Building Blocks of Government

Citizenship:
Any member that has a post count of 10 and with a nation in Hyrule are citizens. How do you get your “Citizen,” usergroup?

Click on “Usergroups,” in the navigation bar. Then click “Citizen,” and from there you request to become a member of the usergroup.

So why not as a community we build our official Charter/Constitution/Laws? Here are some helpful terms in building a document

Terms:


Legislative body of the region, where all members have a say.

Ness Snorlaxia is the Founder, Mega Mindy, Shahanshah and Queen of Hyrule.

The World Assembly Delegate is responsible for posting WA Resolutions to the members of Hyrule and acting as the Head of State.

Is the Head of State and responsible for other Ministers and can moderate disputes between members.

One of the most important positions in the region is immigration. The goal is to recruit new members to the region that promotes activity.

To insure members obey the laws of the region and on occasion to moderate a court of law and to appoint temporary judges if needed.

The MoFA is in the front lines in representing our region to other regions. Representatives of our region, or Ambassadors, report directly to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

South Malaysia

Your friendly Admin

Examples of previous Constitutions. You can take part of them for your own creativity but remember one if more up to date in information and that we are also no longer going to have some of the old positions.

I am a fan of the "Newer Constitution". It worked perfectly well in the past. All we eed to do is change the words around to fit what we currently have, such as get rid of chancellor and replace it with Prime Minister, ect.

I think we could add/get rid of some things, but the basis of the "Newer Constitution" would work perfectly in my opinion.

-I would have posted a new one with the adjustments needed, but this is not my forte, nor have I had the time recently to do it with recruiting/RP ect...I can get to it if need be though.

The Regional Constitution

Proposed and created By: Metz. Based off Constitution developed by South Malaysia
V:1.0

PREAMBLE: A Confederation between States
ARTICLE 1: The Executive Branch
ARTICLE 2: The Legislative Branch
ARTICLE 3: The Judicial Branch
ARTICLE 4: The Regional Administration
ARTICLE 5: Ratification of the Regional Constitution

PREAMBLE: A Confederation between States

We, the nations of the Region of Hyrule, in order to form a confederacy of sovereign nations, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and the guaranteeing of liberty among nations, do hereby ordain and establish this Regional Constitution of the Region of Hyrule.

ARTICLE 1: The Executive Branch

Section 1: The Role and Responsibilities of the Founder

1.1 The Regional Founder is the Founder, Mega Mindy, Shahanshah and Queen of Hyrule.
1.2.1 The Founder is the main forum administrator. This shall include, but is not limited to, creating forums, and adding/fixing code.
1.2.3 The Founder may not run for any position in the Regional Cabinet.
1.2.3 The Founder is the protector and advisor to the Region of Hyrule.

Section 2: Duties and Positions of the Regional Cabinet

2.1 The Regional Cabinet is responsible for implementing certain regional programs and moderating certain forums.

2.2 The Regional Cabinet shall consist of the Prime Minister, who shall be regarded as the Head of State, Delegate, who shall be regarded as the Head of Government, and Ministers with the following portfolios: Immigration, Foreign Affairs, and Justice.

Section 3: Electing Cabinet Members

3.1 Elections for the regional cabinet shall take place on the twentieth day of the months February, May, August, and November.

3.2 To be eligible to run for a position, one must have been registered on the Hyrule forums for one month or more, and have made a minimum of 10 posts.
3.2.1 To run for Delegate, one must have been registered on the forums and region for six months or have served in the regional cabinet in a past term.

3.3 To run, a candidate must announce his or her intent to run for a specified position in the main election thread of the election forum on the tenth of each election month.

3.4 Elections for the specific positions of the regional cabinet will begin on the thirteenth of each Election month. After beginning, elections will run for five days. When the five days are over, the person with the most votes will be the person appointed to the certain cabinet position.

3.5 If most votes are abstenations, the vote will be counted as no vote, and the nomination and election process will begin again as outlined earlier in this article.

Section 4: Powers of the Ministers

4.1 The ministers, when elected, have the power to do the following:

4.1.1 Moderate the forum(s) which the minister is assigned to moderate

4.1.2 Advertise the forum(s) which the minister moderates to new nations and
encourage people to take part in events or programs regarding their ministry.

4.1.3 Appoint a deputy minister, who would help the main minister moderate his or her forum.

4.1.4 Lock topics within the forum(s) they moderate.

4.2 Unless called upon by another minister, a minister is not to moderate or lock topics in any forum he or she does not moderate.

4.3 A minister is not to declare a vote null and void.

Section 5: Minister Inactivity

5.1 If a minister is inactive for 25 days without prior notification of reason to be inactive, the Prime Minister, or Delegate if Prime Minister is unavailable, shall post a message announcing to the general population that the minister has been relieved of his or her duties.

