The Committees Rule

[The Ridings of Yorkshire]

If you cannot discriminate against members, could theocracies join the United Secular Example Nations Committee or an anti-vaxxer joining the Example Vaccine Distribution Committee?

[Bears Armed]

WA Committees don't contain representatives of any nations.

[John Turner]

WA Committees don't contain representatives of any nations.

Which is stupidity in itself. This whole idea of gnomes staffing committees instead of actual representatives of member nations detracts from the reality of the organization itself. Does the actual U.N. create androids that staff all of their committees?

[Bears Armed]

Using the 'gnomes' rather than national representatives means that worries about committees showing bias, or acting corruptly, can simply be dismissed with "The Gnomes don't do that": Going over to national representatives (even leaving aside the question of how those nations would be chosen...) wouldn't let us dismiss the worries so easily.... so we might have to go into detail in each & every relevant proposal about how the committee[s] concerned would be made reliable enough, costing us a nasty chunk of the maximum length just for that detail...

[John Turner]

Using the 'gnomes' rather than national representatives means that worries about committees showing bias, or acting corruptly, can simply be dismissed with "The Gnomes don't do that": Going over to national representatives (even leaving aside the question of how those nations would be chosen...) wouldn't let us dismiss the worries so easily.... so we might have to go into detail in each & every relevant proposal about how the committee[s] concerned would be made reliable enough, costing us a nasty chunk of the maximum length just for that detail...

I don't agree. U.N.(General Assembly) resolutions don't state how committee members are to be chosen. That is all handled by the Secretariat. Now I can understand how the mods wouldn't want to be involved in that, so could one not simply pass a resolution laying out the guidelines on how committee members are to be chosen and it would all be handled automatically? It doesn't actually affect gameplay in itself, so nothing would actually break.

[Imperium Anglorum]

so could one not simply pass a resolution laying out the guidelines on how committee members are to be chosen and it would all be handled automatically?

A resolution which could then be repealed, opening the issue once again. Unless mods are willing to amend Resolution 1, then nothing can be done on the topic without the possibility of reopening this contention.

[Frisbeeteria]

WA Committees don't officially contain representatives of any nations.

Updated for accuracy.

I don't think we've ever restricted players from setting up committees and roleplaying them in the Diplomacy forums. We just don't give those roleplays any weight in terms of the actual game or metagame. My first and only RP here was based on a GA enforcement action (not technically a committee, but meh). We had fun but the underlying resolution wasn't affected in any way. If we name nations, we give them weight. That's the reason for the gnomes.

[Mousebumples]

This rule wasn't in place (in this fashion, anyhow) when I passed my ULC resolution in the UN. It was in place when I repassed it in the WA. Not having to waste characters talking about how the committee was made up and elected and the like is another benefit of keeping this rule.