A View of our Political Parties

Day 1,846, 14:05 • Published in Canada Canada • by Kronos Q

It's been a long time since I've been involved in politics. For many months now, I've mostly been sticking to the 2-clicking ways, without paying too much attention to eCanada's political scene. But last week I decided that I was going to get back into it; I decided I would actually start to play eRepublik again. And so I needed to find a party that I could join.

That's always the tough part, finding the political party that will be best to pursue your interests. Unless you want to go in blindly, you really need to take the time to do some reserch. And as the Party Presidents know, that's what I did over the past week. I've been poking and prodding their parties, and asking them a few questions. That said, the questions were moreso for this article, as I already had a good idea where I was going to end up.

Consequently, this article is about our political parties. Doing my best, it'll be an impartial look at how each of our top parties represents themselves. Not an actual analysis; just a look at the important stuff that they say about themselves. All of that analytical / opinionated stuff will have to wait for another article (though, I'm sure that stuff will be more interesting than this stuff..).

And so, beginning from the top.



#1: The Canadian Progressive Front

Currently eCanada's largest party, the CPF tags itself as "empowering individuals and protecting our community!" It is composed of players from many different backgrounds, as it is also the oldest party and has drawn support from many sources throughout its history. The core behind this front are the 7 tenets that it has always stood by. The Seven Tenets of the CPF being:

1. Uphold the equality of all active Military Units
2. Make the accounting of government funding more open and important
3. Ensure Canada is a reliable and selfless ally
4. To respect, recognize and uphold the supremacy of the mechanics of the game
5. Develop a positive political sphere
6. Bring in Canadians to eRepublik
7. To encourage growth and stability to the eCanadian economy.

The CPF is quite firm with these tenets; very seldom do they change them. That said, the tenets provide a positive vision that encompasses near all aspects of eRepublik. The tenets are well advertised and make it easy to compare personal beliefs against those of the party. What isn't advertised as well is the basis and reasoning for the tenets (but that's be a recurring theme when talking about parties).

Being the largest party, the CPF is also able to elect the most Congress-members. The selection process for deciding Congress candidates are simply members that best reflect the tenets, since all CPF Congress-members are expected to follow the tenets.

Sources:
- Party President's Article
- Party President, Randall Flagg 1999



#2: Clan Wolf

Lacking a tagline, Clan Wolf is the next to largest party. Previously the AFK party, it comes from a background that supports in-game activity over the meta-game. On top of that, a big focus of CW has been on encouraging newer players to take part in eCanadian politics. All of CW's beliefs, though said to be a little out-dated, seem to follow these points (summarized by myself):

- Believes in an in-game approach, rather than external forums/IRC
- Provides opportunities for new players to participate politically
- Everyone in the party is equal, and is allowed an equal say in decisions.
- Believes in reasonable taxes, keeping money in the hands of players.
- All opinions & ideas are respected and listened to.
- Supports the idea of self-sufficient MUs, and Govt funding when required.

Being a "clan" approach, where everyone can make suggestions, Clan Wolf would seem to be a more malleable party. This would allow them to better represent what the current active membership believes is best for the party/eCanada. The downside being that the party beliefs may not be as consistent, which would require better advertisement of them to ensure everyone is on the same page.

When it comes to Congress, Clan Wolf's motto is "to get as many newer players or dedicated members into congress as possible." They consider themselves a stepping stone into Congress for players, providing an opportunity to experience the political aspect first-hand. But as with all parties, they also look for the dedicated players with the experience to help guide Congress to it's much neded decisions.

Sources:
- Current party charter.
- Vice-President's Article
- Vice-President, oinyo



#3: Sons of Anarchy

Coming in third is the Sons of Anarchy Party, where as a tagline, they have the lyrics for the Sons of Anarchy theme song. The SoA may very well be eCanada's mystery party. Most everyone has an expectation of what the SoA will do as a party, but very little information has come out from the party leadership about their plans.

From the answer that I've received, their leadership do not have any determined goals or plans for the long term, as they are still in their infancy. But that, as with all parties, they are here to help eCanada. The difference being that they wish to do that in a very different manner. That manner, however, is still unknown. At current, they do have two aims, and I've taken the liberty to add a third, being:

1. Bringing together all former Norsefire members.
2. Shake the stigma associated with the party.
3. Ginger Thursdays.

Sources:
- Spokesman's article.
- Spokesman, Flashgun


#4: United Party of Canada

Then in fourth is the United Party of Canada, with the tagline of "party built on the ideals of low/moderate taxes,unity, loyalty, no corruption, honest politics, equality,helping newer players out, and the betterment of the nation of eCanada." The UPC is the amalgation of a number of smaller parties to compete with the larger parties. Since then, they have rebuilt themselves as a single large party and have create a party platform.

UPC Party Platform
Since it's a bit long, I'm just going to link to the platform here.

The UPC's platform is very clear and well laid out; this makes it very apparent to all in the party what is expected of them. One of those clearly stated expectations, though, is to stay within party lines and agree with their beliefs. A focus of the party is equality, which, similar to CW, allows for any member to make a suggestion or ammendment to the platform. And again the reoccuring theme that it's easier to find Waldo than to find the platform and reasonings for it.

For Congress, the UPC makes their pick of candidates from those who are most dedicated and have presented themselves well. This allows them to run their more experienced candidates while ensuring that newer players aren't left out altogether.

Sources:
- Vice-President, Ardikus V2


#5: Military Dictatorship Party

Bringing up the rear is the Military Dictatorship Party, claiming the tag of "[being] devoted to a strong and unified eCanada. Our focus is on strong MU's and we support positive change for our Country." The MDP has had a roller-coaster of a history, and has recently gone through a "rebirth". The aim of this being to refocus the party to move beyond the partisanship and argumentative attitude that has hampered eCanada in the past.

With this change, the MDP does not have a clearly set platform. Instead, their goal is kept simple: "Supporting MUs, and trying to find a path for eCanada that actually makes sense." Instead of the usual beliefs, the MDP prides itself on being realistic and on getting results. They look to make a real statement by putting their money where their mouth is.

And as such, the MDP are able to claim the most active Congress-members (proportionally). This is most likely due to their Congress candidate selection being based on who will most benefit the country, with the party's aims in mind.


Sources:
- Party President's article.
- Party President, Muglack

Aaand those are eCanada's top 5 parties! There are a few other parties (FC/IPC) that may prove interesting with time, but currently, there isn't much to say about them until they've done a bit of work on themselves. I hope the article was... at least informative 😉
Heh, thought I'd leave out some article music? Nope, this one is just a treat for getting to the end of the article.

On that note, I'd like to end this article with a little bit of a game. As was mentioned, I've already made a decision on which of the above political parties I am going to join. So if you'd like a chance at winning some (either 5 or 10, haven't decided yet) Q7 weapons, take a guess in the comments of which party it will be. Everyone who guesses correctly will win some weapons, or you know, if you just want to bragging rights...


And now it's done. Thank you for reading, and I'll see you in my next article!


Sunday, December 9th, 2012.