5.2 Elections for that cabinet position would be held; the process of nomination and voting being the same as for the major elections.

Section 6: Positions in the Regional Cabinet

6.1 Prime Minister

6.1.1 The Prime Ministe is the Head of State.

6.1.2 The Prime Minister has the power to moderate all the forums moderated by a minister if asked by one of the ministers, along with all other forums not mentioned in this document.

6.2 Delegate
6.2.1 The Delegate is responsible for voting on World Assembly resolutions and being regional Head of Government.

6.2.2 The Delegate is to create a voting thread regarding the WA resolution in quorum which all citizens of Hyrule, regardless of WA affiliation, may vote on. The Delegate will then cast his/her vote according to the will of the citizens.

6.2.3 The Delegate will also have access to regional control. The Delegate may edit the World Factbook Entry and is allowed to turn off regional control for Delegates.

6.2.4 The Delegate may only eject nations with permission of the Prime Minister, Founder, or Minister of Justice, if the Founder and Prime Minister is/are away. Ejections must abide by the Ejection Rules outlined in Article 5 in the "Basic Laws" section.

6.3 Ministry of Immigration

6.3.1 The minister of immigration is to recruit new nations to the region, and is required to recruit at least 15 nations a day or 130 nations per week.

6.3.2 The MoI is to encourage other nations to help recruit.

6.3.3 The MoI is to send out a welcome telegram to all new nations who arrive to the region.

6.3.4 The MoI is to make a list of all nations who have not logged on to NationStates within 15 days, and post the list to inform everyone of which nations are about to die out. They should also show which nations no longer exist if possible.

6.3.5 The MoI is responsible for keeping an up-to-date “Welcome telegram” and “Recruiting Telegram”.

6.3.6 The MoI is responsible for making sure that the ‘deputies’ appointed are doing their job assigned by the MoI.

6.3.7 In order to become a MoI, a nation must have helped to recruit, or have helped the MoI as deputy. This is to help with involvement within the Immigration Department, and to make sure that the new MoI is able to do their duties with or without the help or a deputy.

6.4 Ministry of Foreign Affairs

6.4.1 The Minister of Foreign Affairs is responsible for all foreign affairs of Hyrule.

6.4.2 The MoFA is allowed to discuss the possibility of going out and requesting embassies with other regions.

6.4.3 The MoFA is to encourage others to join the Hyrule Ambassador Team, which makes sure updates get out to other regions. The MoFA is responsible for making sure the ambassadors are active and is allowed to remove someone from the team for inactivity.

6.4.4 The MoFA is to make a list of all embassies and ambassadors with Hyrule.

6.4.5 The MoFA is to create a regional update, in which all nations may participate in the creation of said update. The update is required to be ready within one week of the topic's posting date.

6.5 Ministry of Justice

6.5.1 The Minister of Justice is to moderate internal conflict within the region, and to globally moderate the forums, excluding the role playing forum.

6.5.2 The MoJ is responsible for maintaining a registry of citizens.

6.5.3 The MoJ is the regional attorney general.

6.5.4 The MoJ is the deputy for ministers, Delegate (duties), and Prime Minister, if they are inactive for fifteen (15) days.

6.5.5 If a conflict between two nations is brought up to the MoJ, he or she is to work out a compromise that is agreeable to both nations, and allow them to meet together via off-site chat, private forum, or another method agreeable upon by all parties.

6.5.6 The MoJ is permitted to call upon someone of his or her choosing to mediate the session, if he or she desires.

6.5.7 The MoJ is to make monthly Regional Security Reports.

6.5.8 The MoJ is to maintain a small defence force of WA nations to insure Regional Security.

ARTICLE 2: The Legislative Branch

Section 1: Responsibilities of the Senate

1.1 The Senate, is the main lawmaking body of the region.

1.1.1 Must have a minimum of five members

1.2 Citizens are both allowed and encouraged to propose new ideas for laws, voice their opinions, suggest ways in which current regional laws could be improved or changed, and propose amendments to that effect.

1.3 All proposals automatically have a deadline of 15 days, unless Senators, by majority vote extend the deadline.
3.3.1 The deadline may be extended in 5 day increments.

1.4 If a final draft of a law is written up and agreed upon or reaches the deadline, the Senators will vote on it, and by majority rule it either passes or fails.

1.5 Citizens only vote on Constitutional Amendments

Section 2: Elections for The Senate

2.1 Elections for the Senate shall take place on the twenthy day of the months February, May, August, and November.

2.2 To be eligible to run for a position, one must have been
registered on the Hyrule forums for one month or more, and have made a minimum of 10 posts.

