Questions for Senate Candidates (7/20)

[HumanSanity]

Name an important challenge facing 10000 Islands right now. What do you believe are some steps to address that problem?

If elected, will you adhere to the transparency pledge including its subsequent amendment? Why or why not? More broadly, what are your thoughts on the Transparency Act? Do any portions of the Transparency Act require amendment or modification?

What is the proper function and role of the 10000 Islands Discord? Of the 10000 Island forum? What is the best way to ensure each fulfills its proper function?

What do you feel is distinctive within 10000 Islands' Constitutional system about the role of a Senator as opposed to other unelected members of the Council of Nine (e.g. the Chief Executive and Ministers)? What is the role of elections to select Senators or the WA Delegate? How should the public influence a Senator's or Delegate's prerogatives? How will you imagine your role differently than if you were a Minister appointed by the Chief Executive to take care of your portfolio?

What do you believe to be the purpose of an embassy? Why do we open embassies with a region? What do we expect from an embassy partner and what do they expect from us? At what point is an embassy “not worth it”?

What is the role of a treaty? Do treaties have specific symbolic value? Generally, should 10000 Islands negotiate more treaties?

How would you likely have voted on the Treaty of the Waxing Moon?

Do you believe it is the role of the Council of Nine to offer votes of support for particularly high profile or consequential actions of the Chief Executive, such as the banning of prominent Islanders?
Examples: 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38553/306-concerning-banning-twobagger-passed and 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38954/309-concerning-banning-doc-passed

How much time do you assess, as an outsider, a Senator needs to put forth for their duties each week?

How do you feel about the proposal to change the duties of the BCN Senator? 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/39470/public-comment-senate-seat-change

Himes West
Let's be honest here: our Role Playing community is non-existent and recent efforts to improve it have failed. How will you encourage activity, build skill, and make this a meaningful offering to new members? Will you hire a new Deputy Himes West Senator to help accomplish that?

In order to bolster role play, will you actually participate as a role player or will you just attempt to oversee it? Why?

Lyonnesse East
In the past term, a lot of standard House system upkeep fell by the wayside. What are some to do list items you think need to happen to get it back up and running?

[Free Las Pinas]

Thanks for the questions HS. Here are my answers

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

Name an important challenge facing 10000 Islands right now. What do you believe are some steps to address that problem?

One of the most important challenges we're facing is the division between on-site and off-site nations. Most of our events are hosted here on the forums, which essentially serves as an additional outlet to have fun with fellow Islanders and serve in our regional activities. This makes being a part of the forum an important part in being in the XKI community.

This issue has been discussed multiple times, and I think that we are making good progress in addressing it. But for the sake of completely answering your question, I'll discuss the steps I believe are necessary. The first step is to regularly update the WFE to entice new Islanders and frequent visitors of the RMB to join our forums. The next step is to add a dispatch that I believe is missing from our WFE. What I propose is a guide, or two, for new Islanders to read. I'm surprised we don't have one yet, considering that we have so much info present on our forums. The dispatch I'm proposing will (1) feature a beginner's guide to NationStates, (2) learn how to register/join the forums and discord, and (3) advertise regional activities, publications, and policies. Other info that we will soon find necessary could be added here, or in another dispatch. Now that that's out of the way, I'll go ahead with the next step, which is to efficiently advertise our off-site activities (just like what was done last month for the Summer Olympics). Overall, I think this is a do-able job, but I do have something to add to it. I think that a reasonable amount of volunteers can be the ones to relay info to the game-side community we have. If not as a volunteer job, this can also be integrated into the Cultural Office Staff. Yet another step that I propose for us to take is to understand/accept the game-side community for what it is. While I love the forum, I also understand that to many on-site nations, NationStates already offers what they want in a community. Thus, I think that we must also try to integrate ourselves into the on-site side of things. A lot of our newer members have shown interest in the WA, RP, and cards, which really goes to show the potential our newer members have to be a bigger part of our community. This leads me to discuss the last step. This is to revamp our on-site communities. We already seem to be pretty successful in on-site RP also crediting Dorab for their proposal of having our very own RP region. The two things that I think have potential in becoming something more participated in is our new cards program and our WA Secretariat Engagement Awards.

