NationStates Jolt Archive

It has been said that democracy is doomed to failure by indifference .My proposal changes nothing but gives us another option in the discussion of what the democratic process involves.
My proposal accepts the concept that things freely given are often undervalued by those that receive them, Hence the low voter turn out. This ideal should minimise the non voting population while allowing anyone who desires to vote be allowed the chance to gain that right.
While constitutionally enshrining that no rights other than the right to vote and hold public office come with this added responsibility of becoming a voting citizen ,that the right to vote be earned by a period of civil service that most meet the abilities of the person who desires to become a voting citizen.
These services could range from simple military service to any number of civil projects and the personnel who make them happen .The common theme of all these service’s would be that they are very challenging and payment is basically room + board with allowances made for those with financial obligations so that obligations cannot become a excuse to not seek voting citizenship. Since the ideal is to weed out those who do not value their right to vote the right to quit is intrinsic with the right to continue trying after quitting, while making it impossible to be fired. This should leave us with a voting group willing to work to make democracy work since the only way not to be able to earn the right is if you do not desire it enough to make a sacrifice for it.

We can't really comment until you post at least something along the lines of a draft issue that you might want to submit so we can pick it to.. I mean thouroughly analyse it and get it to a standard worthy of NS.

I could write a draft for you, if you wanted only to provide an idea.

Well... I have made up an issue that incorporates your suggestion and adds other options to ir

What do you think of it?


Name: Voter Turnout hits record Lows
Validity: All nations with Voluntary democracy

Description: A report from the latest elections held in @@NAME@@ has found that voter turn out has reached an all time record low. A number of suggestions has been made to remedy this situation.

[option]"The problem is no one get's anything out of the election process, " says frequent non-voter @@RANDOMNAME@@ "You know if you gave people money to vote then we'd have more money to spend and improve voter turnout at the same time."
[effect]Parties are out bidding each other to use the voter incentives to buy votes.

[option]@@RANDOMNAME@@, a member of a political think-tank scoffs at that idea."giving people money to vote is vote buying, it's as simple as that. What we need is to make the political process engaging. If we put the contestants up against each other in some sort of Gladatorial combat then interest in politics will improve. We can make it a reality TV show and the phone votes can determine who gets in."
[effect]Members of Parliment often enter office with serious body injuries

[option]@@RANDOMNAME@@, a political commentator, rails againstvoluntary voting "See? My colleague was right, compulsory voting is a must for this nation. This is the only real way to ensure everyone votes. And it is also the only option that respects the seriousness of the political process."
[effect]the nations elections are crippled by so called 'donkey votes'

[option]"Actually, I beg to differ." states a professor of Politics at one of @@NAME@@'s, "people don't respect the vote they have because they have been given it for free, if we make people work for it, such as doing military service or other civilly recognised work projects. That way we can ensurue that everyone who has the right to vote actually care about it."
[effect]The nations military boot camps have recently had to be expanded 10-fold.

Some grammatical errors, but I like it. Here's a fixed up version:

Name: Voter Turnout hits record Lows
Validity: All nations with Voluntary voting

Description: A report from the latest elections held in @@NAME@@ has found that voter turn out has reached an all time record low. A number of suggestions have been made to remedy this situation.

[option]"The problem is no one's getting anything out of the election process, " says frequent non-voter @@RANDOMNAME@@ "You know if you gave people money to vote then we'd have more money to spend and improve voter turnout at the same time."
[effect]Parties engage in violent contests to out bid each other for citizens’ votes every election.

