[DRAFT #1] Commend The North Pacific

[Tinhampton]

TINHAMPTONIAN MINISTRY OF WORLD ASSEMBLY AFFAIRS: Notice of Submission Warning
Considering the original draft publication date for this resolution (February 9th 2020), let it hereby be known by the Tinhamptonian Ministry of WA Affairs that this proposal will be submitted not before February 19th 2020. Thank you for your consideration.

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Character count: 3,063
Word count: 487

This has been defeated at vote in its previous incarnations in March 2017 (42% for) and February-March 2019 (45% for). I have since removed superfluous elements (and outdated ones: the Northern Broadcast Service hasn't been on air since March '18) and sought - mostly unsuccessfully - the opinions of some voices against Commend TNP v2.0 to ensure that this proposal has a slightly better chance of passing than either of those ones... and if it does, then I will be a very happy woman.

Commend The North Pacific
A resolution to recognise outstanding achievement by a nation or region.

Category: Commendation

Nominee: The North Pacific

Proposed by: Tinhampton

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THE SECURITY COUNCIL:

BELIEVING that [region=The North Pacific] (TNP) serves as a shining example to the world in the art of combining freedom with security, especially after recovering from past coups d'etat executed by the likes of UPS Rail and then Great Bight, Pixiedance/Gracius Maximus, Emperor Matthuis, The Crimson Order, Shoeless Joe and Durkadurkiranistan I & II (see SC#33, 34, 49, 63, 129, 168, 169, 177 [repealed], 182, 242, 268, 279, 282, 283, 285, 286, and 296);

CONVINCED that, despite widespread political turbulence at the time, including a failed coup by The Pacific before it was due to be signed in 2004 and its suspension by a stacked Pixiedance cabinet in 2005, the Blackshear Constitution (named for its proponent and finally ratified by Thel DRan) and its successors have helped guarantee that TNP remains a free and open region that respects national sovereignty, the rule of law, habeas corpus, and the superiority of the legislative branch over its executive;

NOTING that TNP's in-house Security Council - a close-knit group of trusted, influential residents that proactively guard regional security, elected by and accountable to all citizens via the Regional Assembly (TNP's legislature) - has proven key in preventing further disarray in the region over the last decade, and has since been effectively and widely replicated, from The South Pacific's Council on Regional Security to the Viziers of The East Pacific;

ADMIRING TNP's revolutionary endorsement trading scheme, which has aided its retention of newcomers and general regional security by increasing endorsement counts on its WA Delegate (the highest of any region) and its Security Council, while serving as a model for similar schemes within many feeders and other regions that helps lower their risk of falling to a fatal coup;

RECALLING that the North Pacific Army, once a well-connected defender military of note, was reconstituted in 2012 when feeder and sinker militaries were less prevalent; its more pragmatic outlook has since paid dividends, whether in freeing TNP's allies from their oppressors - The South Pacific from its Socialist Republic, Osiris from Gatesville, Lazarus from The Pacific, and more vulnerable allies like Stargate and (under the rule of Equilism) Warzone Europe on countless occasions - or in neutralising major threats to the multiverse such as NAZI EUROPE;

RECOGNISING that TNP has consistently endeavoured to inform its residents about affairs regional and global, via The Northern Lights and The North Star today, and the legendary North Pacific Wire previously: services that have, directly or indirectly, moulded the state of countless other such services today; and

CONCLUDING that TNP's actions at home and abroad have been so influential towards international peace and security, whilst inspiring many of the regions that have made an example of it to uphold a republican mode of governance, that it can only merit the utmost honour that anyone can possibly bestow:

HEREBY COMMENDS [region=The North Pacific].

[Bormiar]

Why do you keep proposing the same thing and expecting a different result?

[Tinhampton]

Why do you keep proposing the same thing and expecting a different result?

This may look like it is the same thing (although it is a 30% reduced fat version ), but I'm not doing it in the same context!

