Speaker of the House: A Primer

Day 3,740, 12:24 • Published in USA USA • by Gnilraps

Date: Day 3740 of the New World



As you've likely heard by now, Congress recently endured some high drama. Several have published their "take" on the situation. It's now my turn.


If you haven't read Carlos's blow-by-blow yet, it'd be helpful to start there. He will walk you matter-of-factly through a skeleton version of the chronology, though he focuses more on the aftermath of Jimmy Cincinatti's faux resignation.


I'm not going to focus on Oblige's poorly veiled power grab. Frankly we've all been down that road before with him and there's nothing new in it to discuss. Neither will I focus on Jimmy Cincinatti's truncated Speakership in any particular way.


What I'd like to focus on more specifically is the question, "What is a 'Speaker of the House' and what does it take to be one?" I believe that if Congress had paid more attention to that question, we would have completely avoided the distracting and unfortunate failure of a generally good guy who got thrust in over his head.


Ultimately I hope that this article will prove to be useful for future SoH hopefuls so that they can learn from the experiences of the 122nd Congress and have a greater chance to succeed in the future.


NOTE: In this article, criticism of certain individuals will be as oblique as possible so as to avoid disharmony. Some of you will be able to read between the lines, and if you can I'd prefer you avoid personal criticisms. But if we cannot look back at what happened with a sober mind, we will not learn.





The eUnited States Government is unique in the eWorld. We have all the same ingame buttons as every other eNation, but we've decided to maintain those buttons in good order through a Constitutional government located offsite. I've rhapsodized elsewhere about the value added by this to gameplay in eUSA. I simply simply restate it here for framing what I'm about to say.


A Constitution is a living document. It exists and functions only if it is enjoined by the Congress which enacts and upholds it. And since Congress is by definition a CON-GRESS (CON='together', GRESS='walk', therefore 'a group of people walking together'), it requires leadership and direction. Without proper leadership and direction Congress does a ton of GRESS and very little CON.


Therefore Congress elects a leader called "The Speaker of the House".


The Speaker (or SoH) is THE ONE responsible for keeping the "walkers" "together". The SoH becomes a director when congress wanders off. The SoH becomes the engine of activity when Congress gets sleepy. The SoH keeps good order by providing Constitutional guidance... LEADERSHIP... to a Congress that, without it will descend into the chaos like a chicken running amok without its head.


If anyone wants to see what that looks like... well, they just did.





So what does it take to be a good Speaker of the House?


First and foremost it takes the ability and discipline to read and understand the Constitution itself. The Speaker must - MUST - have the faculties that are often found in the best Justices of the Peace. That is, the LAW must guide him.


So if you aspire to be SoH, become familiar with the Constitution. If you can't seem to get widespread agreement on your way of reading things, it could be that you aren't very good at comprehending the Constitution. That doesn't make you a lousy person, it just makes you poorly suited to be Speaker. If your eyes glaze over after spending 2 minutes reading the Constitution, it doesn't make you a lousy person, it just makes you poorly suited to be Speaker.


And if you are poorly suited to be SoH because you can't get a good handle on the Constitution, let someone else be Speaker.


But if you are doing OK on #1 - know the Constitution - then check yourself on #2...





Second, decide before you choose to run for Speaker that you are going to devote some time to the game for a month. Everyone knows that this is "just a game", and nobody holds it against anyone for two-clicking, taking a few days away from things, or just cruising along at low idle. For the average Congressman, logging in once or twice per day is almost always plenty.


But for the Speaker of the House, you need to be available. Nobody forces you to be Speaker, so you have to know that you are signing up to be especially active during your term. Your term will begin several days after Congressional elections and it will continue until several days after the next Congressional election, so know this in advance. If your RL schedule prevents you from dedicating some hard core gaming hours, don't run for Speaker.


Now if you really think you can do some good work as Speaker but you have pockets of time when you KNOW you cannot play, you can look for some Deputies who can offer you their availability during those times when you know you aren't around. So one of the litmus tests for choosing good Deputies for yourself should be, "hey man, are you usually online during the times I'm usually not?" See how easy this is?


The bottom line is this, it is not fair to everyone else in Congress if you accept the lead position in Congress and then days go by between your postings. That is sucky leadership and if Congress has any good reasons to not like your Speakership already, you are fueling the flames by being in absentia.


Let's review so far.

#1 - have an above-elementary-school reading comprehension skill and actually apply it to reading the Constitution.

#2 - put down Candy Crush Saga for a month and play eRepublik/Congress.


And I'd like to offer a #3.




Third, respect your enemies.


Nothing is harder to watch than a Speaker who attempts to apply law in a partisan way. Realize that you will likely not receive 100% of the votes when you are elected SoH. Therefore you are now serving as Speaker, not only to those who voted for you, but you are equally Speaker for those who voted against you. And know that those who did not support you as Speaker are likely to hold you to a higher standard than those who supported you. Understand that this is quite natural. Expect it. And so hold yourself to a higher standard than even your opponents do.


And when you must adjudicate a debate, find some neutral ground in there. Things might be crystal clear to you and your supporters, but the only way to help your opponents understand why you are adjudicating as you are is to patiently and thoroughly explain not only your own point of view but also what it is about the opposing point of view that is wrong.


One way to guard against this problem is to surround yourself with and advisor or two or a deputy with whom you disagree. And then determine in advance that you will keep your ears OPEN to at least those few. And have the courage to make a decision that is unpopular with your supporters if necessary. Trust me, your opponents are not wrong about everything. Neither are the opponents of your opponents if you know what I mean.


So those are Gnilraps' BIG THREE rules about being Speaker of the House.





But before I let you go, I want to share a few more random thoughts that don't merit a full point but that, if ignored, can lead to trouble.


Being Speaker of the House is a position of service, not rule. You are a leader, yes, and you have some judicial powers, but your leadership and powers are to be employed in service to Congress. In other words, SoH is not a "control" position of authority. It is a volunteer position of leadership.


Being Speaker of the House is not really all that much about the technical aspects of Forum Moderation. You get buttons, yes. But those buttons are given to you because you are Speaker. You do not seek out the Speakership to get those buttons. Let's put it this way: it would be far greater to have a Speaker who delegates all button-pushing to a Deputy than a button-happy Speaker who sucks at everything else.


Don't drink your Party's Kool Aid. Being Speaker, you obviously don't stop being a Congressman, and you can drink all the Kool Aid you want when it's time to vote. But if you are high on Party Kool Aid when you are moderating discussions and making decisions on whether or not to extend votes or waive voting periods, you are a lousy Speaker.


Lastly, know more than a tiny bit about what's going on outside of eUSA. As Speaker, you are leading the body of representatives who are charged with things like funding wars and determining support for the Executive's Foreign Policies. If you are not aware, for instance, what country your Executive wants to attack until after the attack has launched, you've probably already blown it as Speaker. I'm not saying this will happen to you, but anything's possible so I'm mentioning it.


And now I've got to take a break from eRepublik so I can do some RL. I hope this will be helpful to you and your Party as you groom our future leaders in Congress.



You may now return to your regularly scheduled clicking.