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

If elected, will you adhere to the transparency pledge including its subsequent amendment? Why or why not? More broadly, what are your thoughts on the Transparency Act? Do any portions of the Transparency Act require amendment or modification?

If elected, I will choose to adhere with the pledge. The duty of a senator is to serve the community who chose them. Thus, if elected, I will choose to inform my voters of the choices I have made. This is not only because I believe they should know the state of the discussion, but also because the non-council member who proposed an idea for the betterment of our community should be able to have a larger say in the discussion and an understanding of the council members' opinions..

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

What is the proper function and role of the 10000 Islands Discord? Of the 10000 Island forum? What is the best way to ensure each fulfills its proper function?

It's taking longer than I thought to answer your questions, so I'm very sorry if I end up repeating any answers. Here it goes...

The official XKI discord serves as a place for our community to relax or discuss topics of varying importance, whether it's NS-related or RL-related. Although we also address some official/important matters on discord, it's generally a place where we can interact more freely in comparison with the RMB. On the other hand, the forum serves as our hub for almost all things XKI-related. It's where Islanders can find our regional currency, get involved with a different part of the community, process information, etc.

To ensure both outlets fulfills their purpose, we should continue to keep everyone in check by allowing everyone to provide suggestions/ideas for improvement and also inform anyone and everyone about updates and rules we have. I also want to add that by mentioning this, I'm not saying that we don't already do that or aren't doing a good job of making sure the forums and discord fulfills its purposes.

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

What do you feel is distinctive within 10000 Islands' Constitutional system about the role of a Senator as opposed to other unelected members of the Council of Nine (e.g. the Chief Executive and Ministers)? What is the role of elections to select Senators or the WA Delegate? How should the public influence a Senator's or Delegate's prerogatives? How will you imagine your role differently than if you were a Minister appointed by the Chief Executive to take care of your portfolio?

As I see it, five of the members of the Council of Nine are elected to ensure that the public has influence in the legislative processes in XKI. The WA Delegate and the four senators are elected to ensure that the Council makes decisions, while considering the best interest of the public. On the other hand, we have the non-elected positions. The ministers are free to make decisions based on their own opinions since they serve by choice of the CE and not of the public - this statement was not intended to demean the opinion of the CE or any of the three ministers.

Being a Minister would mean that I would be able to work more independently in comparison to being a Senator. I imagine that if I were to be a Minister, I'd be able to work freely in debates and other decision-making processes.

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

What do you believe to be the purpose of an embassy? Why do we open embassies with a region? What do we expect from an embassy partner and what do they expect from us? At what point is an embassy “not worth it”?

I think that us opening an embassy with another region shows respect for them as well as our willingness to work with them. By agreeing to opening an embassy with us, the region is accepting that we will be involved diplomatically and/or militarily. An important reason why we open embassies with another region is for security/defense. As a notable defender region, we are expected to be committed to our allies, and we expect them accept that by forming diplomatic relations with us, they are accepting our interests and that consequences may come if they abuse our relations. I'd say an embassy is "not worth it" when a region has shown their reluctance to cooperate with us or have aligned themselves away from us.

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

What is the role of a treaty? Do treaties have specific symbolic value? Generally, should 10000 Islands negotiate more treaties?

A treaty serves as a written version of the mutual agreement made by two regions after forming an embassy. Since it was recorded and written, it serves as an official documentation and should definitely not be taken lightly. I believe that they represent the commitment and mutual respect the two regions have for each other. I don't know of any negative impacts treaties have made on XKI, but that doesn't really lead me to say that we should negotiate for more treaties. I think that we should negotiate more treaties simply when it's relevant to do so.

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

How would you likely have voted on the Treaty of the Waxing Moon?

I would have voted in favor of it. There may be the lingering concern over their history of raiding, but I agree with the mention that this provides protection of our other embassy regions. This also makes it so that the TEP will possibly not align themselves with raiding.

