Abstract/TLDR: This bill reforms the Legislative process, the manner in which the Legislature accepts or rejects bills and amendments to the Aquilian Constitution, so that it is adjusted for player activity while not slowing down the proposal process. The bill has the Legislature voting “Yae” or “Nay” on proposed bills. It enacts Proposal Periods, lengths of time that the Legislature has to vote on a proposed bill. Passing a bill requires more Yaes than Nays by the end of the Proposal Period, and also requires that the number of Yaes be greater than or equal to 20% of the last census population count. The process by which the Executive Councillors approve or reject the bill, and the process by which the Legislature overrides a rejected EC result, are formalized, but in essence are largely unchanged.
A census is held at the beginning of every month, counting the number of active citizens for this month. (We will call this number the “census count”.) All citizens who have responded to this census are considered a member of the Legislature. including those on the Executive Council and Chief Justice.
According to the Aquilan Constitution, Article II, Sections 2 and 4, any member of the Legislature can propose a bill. Once posted on the subreddit, members of the Legislature may sign the bill. If the bill gets an amount of signatures equalling or exceeding 25% of the most recent census count, the bill is proposed to the Executive Councillors (ECs), of which there are three. If at least two of the ECs approve of the bill, the bill becomes law. Otherwise, the bill is vetoed and returned to the Legislature, who can override the veto with an amount of signatures equalling or exceeding 66% of the most recent census count. If the override occurs, the bill becomes law, and otherwise, the bill is rejected.
- Indefinite voting period length. How does the Legislature know when a bill is rejected? If the bill does not specify an amount of time to be considered, it will be considered indefinitely. Potentially, this could mean a bill from two years ago could be signed into law with a random signature. This problem of vagueness exists for voting during the initial proposal, the voting of the ECs, and the voting of the override.
- Arbitrary hurdle for bills to pass. Because only 25% of the Legislature need to sign the bill for it to be considered by the EC, a bill that is opposed by a majority of the citizenry could easily pass given an active minority. This is further exacerbated if ECs wish to pass a bill that citizens don’t want. Since ECs are part of the Legislature, they can propose a bill, participate in the signing of it, and allow a small minority to push a bill through. Many see this as potentially too much power for the ECs.
- No recourse for opposition to the bill. Since any bill simply needs to reach 25% approval, those who oppose it can only hope that no one signs the bill for potentially forever.
- Not adjusting for player activity. While many players answer the census, some of them are still not very active on the server, let alone in Aquilan politics. Depending on the proportion of active players at the moment the bill is presented, 25% may be an extremely easy bar to jump, or an impossible one.
The following lists a number of things that the current voting process does efficiently, and that should be preserved when considering changing it.
- Speed. At moments of high relative activity, a bill can be passed in a few hours given the signatures. Hence, popular, necessary, and reactive bills can become law very quickly.
- Requires a minimum amount of active citizenry participation. Because the bill requires 25% of the most recent census count to sign, it’s never the case that an extremely small minority can propose a bill, sign it, and then close it, with 100% approval rating of those who voted.
- Checks and balances between the Legislature and the ECs. This is due to the EC's ability to veto, and the Legislature's ability to override the veto.
The new process retains the overall structure of the old process (proposal, vote by Legislature, if pass go to EC, if fail go to override), but fixes the problems of the old process with a new voting method.
When a member of the Legislature proposes a bill, he must also include a Proposal Period, a whole number of days between 5 and 14 (inclusive). This begins a phase called the Proposal Vote, which is in effect for an amount of days totalling the Proposal Period. During this phase, members of the Legislature vote “Yae” or “Nay” on the bill. At the end of the Proposal Vote, if the bill has more Yaes than Nays, and the number of Yaes is greater than or equal to 20% of the most recent census count, the bill moves onto the Executive Vote. Otherwise, the bill is rejected. Additionally, if at any point in the Proposal Vote, the number of Yaes exceeds 50% of the most recent census count, the bill automatically moves onto the Executive Vote. Likewise, if at any point in Proposal Vote, the number of Naes equals or exceeds 50% of the most recent census count, the bill is automatically rejected.
Before we move onto the details of the Executive Vote, let’s analyze the advantages of the new voting process. First, we have a defined proposal length, so there is no ambiguity. Secondly, the bar to pass a bill is adjusted for the amount of activity during the voting process. However, a necessary requirement of 20% or higher prevents an extreme minority from pushing through a bill during a day of low activity. As well, members of the Legislature who oppose a bill can do so in a meaningful way. Finally, this voting process can be very fast for extremely popular/necessary bills, with a 50% Yae count.
The Executive Vote is a phase starting immediately following the end of the Proposal Vote. The Executive Vote lasts an amount of days equal to half of the Proposal Period, rounded up to the closest whole day. The ECs can choose to sign the bill with their executive signatures. If two-thirds or more of the ECs sign the bill by the closing of the Executive Vote, the bill becomes law. Otherwise, the bill returns to the Legislature and the Override Vote begins. (If at any point during the Executive Vote, not enough ECs have signed the bill for the bill to become law, and the ECs unanimously agree that their votes are final, a bill can immediately move to the Override Vote instead of waiting for the Executive Vote to conclude normally.)
The Override Vote acts the same way as the Proposal Vote, except it lasts for an amount of days equal to half of the Proposal Period, rounded up to the closest whole day. Instead of requiring more than 50% Yaes, it require more than two-thirds Yaes.
