NationStates Jolt Archive

The Great Big Consolidated
United Nations Sticky

Everything You Need To Know About UN Proposals/Repeals and UN FAQS (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=6175399&postcount=2)

Nation States United Nations Policymaking (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8681196&postcount=3)

National Sovereignty and the NationStates United Nations (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8681146&postcount=4)

A Practical Guide to the NationStates United Nations (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8681181&postcount=5)

Roleplaying and the NationStates United Nations (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8974410&postcount=7)



IRC Chat for UN Members!

I've created an IRC channel for UN activities, seeing as there already is one for RP and General.

Access Information:

Download an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) program. mIRC is the program that most of us use, but there are many others (such as XChat or irssi). A Google search for IRC programs should yield positive results for your particular system.

Connect to the server irc.esper.net

Join the channel #unitednations

For more information on connecting to IRC, see the Nationstates IRC chat (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=278619) sticky in the NationStates forum.

The topic on the channel will mention whatever the current resolution at vote is. If it doesn't, bug an op until they change it.

Everything you need to know about writing resolutions, writing repeals, proposals that have been deleted (and reasons why), and resolutions that have passed!

Table of Contents
A. Steps To Make A Proposal
B. Activity of UN delegates/members
C. UN Debating!
D. United Nations Organizations
E. UN FAQ's
F. UN Regions List

Steps To Make A Proposal
There are many nations out there who are ejected from the UN for submitting a proposal before reading what you should make proposals about, such as ones that propose a change in game mechanics, offensive proposals, joke proposals, RL proposals, etc. Make sure you don't get ejected by reading this thread first!

Rules For UN Proposals [Now Binding] (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=420465)


In order to write a resolution, there are certain requirements to do so. Check this thread out to get familiar with submitting proposals.
United Nations Resolution Writing Guide (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=342360)

Check this thread out as well, to get familiar with what not to do, such as putting your proposal in a wrong category, and submitting a proposal that would be illegal (one that suggests changing the mechanics of the game).
A Case Study of Deleted Proposals (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=330452)

This thread picks out resolutions that the UN mods haven't gotten to yet, and pokes holes in them. It's from a player perspective and can't be taken as 100% accurate, but it's still a very effective lesson in "don'ts".
Silly Proposals: THE RETURN (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=397276)

If there is a proposal that you think shouldn't be a part of the UN, check this thread out to know exactly what you need to do to try and repeal it.
A Repeal Writing Guide: A Commonsense Guide to Writing Repeals (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=365040)

And finally, here are all of the resolutions that have been passed by your fellow UN members. Check it out before you propose a new one, because it might already be a part of the UN. One good example is "Banning Landmines", which can be found here: Banning Landmines (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=402735)
And all of the passed resolutions are here:
Passed N.S.U.N. Resolutions (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=357572)

Activity of UN delegates/members
Why aren?t regional delegates more active?
This question has been asked time and time again. If you have a proposal that you would like everyone else to see, politely post it in the UN forum, as well as telegramming other UN nations about the positive nature of your resolution, and a link to the discussion of it in the UN forum. If you want the UN to get more active, then you have to do something about it, rather than sitting back and complaining about it.
More responsibility from the part of Regional Delegates (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=399648)
Proposals need more attention from UN delegates (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=400921)

The UN isn't always all business. Sometimes Ambassadors need to kick back with a pint and a cigar. The ghost of UN Secretary General Emeritus Graf von Hermannstein of Enodia still haunts the place, and you'll find many a lively conversation to take your mind off of all those annoying proposals and resolutions.
The United Nations Strangers' Bar (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=310853)


UN Debating!
Check this thread out for a helpful guide to debating: http://datanation.com/fallacies/index.htm

United Nations Organizations
This website is an organization of everything there is to know about the United Nations. Currently, Mikitivity is working on detailed descriptions to the UN FAQ's, and statistics for the UN, such as the amount of UN members, UN proposals passed, etc. Check it out!
United Nations Organizations (http://s3.invisionfree.com/UN_Organizations/index.php)

UN FAQ's
This is the UN description that is displayed in the FAQ section before you even enter the forum.

What's the United Nations?

The UN is the world's governing body. It proposes and votes on resolutions, which are then binding on all member nations. In other words, it's a hot-bed of political intrigue and double-dealing.

Your nation can join the UN, but it's not compulsory. As a non-member, you are unaffected by any UN decisions. So if you're happy looking after your nation and don't want to dabble in international politics, don't join up.

If you're ready to take your nation onto the world stage, though, the UN is for you.

So I'm a UN member. Now what?

The UN is your chance to mold the rest of the world to your vision, by voting for resolutions you like and scuttling the rest. However, it's a double-edged sword, because your nation will also be affected by any resolutions that pass. (You can't just obey the resolutions you like and ignore the rest, like real nations do.)

The first thing to do is inspect the current UN resolution at vote (if there is one). If you agree, vote for it; if you don't, oppose it. Depending on how ardent you feel, you can also debate the issue in the forum, or wire telegrams to other nations.

Second, you can endorse other UN members, which is a way to signal that you like their policies, or their leader, or their cool flag, or whatever. The nation with the most endorsements in each region is appointed Regional Delegate (see below), and gets to wield additional influence.

Finally, you can propose your own resolutions. If approved, these go in the queue to be voted on by the entire UN. You may, however, be required to possess a minimum number of endorsements first.

How come some nations get more votes than others?

Regular UN member nations each get one vote. Regional Delegates, however, get an additional vote for every UN member in their region who endorses them. This can makes Delegates from large regions quite powerful.

Delegates also have the unique ability to approve proposals, deciding which of them will become resolutions to be voted on by the entire UN, and which are silently dispatched into the night never to be heard from again. A proposal needs 6% of all Delegates to approve it to become a resolution.

How can I become a Regional Delegate?

Gain the support of other nations in your region. This is obtained via endorsements: once per day, the nation with the most endorsements in each region is appointed Regional Delegate.

You need at least 1 endorsement to become a Delegate.
How do I endorse another nation?

First, note that you can only endorse another nation if:

* You are a UN member
* They are a UN member
* You are located in the same region

If all these are true, the nation you want to endorse will have an "[Add Your Endorsement]" link in its United Nations Activity section. Click that!

How do I approve a proposal?

You must be a Regional Delegate. If you are, then you will have an option to approve proposals when you view the list. By allowing unapproved proposals to fall by the wayside, Regional Delegates make sure that the UN only votes on worthy issues.

I have more than one nation. Can they all join the UN?

No. You may only have one nation in the UN at any given time. To enforce this, UN member nations must supply an e-mail address. If you are in fact caught with having more than one UN nation, all of your nations are ejected, and you will receive a telegram by "Nationstates Moderators" saying so. If you have a massive amount of nations in the UN (an example would be if you had ten nations in the UN), not only would they be ejected, but they will most likely be deleted. It's safe just to not to it.

What if I sneak them in using other e-mail addresses?

First up, don't. This is against the rules, and other people will be annoyed with you when they find out. It's a low, underhand thing to do. And the chances of getting caught are pretty high: the game uses four different methods to detect cheaters.

Nations that rort the UN in this way will be expelled and prevented from re-joining. If you do it with multiple nations, they'll all be deleted, including your main nation. If you're especially annoying, you'll be banned from making any new nations, too. But don't make me do that.

Can I make a UN resolution to add war to the game?

