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People have been asking questions lately about a much rumoured and mostly unseen government department deftly steering eCanada through its recent occupation. Questions such as…Where is it? Who is in it? Can I be part of it? How do I get there and, when I finally do, what does it look like?

While there are no real answers to these much demanded and totally fictitious questions, I can assure you that there is indeed a group of players dedicated to keeping the spirit of Congress alive during its extended absence. Even though it may be an unseen, unheard, and mostly unknown group, its elusive presence is actually the very thing that makes mock Congress such a great, self-fulfilling success. And while you may know little or nothing about it, you can easily get there with little to no effort by simply following this guide on the best way to mock Congress. In fact, you have probably already been contributing to its efforts without even knowing it…yes, you have!


It’s rude to point, so you’ll likely find that this article has none.

First, in all honesty, I should disclose that I am no expert on guiding people to mock Congress. I have no behind-the-scenes insider advice because I’ve been away for a few weeks. Having just dropped back in to my favourite place on the internets, I happened to notice a few things that are new and some that are not:

1. Rylde is elected CP (not new)
2. eCanada has no regions (not new)
3. eCanada has no Congress (not new)
4. eCanada has a fine legion of MUs full of dedicated players fighting hard against the odds (not new, but also never growing old, o7)
5. eCanada now has a forum section where you can apply to mock Congress (NEW!!!)

Since #1-4 are all “old news” in a tried-n-true gaming model (why fix it if you ain’t going broke, eh eRep Labs?), #5 naturally piqued my curiosity.

At first it seemed a bit odd to openly admit the aims of this aptly named usergroup while at the same time providing no clear directions on how to be part of it. However, upon further consideration, I can see how this new approach to government quite clearly makes sense for eCanada. So, to better understand what this new forum section in the Parliament Hill folder is all about, I went sniffing about for answers to these simple questions:

1. How do I get to mock Congress, and once there, how I sign up to mock Congress?

2. Do I need to be registered under a political party when I log in to mock Congress?

3. What’s the best way of writing articles/submitting proposals to mock Congress?

4. Do the Congress Rules of Order similarly explain forum etiquette when posting comments to mock Congress?

5. Are there any prime examples we can emulate when serving to effectively and dutifully mock Congressmen? (in other words, what’s the best way to mock Congress?)

The answer to these questions may seem quite obvious at first: what we have always done to real Congress is the same as what applies to mock Congress. Correct…but the current state of Congress takes it to a whole new level.

Solution to #1: How do I get to mock Congress, and once there, how do I sign up to mock Congress?

At one time, you got there any way you could because nothing was formally established in the forum. But today it’s much easier now, since you simply get to mock Congress by following this link:

http://tinyurl.com/ClickToMockCongress

Once there, you still need to become part of the usergroup. That part does remain a bit of a mystery to me. However, I suspect the best way to take part in this venture is to make a genuine request to mock Congress.

As with any job application, it is a good idea to present your credentials and prior experience to demonstrate how you’d be a good fit for the position (for example, my election to Congress through Clan Wolf in my first couple weeks of playing this game was a perfect way to mock Congress…see here: "Demockracy Inaction"). When expressing your interesting to mock Congress, be polite about it and do it with a cheerful attitude (described elsewhere as “a little civility and respect”). Congress has already long dealt with bickering and power-mongering, so when you present an article or forum posting to mock Congress (just like the old days of publishing election platforms) be sure that it welcomes feedback and encourages further presentations of such kind.

This article, for instance, can be taken as an earnest appeal to mock Congress.

Solution to #2: Do I need to be registered under a political party when I log in to mock Congress?

The short answer is “No.” In fact, I believe we can take a page from the old Shenanigan party manifesto to explain the universal, all-inclusive nature of mock Anything:

“I am a Nation
With no masters, no lords, no factions, no laws to hold me.”
(It’s the “no, nothing” part that is key to it all.)

Nevertheless, if you do wish to put on the artifice of political doctrine by pretending that there is a party line to follow in a game of choosing between minute differences among a narrow range of policy-making, then I’d suggest signing up with a party that will best guide you on the ways to mock Congress. With that in mind, I sensibly chose the MDP.