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

Do you believe it is the role of the Council of Nine to offer votes of support for particularly high profile or consequential actions of the Chief Executive, such as the banning of prominent Islanders?
Examples: 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38553/306-concerning-banning-twobagger-passed and 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38954/309-concerning-banning-doc-passed

I do think that the Co9 should initiate a vote. If they don't, I assume it's simply because of an obvious rule violation or that there is no objection to the CE's decision.

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

How much time do you assess, as an outsider, a Senator needs to put forth for their duties each week?

I assume that it would take 1-2 hours per day to go through all of the senate duties and participate in council debates. This would amount to 7-14 hours per week.

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

How do you feel about the proposal to change the duties of the BCN Senator? 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/39470/public-comment-senate-seat-change

Despite the fact that you mentioned that the WA Secretary portfolio can fit a Senate position and will not create conflict with the WA Delegate, I'm still against changing the BCN Senator's duties. I don't think there's too much of an argument as to why the BCN Senator should no longer make the emissary report. However, I'm still interested in seeing whether anything would change in the WA Secretary's duties now that you've highlighted its importance and the possibility of making it a Senator's duties.

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

In the past term, a lot of standard House system upkeep fell by the wayside. What are some to do list items you think need to happen to get it back up and running?

If elected, I would have to make sure that all active Houses that have inactive founders would have a relevant House Steward to handle the House's affairs. The chosen House Steward will preferably be the most active among the members with the long residency in it granted that they agree to be the Steward.

Once again, thanks for taking interest in this, and feel free to mention me if my answers lacked on any of your questions or if you simply want to make clarifications.

[HumanSanity]

Free Las Pinas, that was honestly a pretty great set of answers. It's pretty rare that someone knocks it out of the park in terms of detail and thoughtfulness on my question set, so well done, it's an accomplishment in itself.

[Thedairos]

HumanSanity , first of all, I am very sorry that it took so long for me to answer, so thank you for your patience.
Here are my answers to your questions:

1. A current issue in 10000 Islands

I think a current challenge in XKI is the sudden increase of activity in our region. This of course already started in april with the influx of many new members in the course of the so-called Drewpocalypse and while many nations CTE'd after a month, a considerable amount of members stayed. This led to an increased workload starting with recruiters, welcome buddies and the Immigration Office and of course also other officials of XKI who had to answer all the questions the new members had. Another question was how to channel their activity to the degree that they don't get bored but also don't get overwhelmed by all the components of this game. The Cultural Office did some great work organizing regional events such as the recent Summer Olympics to solve this problem. Of course there also came great benefits with the increase of activity. It allowed us to reactivate some institutions that had almost been forgotten, such as the XKI Casino, and even gave us the opportunity to found new ones like the cards co-op that is currently being planned.

However, the increase in activity also showed the separation between forum users and on-site only members. While there are already great efforts taken to unite both communities by reminding nations on the RMB of the existence of the forum, joint cultural events and trying to engage new nations in roleplay in A Taco Archipelago, I can see it myself as a recruiter that most recruited nations never join the forum and if they make it here, they quickly become inactive. Of course this issue can't be solved in one day, so what I think we should do is to keep inviting new nations to the forum and have more regional events where both forum users and on-site only nations can equally get involved in. The Summer Olympics where a great example of this. As I already mentioned when answering a similar question from Flying Eagles in my campaign thread, we have to come clear to the fact that some nations will probably never join the forum due to various reasons that we have no influence on. To give an example, one reason that I heard from a member was that their parents didn't allow them to use proboards. Maybe we could change our perspective on this matter and instead of urging everybody to join the forum, we could increase the activity of all members on-site because these are ultimately the roots of our community. This is of course easier said than done because some functions like our economic system simply cannot be implemented on-site, but we could at least take small steps towards having a joint community by increasing the involvement of forum users on NationStates, whether it be in ATA, events or card farming.

