NationStates Jolt Archive

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Resolution Writing
(But Were Too Afraid To Ask)

Introduction
Resolutions are the primary tools of discussion in the United Nations. They form the basis for all UN debate, bringing one or several issues to the floor in a form that Representatives can discuss, amend, and reject or ratify as circumstances dictate. Resolutions usually state a policy that the UN will undertake, but they also may be in the form of treaties, conventions and declarations in some bodies. They range from very general to very specific in content. Depending on the body involved, they may call for or suggest a course of action, condemn an action, or require an action or impose sanctions on the part of the member states.

Amendments to resolutions are the means by which resolutions may be altered by the body involved. Bear in mind, an amendment can only be made before a resolution is submitted as a proposal. If approved, amendments create additions, deletions, or changes to a resolution in order to increase its acceptability to all nations involved. Amendments are usually needed for a body to move towards consensus on a resolution, and is for this reason that nations are encouraged to take the idea for a resolution to the forums before submitting it as a proposal.

Language
No matter the topic your resolution addresses, it is important to respect the rules of the English language. Remember, the UN is a formal diplomatic body. Poorly written resolutions are often ignored by regional delegates or deleted outright by moderators, where a well written resolution can draw attention to an issue that might otherwise have been ignored. Some particular issues to watch out for include:

Contractions
While a useful linguistic tool, contractions are often referred to as the bane of the English language. Using the wrong contraction can distract the reader, changing the focus of his or her attention from a topic of international concern to your inability to write.

Note that "you're" and "your" mean different things. The former is the shortened phrase "you are," where the latter is a possessive adjective. Also, be wary of the difference between "its" and "it's." The first is a possessive adjective, the second is the shortened phrase "it is." While these mistakes won't make or break a resolution, they will most certainly earn you grief from some of the more attentive member nations. As for proper usage, here are some examples:

Your Possessive
Steve, if you don't stop waving your privates at the representative from Delaware, I'm going to throttle you.
You're Contractive
Frank, you're right. We should have never told him how to get to the liquor store.
Its Possessive
Easy there, Frank. That bear probably wants to keep its baby. Put it down.
It's Contractive
Wow, Steve, you weren't kidding, it's enormous!

Spelling
In a world filled with word processors and e-mail, poor spelling in a resolution is simply unacceptable. Take the time to put your resolution in Microsoft Word or any other program with a spell-checker and click the button. You'd be surprised how many typos will make it through a first draft, and the time you spend double-checking will spare you the embarrassment of having a good idea forever marred by missing space or commonly misspelled word.

General Rules
Please refer yourself to the original guide (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77286&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0) offered by Enodia for a list of things that will cause your resolution to be eaten before it makes it to the floor. The most wise delegate lays out some very basic rules for resolutions, and any nation seeking to make policy within the UN would be wise to read it.

Format
Each resolution should be written using complete sentences and paragraphs, with commas and semicolons separating the various parts. The heading of a resolution should state the country sponsoring the resolution and the topic the resolution will be addressing. Fortunately, the process of submitting a resolution is largely automated, and UN scribes will take care of these details.

Following the heading section, resolutions are split into preambulatory and operative clauses. Preambulatory clauses are listed first, and are used to justify action, denote past authorizations and precedents for action, and/or denote the purpose for the action. Operative clauses are the statement of policy in a resolution. They are numbered, begin with a verb to denote action (or suggest action), and each clause usually addresses no more than one specific aspect of action to be taken.

Resolution Clauses
Preambulatory Clauses
Affirming
Alarmed by
Approving
Believing
Convinced
Declaring
Deeply disturbed
Deeply regretting
Desiring
Emphasizing
Expecting
Fully aware
Guided by
Having adopted
Having considered
Having examined
Keeping in mind
Noting with regret
Noting with satisfaction
Noting further
Observing
Realizing
Reaffirming
Recognizing
Seeking
Taking into account
Taking note
Welcoming

Operative Clauses
Accepts
Affirms
Approves
Authorizes
Calls upon
Condemns
Congratulates
Confirms
Declares accordingly
Designates
Emphasizes
Endorses
Further invites
Further reminds
Further requests
Notes
Proclaims
Reaffirms
Recommends
Regrets
Requests
Solemnly affirms
Supports
Trusts
Takes note of
Urges