[option]@@RANDOMNAME@@, a member of a political think-tank scoffs at that idea. "Giving people money to vote is vote buying, it's as simple as that. What we need is to make the political process engaging. If we put the contestants up against each other in some sort of Gladiatorial combat then interest in politics will improve. We can make it a reality TV show and the phone votes can determine who gets in."
[effect]Members of Parliament often enter office with serious body injuries

[option]@@RANDOMNAME@@, a political commentator, rails against voluntary voting "See? My colleague was right, compulsory voting is a must for this nation. This is the only real way to ensure everyone votes. And it is also the only option that respects the seriousness of the political process."
[effect]the nations elections are crippled by so called 'donkey votes'

[option]"Actually, I beg to differ." states a professor of Politics at one of @@NAME@@'s, "people don't respect the vote they have because they have been given it for free, if we make people work for it, such as doing military service or other civilly recognised work projects. That way we can ensure that everyone who has the right to vote actually care about it."
[effect]The nations military boot camps have recently had to be expanded 10-fold.



I also changed the effect for the first option. You don't have to use it, I just thought it made it better.

Official Draft Number 2, a number of changes.


Name: Voter Turnout hits record Lows
Validity: All nations with Voluntary democracy

Description: Latest numbers of voter turn-out from the latest election in @@NAME@@ has been released, The numbers show an alarmingly low turn-out. A new record low in voter turn out has been the major startling fact that has been the focus of this report and the government is trying to find a policy to reverse this situation.

[option]"The problem is no one get's anything out of the election process, " says frequent non-voter @@RANDOMNAME@@ "You know if you gave people money to vote then we'd have more money to spend and improve voter turnout at the same time."
[effect]political parties have started campaigning on the platform of increased voter incentives

[option]@@RANDOMNAME@@, a member of a political think-tank scoffs at that idea."giving people money to vote is vote buying, it's as simple as that. What we need is to make the political process engaging. If we put the contestants up against each other in some sort of Gladatorial combat then interest in politics will improve. We can make it a reality TV show and the phone votes can determine who gets in. This will bring public interest and involvement in politics up to a record high."
[effect]Members of Parliment often enter office with serious body injuries

[option]@@RANDOMNAME@@, a political commentator, rails against voluntary voting "See? My colleague was right, compulsory voting is a must for this nation. This is the only real way to ensure everyone votes. It is also the only option that respects the seriousness of the political process."
[effect]the nation's elections are crippled by so called 'donkey votes'

[option]"Actually, I beg to differ." states a professor of Politics at one of @@NAME@@'s university, "People don't respect the vote they have because they have been given it for free. Make people work for it, such as doing military service or other civilly recognised work projects, that way they earn the right to vote. This way we can ensure that everyone who has the right to vote; does actually care about our nation and will exercise that right with gusto."
[effect]The nations military boot camps have recently had to be expanded 10-fold due to an influx of new personnel

I suppose it's missing an option about banning elections...try this on for size.

[option]"Wait, so no one votes?" says @@RANDOMNAME@@, your top advisor, quietly into your left ear. "So who would really notice if we just got rid of all these elections? They cost money, and you never lose, so what's it going to change? That or maybe turn all the elections into shams. Surely, people won't notice then."
[effect]some citizens are vaguely aware that elections have been outlawed

Fixed up the grammatical errors, and have added [stats] to some of the options.


Name: Voter Turnout hits record Lows
Validity: All nations with voluntary voting

Description: The numbers of voter turn-out from the latest election in @@NAME@@ have been released, and show an alarmingly low turn-out. Many citizens have suggested introducing policies to reverse this situation.

[option]"The problem is no one get's anything out of the election process, " says frequent non-voter @@RANDOMNAME@@, "you know, if you gave people money to vote, then we'd have more money to spend, and improve voter turnout at the same time!"
[effect]political parties have started campaigning on the platform of increased voter incentives

[option]@@RANDOMNAME@@, a member of a political think-tank, scoffs at that idea. "Giving people money to vote is vote buying, it's as simple as that. What we need is to make the political process engaging. If we put the contestants up against each other in some sort of Gladiatorial combat, then interest in politics will surely improve! We can make it a reality TV show and the phone votes can determine who gets in. You wait and see, this will bring public interest and involvement in politics up to a record high."
[effect]Members of Parliament often enter office with serious body injuries