No. Well, you can, but I'm still not going to add war. The UN is not there to request new game features. I admit this would be nice: propose a change, vote it through, and BAM! The game gets better. But then, I would have to make the BAM! part happen, so this won't fly. It would require me to spend so much time rewriting game code that I wouldn't be able to pursue my real passion, which is earning enough money to buy food, and staying sane.

UN resolutions are a way to bring all member nations into line on a particular issue; be that environmental, democratic, free trade, or whatever. Don't suggest game improvements there. They just clutter up the place. And they make people think, "Hey, yeah, that would be cool! Why doesn't that bum Max Barry get off his ass and do that?" I get e-mails.

So, besides war, I can submit any resolution I want?

No. There are actually a few rules regarding what is considered an acceptable proposal. The UN takes itself very seriously (as in real life) and doesn't like nations submitting inappropriate proposals.

Cogitations' Case Studies, which is continuously updated a good example of what not to do (which still happens a lot), shows you exactly what you shouldn't do when making a proposal.
A Case Study of Deleted Proposals (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=330452)


There are two common mistakes inexperienced proposal contributors make:

* The first is not to have read the full rules before submitting a proposal.
* The second common mistake is to put forth a proposal which is not entirely within the NationStates world. UN proposals cannot address the rules or mechanics of the game, nor can they ask for new features. Proposals should also not address events, things, or people in the "Real World".

Finally, all proposals are bound by the same rules of etiquette as the rest of the site.

UN Regions (Active in UN Affairs)
Anarchists
Anarchy (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Anarchy) --28 UN Members--
Cannabis Island (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Cannabis_Island) --5 UN Members--
Free Thought (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Free_Thought) --7 UN Members--

Socialists/Communists
Alliance of Socialist States (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Alliance_of_Socialist_States) --17 UN Members--
Anticapitalist Alliance (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Anticapitalist_Alliance) --91 UN Members--
USSR (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=USSR) --57 UN Members--

Liberals/Centrists
Belgium (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Belgium) --34 UN Members--
Canada (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Canada) --114 UN Members--
Democratic Underground (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Democratic_Underground) --7 UN Members--
Equilism (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Equilism) --88 UN Members--
Europe (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Europe) --Hundreds of UN Members--
Fanama (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Fanama) --9 UN Members--
Island Nations of Aramir (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Island_nations_of_aramir) --2 UN Members--
Juxtaposition X (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=display_region/region=Juxtaposition_X) --24 UN Members--
Mercia The Next Generation (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Mercia_The_Next_Generation) --7 UN Members--
Nationstates (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=NationStates) --Hundreds of UN Members--
Oceania (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=display_region/region=Oceania) --5 UN Members--
Scotland (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Scotland) --31 UN Members--
The Balkans (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=The_Balkans) --19 UN Members--
The Kingdom of the Midlands (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=display_region/region=The_Kingdom_of_the_Midlands) --2 UN Members--
The Trinity Sea (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=display_region/region=The_Trinity_Sea) -- 2 UN Members--
Wysteria (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Wysteria) --81 UN Members--
Zhaucauozian Friendship (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=display_region/region=Zhaucauozian_Friendship) --8 UN Members--

Conservatives/Capitalists
Antarctica (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Antarctica) --21 UN Members--
Capitalist Alliance (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Capitalist_Alliance) --6 UN Members--
Capitalist Paradise (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Capitalist_Paradise) --2 UN Members--
Conservatopia (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=display_region/region=Conservatopia) --30 UN Members--
Gatesville (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Gatesville) --Hundreds of UN Members--
Libertarian Paradise (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Libertarian_Paradise) --3 UN Members--
Middle East (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Middle_East) -- 25 UN Members--
Monarchy (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Monarchy) --14 UN Members
North America (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=North_America) -- 62 UN Members--
PEEL (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=PEEL) --18 UN Members--
Texas (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Texas) --110 UN Members--

[ The following is a pair of guides designed to aid future proposal authors in their quest for effective, popular resolutions. Loaded with useful advice and food for thought, they can be used as two separate pieces, or one continuous guidebook. Thank you to Frisbeeteria for formatting the text for readability, and those of you who's debates have contributed to this work. ]

Nation States United Nations Policymaking
A Treatise On Building Functional Resolutions

Introduction
While sarcastic debate might seem to be the daily focus of the United Nations, the real purpose of our organization is the draft and implementation of legislation. By way of resolutions, we possess the ability to change the way the world operates, improving human rights, strengthening economies, and ensuring social justice.

Unfortunately, a great deal of the proposals that are put before the United Nations hardly merit consideration. Often we see typo-ridden legislation with no clear format, or opinion essays translated roughly into a sad attempt at policy. We ridicule these proposals mercilessly (with good reason), but often times we let an entirely separate kind of flawed resolution pass into our midst: bad policy plans.

Where my previous thread sought to help nations polish their proposals into well-written resolutions in the proper format, this thread will examine the process of policymaking. From choosing a topic to putting a plan into action, this guide serves to help you during the idea phase, and greatly increase your chances of making it onto the hallowed list of implemented United Nations resolutions.

The Two Burdens of Legislation
The United Nations has a long and distinguished history of passing bad policy, some of which will be cited in this text. For one reason or another, these proposals failed to meet the two basic criteria that a proposal must meet in order to be considered “good policy.” As the author of a resolution, it is your responsibility to ensure that your proposal meets the first two critical burdens. These are called prima facie burdens, coming from the Latin phrase meaning “before the fact.” You must pass both of these tests before the United Nations can consider the resolution.

Procedural Rules
Listening to the way we talk about resolutions, one could come away with the idea that, with the right wording, a person could enact any policy they wanted. While the proposal system does give players a large amount of flexibility in the issues they may address, there are still things that are off-limits. A number of rules have been laid down by Max and the moderation staff, and violating any one of them can not only cause your proposal to be deleted, but also get you banned from the United Nations. These include:
Game Mechanics:
This is one of the most important rules governing what a resolution is allowed to do with regards to policy. The action clauses of your proposal may not require any action that would necessitate additional programming by the system administrators. This includes things like setting tax rates, mandating a committee be formed in character, or requiring the General Assembly to vote on a subordinate issue. Understand that this isn’t a complete list, though, and many other actions qualify as game mechanics violations.

Addresses Specific Nations:
The United Nations is not allowed to single out specific nations or regions in its legislation. While you may feel quite justified picking on a nation for their ultra-polluting policy or their homophobic rhetoric, it is inappropriate to bring those things to attention via a resolution. The moderators have expressly forbid this action, and tend to act mercilessly should you violate the rule.

Lacks Policy Mechanism:
Every resolution presented must include some kind of action that the United Nations will take should the legislation be passed. While saying we should support human rights is all well and good, the resolution is meaningless unless you provide a tangible way for those rights to be improved. Using the action clauses listed in the Resolution Writing Guide will help ensure that you don’t fall victim to this rule.

Restricting Future Proposals:
It is illegal for the United Nations to prohibit itself from performing an action in the future. To do so would require reprogramming the game so certain proposal categories or specific clauses aren’t allowed, a mechanics issue.

Wrong Category:
Given the immense power they hold, resolutions are expected to meet a minimal standard of accuracy and professionalism. Neither of these are fulfilled if you submit a proposal dealing with nuclear weapons and call it an environmental issue. The categories are set up for a reason. It’s best to follow those intentions.

Real-Life References:
The Nation States universe is an infinitely varied amalgam of nations. Some people play as medieval kingdoms, others as super-tech space empires. While certain parallels exist between the real world and the Nation States world, they aren’t exact mirrors. Proposals may not make references to real-life people, places, or organizations. As the FAQ specifies, Tony Blair and George Bush don’t exist in Nation States, nor do Cambodia, Argentina, or the UCLA Literature department. Any reference to a real-world entity is grounds for deletion.