Sample Resolution
The General Assembly,

Reaffirming the special responsibility of the United Nations and the international community towards the oppressed people of South Africa and their national liberation movement,

Noting the great advance of the movement against apartheid and for national liberation and the rise of political consciousness of the oppressed people of South Africa,

Condemning the violence and repression by the apartheid regime against all opponents of apartheid,

Recognizing the need for increased humanitarian and educational assistance to the oppressed people of South Africa, as well as direct asistance to the liberation movements in their legitimate struggle,

1. Appeals to all States to provide humanitarian, educational, financial, and other necessary assistance to the oppressed people of South Africa and their national liberation movement;

2. Urges all agencies within the United Nations system to ensure the participation of the South African liberaiton movements recognized by the Organization of African Unity in their relevant conferences and meetings, and to provide financial assistance for that purpose.

Mr. Mod, Mr. Mod, would you please sticky this most excellent guide!

Glad someone finally wrote this!

Enodia already knows that this post exists and will sticky it as soon as he visits the forum again. Assuming the server cooperates, that is.

This is an excessively fine piece of work, Sophista. Well done that man :D

Yngwie Malmsteen,
Nibbleton UN Ambassador

Duly stickied. The forums are actually working tonight, I'm impressed.

Duly stickied. The forums are actually working tonight, I'm impressed.
That would make two thing impressive.

Having written a wonderful proposal using Sophista's excellent guide, don't rush to the List Proposals view to get it in place. Bring it to the forums first.

Post a New topic, and copy the entire text of your proposal into it, with the full Proposal name listed first. Be sure to mention what Category and Effect / Strength you plan to use when filing, along with the line of description that appears below Category in the Submit Proposal window. Don't put anything else in that first post - save your explanation for the second post, just so nobody's confused as to what is Proposal and what is additional material. This is also an excellent place to add formatting to improve readability. Use of Bold, Underline, and Italics can really add to your proposal

Titles of that first forum post can make or break your proposal. Don't title it "Approve my proposal!". Instead, put the actual Proposal title as the Forum post title. You might want to test your title length in the Submit Proposals window first - you've only got 30 characters to play with for your actual submission..

I recommend preceding the Proposal title with one or two words denoting its status:DRAFT: Author is looking for input on how to make his proposal better
FINAL DRAFT: Author is almost ready to Submit, and is looking for minor mistakes and misused words
SUBMITTED: Draft has been posted to the List Proposals view and can be Approved by Delegates
APPROACHING QUORUM: Proposal has more than two-thirds of the necessary approvals, and needs your immediate attention
IN QUEUE: Proposal has all the necessary Approvals, and will go to the floor unless Approvals are withdrawn
VOTING: Proposal is on the Floor of the UN for a general votePlease note that the topic starter can change the Thread Title by editing the first post. Make needed changes as your proposal moves through the list.

Involving the forum readers in your DRAFT proposal has no downside. They'll respect you more for having asked for their help, and their critical eyes will spot things no single reader would catch. They're also more likely to spring to the defense of the resolution once it gets to the Floor. This is one place where the committee is better than the individual. Don't worry, you'll be the one who gets their name on the passed Resolution ... but you'd be wise to give at least forum credit to the folks who helped you.

Everyone wants better resolutions. Follow all these tips, and yours can be one of them.

Another excellent set of tips for anyone seeking to propose serious legislation. Thank you, Frisbeeteria. With all the advice on hand and easily accessible, we just might see an influx of well-written resolutions that have been thought out in the forums before hand.

Sophista, Frisbeeteria - thank you for all your hard work.

Art Randolph
Speaker on Legal Affairs
Community of Ecopoeia

Wow, your work is remarkably effective. Look at all the proposals in the proper format.

mm this is a cool game gj

Sophista, Frisbeeteria - thank you for l your remarkable work :!:

I should have read this first.

Anybody ever noticed that not one UN resolution has lost? I mean, votes FOR always win. Although the abortion thing was a close call, I feel that all you need to do is write something convincing and it will win bigtime.

It's all about posing the resolution...... :?

