Guide to Congress

Day 1,890, 05:28 Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom by General Slim

Greeting eUK!

As you all know, Congressional elections are just around the corner (the 25th) so I found it appropriate to write up a guide for our nation's youth. In this guide I will discuss the entire process of Congress: Pre-Election, Election, and Post-Election.

If I made a mistake or left something out, please leave a comment and I will edit the article accordingly as soon as I can.

If you still have any questions after reading this article, feel free to message me or leave a comment. I'd be glad to help you in anyway possible.

I apologize for the length of this guide. I intended it to be a small guide outlining the basics, but sh*t happens.





Pre-Election

Before you consider running for Congress, you should educate yourself on current events, both foreign and domestic. Here are some resources you can utilize to accomplish this:

Media The media is an excellent source to learn about current events. You can read articles from both the United Kingdom and from other countries. When reading from other countries, I recommend you use a translating tool of some sort because not all countries conduct politics in English. Personally, my browser (Google Chrome)translates to English automatically. To access the World Media page, press Shift+t

Forums The eUK forums are an excellent place to brush up on current events and meet a lot of new people. You can access the forums by clicking this link- http://forums.erepublik.co.uk/. Sign up for the forums is quick and easy and it will grant you access to a plethora of knowledge. Additionally, you can request access to subforums. Most of the Parties and MUs in the eUK have subforums, so it will allow you to communicate with your colleagues.

IRC You can access IRC (Internet Relay Chat) on the eUK forums, or by clicking this link- http://forums.erepublik.co.uk/irc.php. IRC can be confusing and overwhelming initially for new users, so I recommend you read this IRC guide.



Once you feel you have a solid understanding of foreign and domestic affairs, it's time to take a shot at getting elected. In order to run for Congress, you must fulfill the following:

-Be a member of a top 5 party. The parties are ranked according to number of members, and only the top 5 can have candidates for Congress. Frequently, parties in the top 5 will allow members of parties that are not in the top 5 run under their party. Here is a link to the Top 10 Parties.

-If you are a member of a top 5 party, you can run for Congress before the 24th (eRep time). To run, you will have to go to your party page and click Run for Congress. You can also include a presentation, often an article or forum link, outlining your political ambitions.



-Get prioritized by your Party President. On the 24th, the Party Presidents (PPs) will prioritize their proposed candidates. To increase chances of earning a higher priority, get in touch with your PP to let him know that you are interested in serving in Congress. All parties have different methods for assembling their priorities. Some parties (like ESO) give a majority of their prios to young players, while other give a majority to experienced players.


Election

Congressional elections take place on the 25th of every month. A total of 40 Congressmen will be elected this month.

Every eligible voter will have the opportunity to cast his/her vote for the top 5 party of their choice. At the end of voting, the party with the most votes gets the largest number seats and the party with the least votes gets the smallest number of seats.

Lets take last month's Congressional elections for example.



The Unity Party (11 seats)- 28.52% of total votes x 40 total congressmen = 11 seats

New Era (10 seats)- 23.66% of total votes x 40 total congressmen = 10 seats

The UKPP (9 seats)- 23.49% of total votes x 40 total congressmen = 9 seats

Every Single One (5 seats)- 13.09% of total votes x 40 total congressmen = 5 seats

One Vision (5 seats)- 11.24% of total votes x 40 total congressmen = 5 seats


Which candidates take office depends on their priority in the party. On the 24th, the Party President of each top 5 parties can set priorities for his/her proposed candidates. For example, let's look at the case for One Vision.

One Vision finished with 5 candidates last month. That means that the candidates with the top 5 priorities got elected. The number 6 priority did not get elected, but would have if that party got more seats in congress.

In the event that the PP does not set priorities, the priorities are automatically set on a first come first served basis.



Post-Election

If you get elected into Congress, congratulations! You are one of the 40 members of Congress that represent more than 2,300 active citizens here in the eUK.

If you were not elected, take it as a learning experience. Use the knowledge you gained this time around to improve your chances next month.


After voting ends (0:00 Jan. 26th eRep time) the "unofficial" results are released. Between 0:00 and 6:00, admin checks the votes to ensure fairness. They check for illegal votes from multis, and if any are found, their votes are removed and they will receive some sort of punishemnt (generally perm. ban)




After this intermission, the "final results" are released and notifications and medals/rewards are sent.




