding 13 months to ensure the end of the Founder’s term of office falls on the first day of the second half of the Chair’s term of office (2 months into the Chair’s 4 month term).
11.7. Acting Founder: The Founder will advise the chair whenever the Founder will be away for more than 1 month, or will not be available to perform required duties under subsection 11.4. The notice will include departure and return dates. A bi-election may be held for Acting Founder for a term of less than one year.
11.8. Founder Elections: At the end of term or whenever the Founder’s office becomes vacant, the Whip will immediately call the Committee to vote in 72 hours for any member they think is best suited to replace the Founder. While voting is open interested members can post their willingness to become Founder in the forum, using strictly 20 words or less, with no other campaigning. The election is to focus on past service. All members may vote. Any member receiving a 50% majority of casted votes will be elected Founder. A run-off is required if no candidate receives a majority. The whip will list in alphabetical order all members nominated in the vote. The candidate with the least number of votes will be struck-off of the run-off ballot. If 2 or more candidates tie with the least number of votes, everyone with the lowest number of votes will be struck-off, unless all candidates tie in which case they all remain on the run-off ballot. If only one name remains when tied candidates are struck-off, the remaining member becomes Founder. The Whip will call the Committee to the second round including the list of run-off candidates and giving 24 hours to vote. Ballots will be re-run in this fashion, dropping the candidate(s) with the least number of votes until a Founder is elected.
12. Members of LUAC are entitled to use the following badges in their signature block
BADGES:
The badges did not paste in but they go here Member, Officer, Whip, Chair, Founder
LUAC Statement of Operating Procedures.
Shaping the Islands for the better!
PREAMBLE
The United Action Committee [LUAC] is an interest group unique to the 10000 Islands region [TKI]. LUAC is committed to promoting the liberal perspective but welcomes conservative input believing that listening to all perspectives produces the best, well-rounded policies.
LUAC hopes to actively participate in elections to support the democratic tradition. During elections LUAC may conduct nonpartisan get-out-the-vote drives. We may also question and rank the liberal views of candidates and political parties in Counsel of Nine elections. LUAC may score candidates on their liberal believes. LUAC encourages political debate and may mediate debates as a nonpartisan third-party.
We try to support liberal thinking throughout the region, in government ministries and other regional organizations. LUAC supports use of PolitiFact as a TKI fact-checker to rate candidates and to keep government officials accountable. LUAC examines current or hypothetical issues from partisan, non-partisan, liberal, libertarian and other perspectives to develop LUAC’s policy on a wide range of issues. Policies will be distributed as widely as possible and depending on the subject may be delivered directly to regional decision makers.
LUAC policies are considered informative and suggestive by nature. They are intended to provide guidance wherever we believe a liberal perspective could be beneficial. Members who choose not to follow LUAC policy will not be held accountable, punished or sanctioned in any way for the way they vote or for providing constructive input. For example LUAC may support a resolution before the General Assemble but Members are still free to cast their WA vote against the resolution.
LUAC member nations remain completely autonomous. Personal Messages [PM] are widely used. A member’s position is quickly severed from their PM, but the Whip. Members’ names are not included in the report the Chair uses to determine policy.
Donations may be made to the LUAC forum account.
[Draft Discussion Document]
WHO WE ARE:
1. Our Mission: to make LUAC a relevant, vibrant and integral part of TKI political landscape to promote liberal action in 10000 Islands [TKI] and the World Assembly [WA].
2. Our Goal: work for democratic advancement throughout the region, ensure government transparency, uphold the regional constitution, support due process, safeguard national independence and promote liberal values.
3. The United Action Committee [Committee] is comprised of the Founder, elected Chairperson [Chair], Elected Whip, appointed Officers, Members and Guests. Responsibilities of each position are described below. The Committee is always in general session on the forum for anyone to make a suggestion or raise a concern. From time to time the Whip will call a Committee of members to vote or provide input concerning specific issues. Committee sessions are found here <insert link here>. Resolve, can we start a thread for debates and one for membership to separate policy from administration.
4. Guests: A guest is anyone who participates in Committee and who is not a LUAC member. Guests are welcome to offer constructive opinions. Guest narrative input will be considered when shaping LUAC policy but their vote will not be counted.
[Draft Discussion Document]
MEMBERSHIP:
5. Members:
5.1. Eligibility: Membership is open to all TKI residences with a valid LUAC application.
5.2. Freedom to Assemble: Members may share their views at any time in on-line discussion or by personal message [PM] sent to the Founder, Chair, Whip or between Members.
5.3. Commitment to Vote: Members are encouraged to vote whenever the Whip calls the Committee to vote on policy or administrative issues [vote].
