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.....It's.....it's beautiful *cries*

So long I've argued these points to people in private discussions...and here they all are. I was beginning to think I was the only one thinking this.

I actually thought about typing this several times, glad you beat me to it.

Shouted/Voted/Subbed/whatever else

Thanks Stryke 🙂 Just speakin' teh truth

I personally don't think that having a dominant party is an issue. I used to be very involved in a small 6th place party in the past so I'm not bias here. However the party made efforts to work together with the larger parties in mutual respect.
Simple solution. If the numbers are inflated because of the Christmas Party thing, then the other parties should canvas our members and see who wants to make a break, I think a few would leave, but the IA would still be a dominant party with a Majority simply because it is SUPER COOL

I def agree IA is SUPER COOL 🙂

But Mark, you really don't think it's a problem that one Party basically controls CP elections? That new players are only going to join IA? Honestly I think it would hurt IA to be superinflated with members

What are your thoughts?

Nice article Oprah. And i'm right with ya stryke.

As a long standing member of the IA, probably one of the first members after the founding trio, I actually agree with a lot you've said.

A lot of people complain that the IA dominates this arena, but we worked our way to the top, and we continue to work just as hard. We haven't become complacent, and we certainly don't abuse our position or sit here slacking.

We may have an inflated number of party members, but it's the active ones that count right? those that contribute on the forum, are active in the media, and make a legit stab at a seat in congress. The handful of 2-clickers left in our party will continue to 2-click, and they'll vote for a pretty face these elections - so IMO, they have no impact on anything in the political module.

I've been out of the politics scene for a while, but from what I've see, it's a battlefield out there among the smaller parties. I've seen moaning, bickering, trolling and what not, and like you say, this certainly doesn't help the cause.

I also haven't seen much activity from the smaller parties; granted, things have been quiet in eSouth Africa, but you can't expect a booming success when there's little to no attempt activity, campaigning or party promotion.

New Afrika Party is supercool. Period. 😉

I think, and I am sure everyone would agree that a party aims to get a majority. All parties do this. Nice thing about democracy is that if people don't want the IA controlling the CP elections anymore, then they can leave and join another party. No one is forcing these people to stay. It is all part of the democratic process. If we were suddenly inclined to interfere with the natural democratic process, that would be a bad thing.

So, what I am really trying to say here is this: The only way it can change if for the other parties to form policies, and constitutions that attract new players to join them, and canvas the players from the IA, we will likewise canvas the players from the other parties if given the chance. All is fair in politics

Oprah, well written. I've got one complaint: "IA is intrinsically a party that isn’t mainstream." I think that if that were true, then IA wouldn't be the largest party. It might not be pleasant, but almost by definition the largest party defines mainstream. And Krimpie won CP without being IA (as did Stryke).

I won the CP elections and I was a member of the 6th biggest party - The LPSA.

I have to agree with a lot of Oprah's points. They are valid.

What people must realise we have worked hard to build our party and its name to where it is.

when Freedom alliance was created in the 3rd republik no one complained when everyone joined the single party till we regained our regions. New parties were formed and the 2 clickers stayed in Freedom Alliance and they were the biggest party.

The IA was then revived and we started fresh. Old members returned and new ones joined but the party still was not the biggest in eSA. Yet due to our high activity and constant media exposure and political stance we gained favour in congress and cp elections even though we were not the biggest political party in eSA.

In the SAGP days they were the dominating party as well and even then the IA was a major player. All these parties started somewhere and i believe worked hard to build the reputation they have.

As u can see today, we are actively campaigning as a party. Hence the reason we have all our articles released and in the top 5. As big as we are we still work hard and do active campaigning to recruit new members.

Respect for bringing this in the open. There is no doubt this needs to be discussed

@zamrg

Wouldn't you agree that two-clickers vote strictly along party lines? I think out of my almost two years in eRepublik that has certainly been the trend.

Also, perhaps IA's high membership, collection of Giants, and nowadays high level of activity is DISCOURAGING activity in the lower parties? Basically, IA is so good that no one else even bothers to try. What about that theory?

@Merle

A party with the name "Alternative" in it seems not so mainstreamish. Hell, politics is a load of Bulls***, and IA is NOT--therefore I think IA isn't mainstream. But eh, besides the point

Also, IA endorsed Krimpie?

Oprah hit it right on the head. If a new player wants to join a party, and they notice the IA at the top, naturally they're going to think that that party is the best party in the country, and go there. If the IA wanted to, they could do absolutely nothing, and still gain members.

This obviously makes it harder on smaller parties. The IA could perform less work and get the same results, while the smaller parties would have to burn themselves out trying to achieve those same results.

So, what are we going to do about it because believe it or not someone has to be in the top, and new players will join that party?

Im really not sure why the fact that we are at the top of the list is even an issue!

@Stryke Blayde

I guarantee you that if we were to stop all party activities, members would leave, numbers would drop and we'd become a thing of the past.

Your comment really isn't well thought out.

"...members would leave, numbers would drop and we'd become a thing of the past."