Banning Political/Economic Models:
Countries of all shapes and sizes are welcome in the United Nations, regardless of their economic or political policies. A right-wing dictatorship and a civil-rights love-fest are both equally valid governments in these halls. Because of this tolerant attitude, no resolution may prohibit any kind of political or economic system.
International Scope
The second burden is not an official rule, per se, but meeting it will save you enormous amounts of grief when you take your proposal to the forum. Remember, the United Nations is an international organization. With rare exceptions involving human rights, your proposal should only address issues that affect the world as a whole. This is a difficult line to walk, which means you should be extremely careful when picking out a topic to write a resolution on.

Because of this restriction, it is difficult to write policy within certain categories. Gun control, recreational drug use, gambling, and moral decency proposals are especially hard to justify. The gambling habits of Komokom’s citizens will not have a direct effect on the people of Vastiva, just as people being nude in Sophista won’t harm anyone living in Mikitivity.

Harms and Advantages
While the two prima facie burdens are extremely important, your responsibilities as an author have hardly passed. Just because the General Assembly is justified in considering your proposal doesn’t mean that your proposal is still a good idea. This is where the weighing mechanism of cost-benefit analysis. Greatly simplified, the premise of cost-benefit analysis says that if we pass your proposal, the world should see a net increase in the quality of life. This is where the concept of harms and advantages comes in.

First, your proposal must solve a problem that actually exists in the world. For the purpose of policymaking, we call these “harms.” A resolution saying the United Nations should make it illegal to use nuclear weapons for terraforming would only be justified if nations were actually terraforming with nuclear weapons. True, detonating a nuclear device can throw thousands of pounds of radioactive dust into the air, causing serious harm to the international community, but if it isn’t happening, there isn’t a real problem.

Remember, though, the harm you choose to address should be trans-national. If your proposal is to criminalize the eating of foods high in cholesterol, you must first prove that eating foods high in cholesterol has a harmful effect that crosses borders. A less feasible example would be claiming that having too many obese people on a plane makes it more likely to crash, thus endangering any international flights. This certainly isn’t a valid argument (planes can still fly, even chock full of obese travelers), but you get the idea.

Second, your proposal should also do good, or cause “advantages”. Often times, finding advantages is as easy as reversing your harms. Going back to the nuclear terraforming example, it is advantageous to have fewer people dying of cancer or being accidentally vaporized. Don’t be afraid, however, to look beyond the plainly obvious. Your plan to limit nuclear terraforming would also limit the construction of nuclear devices, meaning there are fewer weapons lying around for terrorists to steal. Thus, you could claim that banning nuclear terraforming will decrease the risk of nuclear terrorism. Be careful, though. Superfluous advantages are often easily dismantled, and no one wants to fight and uphill battle when their idea is presented in the forum.

Cost-Benefit Analysis
So you’ve chosen a topic and authored a resolution that follows the rules while addressing an international issue. You can point out clear advantages that will come from your policy, and it solves a problem that exists in the status quo. Now comes the most difficult part of the policy-making process: convincing other people that your idea is worth voting for. Go to the forums, post a copy of your proposal, and wait for people to offer their criticism.

Assuming you met the two prima facie burdens, then the usual “sovereignty” crowd and forum veterans hunting for game mechanics proposals will leave you alone. With those tests out of the way, you can concentrate on showing that, at the end of the day, your proposal will make the world a better place. To prove this, we employ a method called “cost-benefit analysis.”

Greatly simplified, cost-benefit analysis asks whether a policy proposal does more harm than good. While your environmental proposal might save the endangered sea llama, is that more important than the oil shipping industry which won’t be able to use regular ocean channels for travel? In the forums, many people will present disadvantages that would come along with your resolution. If those disadvantages are significant, i.e. the plan would spark a nuclear war obliterating all life on Earth, then the benefits you claim might end up severely outweighed. When writing a proposal, it’s important to think ahead, and ask yourself what kind of negative consequences might come out of the enactment of your policy.

Conclusion
This is by no means a complete how-to guide for writing a perfect proposal, but taking these points into consideration will greatly improve your chances. It doesn’t take a champion debater or a government expert to make the world a better place, only someone who is willing to patiently nurture their policy. Combined with the Resolution Writing Guide, these guidelines will help push your proposal closer and closer to changing the world for the better.



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 of action, condemn an action, or require an action or impose sanctions on the part of the member states. All of these are viable options, so long as they don't conflict with the rules laid out by the moderation staff over the years.

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 spellchecker 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 deleted proposals guide (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=330452) offered by the moderators for a list of things that will cause your resolution to be eaten before it makes it to the floor. This 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 perambulatory and operative clauses. Perambulatory clauses are listed first, and the 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.

Bear in mind, the following clauses are only examples. While all are acceptable for use in legislation, this isn't to say that they are the only words you can use. The author of the resolution is ultimately responsible for the language presented, and any clauses that are within the themes represented are perfectly welcome.

Resolution Clauses
Perambulatory ClausesAffirming
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

National Sovereignty
and the
NationStates United Nations


I have written this as a guide to national sovereignty discussions in the United Nations. It is intended to familiarize players with the various concepts and perspectives that relate to national sovereignty in the NSUN.

Does National Sovereignty Exist in the NSUN?

The answer to that question depends largely on our own preconceptions about what constitutes sovereignty and is complicated by the interaction between game mechanics and roleplay. Many people incorporate a variety of these perspectives and/or concepts into their views. Keep in mind that this has been simplified for brevity.

Statistic Control

For some people, national sovereignty is having complete control over their national statistics. For them, national sovereighty is a quality that you have or do not have, and there are no degrees to which national sovereignty exists and/or does not exist. In their case, there is no national sovereignty if you are a member of the United Nations and are affected by the stastistical changes wrought by the NSUN.

Policymaking Through Daily Issues

For others, national sovereignty is the ability of their nation to make its own policy through daily issues. For them, national sovereignty is a quality diminished only by an inability to make policy in a particular area. Even if they are members of the United Nations, they are still allowed to make their own policy through daily issues and thus they still have national sovereignty.

Roleplay Control

For some players, most of whom feel obligated to abide by the conventions of good roleplay by not godmoding, their ability to control completely their nation's policies through roleplay is what constitutes national sovereignty. Because the text of a NSUN resolution functions in the realm of roleplay and it is considered by the community to be godmoding to ignore that text, and for these players national sovereighty is a quality that you have or do not have, and there are no degrees to which national sovereignty exists and/or does not exist. In their case, there is no national sovereignty if you are a member of the United Nations and are affected by the roleplay changes wrought by the NSUN.

Policymaking Through Roleplay

For many players who are NSUN members, most of whom feel obligated to abide by the conventions of good roleplay by not godmoding, their ability to set their nation's policies through roleplay is what constitutes national sovereignty. Because the text of a NSUN resolution functions in the realm of roleplay and it is considered by the community to be godmoding to ignore that text, these players have their national sovereignty diminished to some degree when the NSUN passes legislation. For these players, national sovereignty only extends so far as the NSUN has not legislated on an issue.


Common Mistakes

Here are some of the more common mistakes that are made in national sovereignty discussions.