2. The transparency pledge

As a senator, a position that is elected by the people, I will see it as my responsibility to make my proposals and opinions on regional matters as transparent as possible. This will include adhering to the transparency pledge and its additional amendment to guarantee that non-sensitive matters are discussed publicly. I think of this as a great way to include all Islanders in the lawmaking process (especially in form of the public discussion threads) and to guarantee the democracy in 10000 Islands.

3. The difference between Discord and the forum

I am convinced that both platforms are essential and contribute in their own way to the 10000 Islands community. While the Discord server offers spontaneity, flexibility and agility through the opportunity of quick messaging, which is for example needed for Tito updates but also for relaxed talking, the forum is necessary for the stability of our region because it contains the governmental, administrative and economic system of XKI.

4. Senators, Ministers and the Co9

From my point of view, the senators have more political responsibility whereas the ministers have more administrative responsibility. Since the senators are elected by all Islanders, they are accountable to them and thus have to act in their best will. The ministers however are appointed by the Chief Executive, which is necessary because they are responsible for the upholding of important institutions, such as the department of labor. If these duties were neglected, our whole regional system would crumble, which is why they need to have proven their reliability to the CE. The role of the elections of the senators and WA Delegate is to ensure that the will of the Islanders is heard in the government. There are 5 elected seats and 4 appointed ones to guarantee that the interests of our people can not be overruled.

5. The role of embassies

The role of an embassy is to announce a mutual relation of allegiance and agreement between two regions, which often beats the path to an opportunity of interregional exchange between both communities. Another benefit could be mutual protection in the form of defense against coups and raiders. However, an embassy needs to meet certain requirements to be worth it, namely the agreement on mutual values (it would be inappropriate to start an embassy with a raider region), frequent activity and actual cooperation, e.g. through cultural exchange, military protection or anything comparable. To put it in a nutshell, an embassy needs to create a clear benefit to both regions for it to make sense to be established.

6. The role of treaties

While an embassy more generally expresses the friendship between two regions, treaties serve a more specific purpose and furthermore contain a certain political or military intention, such as the recognition of the other region's government or defense against raiders. In addition to that, treaties don't always have to be forged between embassy partners, it could theoretically also be a truce with a former raider region, although I have to admit that these kinds of treaties are less common. Of course, treaties can also be used to strengthen an embassy and thus serve a more symbolic purpose. In general, I would be open to more treaties, but of course each proposed treaty should be inspected individually on whether their purpose really benefits our region.

7. The Treaty of the Waxing Moon

The Treaty of the Waxing Moon shows a great example of how I would imagine an ideal treaty, as it contains a clear benefit to our region through the fortification of our embassy with TEP and military protection including our other embassy partners.

8. Support votes

I think support votes are a great way for the Chief Executive to ask for the support of the Council on difficult matters. This takes some load off his shoulders when he is not entirely sure how to act on a specific issue, as it can sometimes be hard to make a certain decision.

9. Time

I think the time needed to fulfill the senator duties always depends on the current situation, for example if there are important matters on the Council that need to be discussed or if the House Competition needs to be planned. On average, I would agree with Free Las Pinas , and Wille-Harlia , that it takes between 1 and 2 hours per day, so about 11 hours per week, sometimes more and sometimes less.

10. The BCN Senator

In general, I am not opposed to a change of duties of the BCN Senator. I like the idea of having an independent publication creating the monthly emissary report to ensure a neutral perspective on the regional happenings. However, I am afraid that all of the proposed duty replacements cut into the working area of another already existing position and frankly, I do not have any additional ideas on how to give the BCN Senator a different and useful duty due to the fact that our regional system is already well established and most necessary positions have already been created. So as long as there is no appropriate work to replace the senator's responsibility, I do not see any necessity to change it.

 

11. LE duties

First of all, the house guide should be renewed, especially the list of current existing houses because some have already retired and some new houses have been founded, so it is not up to date anymore.

A second step would be overseeing the activity of the houses currently portrayed on the board to see if any of them are inactive or require stewards in the case that the founder CTEs.

