The first year of the first and only democratic dwarven community ended in strife, heated disputes, chaos and bitter feelings. While many of the original founders grew dissatisfied with the way the community was developing and left, others remained, maintaining their beliefs into a free and democratic dwarven society.
In these dark, cold and gloomy Winter days the Dwarven Charter of Rights was designed and accepted as the Constitution of Equalvoice.
Preamble
It is our axiomatic belief that all Dwarves have been been blessed uniformly with the powerful minds to access reason, and that reason is a universal and unerring concept that leads us inexorably to yearn for liberty. Every Dwarf, be he rich or poor, is subject only to himself; and not to gods or kings, and is as such afforded basic and incontrovertible rights that may not ethically be revoked by any authority but his own; by his word freely given. It is therefore necessary to cut bonds with tyranny, and shunt the law and unchecked rule of autocrats and kings, and establish this Free and Democratic Fortress of Equalvoice. Let this, our charter, agreed to and ratified unanimously, be our law and protector; the document of our most basic rights made manifest. Let liberty reign.
Article I – Inalienable Rights
Section 1.
All Dwarves have a free and unfettered right to openly voice their opinion and vote without fear of reprisals. No Dwarf may ever be harmed, banished, sanctioned, chained, or otherwise punished for his free right to express his or herself in so long as they are not coercing or aggressing upon another Dwarf.
Section 2.
Every Dwarf, having the basic freedoms of self-determination and self-sovereignty, is subject to no one but himself and his own word freely given. It shall not be the government’s place to infringe upon mobility; peaceful assembly; place bans or censorship; seize or compel the forfeiture of property without due cause and process; or otherwise make laws to prohibit anything, whether action or item, that a citizen may do so long as that action or item does not initiate aggression or coercion upon any other citizen or their right to do the same.
Section 3.
All citizens, having ratified this document and bound themselves by their word freely given, are subject to the levies and taxes of the community. However, every levy and tax excised by the community must be legislated by the due democratic process of the citizens; with every citizen expected to meet these levies also being given a free and unfettered chance to vote on them. No single Dwarf or group of Dwarves may be singled out and expected to pay more or less than any other citizen, whether they have more or have less. Taxes and levies shall be excised evenly across the community without exception. No Dwarf shall be compelled to fight against his will, share or forfeit his property without the due democratic process, or be forced into a line of work not of his choosing or against his will.
Article II – Democratic Process
Section 1. Democratic process shall be headed by an elected Chairdwarf whose executive powers are those of approving or denying special motions; recording and updating the records of motions and votes in a timely and orderly fashion; dictating reasonable time frames for the legislative meetings; and seeing that every citizen is given a free and unfettered right to voice his or her vote without coercion or aggression of any kind attempting to derail free discourse. The Chairdwarf’s term lasts one quarter and he or she can serve for no more than four quarters consecutively. The Chairdwarf can be replaced at any time by a special motion of no confidence which can be initiated at any time by any citizen. An unchallenged Chairdwarf automatically retains his seat, unless he or she steps down, but must be challenged no later than the fourth term, otherwise a run-off is automatically initiated in which a new Chairdwarf must be nominated, accept, and be seconded before any other business can proceed.
Section 2. Motions may be made by any citizen at any time during the first twenty-four hours of voting, after which the time for motions passes and open motions must be seconded no later than forty-eight hours from the beginning of voting. Any motion may be voted for or against at any time after the motion is legally made until the adjournment seventy-two hours from the start of voting, with any vote made in favor of another Dwarf’s motion naturally counting as a second. A simple majority of greater than fifty percent results in a successful vote at the conclusion of voting so long as it does not violate this charter, which is determined by the judicial arm of government. Voting sessions are made without exception on the first day of every quarter, on the first days of spring, summer, fall, and winter. These sessions may not be postponed or infringed upon for any reason whatsoever by any authority.
Section 3. Three Judicators are elected by standard democratic motion and vote, each serving three years on a staggered schedule resulting in one election for a different Judicial seat per year, to be held on the first day of spring each year with other standard motions and votes. The three Judicators oversee the validity of new legislature, and have the power to veto or repeal with a majority vote between them any new law being passed by The People. A veto or repealed law automatically is made a special motion which may be seconded and re-voted on immediately, but requiring a greater than sixty-six percent majority to pass again, after which point it cannot be judicially challenged again for a period of three years.
Section 4. The Director has considerable executive power to oversee the day-to-day running of the community, but may not undergo actions not voted on at a quarterly vote except for to provide for the common defense in an emergency. Even in such an event, the Director does not have the power to violate the liberties and laws laid out in this charter for any reason whatsoever, including the absolute prohibition of compelling Dwarves to fight against their will. If providing for the common defense calls for more soldiers than the present military can muster, then the Director has the power to initiate an emergency voting session to muster additional volunteers or find alternative solutions. The Director has the power to designate labor for all citizens, but may not under any circumstances designate that labor if the citizen specifically refuses to perform it. Additionally, the Director has the power to prioritize and choose between approved projects, as it is typical that not all projects are completed within a single season. However, all Director actions are judged by the community at the start of the next standard voting session when the Director is expected to provide full documentation and accountability for all his actions and required to do so should they be challenged or questioned. The Director has a term lasting for one year, and may be replaced by a special motion of no confidence initiated by any Dwarf at any time. The Director cannot serve more than two consecutive terms under any circumstances. A Director must always be challenged at the conclusion of his term, by a nomination, acceptance, and second followed by voting. The incumbent Director is always automatically re-nominated unless he or she voluntarily and specifically declines to run for another term.
Section 5. The Sheriff is an elected position of executive power whose job it is to enforce the liberties and laws of this charter and those passed by The People. The powers he is charged with are the authority to disarm and/or detain an unlawful Dwarf; and the power to lead the direction of army training and equipping. The Sheriff may never go above or outside the law for any purpose, and is subject to the laws that every other Dwarf is. The Sheriff’s term lasts five years, and may be replaced by a special motion of no confidence at any time by any Dwarf. The Sheriff may not serve more than two consecutive terms.
Section 6. Bookkeepers and other such civil servants are subject to appointment and dismissal by the post that creates them, unless legislated into higher prominence by standard motion and vote of The People. All appointments and dismissals must have, for any legitimate authority to be vested in them, the full disclosure to The People and ratification of them by special motion and vote; without exception.
Section 7. Special motions are those motions not put forward during standard motion windows on the first day of every season. These include votes of no confidence and other nullification votes; nomination and election votes not completed within standard voting windows, and any other pressing business not submitted during standard voting. These are subject to Chairdwarf approval or disapproval except for votes of no confidence which can never be disallowed at any time made by any citizen, and votes which may present a conflict of interest, as decided by a majority decision of the Judicature.
Section 8. Elections are votes dictating the transition or retention of the power of a governing post. These consist of a nomination, acceptance, second, and/or standard vote components. A dwarf may nominate himself, and then be seconded, foregoing an acceptance, or a dwarf may be nominated and and accept, his acceptance acting as a second for the vote. After both nomination and acceptance components are met, standard voting and a simple majority decides the results. Elections may never conflict over overlap, and always be clearly defined as to which post a Dwarf is being elected to.
Since a large part of the democratic community decided to leave, the game is now short on players. The community did not progress much so far and there's still lot to be done. So let it be known to all that those dwarves who are willing to help the development of the dwarven democracy are always welcome at Equalvoice. There are no bans and limits to citizenship - your freely expressed desire is enough.
I also kindly ask all remaining members to report their presence as well.
Author
Topic: Dwarven Democracy in Danger (Part II) (Read 3111 times)