RL UN=NS UN

Occasionally the UN forum gets treated to a diatribe on how the RL (real-life) United Nations works. Usually such diatribes are immediately followed by arguments that the NationStates United Nations should work the same way as the RL United Nations. Sometimes the persons will even cite the RL United Nations Charter, or use other RL United Nations resources to back up their claims. Unfortunately for such persons, NationStates is a role-playing game, and does not recognize RL resources except as aids to debate (whether over appropriate role-play conventions or ethical and legal concerns).

Power of the NationStates United Nations

Far too often persons will enter the UN forum and argue that the NationStates United Nations does not have the power to enact the legislation that has been passed. As it happens, the NationStates United Nations actually does have that power. If you are a member of the United Nations during the period in which the resolution is coded, then the national statistics for your nation are changed according to the nature of the resolution. This is built into the very structure of the game, and there is nothing that can be done about it. However, if you are not a member of the United Nations during the time period in which the resolution is coded, your national statistics are not changed. Even so, you are expected to act as if your nation is in compliance with the legislation for the purposes of role-play. One can role-play defiance of the legislation, but be prepared to do a proper job of it or be accused of wanking (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Wank) or godmoding (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Godmoding) (follow the links for explanations on wanking and godmoding), and possibly derided and ignored altogether. One fairly common and widely accepted method of roleplaying defiance of resolutions is to take advantage of the often ambiguous and/or undefined nature of the resolutions and define certain key terms such that the effects of the resolution are nullified or made negligible.



Arguments Related to National Sovereignty

I have been here for some time now, and have noticed that national sovereignty is a topic that is oft-debated and hotly contested here in the United Nations forum. Many arguments get thrown around and it can often seem like there are as many arguments on the issue as there are people debating it. However, I have identified several common threads in these arguments, and think it would be useful to compile them in one handy guide to national sovereignty discussions. Hopefully, someone will actually read this guide before going on at length about how terrible the United Nations is for violating their national sovereignty, and thereby save us all some time. There is no one absolutely correct argument that I know of, so keep this in mind in your future discussions on the issue. You may have simply agree to disagree with other posters and leave the issue of national sovereignty alone.

Debates over the appropriate scope of national sovereignty take many forms. Some are related to the IC (In-Character) aspects of NationStates and others are related to the OOC (Out-Of-Character) aspects of the game. Often terms such as domestic and international are used to indicate different types of policy, legislation, or law. Most arguments support a particular degree to which national sovereignty should be upheld or not upheld, but some persons will hold to multiple arguments (or versions thereof) so it can become difficult to pinpoint a person's position on the issue. There are other arguments than those which are listed below, but I have only included the more commonly used arguments on both sides of the issues.

Arguments Related to Game Mechanics

Below are two common arguments related to issues of game mechanics. One of the arguments is for limited national sovereignty, and the other suggests that national sovereignty does not exist in the NSUN.

Daily Issues Argument

One of the more common OOC arguments for national sovereignty (limited or extensive) is that having the NationStates United Nations legislate in certain areas is redundant because there are already daily issues that allow the nations to make legislation on that issue. Many proponents of this argument have also said that such redundancy takes the fun out of the game, which is deciding how to run your own nation.

Fatalistic Argument

A common OOC argument for the sovereignty of the NationStates United Nations is that due to the nature of game mechanics, it already by its very nature violates national sovereignty. Essentially, persons using this argument often suggest that because of the fact that the passage of a resolution by the NationStates United Nations always impacts your nation (as indicated by the FAQ), you give up all national sovereignty upon joining the United Nations, and therefore it is useless to try to assert the sovereignty of your nation if you are a member.

Arguments Related to Legal Scope

Quite possibly the most common issue to come up in debates on national sovereignty is the issue of legal scope, particularly the question of where the NSUN's proper jurisdiction lies.

Legalistic Argument

The Legalistic Argument is a fairly common method of dealing with national sovereignty issues. Proponents of this argument hold that there are two types of legislation; domestic and international. The general thrust of this argument is that because "it's the United Nations, not United Sentient Beings" (to quote myself), the United Nations is a body that is international in its scope, and international only. Persons taking this position usually believe that unless the NationStates United Nations is legislating directly on an international issue, it is violating the scope of its legal authority.

International Justification Argument

This is one of the most popular arguments that is used to justify the NationStates United Nations legislating on what others might consider a domestic issue. Proponents of this argument will generally state that the NationStates United Nations is well within its rights to legislate on domestic issues if there is an international justification for doing so. For example, outlawing abortion in one nation would probably lead to women immigrating or emigrating (depending on your perspective) to other nations in order to have abortions. Thus many proponents of this argument would say that because the domestic law is extremely likely to have international consequences, it is within the scope of the NationStates United Nations to set international law that will address this issue.

Arguments Related to the Goal of Unity

Of late I have noticed an increasing tendency on the part of those who address national sovereignty to debate the issue in light of the goal of acheiving unity through the NSUN. (That goal is implied by the name of the United Nations.)

Unity Through Sovereignty

Some proponents of national sovereignty have suggested that because of the difficulty involved in and the negative consequences of the NSUN mandating policies for its member nations (due to the overwhelming diversity of biological, technological, cultural, political, and economic needs of those nations), the NSUN should respect national sovereignty in an effort to respect the diversity of the membership. Some have also suggested that respecting national sovereignty would decrease the rancor that many conservatives and capitalists feel towards the NSUN, which would lead to a more unified, rather than divided, body of nations.

Unity Through Universal Policy

Others suggest that the way to improve the unity of the membership is through mandated universal policy that would truly provide a unified framework for the member nations and make them more homogenuous and friendly towards each other. Some have suggested that all who oppose the NSUN's policies should leave the NSUN and that such action would benefit the NSUN by removing the division caused by competing beliefs about policy, thereby creating a truly unified NSUN.

Arguments Related to Self-Determination

Below are the primary arguments on national sovereignty that are related to the issue of self-determination, which is essentially the ability to determine one's own course of action.

Self-Determination Within the NSUN

Some people suggest that in recognition of a nation's right to self-determination, the NSUN should respect national sovereignty and allow member nations to make their own policies. Such persons often have differing perspectives with regard to the degree which they believe national sovereignty should be upheld due to the right to self-determination.

Self-Determination Without the NSUN

Others suggest that the nations already have the complete right to self-determination, and that they exercise this right by joining or leaving the NSUN. Such persons usually hold to the Fatalistic argument as well, though not always.

Arguments Related to Passed Legislation

Below are the arguments on the issue of passed legislation. These arguments seek to establish a perspective's correctness by appealing to historical precedents in the law set out previously by the NSUN.

Passed Legislation as Precedent for Sovereignty

Some people who wish to promote national sovereignty in the NSUN suggest that because of previous legislation that either respects of promotes national sovereignty (examples are "Rights and Duties" "National Systems of Tax" "Right to Refuse Extradition" and "Right to Self-Protection"), the NSUN has clearly endorsed national sovereignty as a valid legal and political concept within the NSUN and national sovereignty should be respected as such. Some take this line of thought even further and suggest that national sovereignty should not only be recognized as a valid legal concept, but also implemented consistently by the NSUN in its policies.

Passed Legislation as Precedent for Universal Policy

Other take the opposing position that the historical precedent for mandating universal policy is stronger than the precedent for sovereignty, citing the much larger number of resolutions that do not respect or promote national sovereignty (examples are "Abortion Rights" "Definition of Marriage" "Right to Learn About Evolution" "The Sex Industry Worker Act" and "Ban Trafficking in Persons"), but instead operate using universal policy. Such persons generally conclude that universal policy is the more recognized model for legislation, and should be recognized as such. Some take this line of thinking even further and suggest that universal policy should be implemented consistently in NSUN policies.