5.4. Commitment to participate in Committee: Members are encouraged to provide constructive narrative comment on administrative, policy and topical discussions in the forum, or by PM when the whip calls for their narrative input [input]. Constructive comments may be negative or positive, for or against a proposal, as long as comments are intended to contribute to well thought-out positions. All members are encouraged to provide input, even if only to support another member’s position, or to register an undecided. Members are also encouraged to provide their rationale for their position. When analysing input one strong more detailed position may carry the most weight even if most members supported a different weaker position.
5.5. Forum Use: LUAC forum threads maybe used by members to post their opinion on issues before the membership and for ad hoc discussion, but members are asked to keep their comments on topic. There are other threads for chat and role play. Disruptive behaviour could lead to membership being revoked.
5.6. Active Members: Members are considered active members if they responded at least once in the last 5 Committee calls from the Whip under subsections 5.3, 5.4, 5.6-8, 8, 9.4, 11.5 or under subsequent amendments.
5.7. Right to Vote: Only active members may vote in the election of the Whip, Chair and Founder. This provides a small amount of protection against ballot stuffing as well as a basis to calculate the percentage of voting results.
5.8. Revocation: Any members may ask the Whip to call the Committee for a vote to revoke membership with cause of another member. The Whip will inform the other member as soon as possible. The Whip will have 72 hours to negotiate a settlement and withdrawal request before being obligated to inform members of the issues and call the vote. The Committee will stand on the issue for another 48 hours of voting during which both members may further their claims. Revocation requires a 60% majority of active members.
5.9. Impeachment: Members may call for a vote to impeach the Founder, Chair or Whip. Impeachment requires a 70% majority of active members. Separate votes are required to impeach 2 or more elected officers. Each vote will include a referendum to determine if membership should also be revoked. The vote will be administered as described in subsection 5.7 by the highest ranking elected officer not tainted by impeachment allegation. If such officer cannot be found any member may appeal to the regional founder to administer the vote. Any member calling for impeachment out of malice could face a vote to revoke membership but the Whip will not call the Committee on this issue until the impeachment process is completed and if impeached, the new Whip takes office long enough to have 72 hours to negotiate a settlement.
6. Membership Applications: Information collected in a member’s application may be used to categorize members’ vote or input when analysis is required. Comments and votes by individuals will not be revealed without consent unless already posted on the forum. Applications may be posted in the forum or sent by PM to the Whip. For an application to be valid the applicant must self-identifies their nation state as:
6.1. WA Affiliation: WA member or none WA.
6.2. Political View Point: More liberal or conservative minded.
6.3. Regional Affiliations: Having Political party and or House affiliations, holds elected office, volunteers and /or participates in government programs or large projects. and
6.4. Other Persona: Access to other Nation States giving names and regions (TITO members are exemption under this subsection).
[Draft Discussion Document]
FILLING POSITIONS:
7. LUAC Appointed Officers: Non-elected officers are appointed by the Chair for a term no longer than the balance of the chair’s mandate. These are volunteer positions established to perform specific tasks consistent with this Charter. Duties and designated tasks will be posted in the LUAC forum and will remain posted for transparency and as a guide for future postings. Appointed Officers are granted no privilege or special consideration beyond our gratitude. The Whip will Call a Committee of interested members by PM indicating the closing date to reply with up to 100 words explaining why the volunteering members believe they should be considered. The job (delegated duties and designated tasks) should be designed either to provide new and young members an opportunity to gain training and experience or to perform highly skilled tasks with skill sets the elected officers do not possess. Only after exhausting all practical attempts to fill an appointed officer position with a motivated member should the Chair consider posting an officer position through the Minister of Employment, to be filled with a non-member on an intern basis or in the extreme on a paid basis.
8. Election Requirements Chair and Whip:
8.1. Term of Office: The Chair and Whip are elected for a period of 4 months.
8.2. Limit on Term of Office: No member may hold the same elected position for more than 3 consecutive terms.
8.3. Proof of Liberal Orientation: To be eligible for elected office candidates must be a member of the WA directly or through a puppet nation.
8.4. Campaigning: Members running for office may start promoting their candidacy at any time.
8.5. Election Call: The Whip will call for members to submit their candidacy no later than 14 days before the end of term.
8.6. Committee Election Sessions: The Whip will call the Committee to vote beginning 10 days before the end of term and ending 2 days before the end of term.
8.7. Voting: Members will cast their votes by PM to the Founder.
8.8. Transition: Incumbents and successful candidates will be advised the day before the new term begins. Incumbents will brief and prepare successful candidates for a smooth transition as soon as possible ensuring the knowledge transfer is complete within the first week of the new term.
8.9. Celebration: The new Chair will announce election results to the Committee by the end of the first day of the new term.
8.10. Bi-elections: The Founder will call and administrate bi-elections if the Chair or the Whip resigns or must leave office with more than 4 weeks remain in the term. This duty may be delegated to an elected officer remaining in office. Candidates will be given the first 2 days after the call to announce their intent to run. The Committee will be called to vote from the third day until the fifth. The Founder and remaining elected officer will assist with the transition and the results will be celebrated 1 week after the office became vacant.
