Join the new world

Once again I have found myself bored out of my mind and motivated by a failure of political systems all across the world and my great respect for this game. Much like my previous Military Module article, this article will outline an alternative to a current in/out-of-game aspect of eRepublik. Here goes...

- Table of Contents -
- The Current System
- A Party-Based Electoral System
- Benefits of a Party-Based Electoral System
- Other Party Improvements

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- The Current System -

The way the current Political Party module is set up works just fine, but it isn't based off of any sort of real life system. In the US we have a two party system where we vote for a single candidate; in the eUS we have a multiple party system where we still vote for a single candidate. In the UK they have a multiple party system where they vote for a political party; in the eUK they still have a multiple party system but vote for a single candidate (according to my government teacher). I know that the eUK won't even exist in a day or so, so I'm not going to focus on them so much. It does make me want to write my next article over an imperialism module.

I know that the Founding Fathers warned us against forming "factions" and that basing our governmental system around political parties goes against that, but in modern times it has become near impossible to be considered a political candidate without massive amounts of funding and help from political parties... it's just the way it is now. With that being said, it is time to move on from that ideal to the next.

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- A Party-Based Electoral System -

With so many parties running so many candidates it can become exceedingly tedious to pick the candidate that is right for you. What most people do already is party-line vote, voting for their party regardless of the candidate, so what I'm suggesting is allowing a strictly party-based electoral system to be just one of many governments a country can choose from. So when it comes time to vote for Congress, you can log on, vote for your own party, and log off; sticking to the eRepublik Admin's creed of this being a 5 minute-a-day game. This idea might seem "silly" at first, but just keep reading and you will find out how this system can actually produce better candidates and get the right people in to office.

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- Benefits of a Party-Based Electoral System -

I wouldn't offer an idea without having good reasons and a method of implementation. One of the major benefits of having this system in place is that it provides greater accountability of your member of Congress and it's much simpler for the average eRepublik player to vote responsibly.

When you vote for a Political Party you know what you are voting for. The Party you vote for is going to work its hardest to run the best possible candidates and keep them that way. Here's how it will work... Seeing as how in eRep we all face the same daily issues and do not require local representation (a person in North Dakota and a person in Florida are essentially the same in eRep as opposed to RL) we do not need to have candidates running in each state. Instead the Party President will create a list of candidates in order of most to least competent. Depending on what percentage of votes that Political Party receives in the Congressional election will determine how many candidates that Party gets to put into office. This system can actually better represent the country's political beliefs... if 10% of the country voted Federalist then 10% of Congress becomes Federalist.

One other thing that would have to change is that Political Party's will now publish Party platforms as opposed to each candidate publishing their own. In this way people know what they get when they vote for a Party and the candidates of that party know what is expected of them. If people dislike a platform then they have 5 or 6 others to choose from and can pick the best one. Chances are that they will find an ideal one.

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- Other Party Improvements -

Mass Mailers
-An in-game function for the Party President allowing him/her to send a message to all of his/her Party members.

Removing Cost to Run for Party President
-It really doesn't serve any function other than to spend Gold. It's the only office that requires a buy-in.

Allow "Party Perks"
-If we must still pay to run for Party President then let's do something with that Gold. It's too risky simply letting PP's handle all of it (think about it, pay 1 Gold, win PP, steal hundreds of Gold). Let the PP buy "perks" for the party that can help raise wellness, happiness in V2, strength boosts (possibly), tax cuts (awesome idea, will never be implemented).

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I'm done! Be sure to vote, comment and subscribe. Next issue, The Imperialism Module!!!