What Is a Political Party? - old one

Day 928, 09:42 Published in USA Canada by Greene12

We've got some fun stuff going on with the political parties in the US recently. The top 5 now looks nothing like it did just a couple months ago. Domestic PTOs are all over the place, leadership from current and past parties is flying all over and quite frankly its baffling. I think there is a new movement happening with how people view and run parties whether its a good trend is up to you but it might be a bit of a factor in what party you choose to be apart of.



Game Mechanics

According to erep, a party is pretty much only good for getting people into congress and influencing POTUS races. This is all parties really have buttons for. Party accounts in game can only be used for running ads, which most parties use to get congressman or presidents into office with. Parties are often run around this idea, every activity being carried out with the object of more congressmen. You could even go so far as to say that some parties exist for the sole purpose of keeping certain individuals in office, depending on how cynical you are 😛

I think this view is destructive, limiting, and altogether far too popular. Everything about it is true, sure, on the 24th of every month top 5 PPs go and choose congressional candidates and before POTUS elections we pick who to endorse. Elections are certainly a purpose of parties but making this the main and singular focus of of the party is terrible. Parties are capable of so much more, particularly top 5 parties, and even more so the number one party (since so many newbies mindlessly join the top party right to start).

I believe this type of thinking is apart of why we've had to much drama over domestic PTO recently; individuals, groups, and parties threatening and carrying out political take overs of other AMERICAN organizations. If a party is solely an instrument for elections, why not? If you want to get your guys into congress whats the point of starting or rising up in a 6th party and working your way into the top 5? There is no reason not to simply destroy another party and then use its zombies to get into office. This paragraph does simplify things quite a bit, but if the target of your PTO only wants to use the party as a tool for elections, and you only want to use it as a tool for elections, all you're really fighting over I suppose is the name of the thing.

This attitude is also resulting in a massive loss in party identity. Parties are more and more being expected to submit to the will of the national government, the congress, and the collective will of other parties, regardless of strength and organization. I see no reason why I personally as a top 5 party president should be expected (without even being asked about the whole matter) to submit to organizations I have no vote or voice in, particularly if my party is responsible about what is a national matter of finding congressional blockers and carrying out a PP primary, CP primary, a lots of mass mailing and mass coordination. Until I represent a national security risk, I would like my independence 😉


The Federalist System



Elections are only one aspect of what a party does. We have a political department of course, and we work hard to get folks elected. However we also have a Recruitment and Retention department, media, a militia for those who do not want to be active in the Regular Military but are willing to work for minimum wage and some guns. We have media people, we've got an intelligence group, the Federalist Bureau of Investigation that goes through every blocker, and candidate from our party, and many from other parties as well. We have a very active forum and offer help every day to new players regardless of political affiliation. We have regular mailing to all active fed party members, not just a monthly mass PM as apart of a scramble for blockers.

The Federalist Party has an identity, we have a community, we exist for more than elections. Every department does indeed advance our ability to elect people, sure, but every department head knows its their job to run their department regardless of politics. The end goal is not to get tons of congressmen (though this a goal). The main goal is to improve activity, have a fun time, create a community for the good of our members and the country as a whole. Elections are fun but a party can do more than that. We take what the game mechanics say and expand on it. I joined the feds because I was offered help by a citizen named wingfield, but I stayed because when I signed up on the forum I was personally welcomed by all party leadership and was encouraged to stay active and given meaningful work. I continue to see this tradition observed and I have a lot of respect for the organization and dedication of our members.

The federalist party aims to act like an independent state, sovereignty and all. The fortress strategy means congressmen are not elected by "states" (regions). They're elected by parties, federalist congressman obviously represent our party, not the in game regions that "elected" them ( pretty much all wasteland state votes are mobile voters of course). The ability to elect congressman attracts people new to the game, we aim to use that and draw newbies into a community of players to have fun and help them get where they want to end up. We're not limited to game mechanics, nobody is. This is a social game. Knowledge and use of game mechanics is great, I'm not advocating insane role playing sergei grueno style here (though with some of my vocabulary, I admit it certainly does sound that way). I'm saying you can however push the emphasis on game mechanics too far to a point where you ignore the huge potential for recognizing the social aspect of eRepublik. Its not all cogs and wheels, theres friendships too and the game goes far beyond mechanics.

This might upset some people



I personally do not intend to run for a third term, I hope we can get one of the great people into the PP spot this coming month. Some things I've come to realize and opinions I've formed though might end up sticking around. I don't think this party should become involved in any further domestic PTOing (keeping sergei out is ATO obviously). The FEC is not a requirement, rather something we have the option to take part in if we're feeling nice. The FEC is about getting blockers, not a huge issue for us, though it is another layer of work for a political director and a bit of micromanaging. In the end the FEC is a good thing I hope we stay apart of. Lastly, the Federalists should in my opinion run our PP primaries however we like. We have a solid record of running successful and secure primaries and I think having two candidates on the 15th is good for retention, two clickers who might end up blocking still want to vote, its more fun this way too. Remember that in a social game, FUN matters a lot.

Too Long; Didn’t Read version:
Parties are more than game mechanics tools, they can form communities of players and encourage retention on another level. Including as many people in a party as possible is good for the country, and most of all parties are independent and sovereign entities that can exercise any level of freedom from external forces that they want, while still always putting the needs of the country first.



FEDERALISTS:
Read the Newsletters, Visit the forums, Get onto IRC. Know your Party and your Country!

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