[Draft Discussion Document]
DUTIES - WHIP:
9. Whip: The whip. The whip supports duties of the Chair, enforces membership discipline and is tasked with raising and maintaining membership. The whip is responsible to:
9.1. Recruit: Conduct at least 2 membership drives focussing on players who have newly joined the region.
9.2. Validate membership: The Whip will review applications and assist members when applications are incomplete. Once per term the Whip will remind members to keeping their application information updated.
9.3. Administer Suspension: The Whip can unilaterally revoke membership privileges for omitting the truth or providing incomplete or false application information, on their original application or update requests. Members can appeal their suspension in a PM to the Chair and copied to the Whip. The Chair will consult the Whip before granting a final decision.
9.4. Administer Committee Call and Debate for LUAC Policies Sessions: The Whip calls the Committee with a PM to all members explaining how to respond and the closing date. The PM outlines known facts, and considerations and decides whether to include the facts in the PM or reference where the facts are posted. The Whip and Chair may encourage group synergy by asking questions that draw out ideas during debate. The Whip may schedule time in the chat room for real-time idea building.
9.5. Report Committee findings to the Chair: The Whip will compile, categorize usually against application data, analyse and report on outcomes, considerations and recommendations raised by members to the Chair. The Whip may be asked to collect addition information from members and other sources until the Chair has enough information to declare policy.
9.6. Enforce Member Discipline: The Whip ensures members’ comments in forum and PMs are constructive, appropriate and kept reasonably on topic. The Whip will respond to any complaint of disruptive behaviour from a guest, a member or personally observed act. The Whip will investigate all sides of a complaint and attempt to negotiate a resolution between principles. The Whip may call the Committee to consider revoking membership under subsection 5.7 whenever the Whip considers the behaviour serious enough or negotiations have failed.
9.7. Enforce Sanctions: The Whip will enforce any sanctions under subsections5.7 and 5.8 against a member, guest or former officer, to the Whip’s best ability permitted under NationStates rules.
9.8. Call Candidates: One of the last duties in the Whip’s term of office is to notify members when and how to submit their intent to run for elected office in section 8 elections. The notice will go to all members and will include the election closing date when all votes are to delivered to the Founder.
9.9. Delegate: The Whip may delegate any of the above duties to elected or appointed officers subject to the Chair’s approval.
9.10. Serve in the Chair’s Absence: The Whip will be responsible for the conduct of the Whip and the Chair’s duties in the Chair’s absences for periods no longer than 4 weeks. It is expected that the Whip will appoint and oversee 1 or 2 volunteer officers to perform delegated tasks.
[Draft Discussion Document]
DUTIES - CHAIR:
10. Chair: The Chair is responsible for LUAC operations including overseeing the duties of the Whip, keeping in mind that the Whip is also elected. The Chair’s duties include but are not limited to:
10.1. Appointing Officers: The Chair is ultimately responsible for all LUAC work and overseeing all appointments in accordance with section 7. The Chair will announce the name of the appointee and reference the forum post of duties 2 days before the appointment is to begin. Should any member object, they can PM their concerns to the Founder who can try to negotiate a resolution between all parties involved. If resolution between all parties cannot be reached, The Chair’s decision stands. Any parties remaining dissatisfied can run for change in the next election, move to impeach, or move to revoke membership depending on circumstance and seriousness.
10.2. Announcing Election results: The new Chair announces officer election results for the Chair, Whip and perhaps at some point, the Founder. The Chair makes the results known to incumbents and successful candidates when final results are available. Results are announced to the members no later than the first day of the new term.
10.3. WA straw polls: The Chair will canvass Members by PM on how they intend to vote for legislation before the WA. The Chair will receive and count member’s votes, but does not vote. Should member votes for and against result in a tie, then LUAC has no position on the issue. Likewise, should the difference in votes for and against equal one vote, so if cast the Chair’s vote could potentially create a tied result, then LUAC has no position on the issue. The Chair will post results in the LUAC forum. Results should be simple strong and clear. All LUAC needs to relate is whether we are for, against or has no position on the proposed legislation. The straw vote count should be kept for historical record and audit review but releasing numeric values conveys misleading information counterproductive to our objectives such as marginalizing the result of a close vote or small committee turnout. LUAC will strive to disseminate LUAC’s WA policy as widely as can possibly be negotiated to promote awareness for WA members of LUAC’s position on Liberal values wherever those members are found.
10.4. Manages Issues: The Chair prepares issues for the Whip to administer. The Chair determines the priority of issues and may keep a list of lower priority issues awaiting Committee Call. The Chair determines how long the debated will last. The more complicated the issue, the longer the committee should stand to electronically debate the issue. The Chair researches the issue to determine any considerations members should consider.