Changes to Article II, Section 4 - Legislative Process, Executive Veto
A bill may be presented by any member of the Legislature for petition. Any proposed bill must contain “[Bill Proposal]” at the beginning of the post title , and a declared Proposal Period in the post’s text body, an amount of whole days no less than 5 and no greater than 14, in order for the bill to be legally binding. Within this proposal, the exact proposed law or amendment must be described, along with an intended purpose. If the post containing the bill is edited for any reason other than to correct a grammatical and/or spelling error, the bill is no longer legally binding. At any time during the Legislative process, the author of the bill may withdraw the bill, immediately rejecting it. Upon a bill being accepted or rejected, a post shall be made on the subreddit in the manner described in Article II, Section 2. Once a bill has been presented to the Legislature, members can discuss the bill and sign the petition. All bills presented to the Legislature must be written in such a way as to facilitate this method of petition.
Every order, resolution, or vote of the Legislature (except for an Election or a Vote of Impeachment) shall be presented to the Executive Council of Aquila; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by them by two thirds vote, or being disapproved by them, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Legislature, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Once the bill has been presented to the Legislature, the Legislative process for said bill begins, and the bill enters the Proposal Vote, a period of time equal to the Proposal Period. At this point, the most recent census population count will be recorded, and this number referred to as the 'proposal count.' During the Proposal Vote, members of the Legislature may vote 'Yae' or 'Nay' in the bill’s thread, they may discuss the bill, and each may change or delete his vote. A member of the Legislature will not cast his vote on this bill if he was not a citizen at the start of the Proposal Vote. At the conclusion of the Proposal Vote, the number of Yaes and Nays are to be counted, and if the Yaes outnumber the Nays, and the numbers of Yaes is at least equal to 20% of the proposal count, then the bill passes the Proposal Vote. Otherwise, the bill is rejected, and the Legislative process terminates. The Proposal Vote phase can conclude prematurely only if one of the following two conditions should be met: If the number of Yaes exceeds 50% of the proposal count at any time during the Proposal Vote, the bill passes the Proposal Vote. If the number of Nays amounts to or exceeds 50% of the proposal count at any time during the Proposal Vote, the bill is rejected, and the Legislative process terminates.
At the moment that a bill passes its Proposal Vote, it enters the Executive Vote phase, a period of time equal to one half of the Proposal Period, rounded up to the closest whole day. At this point, the number of Executive Councillors (ECs) is to be recorded, and this number referred to as the 'executive count.' During the Executive Vote, each EC may sign his executive signature on the bill. Each EC maintains the right to erase his signature from a bill if the Executive Vote for said bill is not concluded. If at any point during the Executive Vote, an amount of executive signatures no less than two-thirds of the executive count exists on the bill, the bill is accepted, and the Legislative process terminates. If the Executive Vote concludes and the bill has not been accepted, then the bill is vetoed. The Executive Vote phase can conclude prematurely only if the following condition is met: The ECs have unanimously declared that their decisions are final.
At the moment that a bill is vetoed in the Executive Vote, it enters the Override Vote phase, a period of time equal to one half of the Proposal Period, rounded up to the closest whole day. At this point, the most recent census population count will be recorded, and this number referred to as the 'override count.' An EC shall produce a post on the subreddit titled ‘[Bill Override] <Bill Name>’, and in the post’s body, contain a link to the bill’s proposal thread and the names of the ECs who signed the bill (if any). During the Override Vote, members of the Legislature may vote 'Yae' or 'Nay' in the bill’s override thread, they may discuss the bill, and each may change or delete his vote. A member of the Legislature will not cast his vote on this bill if he was not a citizen at the start of the Override Vote. At the conclusion of the Override Vote, the number of Yaes and Nays are to be counted, and if the Yaes outnumber twice the number of Nays, and if the numbers of Yaes is at least equal to 20% of the override count, then the bill is accepted, and the Legislative process terminates. Otherwise, the bill is rejected, and the Legislative process terminates. The Override Vote phase can conclude prematurely only if one of the following two conditions should be met: If the number of Yaes exceeds two-thirds of the override count at any time during the Override Vote, the bill is accepted, and the Legislative process terminates. If the number of Nays amounts to or exceeds one-third of the override count at any time during the Override Vote, the bill is rejected, and the Legislative process terminates.
Changes to Article II, Section 2 - Membership, Rules, Journal
The Legislature shall consist of all the citizens of Aquila. Membership in the Legislature shall be contingent upon meeting the requirements for citizenship.
The Legislature shall conduct all proceedings on the Aquila subreddit (r/CivAquila) such that the matters are available to all Members. No official proceedings of the Legislature shall exclude a Member from access to knowledge of the matter. All citizens have the right to propose a bill. Such a proposal should be posted to the subreddit and contain the tag ‘[Bill Proposal]’, and within the proposal, a declared Proposal Period, an amount of whole days no less than 5 and no greater than 14, in order for the bill to be legally binding. If the post containing the bill is edited for any reason other than to correct a grammatical and/or spelling error, the bill is no longer legally binding. The bill will then begin the Legislative process as it is described in Section II, Article 4. If an amount of citizens equalling or exceeding 25% of the last census population sign a bill’s petition post in the affirmative, the bill will be considered by the Executive Council for a vote.
Once a bill is accepted or rejected, if the bill’s rejection was not caused by its author withdrawing it, any Any and all official votes of the Executive Council and the Legislature, during each voting phase of the Legislative process, shall be documented and made available on a post to the Aquila subreddit. If the bill was passed accepted, this post should have the tag ‘[Bill Accepted]’, and otherwise it should have the tag ‘[Bill Rejected]’. This journal shall include the matter which was up for vote, and whether or not the matter was passed by the Executive Council.