Validity of the National Sovereignty Argument

Frisbeeteria, the author of the Rights and Duties of UN States Resolution, has done an excellent examination of the relationship between national sovereignty the NationStates United Nations, which can be found here. (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=381983) I am reposting it here with some format changes, as it includes an analysis of national sovereignty as it relates to international law and game structures, rather than the mostly descriptive methods that I have employed. All of the text you read after this point was written by Frisbeeteria.

It has become fashionable once again to discard or belittle arguments of national sovereignty as somehow unworthy of notice. "Yet another UN member who hasn't read the FAQ" seems to be a common slap in the face of new posters. Let's examine this in a bit more detail.

Does the UN have the power to override National Sovereignty?
Yes. Unquestionably. The FAQ makes that abundantly clear.

The UN is your chance to mold the rest of the world to your vision, by voting for resolutions you like and scuttling the rest. However, it's a double-edged sword, because your nation will also be affected by any resolutions that pass.

Does the UN have the right to override National Sovereignty?
Yes and no. Matters of international importance and consequence are rightfully the province of the UN. Who makes the determination of what is or isn't a matter of international importance? The UN Ambassadors of the UN member nations choose that among themselves.

There is no grand scheme by which the UN can rightfully do anything at all, unless the membership grants the organization that right. It is the duty of UN member nations to send a representative who is capable of presenting his or her own national interests, while at the same time considering the validity and effect of those interests on other members of the international community. These members must consider and decide whether the proposal or resolution in question should qualify as the rightful property of the UN. If so, they should present their case. If not, they should vehemently oppose it. National interest MUST be given weight in any ambassador's decision.

Does the UN have the duty to override National Sovereignty?
In cases of international importance that transcend national boundaries, perhaps. Some would include most Human Rights proposals into this category. Others might consider Environmental or Free Trade as paramount. There is no single criterion that any given nation is required to follow in determining their duty to the UN, and Ambassadors should not be chastised for failure to share common values. With more than 37,000 UN member nations, it is absurd to think that every one will agree on any given issue, much less the phrasing and language of its presentation. The value of such duty is a variable which can only be set by the member nation.

Does the UN have the obligation to override National Sovereignty?
Absolutely not. The UN can always decide that an issue is not worthy of its consideration, or rightfully belongs to the member nations. The UN also has the ability to change its mind at a later date, as member nations come and go. Consequently, all previous resolutions may now be repealed, assuming some member can create a compelling case to do so.

On what legal basis can the UN override National Sovereignty?
Rights and Duties of UN States ( http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=48) provides the legal precedent for sovereignty in Articles 1-3, while at the same time recognizing the legitimate claims of the UN in Articles 2, 3 and 11. In many ways, this is a restatement of the core [OOC] rules of the game, while providing a critical justification for doing so.

In passing this resolution, the UN has explicitly recognized the concept of National Sovereignty. Thus, under international law, national sovereignty arguments are legal and permissible as legitimate in any argument. As previously stated, those arguments do not in and of themselves provide justification for the passage of a resolution or a repeal, as the UN always retains the power to decide for itself what it worthy of consideration.


Conclusion
On this basis, I maintain that it is [i]legally incorrect to dismiss all such arguments as groundless. The usage of the language, as in all UN discussions, is vital. One must consider the context as well of the content when using or deriding words like right, power, duty, and obligation. Perhaps a bit of guidance towards the correct word or phrase would serve the UN community better than abrupt dismissal of the claim.

A Practical Guide
to the
NationStates United Nations


Introduction

This guide is intended to give players a basic grasp of the NationStates United Nations. Accordingly, I’ve structured this guide with a general audience in mind. The format consists of basic questions and the answers to them. This is not intended to be a guide for newbs or for experts. It is intended to be relatively concise and useful to the average player.

Table of Contents

A. What is the NationStates United Nations?
B. Why do we have the NationStates United Nations?
C. How does the NationStates United Nations relate to the NationStates game engine?
D. How do member nations use the NationStates United Nations?
E. How can I do those things?
F. Why join the NationStates United Nations?
G. Why resign from the NationStates United Nations?
H. How can I use the NSUN page?
I. What can I do when the NSUN passes a resolution that I don't like?

A. What is the NationStates United Nations?

The NSUN is an international legislative body that exists within the construct of the online political simulation game called NationStates.

B. Why do we have the NationStates United Nations?

Because Max Barry, the creator of the NationStates game and author of Jennifer Government, wanted to have it and decided to code it into the game.

C. How does the NationStates United Nations relate to the NationStates game engine?

1. The NSUN has a unique status among the thousands of international organizations in NationStates. It is part of the structure of the game, rather than being purely roleplayed like the other organizations. While the NSUN may involve a great deal of roleplay, that is not its entire focus.
2. When the membership of the NSUN passes a resolution, that resolution is coded into the game and alters the national statistics of all the nations whom are currently in the NSUN by moving them in the direction indicated by the category and other characteristics/variables of the resolution.

D. How do member nations use the NationStates United Nations?

There are many ways to use the NSUN. The individual items listed are rarely the sole focus of a member nation. Most members have multiple reasons for engaging in these activities and engage in several of the activities.

1. Effect Statistical Changes

Some players use the NSUN to get their national statistics the way they want them. The most common method of using the NSUN for this purpose is the resign/reapply approach. Member nations will resign when a proposal that would change their national statistics in a way that they don’t like reaches quorum and then reapply when a proposal that would change their national statistics in a way that they do like reaches quorum.

2. Gain/Maintain Power

Some players use the NSUN to gain or maintain in-game power. Because the UN Delegate of Founderless regions automatically has access to Regional Controls, including the Eject/Ban function and the World Factbook Entry, some nations will seek out the Delegate position in order to increase their own power and influence in the game. Once these nations have achieved the Delegateship, they might try to maintain their power by ejecting those UN member nations whose endorsement counts are above a certain number that they and/or their allies choose. Delegates of large regions can command huge numbers of votes in the NSUN, which is also a possible source of power and influence.

3. Effect Roleplayed Changes

Some players use the NSUN as a tool for roleplay. For those who actively roleplay their nation, the NSUN’s legislation can be used to start a new roleplay or inject new life into an old one by roleplaying the changes that occur in a nation or the life of the people in response to NSUN legislation. Others might use NSUN legislation to create additional bodies such as the IRCO or UNSC that are then roleplayed by interested players.

4. Debate Related Issues

Some players use the NSUN and the issues it addresses to debate. Often, regional message boards, the UN forum, and regional or organizational offsite forums are used to debate the merits (or lack thereof) of a piece of legislation that has been proposed to the NSUN or is up for vote. These debates can cover a multitude of philosophical, legal, ethical, and moral issues. Some players might become involved in the NSUN simply to join in the debates that occur over issues and legislation.

5. Promote An Ideology or Principle

Some players use the NSUN (its forum and its legislation) to promote an ideology, usually their own. Players have tried to use the NSUN to promote almost every ideology you can think of, including economic systems such as capitalism, socialism, and communism, political systems such as democracy, autocracy, or technocracy, and various others such as environmentalism, National Socialism, pluralism, or relativism. Some of them have even managed to succeed in promoting their ideology or principle.

E. How can I do those things?

It all depends on your own membership status. Some activities don’t require a membership status and others do. Some activities require very specific membership status (ie. Delegate).

1. Can I debate related issues?

You can join in the debates on the UN forum (and on most offsite regional or organizational forums) without being a Delegate or even a member of the NSUN. However, you should keep in mind that some people may question the relevance of your opinions if you are not a member.