As already mentioned in my campaign thread, I will work on regaining more activity in the houses as they are a great provider of community. My proposal is to implement 

subboards for the houses to give the members more space for a free development and individual structuring of their house.

A more recent matter is how to proceed with the House of Sargon Reman since the founder has been banned from XKI. Either a steward would have to be appointed as the new leader of the house or it would need to be disbanded, but as far as I know the Council is already discussing this matter.

Lastly, I noticed that the "recent" prolific posting contest has never been evaluated and the winner hasn't been announced yet. As I haven't been present during this event, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do since I do not have the results, but I will do my best to ensure that the contest comes to a worthy conclusion.

[Krystalveil]

Jul 7, 2020 22:07:34 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

1. Name an important challenge facing 10000 Islands right now. What do you believe are some steps to address that problem?

2. If elected, will you adhere to the transparency pledge including its subsequent amendment? Why or why not? More broadly, what are your thoughts on the Transparency Act? Do any portions of the Transparency Act require amendment or modification?

3. What is the proper function and role of the 10000 Islands Discord? Of the 10000 Island forum? What is the best way to ensure each fulfills its proper function?

4. What do you feel is distinctive within 10000 Islands' Constitutional system about the role of a Senator as opposed to other unelected members of the Council of Nine (e.g. the Chief Executive and Ministers)? What is the role of elections to select Senators or the WA Delegate? How should the public influence a Senator's or Delegate's prerogatives? How will you imagine your role differently than if you were a Minister appointed by the Chief Executive to take care of your portfolio?

5. What do you believe to be the purpose of an embassy? Why do we open embassies with a region? What do we expect from an embassy partner and what do they expect from us? At what point is an embassy “not worth it”?

6. What is the role of a treaty? Do treaties have specific symbolic value? Generally, should 10000 Islands negotiate more treaties?

7. How would you likely have voted on the Treaty of the Waxing Moon?

8. Do you believe it is the role of the Council of Nine to offer votes of support for particularly high profile or consequential actions of the Chief Executive, such as the banning of prominent Islanders?
Examples: 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38553/306-concerning-banning-twobagger-passed and 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38954/309-concerning-banning-doc-passed

9. How much time do you assess, as an outsider, a Senator needs to put forth for their duties each week?

10. How do you feel about the proposal to change the duties of the BCN Senator? 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/39470/public-comment-senate-seat-change

11. Himes West
Let's be honest here: our Role Playing community is non-existent and recent efforts to improve it have failed. How will you encourage activity, build skill, and make this a meaningful offering to new members? Will you hire a new Deputy Himes West Senator to help accomplish that?

In order to bolster role play, will you actually participate as a role player or will you just attempt to oversee it? Why?

I am sorry if I made you wait for the answers, but here they are.



1. I belive that an important problem that 10000 Islands is facing right now is the already mentioned division between the 3 main platforms that the Region operates on.

We have the NS site - which is usually used by nations that do not want to get more engaged in the Region, or newer nations, that prefer the platform over the other 2. Then there is the Forum - home to the engines of the Region and the part that coordonates everything and Discord - which is, at the moment, a place for announcements, chill discussions and spam - but I will come to the functions a bit later (Q/A 3). With the influx of new nations, the attention fell on the NS site, where the most young nations spend their time, the Forum being used only in the 1st few weeks, maybe because of the perks of being new. I think that a good solution would be the creation of a guide, specifically explaining to the newer nations what the Forum is about, while advertising more activities that happen here on the RMB - thus bringing the information from here there and attracting them over - the usual RP here (a more qualitative one than the one in ATA, but also less popular (Q/A 11)) or with events such as the recent Olympics.



2. I think that when it comes to important votes who affect an entire community, a transparency pact is needed. The citizens have the right to know why a certain law passed or not and the thoughts behind someone's decision. So if elected, I will submit to the pledge of transparency. I don't think it requires any modifications.