Member loyalty. When Ines, Bosch, and whoever else came back, I'm pretty sure all of them went straight to the IA without a second thought(Ines for sure). Same reason why there's an NPSA board when there's only 6 of us on there.

"Im really not sure why the fact that we are at the top of the list is even an issue!"

-As of today, the IA claims 41 members—which is over twice the second runner up, the New Africa Party, with 20 members. This is a massive disparity in party membership on the national scale; the bottom three parties (UDA, CEP, SAGP) don’t even break 30 members combined.-

Actually it's 40 members combined. Sorry for that error. Will amend

Stryke, then get on it and start messaging Noobs for your party. Its called campaigning.

Why I have an issue with us being the largest party being an issue in the first place is because what would people expect us to do? Ask our members to leave? That would be political manipulation and not very democratic.

So, if you have an issue with something that can't be fixed, then what have we got - We having bitching, thats all

@Mark

I've listed about ten different reasons IA's supermajority is harmful to the country as a whole. I'm not complaining or attacking the IA, I'm just trying to bring up a topic I think should be addressed for the betterment of our nation. Lets just keep it respectful

I understand that you are facilitating a health debate - But the only way it can be cured (If it is even a problem) is for the other parties to start working at making their parties bigger, thats really the end of it, is it not?

Hence the whole part about that in the article.
And I'm trying to encourage that to happen through this article....

Ok, sorry ma'am, I will be nice 😃

Np Mr. Morcom 🙂 lol, I have so many comments

"But the only way it can be cured (If it is even a problem) is for the other parties to start working at making their parties bigger, thats really the end of it, is it not?"

It really depends. For example, how hard would IA have to work to maintain its numbers? Not really that much.
For NAP, they would have to work harder than the IA to get numbers, going with your logic.
As the smaller parties come, they have to work even harder to get noticed. For parties without that many members, that poses a problem. They have to continuously work to even hope to achieve the same results as the IA would.

So in essence, the IA is basically strangling the smaller parties out of any contention. Whether or not you want to admit it, that is what is happening. Unless a miracle were to happen, the smaller parties WILL die out eventually, while it's the IA that will remain strong and dominate.

But, you have to still offer a solution - What do you propose?

Remember, and I speak as someone that has been PP of a smaller party, all parties that are small battle, and many will stay there for good, but Parties like NAP and CEP have a good chance of changing the landscape. Im sorry, but I have seen it many times before, it has always been an issue of who is on the first page (Top 5) that would ensure your growth. We only have 5 Parties.

There is a citizen feed that shows you who the newborns are in this country. Has the other parties taken advantage of that? We have not until now. The parties are loosing their chances through their complacency, they need to step up now, because the IA can't be expected to sit back and wait for the other parties to catch up.

I enjoyed the article and can see from where it comes. Just a couple of thoughts,

We have newer players also running for congress, and welcome any more new comers that would like to see what politics is all about to join us and under the guidence of massive experience ease into politics.

I have to wonder how many messages was sent on forum or in-game from the other parties, to try and recruit and market their party (i even received a couple of chuckles for my audacity to even ask, lol) we decided early on to have a bigger media presence, and the idea is to be in the spot light. This should show organisation and planning and foresight, not something negative.

The activity on the Party forums is fenominal, i am sure no other party comes close. It takes hard work from all members to make IA the party it is. What the IA is doing is showing with what vigor the party represent our voters. Anyone want to see activity in a party, and this is what you see in IA. If all this is due to the veterans that has returned, then it shows we have much to learn from them and it is a good thing, i simply believe it is a party that works well together (young, old, new, everyone), for the good of the country.

Screenshot from our forums: http://hotlink.guavatree.co.za/images/54966492465955218295.jpg

Great article. I agree with many of its points as well. I've tried to distance myself from the "elitism" belief, though I can't help agreeing with the fact that IA is this huge political giant that definitely intimidates any potential politician.

Sure, IA worked for their place. That's not up for debate. But so did Rockefeller when he monopolized oil companies with his Standard Oil. And obviously, monopolies aren't the best things to have in any sense, really (unless you aren't the competition). I agree, I think eSA needs more dispersion in its party numbers. Plus, many of the smaller parties would most likely benefit from an older, more experienced player.

OK, I AM SHOUTING THIS, WHAT SHALL WE DO ABOUT IT!!!!

No one wants to answer that!

Ok so in essence what u proposing Shiloh is for example: Let's say I leave the IA and join the CEP it would make a world of difference in a sense that people would possibly leave the IA and follow me there? this is besides the fact the political experience I bring to the party as well.

Let’s say we do this with various IA members to disperse IA veterans to other parties. The IA gets smaller, possibly the smallest because members will follow whichever veteran they want to follow. This then leads to making another party bigger i.e. the CEP. Now the CEP is the biggest party in eSA, with no hard work what so ever. Now newbie’s join the CEP as they the biggest party. People vote CEP candidates as its the biggest party and has Veteran politicians in it.