2. Can I promote a principle or ideology?

You can promote a principle or ideology with or without membership in the NSUN. If you are in the NSUN, you can promote an ideology or principle by submitting proposals and/or passing a resolution. If you are not in the NSUN, you can still promote your ideology or principle by working with a person (or persons) who is a member to craft their proposals and resolutions in a way the suits your needs. As noted previously, you can join in debates without or without being a member and can promote your ideology or principle in that manner.

3. Can I gain and maintain power?

You can gain or maintain power if you are a regional UN Delegate, especially one in a large and/or Founderless region. You acquire this position by having the most number of endorsements in your region at the time of the update. If there is a tie in the number of endorsements between multiple (two or more) nations, the nation that has been in the region longest becomes the Delegate. Being a Delegate means that you have an extra vote on resolutions for each endorsement you have. Also, Delegates have the ability to Approve proposals in the proposals list and help them to reach quorum.

4. Can I effect roleplayed changes?

If you are a member, you can effect roleplayed changes by getting a resolution passed (which will then be roleplayed by many member nations in some form) and/or by establishing an organization with a resolution. If you are not a member, you can still effect these roleplayed changes by working on a proposal and getting another person who is in the NSUN to propose and pass it. Or you could simply roleplay compliance with all UN decisions despite not being a member. Due to the fact that free-form roleplay is practiced on the site, you can pretty much roleplay however you want. Just keep in mind that nobody will roleplay with you if you are too silly or annoying.

5. Can I effect statistical changes?

You can effect statistical changes by submitting a proposal and passing it as a resolution. You have to be a member of the NSUN to do this. If you are not a member of the NSUN, it is possible that you could help effect statistical changes by writing a proposal and having another person who is in the NSUN propose and pass it. However, the passage of the proposal would not affect you as a non-member.

F. Why join the NationStates United Nations?

Nations have many different reasons for joining the NSUN, and often a nation will have multiple reasons for joining. As mentioned before, some nations join because their national statistics will be changed in a way they like by an upcoming resolution. Other nations become concerned about or frustrated with the general direction the NSUN is going and join in order to change the direction of the NSUN. A few nations join simply because they were bored one day and decided to try it out. Other nations who are in a Founderless region might join the NSUN to help protect their region from invasion.

G. Why resign from the NationStates United Nations?

As with joining, Nations have many different reasons for resigning from the NSUN, and often a nation will have multiple reasons for resigning. As mentioned before, some nations resign because their national statistics will be changed in a way they don’t like by an upcoming resolution. Often, a nation will resign in protest of or in anger at a particular piece of NSUN legislation that they find particularly egregious for whatever reason. Other nations become concerned about or frustrated with the general direction the NSUN is going and resign because they no longer feel that the NSUN is of any benefit. A few nations simply become bored with and/or tired of the NSUN and leave. Other nations who were once in a Founderless region and had joined the NSUN to protect their region from invasion might leave the NSUN once the region has a Founder once more.

H. How can I use the NSUN page?

That depends on what you want to do and your membership status.

Whether you are member or not, you can use the NSUN page to view the list of passed resolutions and the list of current proposals. In addition, you can view the lists of all member nations or all Delegates. These two lists are often used for conducting telegram campaigns for or against proposals and resolutions. For conducting said campaigns it is often helpful to provide a valid link to the proposal. To do this, some nations might tell you what page on the proposals list it currently resides in. However, this changes as time passes, so the URL used initially will no longer be accurate. Fortunately, as Hirota helpfully illustrated here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=453556), there is another way to link to proposals without relying on page numbers.

If you enter a URL of:


http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_proposal1/match=gambling into your browser, you will get a list of all the proposals which have gambling within them. Change whatever you have after "match=" to a relevant keyword for your proposal, and then you have a nice lazy link.

If you want more than one keyword, have each on divided by %20 rather than a space. So, if you wanted to look for all proposals which ban gambling, rather than just gambling proposals, you would enter a URL of:

http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_proposal1/match=ban%20gambling

If you are a member, you can use the NSUN page to vote on resolutions.

If you are a member and have at least two endorsements, you can use the NSUN page to vote on resolutions and submit proposals. (When submitting proposals, keep in mind that your proposal text can be no longer than the allowed 3,500 characters with spaces.)

If you are a Delegate, you can use the NSUN page to vote on resolutions and approve proposals.

If you are a Delegate and have at least two endorsements, you can use the NSUN page to vote on resolutions, submit proposals, and approve proposals.

I. What can I do when the NSUN passes a resolution that I don't like?

There are a variety of ways to deal with the passage of a resolution you do not like. You may even do several of these things to address the resolution you don't like.

1. As noted before, you can resign from the NSUN before it passes to protect your nation from the statistical changes that would result from the resolution and rejoin after it has been coded. Many players resign permanently in protest because they disapprove of the direction the NSUN is going in with the resolution. There are also many players who wish to avoid the ill effects of NSUN membership on their nation while retaining the gameplay benefits of NSUN membership. These players generally create a puppet nation and join the UN with it rather than their primary nation. (You can create a puppet nation by going to the NationStates Main Page (http://www.nationstates.net) and clicking on the Create Nation link.)

2. Because the NSUN exists in both the realm of game mechanics and the realm of roleplay, you can also deal with a passed resolution you disagree with using roleplay. Many nations choose to roleplay some clever legal maneuvers (like defining the word "the" to mean "cheese"), thereby nullifying or making negligible the effects of the legislation they find objectionable. Another common trend is roleplaying the effects of the resolution in your nation to demonstrate a flaw in the legislation. Some nations choose to roleplay complete non-compliance with NSUN legislation, which means that they choose to roleplay as if the NSUN has no affect on them. While such persons may do what they wish in their own roleplay, the practice of ignoring NSUN legislation in roleplay is generally considered extremely bad form and often called godmoding. Prepare to be derided or ignored if you roleplay complete non-compliance. The only nation I've seen get anywhere with such a roleplay is the very respected Sophista, and even they received some serious criticism for their action.

This is a work in progress. Please don't reply to this topic. I'm leaving it open so that the various post authors can edit their topics, but I'd prefer if people made any comments in THIS thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=412283). Thanks.

~ Frisbeeteria ~
NationStates Forum Moderator

Roleplaying
and the
NationStates United Nations

Introduction

What is roleplay?

In the context of NationStates, roleplay is basically a typed representation of your nation that is in-character and performed mostly in the NationStates (NS) and International Incidents (II) forums. For a more lengthy explanation, read the NSwiki article on the subject (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Roleplay).

How do I roleplay?

Because the roleplay in NationStates is free-form and the Mods don't police roleplay (except for violations of the TOS like spamming and flaming), you can technically roleplay however you like. That said, the community of users on the site has developed its own set of methods and conventions for roleplay that you would probably prefer to adhere to for the most part. More on that later.

Roleplay Possibilities

Most people don’t realize the potential for roleplay based on the NSUN, and in my experience the RPers who do their thing in NS and II tend not to have such a great attitude towards the NSUN, possibly because it is an organization that tries to limit their warring abilities through environmental legislation that may hurt their nation’s economy and other restricting legislation such as the resolutions "The Wolfish Convention on POW," "Banning the use of Landmines," "Children in War," and "The Eon Convention on Genocide".