3. As I stated in A 1, a major problem is the division of the 3 platforms the Region runs on and the very different usage of them, most of them not being related or, if related, the citizens on them different. Discord is, at the moment, a place for announcements, chill discussions and spam, NS Issues/Cards, while the Forum is the hub for politics, debates, administrative topics and some RP. I do belive that they function well for what they are meant to do - but that also perpetuates the problem that I've talked in A 1. So while their current roles work fine, and people can navigate between the platforms, I would make a gradual transition to include topics from each of the 2 platforms in the other one, therefore linking them.

4. The distinction is that, as elected Senator, you represent the people that voted for you and as their elected official, you have a duty to them. Ministers also have an obligation to the people, but as directly representative, I think it is a bit of a diffrence. The point of elections is to give everyone a voice. The citizens have a right to democracy and to ellect people that protect their interests and also lets them run for office as well, effectivelly letting their voice be heard. Even if, as a minister, you are more freely o take decisions, I think both a senator and a minister that oversee the RP should aim to follow the same portofolio regardless, as the RP is an active community that needs protection, improvement and growth.

5. I belive that the role of an embassy is to show that 2 different regions have the same ideals regarding NS, share a a goal or being friendly towards each other. It also plays an important role when defending a region from raiders - as 2 regions defending is more than one, and here in Romania we have a saying that states that "Where's 2, the power grows.". While 10000 Islands offer assistance, help in times of need and lets members join other Region's RP, etc., XKI should also benefit of the same treatement as we offer - to be even. An embassy is no longer useful or worth it when the other region changes its alignment and switches sides, its ideals and what they promote changes or it is inactive.

6. A treaty is signed when the parties involved desire the same thing, and after opening an embassy, want to make their willingness to work toghether official. It shows that the 2 regions are more than friendly towards one another. I think that signing treaties should be done when XKI can benefit from them.

7. I would have voted FOR. I think it's a step towards improving the relashionsip between the 2 regions and provides XKI not only protection in case of an attack, but also help when defending a raided region. It is also an achievement that we have been able to sway TEP from raiding to defending.

8. I think that as the members in charge of the security of the region, it is indeed the duty of the Co. of 9 to protect the region and when needed, banning members that are a threat to the region and its stability. As it happened with the "spam league", certain actions are disruptive of others and therefore need to be adressed.

9. 2 hours/day so 14 hours/week.

10. I read the proposal and the answers and I belive that it would interfere with the duty of the Minister of Culture, thus the delimitation between them being unclear. The Cultural Office is responsible for long therm events, thus having it heavly restricted by the new BCN roles would go against the purpose of the Cultural Office. I would keep the duties the same, or find a way to differentiate the 2 positions.

11. I agree that the current RP is not in the best shape, but I also want to point out a few things.

I. The current RP on the Forums is a bit stiff and regardless of the fact that is more qualitative than the RP on ATA, it fails to attract new members.
II. I also agree that the RP on ATA is doesn't hold any substance and it does focus more on "What is happening now?" rather than thinking in advance, but it is also fun. It is more or less realistic (thing that I tried to make wiht my guideline proposal), but it is chronological and it has, underneath the surface, a history and deep implanted roots. The nations that are frequently in ATA built a friendly, inclusive community that is expanding more and more. From its beginning, when less than 10 nations were active on the RP, now there are about 20 that are active more or less -  having fun toghether. 

My plan is to find fantasy/SF worlds or "games" that are attractive enough for the youngsters in ATA - that would make them think more in depth a move and distract the focus from 1 line messages - while also keeping the ATA community vibrant and alive - which, with a few changes to how the RP is played right now, could see its quality improved. I also think that as HW Senator, seeing that RP is an important part of XKI, would try to have joint events with the Cultural Office, as the 2 offices could achive so much together when collaborating.

I already spend my time RPing and I find enjoyment doing this - I also think that being close to the nations that you are responsible for (and their actions) will offer me enough insights into what they want to do, while also coming up to ideas that they would enjoy. Plus, seeing that the nation that oversees the RP is also active inside the community would boost the trust the nations have it the HW Senator and attract newer nations that might feel reluctant to join.

Thank you for your patience.