[FDP] Party Manifesto - September/October

Day 674, 21:04 Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom by Arthur Wellesley

(The FDP regrets not getting this out sooner, the problems on the eUK forums made it rather difficult to coordinate different policy aspects with other party members)

Free Democratic Party Manifesto
September/October 2009


“The Free Democratic Party is a party committed to efficient government, effective government, and energetic government. We operate along the lines of a state that is as large and involved as is necessarily, but as small and disinterested (disengaged) as possible. We believe in personal freedoms, both social and economic, and we believe in the importance of market reliance in questions of economic stability and growth. We believe in the rights of national self-determination, and the rights of a people to decide the path they wish their government to pursue through a free and fair democratic process. These are our bedrock political principles. Party policy will be derived from these basic beliefs, and the FDP will challenge all governmental policy that runs counter to them.” -FDP Constitution, Preamble


Introduction
What is the Free Democratic Party? We like to think that the Preamble to our Party Constitution is a good introduction to the FDP. However, it is necessary to give voters more information about our positions on individual policy topics. Whereas the nature of eRepublik makes it difficult to do this in some cases, we strive for high quality policies in line with our underlying belief in efficient, effective, and energetic government.

The FDP is made up of members largely disinterested in the role of Party Politics in our Political Spectrum, yet realise that the only way to organise in Erepublik is to do so in a Party. We have members from all ends of the Career Ladder, and are welcome and open to any and all members, who are free to give and represent their views within the Party. Comprised of Former Prime Ministers, Current Ministers, Old, and New, a more United, Democratic, and Free Approach is and will be necessary to provide a brighter future for the United Kingdom.


Constituency Service
The most important aspect of any Free Democratic Party representative is our recognition of constituency services and the job of a political party to be a linkage institution. What does this mean for you, the voter? My personal belief is that the first duty of an organization with responsibilities to people – be them voters, employees, whatever – is that you take care of your people first. If you elect an FDP representative, you can count on having MPs that care about what you think and seek to represent the interests of their constituency, not just their own political goals. What do FDP members have to say about this?

“The first priority is to ensure they are comfortable, taken care of, and understand how to accomplish whatever it is they want to accomplish in eRepublik. We do that by being friendly, knowledgeable, open, and honest. No fluff. Just Answers.” – Dishmcds

“It means being available to your constituents and helping with their specific inquiries as well as fighting for their interests in Parliament.” – Aelar Eneibari


Economic Policy
You don’t have to be a genius to see that the eUK needs work. The domestic economy has been a constant source of grief for successive governments, despite the best efforts of many capable people. The FDP believes that market solutions drive long term growth, and that government intervention may be a short term panacea, but will in the long term create only a climate of dependency, stagnation, and non-competitive industry. We believe in a hands off approach to business – not to say that we are not active. Many FDP members are leading captains of industry, business owners, etc., and thus you can count on experienced individuals guiding economic policy. The FDP will seek cuts in taxes wherever possible, and will seek to eliminate as much government waste and spending as possible. It will be a goal of the FDP to find new ways to ensure that our military receives all supplies needed, while finding new ways to eliminate costs in doing so. Military companies will be re-examined, as will all government owned companies. In short, we support private business, low taxes, free trade, and small government.

In essence, we've tried to ride the line between control and non-controlled for months, with little success. Our Income is much less than any other large, established country, our processes are very difficult to question even though they've largely proven inefficient in the Erepublik model, and more importantly, we recognise the need for change within our Economic and Government structure. It is this foundation belief that we hold to be self evident. Listen to those who are learned in the Economic model, and be open to try things that may be considered outside the "main stream" of our current model. That's what the FDP is about, and will stand for, should we be elected to represent you.

Efficient, effective, energetic economics.

“The FDP should seek to minimalize government intervention in the market, and only step in when necessary, such as taxation to raise funds and programs like the Ministry of Work to assist, new, low skilled players who would be unprofitable to hire.” -- Gulliver


Domestic Policy
The abolition of the House of Lords is probably the dominant current domestic issue. The Free Democratic Party sees the Lords as a vital part of our legislative process. It is not an un-democratic institution as many have charged. Rather, it is an effective vehicle through which legislation and policy can be reviewed and improved, if it's utilised correctly.

“There are only two arguments against the Lords once you cut the fluff of the proposals themselves. There's a group that is against the name "Lords" and it's connotation, and a group which is hungry for power itself and only looking to remove those who would oppose them. Neither are good arguments, and if the argument is against the name only, people can either realise that experienced members of society are key to making solid decisions, and whether they continue with "Lords" or another name, the United Kingdom needs an advisory body in some form.” – Dishmcds

The FDP also supports the creation and adoption of a binding Constitution for the eUnited Kingdom. We will work tirelessly with legislators to ensure a high-quality legal framework that our government can operate within smoothly and effectively, in keeping with our goals for an energetic government.


Foreign Policy
When it comes to Foreign Policy, you'll always hear such terms as "puppet" or "master" lobbied around. In the FDP, we don't care nor pay attention to either, as in most cases it's in an instance where another country is trying to lobby a population into buying whatever it is they're selling. As stated, we're not about fluff, only answers.

We're PEACE members, and we'll damn well act like it. Membership into PEACE isn't something you do from month to month. It's a brotherhood in which we live every day, communicating with our allies, creating a large, free environment for which we believe Erepublik to be founded. PEACE treats a citizen of the UK as a citizen of PEACE, and this is why our current situation is far superior in terms of Foreign Policy than any other we've had in the past.

We do, however, carry strong relations with many non-PEACE members. We judge each country based on content of character, and reputation rather than which Alliance they are in. Neutral Nations such as Ireland or the Czech Republic are fine examples of equality through diplomacy, and even nations which are considered enemies of PEACE are more the available to extend a diplomatic hand (a glance at our recent Non-Aggression Pact with Canada will show that). We're open to relations with every country, and extend our olive branch to anyone who needs it, and is willing to show the United Kingdom the respect it warrants.

"Using the example of Ireland, they were recently subject to the act of having their treasury stolen; we gave them an interest free loan to get them back on their feet." - GF/Necrosis