With the advent of the "Humanitarian Intervention" resolution and the convening of the Pretenama panel to investigate genocides roleplayed by various nations in the NS and II forums, it is becoming apparent that UN-related roleplay is expanding into new territory. Previously the UN-related roleplay was very rare, extending only to a few random nations occasionally referencing the UN in some way in their roleplay. The UN-related roleplay began to pick up momentum later with the advent of the "United Nations Space Consortium" resolution and subsequent roleplayed organization being formed and the momentum continued with Sophista’s defiance of "The Law of the Sea" (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=359922) and the resulting dodgeball war (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=361434). One of the older examples of UN-related roleplay is in the UN Stranger’s Bar (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=310853), a place where UN delegates come to hang out when they’re not critiquing legislation.

Possibilities for the UN Forum

To my knowledge, the possibilities for RP in the UN forum are fairly limited. For the most part, the roleplaying in the UN forum consists of roleplayed statements issued by a nation in response to a particular piece of legislation, idea, or debate topic. You can give your representative to the UN any personality you like and you can have multiple representatives issue statements if you like. Generally someone can have, for example, their Minister of Defense issue a statement regarding a proposal that would affect the nation’s ability to defend itself and have another representative while having their Minister of Commerce issue a statement regarding a proposal that would affect their economy. You could also have multiple representatives to the UN with one being a Deputy to the primary representative.

Recently it has become more common to roleplay an office in the UN building, and to roleplay the "procurement" of office supplies and other assorted items from the offices of nations leaving the UN. Descriptions of the various UN offices can be found here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=486600).

Possibilities for the NS Forum

One possibility for a UN-related roleplay in the NS forum is the construction of a thread in which you play out a scene in which your government addresses a passed UN resolution, perhaps even several resolutions. You can also take a slightly different tack and do a roleplay that shows through the lives of your citizens how a passed UN resolution benefited, harmed, or didn’t affect your nation. The NS forum could also be used to do the character-based roleplaying involved with one of the many UN-related organizations, such as the UN Old Guard (http://s6.invisionfree.com/UN_Old_Guard/index.php?act=idx).

Possibilities for the II Forum

One possibility for a UN-related roleplay in the II forum is a war in which a UN member nation deals with the limitations imposed on war by the NSUN’s passed legislation. Another possible roleplay to conduct in the II forum is a roleplay of the defiance of UN legislation. While such defiance is hardly generally encouraged, it could result in a good roleplay if executed properly. Other possibilities include roleplaying IRCO missions and interventions by the Pretenama Panel.


Roleplay Conventions

As with most communities, the roleplaying community of NationStates has developed a set of conventions governing roleplay that are generally adhered to. There are a number of conventions aside from the more basic conventions such as having a narrative or dialogue structure and reasonable spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Conventions in the UN Forum

Most of what goes on in the UN forum is debate over the merits of passed or proposed legislation. Generally the debates are In-Character (that is, roleplay), but sometimes Out-of-Character (that is, non-roleplay) observations are made to clarify or support a point. It is considered good form to make the distinction between your comments as a nation and your comments as a player clear. A lack of such a distinction often leads to misunderstanding and hostility, which are not things we like to encourage here.

Conventions in the NS Forum

The conventions are found in the stickied posts in the NS forum, namely the the NationStates Forum (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=400312) and OOC: Want more respect on the forums? (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=352036) threads. These threads contains good examples, helpful tips, and a wealth of information for players who want to get involved in roleplay.

Conventions in the II Forum

The conventions are found in the stickied post in the II forum, namely the consolidated International Incidents Sticky (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=414035). There is a huge amount of information in that thread, so you may not want to try to read it all at one time so it won’t overwhelm you. Try to check out all the links at least once and see what's going on in the world of II roleplay.


Roleplay Help

Suggestions

My general suggestions for those of you who are interested in getting involved in UN-related roleplay is to read the stickies and all threads they link to. Doing so will help you get a feel for how roleplaying is conducted here. I would further suggest that you browse the forums for a few days to watch a variety of roleplays in action and get a first-hand feel for how they work. You may also want to check out some of the offsite UN-related forums established by players, such as the United Nations Organizations (http://s3.invisionfree.com/UN_Organizations/index.php?act=idx) forum.

Mentors

Below is a list of the names of nations that have volunteered to help with UN-related RP. You may want to contact them for help getting started in UN-related roleplaying or help with a particular roleplay you are planning.

Ecopoeia
Texan Hotrodders

If you wish to have your name added to or removed from this list, please contact me.

Compliance and Noncompliance
in the
NationStates United Nations


As members of the United Nations, we all have to address the issue of our nation's compliance or noncompliance with the resolutions passed by the body. Compliance occurs in a variety of ways, so keep in mind that not every nation will comply in the same way you do. More on that later.

The Nature of Compliance

If we're seriously going to address the issue of compliance, we have to get a sense of what compliance really is. Compliance has two general forms:
The first form of compliance is complying with the spirit of the law. You can be in compliance with the spirit of the law by enacting the policy proposed by the resolution; you can be in noncompliance with the spirit of the law by only adhering to the letter of the law while disregarding or twisting the spirit of the law.
The second form of compliance is complying with the letter of the law. You can't avoid this because all UN resolutions are made law in member nations via the Compliance Ministry, and you are thus in compliance in the sense that those laws are now part of your nation's recorded/written law.


Reasoning

A number of reasons have been cited by various nations for choosing either to comply or refrain from complying.
One of the more common reasons that has been used by those choosing to comply and by those choosing not to comply are the stat changes that your nation experiences as a result of a resolution. Some believe that the stat changes are adversely affecting their nation, and as a result they might leave the UN when a resolution comes up that will cause a stat change that they don't like. Others believe that the stat changes are good for their nation and they choose to remain in the UN to take advantage of those stat changes.

Another common reason used to justify compliance is the claim that the FAQ says that resolutions are binding on all member nations, and so compliance is a given; others claim that the FAQ does not justify compliance.

One of the most prevalent reasons given by UN members for compliance or noncompliance is the impact compliance would have on roleplaying their nation. Some feel that the roleplayed consequences would be disasterous for their nation and choose to roleplay noncompliance for that reason. Others feel that there would be positive or interesting roleplay consequences and so they choose to roleplay compliance.


Game Mechanics

The frequently-cited changes that occur in your UN nation's stats after a resolution passes are the game mechanics form of compliance.
These stat changes are related to the Category and Strength of the particular resolution that passed. If a Human Rights resolution passed, your Civil Rights rating increases. If it is a Strong resolution, then it will have a more marked effect on your stats than a Mild resolution would have. The same principle applies with other Category and Strength variables.

These stat changes are often the basis for the frequent assertions that noncompliance is not possible, and it is often suggested that because of the connection that is generally made between game mechanics and roleplay that roleplayed noncompliance does not make any sense.

These stat changes can be avoided by resigning from the UN before a resolution you don't like passes and rejoining after it passes. It is a hassle, but some feel it is worth it.


Gameplay

The less-used and infrequently discussed form of compliance is the answering of daily issues in accordance with UN resolutions. This can be done in cases where the topic of an issue has been addressed by the UN.
It is quite possible to answer some of the daily issues to fit with passed resolutions. You can increase healthcare spending to simulate the implementation of "RBH Replacement" or let homosexuals get married in response to the resolutions that promoted legalization of such unions. I've only known one person to do it, but it is an option.
It is also quite possible to answer some of the issue to contradict UN resolutions as a means of noncompliance. You can use your issues to eliminate healthcare spending or outlaw homosexual marriages in contavention of UN resolutions. A lot of people seem to practice this particular form of noncompliance.