Section 3: Powers of Senators

3.1 To make laws for the Region of Hyrule.

3.2 Represent the People and Citizens of Hyrule.

3.3 Appoint a President of the Senate, who will direct the law making process, and serve as the administrator of the legislative forums.


ARTICLE 3: The Judicial Branch

Section 1: Duties and Positions

1.1 The High Court is to be the supreme authority on disciplinary matters within the Region of Hyrule.

1.2 If a nation breaks, or is suspected to have broken the laws of Hyrule, then any other nation may post in the "Judge's Office" topic in the Regional Court forum to request the nation is put on trial.

1.3 There shall be one Minister of Justice (head of the judicial department), and two judges. These positions shall be elected at the same time as the other positions in the cabinet.

Section 2: Court Procedure

2.1 Any evidence should be posted in the "Judge's Office" topic.

2.2 A Judge or the MoJ will create a topic for a case if the evidence points to law breaking.

2.3 Nations are not allowed to post in any on going case topic unless allowed to by a Judge or MoJ.

2.4 All rulings are approved by the MoJ before a Judge is allowed to post one.

Section 3: Judge Procedures

3.1 When evidence is submitted, a judge will post saying that he or she will be investigating, if he or she is the first to see it.

3.2 The judge is to create a separate topic labeled "The People VS. Nation Name."

3.3 The judge presses charges if the evidence is correct and indicates law breaking only.

3.4 Judges may permit citizens to post if they are connected to the case and have input.

3.5 Judges do not get involved in the case. Judges are to hear arguments, moderate, and are neutral. Judges are not allowed to post evidence, argue with other people, or let personal feelings get mixed in.

3.6 The Minister of Justice must review all rulings in a private forum and then approve, disagree, or modify them.

3.7The Minister of Justice or Judge shall not be the leader of a case should they be a part of it, as in “The People vs The Minister of Justice/Judge”. Instead, the Prime Minister should act as the Minister of Justice. Other Ministers will then serve as the judge.

The Regional Constitution Continued

ARTICLE 4: The Regional Administration

Section 1: Duties and Positions of the Regional Administration

1.1 The Regional Administration is responsible managing the forum and implementing certain regional programs and moderating certain forums.

1.2 The Regional Administration shall consist of the Co-Admin, who shall be regarded as the Senior Administrator, and Administrators with the following portfolios: Role Play, Civilization, and Global Moderation.

Section 2: Electing Regional Administrations

2.1 Elections for the Regional Administration shall take place on the twentieth day of the months February, May, August, and November after an Administrator has resigned from office.
2.1.2 The Co-Admin is appointed by the Founder and is not elected.

2.2 To be eligible to run for a position, one must have been registered on the Hyrule forums for two month or more, and have made a minimum of 35 posts.

2.3 To run, a candidate must announce his or her intent to run for a specified position in the main election thread of the election forum; after an administrator resigns

2.4 Elections for the specific positions of the regional cabinet will begin three days after the first person announces his or her intent to run for that position. After beginning, elections will run for five days. When the five days are over, the person with the most votes will be the person appointed to the certain cabinet position.

2.5 If most votes are abstenations, the vote will be counted as no vote, and the nomination and election process will begin again as outlined earlier in this article.

Section 3: Powers of the Administrators

3.1 The Administrator, when elected, have the power to do the following:

3.1.1 Moderate the forum(s) which the Administrator is assigned to moderate

3.1.2 Advertise the forum(s) which the Administrators moderates to new nations and encourage people to take part in events or programs regarding their administration.

3.1.3 Appoint a Deputy Admin, who would help the main Administrator, moderate his or her forum.

3.1.4 Lock topics within the forum(s) they moderate.

Section 4: Positions in the Regional Administration

4.1 Co-Admin

4.1.1 The Co-Admin shall be the highest ranking Regional Administrator under the Founder.

4.1.2 The Co-Admin may appoint Regional Administrators, if a time and need requires so, and with permission from the Founder.

4.1.3 The Co-Admin has the power to over ride other Administrators, including the Global Moderation by the Minister of Internal Affairs.

4.1.4 The Co-Admin is the link between the Division of Government and Administration.

4.1.5 The Co-Admin may hold one Regional Cabinet position or membership in The Senate.


ARTICLE 5: Ratification of the Regional Constitution

Section 1: Ratification

1.1 For this constitution to become official, a simple majority of FOR votes must be attained.

1.2 This constitution, once ratified, will replace the current revision of The Regional Constitution proposed on July 29th, 2009.

1.3 All nations must ratify the Regional Constitution before gaining Citizenship, as mentioned in Amendment 2: Citizenship and Voting.