[option]@@RANDOMNAME@@, a political commentator, rails against voluntary voting "See? My colleague was right, compulsory voting is a must for @NAME@. This is the only real way to ensure everyone votes and is also the only option that respects the seriousness of the political process."
[effect]the nation's elections are crippled by so called 'donkey votes'
[stats] political freedoms and civil rights decrease

[option]"Actually, I beg to differ," states a professor of Politics at one of @@NAME@@'s universities, "people don't respect the vote they have because they have been given it for free. Make people work for it, such as doing military service or other civilly recognised work projects! That way, they earn the right to vote, and we can ensure that everyone who has the right to vote actually cares about our nation, and will exercise that right with gusto."
[effect]The nations military boot camps have recently had to be expanded 10-fold due to an influx of new personnel
[stats] political and civil rights decrease

[option]"Wait, if no one votes," whispers @@RANDOMNAME@@, your top advisor, quietly into your left ear, "then who would really notice if we just got rid of all these pesky, time consuming elections? They cost money, and you never lose, so what's it going to change? That or maybe turn all the elections into shams. Surely, people won't notice then!"
[effect]some citizens are vaguely aware that elections have been outlawed
[stats] political freedoms decrease

I like how this is shaping up. Especially since I think I rank in the double-digits for "Most Apathetic".

Official Draft #3: I have decided to leave the stats to the Game Mod that codes the issues.

Name: Voter Turnout hits record Lows
Validity: All nations with voluntary voting and a reasonably high apathy
Description: The numbers of voter turn-out from the latest election in @@NAME@@ have been released, and show an alarmingly low turn-out. Many citizens have suggested introducing policies to reverse this situation.

[option]"The problem is no one get's anything out of the election process, " says frequent non-voter @@RANDOMNAME@@, "you know, if you gave people money to vote, then we'd have more money to spend, and improve voter turnout at the same time!"
[effect]political parties have started campaigning on the platform of increasing voter incentives

[option]@@RANDOMNAME@@, a member of a political think-tank, scoffs at that idea. "Giving people money to vote is vote buying, it's as simple as that. What we need is to make the political process engaging. If we put the candidates up against each other in some sort of Gladiatorial combat, then interest in politics will surely improve! We can make it a reality TV show and the phone votes can determine who gets in. You wait and see, this will bring public interest and involvement in politics up to a record high."
[effect]Members of Parliament often enter office with serious body injuries

[option]@@RANDOMNAME@@, a political commentator, rails against voluntary voting "See? My colleague was right, compulsory voting is a must for @NAME@. This is the only real way to ensure everyone votes and is also the only option that respects the seriousness of the political process."
[effect]the nation's elections are crippled by so called 'donkey votes'

[option]"Actually, I beg to differ," states a professor of Politics at one of @@NAME@@'s universities, "people don't respect the vote they have because they have been given it for free. Make people work for it, such as doing military service or other civilly recognised work projects! That way, they earn the right to vote, and we can ensure that everyone who has the right to vote actually cares about our nation, and will exercise that right with gusto."
[effect]The nations military boot camps have recently had to be expanded 10-fold due to an influx of new personnel

[option]"Wait, if no one votes," whispers @@RANDOMNAME@@, your top advisor, quietly into your left ear, "then who would really notice if we just got rid of all these pesky, time consuming elections? They cost money, and you never lose, so what's it going to change? That or maybe turn all the elections into shams. Surely, people won't notice then!"
[effect]some citizens are vaguely aware that elections have been outlawed

Looks good.

I agree, submitted.

I like how this is shaping up. Especially since I think I rank in the double-digits for "Most Apathetic".

I've been wondering for some time how that stat gets calculated: Might it be based on the frequency with which one dismisses issues?

Just like everything else: certain issues affect it. Dismissing doesn't change any stats.