No, if you read the history of passed resolutions, you will notice quite large gaps where successive resolutions failed. It is the exception rather than the norm, but it does happen. We simply had a long run of popular environmental and cultural protection Resolutions a while back. There are times when two or three successive Resolutions fail, the time of The Global Market's economics legislation is possibly one example. But yes, it does tend to be the case, maybe 3-1, that Proposals which are successfully promoted to Resolutions have the necessary support to pass by default.

I feel that it is indeed all about finding a quick snappy formulation of an issue which will strike a chord with the majority of people. However, some issues are simply too contentious to ever have any chance of making it to the final vote. Guns, drugs and abortion, for example. It seems that the middle ground of scientific progress, environmental protection and social policy is what unites the NationStates community.

The ideal Proposal therefore, would be a forward-looking and essentially optimistic piece of legislation whereby everyone seems to win. Ban this or ban that does not work, the bulk of the Resolutions which have passed in recent months seem to offer nations the opportunity to better themselves in some way. And of course, when writing such a thing, one does not have to be limited by realism and cynicism.

(In case anyone is wondering, the one Proposal that I ever submitted was called Universal Declaration of Love, and it basically asked everyone to have ceasefires and/or reopen diplomatic channels on a particular day each year, and celebrate those who have worked for peace. The name alone ensured it bombed. It pays to occupy the middle ground.)

EDIT: Cool thread, by the way. About time we had another one of these.

Tactical Grace
UN Delegate / Minister of War / Defence Consultancy
Mercia The Next Generation (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Mercia_The_Next_Generation)

TG is right. As something of an "old stager" around these parts, I can think of 2 or 3 proposals right off the top of my head which failed. One was an economic-based proposal that actually had a real debate attached to it in this forum, another was Tac's own and the third was one of The Global Market's which I think ended up being voted down for various ideological reasons. There are others, but the game just doesn't store them.

TG is right. As something of an "old stager" around these parts, I can think of 2 or 3 proposals right off the top of my head which failed. One was an economic-based proposal that actually had a real debate attached to it in this forum, another was Tac's own and the third was one of The Global Market's which I think ended up being voted down for various ideological reasons. There are others, but the game just doesn't store them.

Oh, ok. I didn't think of that. I just thought they were never there in the first place. Thanks.

And TG is right about the forum as well, very very useful!

TG is right. As something of an "old stager" around these parts, I can think of 2 or 3 proposals right off the top of my head which failed. One was an economic-based proposal that actually had a real debate attached to it in this forum, another was Tac's own and the third was one of The Global Market's which I think ended up being voted down for various ideological reasons. There are others, but the game just doesn't store them.

There were three Global Market resolutions that got voted down (Cato Act, Bill of No Rights, and Geneticorp Convention)....

More potentially useful information, on a more basic level.

Creative Writing for Dummies
Lesson 1: Capital Letters
You will often notice a strange phenomenon at the beginning of a sentence: a bigger letter! Where do these big letters come from, you ask? Santa Clause? No, silly, there is no Santa Clause. These are capitals! They go at the beginning of a sentence, and names, like "Steve."
Bad example: "u r a homo"
Good example: "I think I hate you, Jim."

Lesson 2: The Period
A lot of people think periods only happen to girls, but don't fooled; a lot of girls don't know punctuation either! A period is only one of many fun things that go at the end of a sentence. Sometimes you'll see three in a row, but don't use more than that! Like fire, the period should only be used when it's needed.
Bad example: "i like u........................................"
Good example: "I think I hate you, Jim."

Lesson 3: Insults
Insults are the most important thing on the Internet, because some people you'll communicate with don't know how to do anything else. An insult is something bad you say to someone upset them when you don't like them, or they frag you in Counter-Strike. Be careful not to call someone something that isn't really an insult!
Bad example: "u r such a Jew"
Good example: "Jew isn't an insult, you blind g0at-licker."

Lesson 4: Apostrophes
Some people think an apostrophe is something incredibly bad that happens to a bunch of people. That's why they never use them. In truth, an apostrophe is used to say something belongs to someone, or combines two words into one.
Bad example: "thats mine"
Good example: "No, the Internet isn't yours, you're retarded."

Lesson 5: Abbreviations
An abbreviation is a shortened word or phrase that conveys a complex meaning in an easy manner. Many people think it is an excuse to be lazy, and shorten every word in the English language. This is not true, because these people are social rejects.
Bad example: "u thnk u r kewl"
Good example: "No, I'm just smarter than you, i.e. smarter than the average rock."