Amendment 1: Freedom of Speech, Press, Criticize, and Debate
Amendment 2: Citizenship and Voting
Amendment 3: Regional Symbols
Amendment 4: Alliances and Treaties
Amendment 5: Terms of Ejection


Amendment 1: Freedom of Speech, Press, Criticize, and Debate

1.1 Each and every nation in Hyrule has the right to freedom of speech. This includes, but is not limited to, freedom of the press, freedom to criticize, freedom to debate.

1.2 The only exceptions to 1.1 would be content that is considered to be obscene, threatening, inflammatory, libelous, or racist. Comments of this sort may not be posted on the forum and will not be tolerated.


Amendment 2: Citizenship and Voting

2.1 In order to qualify for citizenship and the right to vote in regional affairs and World Assembly voting, a nation must meet the following three criteria:

2.1.1 The nation must reside in the Region of Hyrule.

2.1.2 The nation must be registered on the Regional forum.

2.1.3 The nation must have made a minimum of five posts and an introduction post in the "Introduction" forum.

2.1.4 The nation must ratify the Regional Constitution

2.2 A nation cannot vote using more than one account.

2.2.1 A nation only has one vote.

2.3 Two (or more) users that have a shared IP addresses cannot vote, as it is impossible to confirm if they are multiple people or not.

2.3.1 The only exception to the above is if only one nation with that IP address votes.

2.4 Visitors from another region are not allowed to vote.

2.4.1 The only exception to the above is if that visitor has a nation in Hyrule, in which case that nation can register an account on the forums using the name of his or her Hyrule nation, and claim citizenship and voting rights.

2.4.2 The visitor nation that claims citizenship as outlined above must also follow the rules in regards to voting.

2.5 Punishment for breaking Amendment 2 shall be decided by the Minister of Justice.

2.6 The Minister of Justice, Founder, Prime Minister, or Delegate may grant a visitor honorary citizenship, if the four people mentioned above all approve granting the visitor citizenship. A visitor with honorary citizenship is not required to have a nation in Hyrule to become a citizen.

2.7 If a nation registered on the forum leaves the Region without valid reason, and does not return, its citizenship may be revoked. Under certain conditions, the Minister of Justice may also revoke the citizenship of a nation.


Amendment 3: Regional Symbols

3.1 The regional drink is beer.

3.2 The regional animal is the dancing squirrel.

3.3 The regional flower is the white lily.

3.4 The regional snack is the Twinkie.

3.5 The regional anthem is the over world theme from the game, “Legend of Zelda”, for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

3.6 The regional flag is here: NEED A REGIONAL FLAG OR LINK TO THE OLD FLAG

3.7 Regional symbols may be changed by a vote in the Senate. A majority of Senators must be in favor of the change. After a three-day period it will then be allowed for citizens to suggest alternate symbols. Upon voting, the original symbol shall also be included as one of the options and the majority of the population must be in favor.

3.8 In the final poll, the symbol that garnishes a simple majority of votes in Regional Voting Forum, shall become the new symbol for the region.

Amendment 4: Alliances and Treaties

4.1 Hyrule is to be a peaceful region. The Region may participate in multi-regional alliances or treaties, but not being an aggressor of war.

4.2 The Region shall not maintain a standing military, but a defense force, commanded by Minister of Justice and an appointed Deputy of Justice.

Amendment 5: Terms of Ejection

5.1 The Founder and Delegate are permitted to eject a nation(s), without the consultation of the cabinet and judges, in the following circumstances:

5.1.1 If the nation has posted recruiting messages for other regions.

5.1.2 If the nation has posted links to obscene materials or images.

5.1.3 If the nation posts messages that are of a racist, homophobic, or sexist nature, or any other message that threatens a group or individual.

5.1.4 If the nation threatens or harasses another member.

5.1.5 If the nation poses a threat to the constitutional rule of Hyrule.

5.2 Other ejections must be approved by the cabinet and/or judges and MoJ, and must be for a valid reason, or be outlined in regional laws passed by the region.

5.3 Nations ejected by rules outlined in Sections 5.1 and 5.2 may appeal to the founder to be let back in to the region. If the nation ejected was considered to be a citizen of Hyrule (see Article 3), then he or she may appeal the case in the Regional Court.

I'll edit some parts or it and some parts of it are going for a vote.

Official Name, What name should replace the TGA (the senate isn't going to work in Hyrule), and minor details. Regional Flag submissions. etc.

Sounds good, I'll be glad to just have something that we can go off of

Don't forget to update my title. I shortened it down to just Founder and Mega Mindy.

I don't have many more ideas beyond what I told you on AIM and whatnot, and early in the morning is not when I think of very good ideas! I'll try and contribute more when I'm not so busy.

I have a few ideas I think. Lol. My main mission is for simplicity and slimness. I think parts of it should be laws and out of the constitution.

Citizenship, Administration, etc should be split.