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Today, we at the Democratic Review must give credit where credit is due, as well as criticism and jeers where it is deserved.

Our editorial staff have opted to publish the Constitution of the eUS, as ratified in June of 2009. And we hope to make a point, in doing so. We hope to spread awareness to Democratic Party members, as well as the general public, so that everyone can learn their "rights" and "responsibilities" as citizens, but also to foster an understanding of the workings, or in this case the malfunctioning and empty charades of their own government.
In doing this, we also hope to cultivate a dialogue about the nature of the document, the wordcraft of the document, the intent of the language and give, both credit and blame, where it is appropriate to the authorship.
Mainly, we at the Review want to ask the difficult questions about the viability of such a document in an eRepublik, in an eWorld. Let's take a look, shall we?


eUS Constitution

I. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

1. A “citizen” is defined as a person or persons who has been born in the United States or has lived in the United States for thirty (30) days. Any person or persons having move to the United States with the intention of living permanently shall be defined as an “immigrant” until he/she has lived in the country for the required time. Both citizens and immigrants may be defined as the collective term of “residents” of the United States.

2. All residents of the United States are considered equal in worth. No resident shall ever be denied his basic right of Free Speech, the exceptions to these are any acts of speech which would abridge another citizens rights. Furthermore, it is the duty of the United States Government to protect and defend the right to free speech of its citizens.

3. All residents may have recourse to a fair and speedy trial, regardless of the nature of his/her crime. All residents have the right to an attorney and citizens may ask to have one appointed and paid for by the State, if he/she feels he/she may not adequately defend himself.

4. This constitution shall be considered a regulatory document, not a permissible one. As such, any and all rights not specified in this constitution are considered to be rights of the people unless legislated by the appropriate authorities.

5.Citizens of the United States of America are allowed to join any of the country's five largest political parties to run for Congress provided that they are level 12 or higher.

6. Every citizen is allowed the right to freedom of speech within reason, as well as the freedom to bear arms. In such, the citizen also has the duty to defend their country at the best of their abilities as well as pay taxes.
II. CONGRESSIONAL POWERS

Beyond the powers inherent in Congress, the Governmental body can also enact any legislation that does not impede upon powers held by other branches of the Government.
1.

Any member of Congress may propose legislation. Any Bill based "in-game" must be passed with a simple majority of the tallied votes, with the exception of impeachment. Non-game mechanic laws require a simple majority of the standing quorum in Congress to be passed. Congress may set a quorum for these votes based upon the number of active in the forums.

Congress has the power to levy taxes and then direct revenues to expenditures of the state. Congress should act in conjunction with the President and any cabinet members to see that funds are appropriately directed. Congress has the right to structure itself however it sees fit, this includes the creation of committees or the use of other republican methods to create a more streamlined legislative process.


2.

Congress may impeach the President at any time. An impeachment must follow the same basic procedure that any other bill or piece of legislation would follow. The President may be impeached upon the grounds of negligence to uphold Executive duties. However Congress does not have the grounds to impeach any President due to tactical or strategic failure when given proper action at that time.


3.


Congress has the right to bar any member of its body from their forums with a 3/4ths vote based off of existing quorums. Congress may bar someone from Congressional chambers based on crimes against the eUS. However the banned person has a right appeal such a ban in the High Court.


4.

Congress may amend any part of this Constitution so long as it receives 3/4ths majority approval.


5.


At the end of a Congressional session (before re-elections on the 25 of each month), members of Congress are permitted to use up their remaining proposals for free experience points. These proposals are not expected to pass and are usually outrageous. They can be seen as an expression of a member of Congress' freedom of speech so long as the link to a discussion is not malicious or harmful to those visiting the site.

III. REGULATIONS OF THE PRESIDENCY
1.

The President is the head of State, Chief Diplomat and Commander in Chief of the eUnited States. It is his responsibility to ensure that he goes about these tasks in a way that upholds both the Constitution of the eUnited States and the governance of this country. The President may go about these tasks however he so chooses. He may do this by delegating power to Congress or by appointing advisers and aides to assist in his job.

1.B

These appointed officials and Cabinet members serve at the pleasure of the President and may be released of their duties by him/her at any time.

2.

The President has the right to propose certain articles of legislation to Congress. These include, treaties and other foreign affairs related bills. Furthermore the President may cast a vote in any vote Congress takes. The President may refuse to accept articles of war passed by Congress for the purpose of preventing harm to the eUS.

3.

The President also has inherent power over any Government Infrastructure and management tasks. This includes the purchase of Infrastructure or the issue of any executive orders.

4.

Funds entrusted by Congress to the Presidency are to be used as the President sees appropriate within the boundaries of his Executive duties.

5.

The Presidency has sovereignty and commands the eArmed Forces as Commander in Chief. He/she alone shall be the sole commander of the entirety of the eArmed Forces with the counsel of any appointed advisers and/or Commanders.


Our goal here is to ask tough questions of ourselves. As we answer those questions honestly, we can grow as a community, and make the game a ton more fun.

We at the Democratic Review are on an unyielding mission for transparency, but not only that. We need clarity and understanding as well. With that in mind, we ask these questions: Does the entire document actually work, or just parts of it? Is it enforceable? Is the "right" to bear arms relevant without a "popular revolution" module? And how, exactly, does our Government protect our free speech? And for what purpose does it choose to qualify it's stance on "free speech" in Section I. 6. as "within reason". To give them an admin-like ego trip? And what are the penalties for acting outside of this framework of "reason"? Banning by the admins? Is this already redundant considering the TOS of eRepublik?

Considering some of the relevancy issues that have been pointed out already, we might attempt to invoke our Roe vs. Wade rights at the next Constitutional Session. Or fight the eGovenrment to define only our definition of "marriage". I myself will take up the "anti-death penalty" fight, and lobby eCongress relentlessly. What should stop us? Common sense? Why use that at this point? Let's start rolling twenty-sided dice, and really get into it.
The Review's purpose here is not to ridicule(too much), but merely show that our Congresspeople are role-playing as much as anyone in-game, something often scoffed at in eRepublik by those of the same veterans and Congresspeople.
What matters to the game, and to our readers, is warfare and it's judicial use in conjunction with, and in defense of our allies. What matters in game is economic levity and frivolousness, and since we spend time online, bulking up our avatars during our valuable work day forsaking both work ethic and efficiency, we need the Constitution to address our pretend economic liberty. We need the advocacy required to actually practice free-trade and truly free-market models, or socialized, collectivized and communal models, apart from the "Organization"al role. Address investment firms, reserves and banks and answer the question, "what is, exactly" the financial institution's responsibilities to their investors, as well as their shareholders? We'd like support to form working central stock exchanges. We want to learn game mechanics and make this WORK. Give your constituents some substance, and stop playing "Barbie". I'm curious how long they debated on what color the curtains in the Senate Chambers should be, or whether the President should be kept at a "secret, undisclosed location" in times of war. Pssshhh.

Congress, make our documents pertinent to us, pertinent to eRepublik, and pertinent to having fun in-game. Help us make this the game it could be.

~Daniel Jacob Asher, Press Secretary~Democratic Party

In closing this morning, we at the Democratic Review would like to thank the French Foreign Minister, and the French citizens on forum, who made us aware of our folly, as well as Marine Corps Vice-Commandant Lucius Varenus, for vigilantly alerting Congress to the scandal it was ratifying at the time, oblivious to the fraud and corruption under it's nose. We salute them and thank them.