Lesson 6: Spelling
In the English language, there are some words that are often misspelled, especially by idiots. Here is a list of commonly misspelled words:
Absurd, are, belief, child, definitely, develop, disappear, embarrassed, existence, evidently, gently, interesting, Japanese, license, love, remember, ridiculous, run, shrug, the, tomorrow, truly, which, wine, you, you're/your
Bad example: "u r definately intresting when u have wyne"
Good example: "I believe that you truly are ridiculous."

Putting it All Together
Bad example: "u r stupid cuz u pick on peepz that dont spel rihgt & u cant say whats right or wrong so stop being meen to peepz w/problemz speling, OK???????"
Good example: "I'm sorry, I was busy screaming in agony at the travesty that is your attempt at English. Maybe you shouldn't spent all that time staring vacantly into space in grade school, so you would have learned a thing or two about your native language. I can only hope you don't try to learn any other languages, or it might cause an international incident."

You are quite right, just because a Proposal deals with an issue with which I happen to agree, such as forestry conservation, does not mean I will approve every Proposal out there dealing with forestry conservation. If it is a few lines long, unclear, written with a haphazard use of spelling, punctuation and a smattering of 1337, I will most likely ignore it and approve a better written one instead. I wish people would take more pride in the Proposals they submit.

Tactical Grace
UN Delegate / Minister of War / Defence Consultancy
Mercia The Next Generation (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Mercia_The_Next_Generation)

As a long time highly irratable delegate, I would have to say that the cardinal rule is don't annoy the delegates/voters. Seriously, delegates have too much to do as it is, so wasting thier time will annoy them. The basic guidelines here are:

Don't Have a Really Long Preamble: There are far more succinct ways to put your point across about something being a problem than ranting and ranting about it. Truth be told, I tend to skip the preamble if it looks too long. Don't get me wrong: it is an important section of the resolution, but it shouldn't be half of it! Most problems require 50 words at most, unless technical terms must be explained [as in the ballast water resolution]

Explain Yourself: Don't just say stuff like 'this resolution will do this'
and stop. How? With what? Again, keep it succinct, but detail is required. Thus it is better to propose a clearly explained little than a undetailed lot.

Keep it Short: As I said, delegates are busy - some nights I have had to check through 40 proposals, just to keep up to date. 1000 word essays are all well and good, but way too long for people to read through. 200 words as a whole should be fine.

work in progress

Nggghhh... fighting... urge to... correct Sophista's grammar... they're just typos, Dave, stay cool... nnnh.... :x

Yes, but was those resolutions before or after those horde of people who vote without reading the forums or even the resolutions came on board?

Love it... wished everyone reads it.

Nothing else is going on. I want this sticky to be on top. Hence, bump.

Lesson 2: The Period
A lot of people think periods only happen to girls, but don't fooled; a lot of girls don't know punctuation either! A period is only one of many fun things that go at the end of a sentence. Sometimes you'll see three in a row, but don't use more than that! Like fire, the period should only be used when it's needed.
Bad example: "i like u........................................"
Good example: "I think I hate you, Jim."


The period. Never to be used in any UN resolution. One sentence only, please.


In 'real' Model United Nations, we get very fierce about this. Then there was the time I pasted a real UN resolution into word, only to have the spellcheck choke :)

Lesson 2: The Period
A lot of people think periods only happen to girls, but don't fooled; a lot of girls don't know punctuation either! A period is only one of many fun things that go at the end of a sentence. Sometimes you'll see three in a row, but don't use more than that! Like fire, the period should only be used when it's needed.
Bad example: "i like u........................................"
Good example: "I think I hate you, Jim."


The period. Never to be used in any UN resolution. One sentence only, please.


In 'real' Model United Nations, we get very fierce about this. Then there was the time I pasted a real UN resolution into word, only to have the spellcheck choke :)


Ah, the joys of legalese. Reminds me of my time interpreting Land Registry docs. I'm happy with full stops (or periods as non-Brits seem to prefer) staying, otherwise it's a nightmare to read. The lawyers don't like it? Stuff 'em, their system's a bunch of arse.