Powers of Congress

Propose Laws- Congressmen have the ability to propose laws. Congressmen should follow proper procedure when proposing laws (discussion, debate, etc. on forums) or else it will be considered a "rogue proposal". During a term, and Congressman can propose two of the following:

Change Taxes- A Congressman can propose to change the income tax, import tax, or VAT tax. The income tax is a tax on the peoples' salary. The import tax is a tax on good purchased food or weapons from foreign countries. The VAT is a tax on weapons and food in the eUK. To view the eUK's current taxes, follow this link

Donations- A congressman can propse to donate currency or gold to a government orginization (such as Bank of England or Ministry of Defense) The proposed quantity of currency or gold will be unusable during the 24hr voting period. If it is passed, the currency or gold will be donated. If it is denied, the currency or gold will be returned to the government.

Issue Money- A congressman can propose exchanging the country's gold into currency. There is a tax of .005 gold/1 GBP

Minimum Wage- A congressman can propose to change the minimum wage. The minimum wage can never drop below .10 GBP.

Natural Enemy- A Congressman can propose a neighboring country as a Natural Enemy. If passed, a war between the countries will be opened and the aggressor country will get a bonus of 10% damage.

President Impeachment- A Congressman can propose an impeachment. If passed (>66% of vote), the current President will be removed and the candidate that placed second in the most recent election will take his place.

Vote on Laws Congressmen can vote on the following laws that are proposed by the President. These laws are exclusively available to the President only.

New Welcome Message- A message that all new eUK citizens receive upon signup.

Trade Embargo- Prevents trading with a foreign nation for 30 days.

Airstrike- Allows the country to attack a country that does not share a border with the eUK.

Alliance- Commonly referred to as MPP. If proposed, it must be passed by the Congress of both nations. If accepted, both countries will pay a fee of 10,000 currency. The alliance allows members of each country to fight for each other without traveling. The alliance will last for 30 days. Here is a list of our current MPPs

Deceleration of War- If passed, a war will open between the two countries. It will cost 200 gold + 10% number of citizens at least level 5 in the country which attacks. The aggressor country will have 24hrs to attack.

Peace Treaty- It ends the war between two countries. It must be passed by both countries and one country can demand gold from the other.



Citizenship Applications When somebody from a foreign country wants to become a citizen of the eUK, he must enter an application. That application can be accepted by a Congressman. In addition to that application, the eUK requires them to fill out an additional application that will be reviewed to prevent malicious people from entering the country. If denied by the Citizenship Judges, NO congressman should approve it. It is not unheard of if congressmen are offered bribes in exchange for citizenship. Only approve those who are accepted by the Judges. This list can be viewed in this gdoc

As I said before, with great power comes great responsibility. Let me give you few examples of why you need to be responsible with your power.

Exhibit A-



As you can see, 13 days ago, the eUK expanded our MPP stack to both Indonesia (long time friends of eUK) and Australia (Acquaintance to eUK). To the untrained eye, this does not seem like a problem. But, it is.

Indonesia and Australia are bitter enemies (UK is to France/Canada as Indonesia is to Australia). So, if war breaks out, this would put us in a tough spot. To the untrained eye, this only seems like a minor problem that can be fixed. Possibly, we can remain neutral, or pick a side if it is necessary. But, it is far deeper than that. If war breaks out, the friend of a friend rule comes into play.

Alliances are automatically canceled if a country attacks a country that shares a common Alliance with it (known as the friend of a friend cancellation) Example: If Indonesia and Australia both have an Alliance with UK, and Australia decides to attack Indonesia, the Alliance between Australia and UK will be canceled.

So, best case scenario, if war breaks out, is if Australia attacks. We would lose a new ally and 10,000 currency would be wasted.

In a worst case scenario, Indonesia would attack. We would waste 10,000 currency, and not only lose a long time ally, but be put in a position to fight against them.

For the record, within the 13 day period that we approved the MPPs, there have been a total of 3 Natural Enemy proposals between Aus. and Indo.

Exhibit B-



BigAnt decided to NE Norway. Initially, everybody was extremely pro war and patriotic (evident by overwhelming congress vote). But after Canada and the Netherlands retaliated, everybody erupted into a firestorm. Baw was everywhere. In my opinion, BigAnt is right, it is not really his fault. It is the responsibility of Congress to check the power of the President, and they failed to do that in this case. Due to the sensitivity of this issue, I will end it here. I'm not trying to pick sides or start drama, just using this as an example.



As you can see, the Congress has much more responsibility than clicking a yes or no button. They have to look at every angle of the proposed law and it's possible ramifications before voting. That is why I am a firm believer in the 12 hour rule. Congress should debate for a minimum of 12 hours before voting. If Congress took the time to think these laws through, then the problems they caused could have been avoided.


On a final note, the powers of congress are not limited to what is listed above. They often vote on in game made up laws. To view the activity of Congress, look on the forums or the Ministry of Law's Newspaper.


So, good luck to all of this month's candidates!

Please vote+shout to spread the word!

If you have a topic you would like me to write a guide on, feel free to send the good word!



Signed,