Roleplay

The stuff that you write about how your nation is dealing with the passage of a resolution is roleplayed compliance (or noncompliance, as the case may be).
Free-form roleplay is practiced on this site, so you can roleplay what you like and with whom you like. You can roleplay having massive spaceships or being sentient potatoes, and you can even roleplay outright noncompliance with UN resolutions. As with most things, some people are going to accept how you roleplay and some people are not. Even among “serious” roleplayers there are sometimes disagreements over whether or not a particular technology or strategy is appropriate roleplay. It happens. Just deal with these disagreements appropriately and you’ll be okay.

Roleplay does not have to derive entirely from game mechanics. If your nation page says you’re a Conservative Democracy, you can still roleplay your nation as a Liberal Autocratic Socialist State (a fictional category, but a valid possible form of government). Just keep in mind that a lot of folks like other roleplayers to have a certain level of connection between the nation page and roleplay, even if it is not a perfect 1:1 correlation. For example, my nation is in the Anarchy category, so I roleplay it as an anarcho-socialist federation, a form of anarchy. Most people don’t bat an eye at this even though I don’t roleplay the other thing on my nation page about having order through biker gangs, or certain other really weird issue effects that don't fit with my roleplay.

From a roleplay standpoint, resolutions are made law in all member nations. This leaves you with plenty of options for roleplayed noncompliance. Just like in real life countries, the law can be flouted, remain on the books but lack enforcement by the government, or it can be nullified by another part of your nation’s law. Maybe even a combination of those three approaches could be used. Just be aware of the possibility of other nations putting diplomatic pressure on you to comply. If you want to roleplay compliance with resolutions from the start, just have your Parliament (or whatever your legislative body is, if you have one) pass a law that reflects the text of the UN resolution, have your government enforce the law, or have your citizens voluntarily do whatever the resolution said. You can even roleplay that the UN Gnomes brought you into compliance. As with noncompliance, you have options, and they can be used in combination with one another.
Sometimes there is a chance to roleplay taking advantage of the way UN resolutions are written and complying in such a way that a seemingly harmful resolution can turn out to very beneficial. For example, did the UN ban product X in member nations? That can be turned to your advantage if you get rid of all of your product X by selling it to other nations for exorbitant prices. That's just one example; be creative and innovative. There are many ways of making compliance interesting and fun so that it doesn't become all boring and mundane.
The text of every resolution has certain qualities that allow nations to roleplay the use of loopholes to get around complying with the spirit of the law. For example, the resolution "UN Taxation Ban" only protects the citizens of UN member nations from taxation, which leaves us with a rather large loophole allowing the UN to tax people who don't have citizenship in their nation, corporations, and governments. Another example is the resolution "Abortion Rights", which because of its vagueness allows for all sorts of good/bad limitations on abortions by the determined member nation.

Frequently Asked Question #42: Where is the UN physically located? Can it be in my nation/region?

The UN exists in all regions at once. Simply step through the specially-designed portals and you are transported immediately the Main Portico.

Straight ahead of you are the gigantic doors to the General Assembly. Enter, and find your seat. Pardon the racing gnomes who are constantly rearranging the namecards of nations that are joining and leaving.

That endless hallway to your right houses the offices of all the committees and bureaucracies that have been created by resolutions. The noise you hear is the pounding of hammers and whirring of saws, as construction continues to attempt to keep up with the ever-present need for more offices.

On your left is the bank of elevators to the private offices of each of the nations. Be careful entering the two cargo elevators, as there is a large amount of traffic from Ambassadors 'acquiring' office furniture from 'retiring' nations. The express elevator at the end takes you directly to the Stranger's Bar. Watch your footing - it's been known to be a bit slippery.

Behind you are the portals back to your nation. Be sure to dial correctly as you exit. We lost three democratic-nation Ambassadors last week, as they couldn't be bothered to turn off up their cell phones and accidentally dialed themselves home to cannibal nations.

The stairs on either side lead to the Halls of the UN, where the UN Gnomes maintain their offices. It's best if you don't enter, as they are quite busy. The telegram runners from the Compliance Ministry have been known to deal punishing blows to Ambassadors who stepped into their paths.

Visit our Gift Shop, and don't forget to tip. Remember, your UN runs entirely on donations, as taxation is still expressly forbidden.

Thanks for taking the UN tour. Our next tour begins tomorrow at 10:30 sharp. Tell your friends.

From Headquarters of the UN (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=454833)

Here is a list of UN agencies, please let me know if i forgot some, thanks.

Current UN Agencies

#29 (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=28) IRCO (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/International_Red_Cross_Organization) International Red Cross Organization [used in #55 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=54), #77 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Epidemic_Prevention_Protocol), #90 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Tsunami_Warning_System), #96 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=95) and #100 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Natural_Disaster_Act)]
#32 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=31) UN fund on AIDS (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Global_AIDS_Initiative) (UNAIDS) [used in #67 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Needle_Sharing_Prevention) and #84 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=83)]
#37 (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=36|) World Heritage List (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/World_Heritage_List)
#50 (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=49) UNSC (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/United_Nations_Space_Consortium) UN Space Consortium
#54 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=53) UNEC UN Educational Committee
#55 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=54) World Blood Bank (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/World_Blood_Bank)
#57 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=56) Independent council on Black Market Arms Sales (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/UN_Committee_on_Illicit_Arms_Trafficking)
#66 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=65) WWP World Woodland Protection Team (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/World_Woodland_Protection_Team)
#70 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=69) Commission on overfishing and marine ecosystem
#83 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=82) TPP (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Pretenama_Panel) The Pretenama Panel on Genocide [used on #92 (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=91)]
#90 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Tsunami_Warning_System) TEWC Tsunami Emergency Warning Center
#96 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=95) UNWODC UN World Organ Donor Centre
#97 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=96) ULC Universal Library Coalition
#100 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Natural_Disaster_Act) NDAO Natural Disaster Assessment Organisation
#104 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=103) ICSI International Computer Security Institute
#114 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Establish_UNWCC) UNWCC UN Water Cleansing Committee
#117 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/The_Microcredit_Bazaar) The Microcredit Bazaar
#119 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/UNCoESB) Executive Body on World wildlife numbers (UNCoESB)
#130 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Global_Food_Distribution_Act) UNFTC UN Free Trade Commission [used in #158 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/UN_Recycling_Commission)]
#132 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/UN_Small_Business_Education) UNSBC UN Small Business Classroom
#148 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Meteorological_Cooperation) IMO International Meteorological Organisation
#150 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=149) UNDS UN Demining Survey
#152 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Maritime_Safety_Standards_Act) UNSEAWORTHY UN Standards Essential for All Watch Officers Responsible for Transportation, Harbourmasters, and Yachtsmen
#154 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Nuclear_Energy_Research_Act) NERC Nuclear Energy Research Commission
#155 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=154) WDA Waste Disposal Authority
#156 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/UN_Patent_Law) UNPR UN Patent Registry
#158 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/UN_Recycling_Commission) UN Recycling Commission
#160 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=159) UNCAD UN Commission on Access for the Disabled
#171 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/UN_Educational_Aid_Act) UNEAF UN Educational Advancement Fund


Current UN commisions not clearly established with an Agency

#85 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=84) Commission funding Hemp Production
#126 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Fossil_Fuel_Reduction_Act) Commision allowing time extensions to comply with Fossil Fuel Reduction


Repealed Agencies

#45 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=44) New International Copyright Organization
#74 (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/The_Law_of_the_Sea) International Maritime Standards Bureau
#86 (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=85) The Global Library