In my humble opinion, this party best serves the aims of mock Congress for several reasons:

1) Their leading role model, top dawg, party mascot, and multiple CP champion – Rylde–forever battles against the flawed political process of eRepublik. Mock Congress offers the best substitution to real elections that are corrupted by bought votes, multi-accounts, and the rational debates of opposing viewpoints.

2) Mock Congress only can only operate when there are no regions in Canada during an election. To ensure that mock Congress will not be threatened by a genuinely elected Congress, nothing is more reliable than MDP’s track record of fielding “Scorched Earth” War Presidents.

3) Mock Congress is a project initiated&spearheaded by the current MDP PP and is endorsed by long-time MDP leadership as the best way to maintain a desired level of political activity and discourse in the former regions of eCanada. They are dedicated to making this project a non-reality.

To sum it up, MDP has enabled eCanada to benefit from mock Congress the most among all parties, from initiating the new forum usergroup to maintaining a region-free foreign policy, but most importantly, by staunchly promoting a community atmosphere conducive to mock Congress. I’m sure you can find some of these benefits in the other parties, yet I do believe you will be hard-pressed to find all these qualities in one that consistently sticks to these values month after month.


Thanks for reading this guide to mock Congress thus far...keep clicking, I mean reading, and you'll be rewarded with a t-shirt on your way out


Solution #3: What’s the best way of writing articles/submitting proposals to mock Congress?

In the past, it used to take a lot of work to really get to mock congress; these days it can be done with minimal effort…in fact, the lesser the better.

-First you need to join the usergroup (as outlined in Solution #1), so that you can officially be a member. Don’t worry about going to the forum to post comments, make replies, and vote in straw polls and such, all the real inaction can be done via eRepublik by simply logging in to fight battles each day.

-Next, follow the directions in Solution #2 by joining a party and then getting your party members to vote up your article destined to mock Congress. (this is if you are really serious about mocking Congress, since step #1 is all it really takes)

-The final step is to expect nothing except maybe some votes for your article, some helpful comments about where else you should go and how to get there in the most creative manner physically possible (Xander can fill you in on this part), and just maybe even a personalized message directed squarely at you via your PM box (if you are so lucky!).

4. Do the Congress Rules of Order similarly explain forum etiquette when posting comments to mock Congress?

While the whole point to mock Congress in the game (articles, shouts, in-game PMs) is to inspire lively interactions, the actual forum group makes it much easier to follow proper forum etiquette. The great thing about the official mock Congress is that there is zero chance of offending someone or accidentally (even intentionally) breaking CRoO rules. When everybody is doing nothing in mock Congress, we’re all succeeding in conducting the least offensive and most even-tempered debates in eCanada’s political history.

This is truly a great opportunity to demonstrate eCanada’s community spirit. I dare you to point out a better behaved Congress group that has zero illegal proposals and zero forum suspensions and zero problem-free speaker elections (which can sometimes be the most problematic part of real Congress to begin with).

Anyhow, with zero issues to debate, there is no actual need for a Speaker to moderate discussions so #4 is pretty much self-fulfilling if you think about it.


Solution to #5: Are there any prime examples we can emulate when serving to effectively and dutifully mock Congressmen?

The short answer is: “No and/or nothing.”

The long answer would be that if you want to learn how to address mock Congressmen effectively, then start by not asking questions and, likewise, expecting no answers. Mock Congress had never before ever been formally established on eCanada’s forums (despite being a long eTradition already), meaning that there is no precedent to follow. Essentially, it’s an open book full of blank pages where you get to write new standards to mock Congress. At the present moment, only 1 question has been asked to mock Congress (well, actually 6 if you also count the ones in this article) and the single question has essentially answered itself (see the explanation in #4). A strong precedent has definitely been set to mock Congress.

The final step to mock Congress is to take that open book with endless blank pages, close it, put it back on the shelf where you can still look at the title and author on the spine of that book (ah, the memories!). Be sure to leave it on the shelf nestled tightly amid the many more books also destined never to be opened again. And that there is the essence of the mock Congress folder (or really any other) on the very full but rarely perused shelves of eCanada’s forum folders.



Congrats, if you’ve bothered to read this far then you effectively know how to officially mock Congress. Say nothing, ask nothing, vote on nothing, and expect nothing except to keep soldiering on with the fight button at your fingertips. Ever forward, never looking backward, and always on with the show.