10.5. Announcing LUAC Policies Positions: The Chair will interpret the Whip’s report on the issue. The Chair is not strictly bound by the majority opinion or any findings in the Whip’s report. The Chair will immediately announce new policy to the members. The Whip’s report and the Chair’s policy statement will be posted when the Chair distributes the policy. The policy will be distributed as widely as possible. The Chair is responsible to determine if policy content should limit distribution.
10.6. Expand LUAC external influence: The Chair is charged with finding ways to increase LUAC influence as an integral part of the TKI political landscape. Accordingly, the Chair seeks ways to disseminate LUAC policies and positions as widely as possible to promote liberal views in as many regional threads as possible. Only the Chair has the authority to represent, liaise and negotiate on behalf of LUAC with regional officials. If ever necessary the Chair will represent LUAC outside the region but only with prior approval from the Region’s Founder.
10.7. Internal Influence: The Chair shall strive to find ways to make LUAC an even more relevant and vibrant organization.
10.8. Financial Accountability: The Chair will maintain records of taco donations and approve all taco expenditures.
10.9. Delegation: The Chair may delegate any of the above duties to elected or appointed officers.
10.10. Covering in the Whip’s Absence: The Chair will be responsible for the conduct of the Whip and the Chair’s duties in the Whip’s absences for periods no longer than 4 weeks. It is expected that the Chair will appoint and oversee 1 or 2 officers to perform certain delegated tasks.
[Draft Discussion Document]
DUTIES - FOUNDER:
11. LUAC Founder: Having a Founder ensures stability. This is especially important for LUAC as as organization that changes its leadership at least 3 times a year. The Founder’s most important duties come in times of transition like a constitutional monarch.
11.1. Recognizing the Original Founder: In recognition of the original Founder’s dedication and commitment, Paffnia shall hold the position of Founder subject to resignation or impeachment.
11.2. Delegation: The Founder may accept delegated duties from the Chair or the Whip. The Founder may not delegate duties.
11.3. Regular Duties: The Founder serves as a valued information resource to the Chair, Whip and members.
11.4. Duties during Section 8 Elections:
The Founder administers elections every 4 months for the Chair and Whip: receiving votes, counting votes and announcing results to incumbents and candidates.
The Founder has the sole discretion to nullify results for unfair practices in which case, the Founder provides all members with the reasons why election results were overturned and Calls a second election process. The Founder’s call must state that members only have 48 hours to announce candidacy and campaign. New candidates may join the race. Candidates from the first process should reaffirm to let members know they are still interested. Nevertheless, all votes are counted. If any member calls to revoke the membership of a candidate under subsection 5.7 (presumably for unfair election practices) the election process will be put on hold for 3 days where under these circumstances the Founder also administers the subsection 5.7 vote.
11.5. Duties during Subsection 5.8 Impeachment: The Founder would generally administer impeachment voting processes as the highest untainted official. This duty includes ensuring fairness of the voting process. If the impeachment request also includes a request to revoke membership the Founder or highest untainted elected officer administers concurrent separate voting under subsection 5.7 and 5.8.
11.6. Elected Founders: The Founder is considered an elected office because once the original Founder ceases to hold office, it becomes an elected position. The first elected Founder and all Founders thereafter will hold office for a period not exceeding 13 months to ensure the end of the Founder’s term of office falls on the first day of the second half of the Chair’s term of office (2 months into the Chair’s 4 month term).
11.7. Acting Founder: The Founder will advise the chair whenever the Founder will be away for more than 1 month, or will not be available to perform required duties under subsection 11.4. The notice will include departure and return dates. A bi-election may be held for Acting Founder for a term of less than one year.
11.8. Founder Elections: At the end of term or whenever the Founder’s office becomes vacant, the Whip will immediately call the Committee to vote in 72 hours for any member they think is best suited to replace the Founder. While voting is open interested members can post their willingness to become Founder in the forum, using strictly 20 words or less, with no other campaigning. The election is to focus on past service. All members may vote. Any member receiving a 50% majority of casted votes will be elected Founder. A run-off is required if no candidate receives a majority. The whip will list in alphabetical order all members nominated in the vote. The candidate with the least number of votes will be struck-off of the run-off ballot. If 2 or more candidates tie with the least number of votes, everyone with the lowest number of votes will be struck-off, unless all candidates tie in which case they all remain on the run-off ballot. If only one name remains when tied candidates are struck-off, the remaining member becomes Founder. The Whip will call the Committee to the second round including the list of run-off candidates and giving 24 hours to vote. Ballots will be re-run in this fashion, dropping the candidate(s) with the least number of votes until a Founder is elected.
12. Members of LUAC are entitled to use the following badges in their signature block
BADGES:
The badges did not paste in but they go here Member, Officer, Whip, Chair, Founder