[DRAFT] On These Terms

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Name:

On These Terms

Description:

A small coalition of ministers and politicians from across the political spectrum have today come to you with a petition, asking for a lengthening of the term of office that various government officials hold between elections, effective from the next election onwards.

Validity:

Democratic nations only

Options:

[option]"There's a problem here in finding time for the business of government," anxiously explains Senator @@randomname@@, speaking to you quickly between kissing a baby and shaking hands with a miner. "As soon as one election is over, we have barely any time to enact policies and make changes for the good of the country, before it's back to the fundraising and campaigning. If we were to double the term of office between elections, there'd be much more opportunity for effective, cost-efficient government."
[effect]politicians tear up their election manifestos as soon as they get into office

[option]"But what about democratic mandate?" asks journalist @@randomname@@, shoving a microphone into your face, and motioning for the cameraman to zoom in. "Honestly, isn't it the duty of a democratic leader to always represent the will of the people? We have the technology now for increased democracy: why don't you give every citizen have the right to change his vote of support online at any time, and have more frequent vote counts to determine who is on office? Wouldn't that be TRUE political representation? Any comment on that, @@LEADER@@? Why are you walking away from me?"
[effect]politicians take "likes" on their latest tweet as a barometer for their career prospects
[optionvalidity]internet exists

[option]"But what about democratic mandate?" asks journalist @@randomname@@, shoving a microphone into your face, and motioning for the cameraman to zoom in. "Honestly, isn't it the duty of a democratic leader to always represent the will of the people? Wouldn't a day off work every week to head to the polling station allow for more frequent elections for all political offices? Wouldn't that be TRUE political representation? Any comment on that, @@LEADER@@? Why are you walking away from me?"
[effect]five minutes in the backrooms of political rallies is all the time that politicians can spare to debate and enact policy
[optionvalidity]no internet exists

[option]"The problem here isn't the term of office, it's the time spent campaigning," argues cleaner @@randomname@@, laying down @@HIS@@ mop and pitching into the argument. "Keep the term of office as it is, but make it illegal for politicians to campaign or to seek donations during any time but the immediate run-up to an election."
[effect]politicians are legally obliged to say "no comment" to almost every question on their stance or beliefs

[option]"No-one asked you!" yells the cleaner's supervisor, smacking @@HIM@@ round the head. "@@LEADER@@, some of us in this nation understand and respect authority. Just get rid of elections altogether, and establish enlightened autocracy."
[effect]the intellectual elite have decided that the proles are too stupid to elect their own leader

Name:

On These Terms

Description:

A small coalition of ministers and politicians from across the political spectrum have today come to you with a petition, asking for a lengthening of the term of office that government holds between general elections, effective from the next election onwards.

Validity:

Democratic nations only

Options:

[option]"There's a problem here in finding time for the business of government," anxiously explains Senator @@RANDOMMALENAME@@, as his colleagues push him to the front to speak to you. "As soon as one election is over, we have barely any time to enact policies and make changes for the good of the country, and after that its back to the campaign trail. If we were to double the time between elections, there'd be much more opportunity for effective, cost-efficient government."
[effect]unpopular policies are pushed out early in the government's elected term
[stats]government spending decreases, government size decreases, corruption increases a little, political freedoms reduce a little, political apathy increases, economic growth increases a little,

[option]"But what about democratic mandate?" asks journalist @@RANDOMNAME@@, who looks to have snuck into the room. "Honestly, isn't it the duty of a democratic leader to always represent the will of the people? We have the technology now for continuous democracy: have every citizen have the right to change his vote of support at any time, and have government immmediately change when the majority changes. That's TRUE political representation."
[effect]citizens check a daily app to see who is in government today
[stats]ideological radicality increases, political freedoms increase, corruption decreases a little, government spending increases, industry: information technology increases a little, taxation decreases, political apathy decreases, cheerfulness decreases,

[option]"The problem here isn't the term of office, its the time spent campaigning," argues cleaner @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@, laying down her mop and pitching into the argument. "Keep the term of office as it is, but make it illegal for politicians to campaign or to seek donations during any time but the last six months before an election."
[effect]politicians typically reply 'no comment' when asked about their political beliefs or ambitions
[stats]political freedoms decrease, authoritarianism increases, economic freedoms decrease, integrity increases a little, cheerfulnesss increases,

[option]"No-one asked you!" yells the cleaner's supervisor, smacking her round the head. "@@LEADER@@, some of us in this nation understand and respect authority. Just get rid of elections altogether, and establish enlightened autocracy."
[effect]because democracy is seen as a sham it has been abandoned altogether
[stats]political freedoms drop massively, authoritarianism increases massively, corruption increases significantly, cheerfulness decreases significantly,

[Dos Linuos]

Um, my nation is democratic, but has elections once every five years, so I don't think this issue would count.... What I mean to say is that it seems sorta illogical to assume that the gap between two elections is very small for all democratic nations

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Um, my nation is democratic, but has elections once every five years, so I don't think this issue would count.... What I mean to say is that it seems sorta illogical to assume that the gap between two elections is very small for all democratic nations

Well, I've been careful not to assume any particular period of time. Rather, its just about the feeling that politicians have that the time between elections could be lengthened. Whether the term of office in your nation is a year or twenty years. they can still feel that.