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Well, this ended up being a tl;dr type of writing but hell, it is part of a legitimate discussion in eJapan right now that should be published for everyone to read.

My assumption is that none of the Constitution, or any Constitution, is needed in this game but it is useful to create directives, structure, and procedures for government. If you feel a government doesn't follow it, try voting a government that does. This assumes you want them to follow the Constitution. If you do not wish to read my discussion of our Constitution or my proposed changes, skip to the last paragraph.

Chapter 1

Art. 1-3: Useful in the sense that it creates a directive for ensuring proper elections so that the people of eJapan may properly rule themselves instead of being run by multis or other PTOers. As far as I'm concerned, this portion of the document creates the legal foundation for our Japanese Election Commission as well as a prerogative for diet members to work for the people they represent.

Art. 4-6: These articles essentially aim to create a mixed economic system allowing the government to enter into any private market it sees fit while also allowing the government to impose it's economic directives on private businesses. These articles are some of the most convoluted in the whole document and I believe they need to be stricken or amended. The government cannot advance technology in the game. The government, aside from taxing, has no power to make private businesses follow a state plan. Much like in RL, eRep considers business orgs as corporations that have an existence as limited "persons" under the law, so articles 1-3 encompass the country's control over businesses through democracy and "the people's will." This leaves Art. 5 almost completely redundant.

- I propose we strike Art. 4-6. I also propose we simply adopt this article:
"The Diet shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes and Duties to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of eJapan. The Diet shall have the power to regulate the Commerce of eJapan within its borders as well as with Foreign eNations. The Diet shall have Power - To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of eJapan, or in any Ministry or Officer thereof."

-Each of these sentences could be an article in itself. Quite honestly, ripped straight from the US constitution. The reason for their existence is to allow us, legally, to do most anything we want with taxing, or spending if for the "general welfare" of eJapan. Yes, this essentially give us carte blanche to do most anything we want as long as there is a good argument it is to help "the people." I see this as fine though. The first sentence gives us authority to use our taxing and spending powers. The second sentence gives us the power to place trade embargoes or regulate commerce. The final sentence allows the greatest stretching of our Constitution. It allows us to do what is necessary to further the general welfare, for instance, which, combined with our powers to tax and spend, could allow for government companies. Just an example there.

Art. 7: Dear to my heart, this article creates the legal underpinning for the existence of the Ministry of Culture and Events.

-Personally, I think the article should be cut down to just "The state promotes the development of literature and art; and other important items of Japan's historical and cultural heritage." This creates a sufficient foundation for the promotion of our ideas, events, lottery, and initiatives to document our history.

Art. 8: If we just replaced "public" with "forum" I think this article would properly lay the foundation for all our forum rules and punishments. Without that replacement, however, the article stands as a testament to how this document does not work in this game. We can't regulate the population's actions in the game, which is why we have damn PTOers running around all the time. Change the word.

Art. 9: This one annoys me. In who does the power to control the army's movements and directives lie? Serving the people, as a concept, is nice but gets us nowhere. From this article, I am not clear if our Presidente has the power to tell our forces when to move, or if he has the right to delegate this to another, or anything else really. Where the power to direct our military lies should be in this article. No need to put it anywhere else. Its importance should place it in the first chapter.

Art. 10 -12: Annoying but needed to indicate we need to follow the document.

Art. 13: The famous little words that I saw pop up in some articles in the eUS that declared eJapan as the Righteous nation. I imagine this little article is what most people get really worked up about when discussions about our invasion of eSK happened. I say leave it. It provides great ammunition for heated discussions in the forums and media. Taking it off would only leave less to argue about, which in my point of view leads to less activity in this game. Besides, it provides great soil to grow doublespeak in for those that wish for eJapan to conquer other nations.

Chapter 2

Articles 2, 3, 9, 13, and 15 are useful in that they deal with things we have control over. Article 2 and 3 specify, very generally, who may be in our government and military. Article 9 deals with access to government, something we can control to a limited extent. Article 13 is similar to Art. 10-12 of the first chapter, i.e. annoying but what directs people to follow the Constitution. Article 15 does what Ch.2 Art. 13 and Ch. 1 Art. 10-12 do but specifically for those that have not been mentioned yet. We could just mash all these articles together and just say "All ecitizens of eJapan must follow the Constitution."

The rest of the articles are unneeded since they deal with things completely out of our control. For example, we cannot make people pay taxes if they find a way around it..

Chapter 3

Creates the position of the Emperor. Not useful as to the game but differentiates us from every other ecountry I know of and for that reason alone, I say we keep the chapter intact for the most part.

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Okay, I'm a bit tired so I think that this is where I end this. We can really create a lot as long as we steer clear of including provisions that we have no power to follow. Such provisions only weaken people's respect for the document. Provisions dictating our government's divisions, directives, and procedures are incredibly important. They are not just for role play. They create real structures for our eNation. If you do not think this can be achieved, look to the eUS and note their military and executive division. This division was not created by the game. It was created by the ecitizens of that nation and it profoundly affected their society. Our Constitution, though outdated, helps set us apart from the rest of the world. Take this chance for revision seriously and maybe we can structure our society beneficially for the conceivable future.

All citizens are encouraged to join in on the discussion on the eJapanese forums.

Let us make eJapan a great eNation to live in.

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