For the idea, please see http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt144530.html. The idea of this thread is to create a sort of online, forum-based mock congress where resolutions are brought up for a vote from participants. The idea is to keep this thread relatively clean (i.e., this is the "floor" of the mock congress). The Speaker should probably only bring resolutions to a vote here where he or she has already negotiated for sufficient votes or when bringing a vote would make the opposition look bad. Committees should take their internal deliberations offline somewhere, and caucuses should perform their organizational and administrative functions offline as well (such as in another thread, via PM, or in an IRC channel).
This Congress shall pass only resolutions and no bills as we lack the sovereignty/authority to make any bills into law; resolutions, however, are the expression of the body as a whole. The way this mock congress works is through the concept of a Governing Majority that elects a Speaker. The Speaker makes all committee appointments. The Speaker schedules resolution for vote once they have come out of committee. A Majority may topple the speaker at any time with a Vote of No Confidence. The second largest bloc in the mock congress forms the Loyal Opposition, and the Speaker traditionally takes its leader's advice on committee appointments (thus the Opposition may also have a minority of seats on some committees rather than being shut out altogether). The Opposition Leader also has the prerogative to Force Consideration. Forced Consideration enables the Minority to put things on the mock congress's docket (debate, a call to vote) without the assent of the Majority. Since Forced Consideration could tyrannize the Majority, this prerogative is restricted to one item on the docket at a time.
All voting is open for a reasonable period of time (3-7 days or so) to give all active, regular members a chance to vote. For a vote to succeed, a quorum of active, regular members must have voted, and the majority (>50%) must have voted in favor of the resolution (quorum is >=40% active, regular members). This also prevents the Minority from putting something up for vote overnight and letting in pass while the Majority sleeps. The Majority may squelch the Minority's Considerations by merely failing to vote as long as the Minority would be unable to meet quorum.
The first order of business is who shall be Speaker?
29 Nov 2010, 12:35 pm