My point is we practically back to square one, where smaller parties will again bring up this subject.

I really am trying to see the point to all of this. Make no mistake i too would like to hear a feasible solution to this. Unless this comes to light nothing will change.

Grim, I wasn't implying anyone join CEP, nor was that my intent. What I meant be younger parties benefit from older members was the most neglected part of your statement; the political experience. I honestly didn't take into account younger members following older players, I just wanted the older players to teach the younger party members a thing or two about politics.

And honestly, if that ever happened to CEP, I wouldn't oppose it. I don't agree with Oprah/Sam/Stryke's points because it's IA. I'm fine with IA, I just think it has a bit too much power. Furthermore, I don't think every member would flock to a single party and create another powerhouse. That would be completely counter-intuitive. In my opinion, best case scenario is IA splinters itself and puts a near-equal amount of members into each party. Again, that's best case scenario and probably not likely at all.

And from a prima facia point of view, I don't think there would be any problems with that. eSA has a pretty tame political climate; whether you're in CEP or IA, you still share many political stances with the rest of eSA.

Wow Here eSA goes again creating an enemy inside eSA when there is noone to fight from the outside. Good luck anyone who is running for congress.

As a long time New Africa Member, I really don't see why some have a problem with IA's large numbers. They worked their way to the top through the hard work of the members. If anyone has worked to build a party, they will know how hard it is and the amount of effort it takes. I remember hours of sending messages, contacting members, canvassing for New Africa, it's damn hard work to build a party.

So with that being said, if people have problems with IA's dominance, then do something about it. Rather than complain, start working your asses off to build your own party, start canvassing and flooding the media with you Parties articles. Build up your party by spending the time the IA leaders originally spent on building up their party. You can complain until you are blue in the face but that won't change the situation. IA got there through hard work, not luck; now it's your chance to build your party through hard work!.

If I see one more person complaining about the size of IA I will explode. Fucking work rather than complain and you will see your party numbers swell!

I like having articles like these to paint a more vibrant political picture for myself as I try to get back in the swing of things. I do think having big ol' super party would be bad but for now I think things will be maybe not alright but atleast not as dire as POSSIBLE *a big word some people seem to not understand as your point* situations IA's size could cause.

As for me, I'll sit in my little CEP corner as I sat in my little NPSA corner before.

@Bobady

I said like ten times I wasn't complaining about it. I'm trying to encourage the entire country and all of the other 4 parties to be more active through this article! How more explicit can I be?

i reserve the right to comment about this article in an article to created a bit later... I do agree with points, but not all.

I have a unique perspective on this as I am one of the "Old Hands" mentioned in this article.

I love the fact that this article stirred up so much discussion! Good one Oprah!

😁😁😁😁^
And all that is why I find party politics so pigdisgusting and we started the "No Party Politics" policy on IRC. It just gets ugly in no time.

I totally agree with Oprah in the sense that we need a more vibrant political atmosphere in eSouth Africa. I haven't seen a lot of activity from other political parties other than IA.

When I co-founded IA back in the day we had 3 members compared to the top party with over 100 members. We became one of the top 3 through hard work and campaigning. And here we are today. I'm very proud of the fact that we've maintained the same attitude over all those years. We have a totally new PP from any of the "old" players back in the day so it shows we've evolved.

I think all the other parties need to get up off their ass and campaign! Remember, the old players are only old to other old players so it's really a moot point.

It's gonna be awesome. We welcome the challenge!

Oprah, I appreciate the fact that you wrote the article and you have some very valid points.

At least it starts some debate. Something that a one-party state does not have.

One might want to look at the history before the founding of the Independent Alternative. I don't mean the seismic changes in geography, global alliances, take overs, etc... But rather to point out that the original party landscape was of a spore of parties who did not get along, as it should be.

During times of turmoil and uncertainty, these groups banded together into a single unit, in order to pursue the national goal at the time.

Traditionally, this unit would break loose again once the goal dissolved.

I myself like to think that I am still Black Lion Front, even though I was United South Africa, and today I'm in the Independent Alternative.

The old hands in the IA are all from our former parties, apart from new citizens that were born into the party.

However, I understand the point made... It's not crying wolf, but it claims the question... is the sudden emboldened and confident atmosphere within the IA detrimental to the national ideal?

I haven't been playing for very long (about a year) but I know this:

When I started on eRepublik, the first message I received was from IA, it was a pleasant surprise and impressed me. I joined for that reason, even though they were not the largest. They were always friendly and supportive, even though I probably drove a few people up the wall.

IA being big is absolutely no excuse for other parties to not work. No work means no result. If anything, it should motivate them to get cracking with their campaigning. Flood the media, send PM's whatever it takes. Make themselves known.

I'm not even sure exactly what the other parties stand for as there has been very little media and a lot of it has been negative, further instilling my belief that I'm in the right place.

There will always be one party that is bigger than the others and you will always find that they are the ones that have put in the most effort

If you want to win the lotto, you got to buy a ticket

I just love negative campaigning really make you proud to be eSouth African

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