Commend TNP mk2 was defeated by 7,802 votes to 6,315, with TNP's Delegate abstaining and the other four all opposed. Fedele cast 777 votes against - which, had they been cast FOR, would have led to it passing with 50.2% of the vote - on the basis that it was a tad too insular. Many regions, including TEP, have had new delegates over the past year who may vote differently (or a somewhat different citizenry who may recommend a different vote); some nations were opposed in 2019 due to the events in Winterfell. The factors in play now are not identical to those we saw last year.

[The Pharcyde]

The North Pacific is NationStates' premier region. Its government and their programs lead NationStates gameplay in almost every measurable respect of quality and activity. In fact, their retention rates on new nations have historically been so absurd that, for many years, players actually believed that NationStates' code caused more nations to be founded in TNP than in other GCR regions. Additionally, TNP has been an unshakable steward of democracy in NationStates for nearly two decades.

My paragraph of high praise barely scratches the surface of TNP's contributions to NS. In my opinion, a commendation of TNP that passes won't be anything short of the best-written commendation in SC history. TNP is NationStates premier region, a giant of the game's history, and a guaranteed giant in its future. If a subpar commendation of TNP were to pass, both TNP and the SC would look worse for it.

Commend TNP mk2 was defeated by 7,802 votes to 6,315...

There isn't a single large WA region that couldn't reasonably be convinced to support a commendation of TNP. The GCRs like TNP, 10000 Islands can respect TNP's defender history, and Europeia has incredibly close ties to the region. Your problem is that you shouldn't be gunning to beat 50%. You should be aiming for +95%.

You have a long road to passing this resolution. I would start by fixing your first clause, quoted below:

BELIEVING that The North Pacific (TNP) serves as a shining example to the world in the art of combining freedom with security, especially after recovering from past coups d'etat executed by the likes of UPS Rail and then Great Bight, Pixiedance/Gracius Maximus, Emperor Matthuis, The Crimson Order, Shoeless Joe and Durkadurkiranistan I & II (see SC#33, 34, 49, 63, 129, 168, 169, 177 [repealed], 182, 242, 268, 279, 282, 283, 285, 286, and 296);

Why are you opening a commendation of TNP with an (incomplete) grocery list of guys who lost? Your first clause should draw attention to the main reasons why TNP deserves commendation. TNP's shining contribution to NS isn't that they've endured a lot of coups.

CONVINCED that, despite widespread political turbulence at the time, including a failed coup by The Pacific before it was due to be signed in 2004 and its suspension by a stacked Pixiedance cabinet in 2005, the Blackshear Constitution (named for its proponent and finally ratified by Thel DRan) and its successors have helped guarantee that TNP remains a free and open region that respects national sovereignty, the rule of law, habeas corpus, and the superiority of the legislative branch over its executive;

This is a weak clause. The details at the beginning aren't relevant to your argument for why TNP is commendworthy, and it uses a lot of words to communicate very little. Expand on the last part.

I'll stop here for now. If you're receptive to feedback, I may provide more (whenever I next have time).

[Bormiar]

Why do you keep proposing the same thing and expecting a different result?

This may look like it is the same thing (although it is a 30% reduced fat version ), but I'm not doing it in the same context!

Commend TNP mk2 was defeated by 7,802 votes to 6,315, with TNP's Delegate abstaining and the other four all opposed. Fedele cast 777 votes against - which, had they been cast FOR, would have led to it passing with 50.2% of the vote - on the basis that it was a tad too insular. Many regions, including TEP, have had new delegates over the past year who may vote differently (or a somewhat different citizenry who may recommend a different vote); some nations were opposed in 2019 due to the events in Winterfell. The factors in play now are not identical to those we saw last year.

If people will only maybe support occasionally, it's not good enough. SC commendations are timeless.

Edit: Also I like the formatting of the post.

[Unibot III]

BELIEVING that [region=The North Pacific] (TNP) serves as a shining example to the world in the art of combining freedom with security, especially after recovering from past coups d'etat executed by the likes of UPS Rail and then Great Bight, Pixiedance/Gracius Maximus, Emperor Matthuis, The Crimson Order, Shoeless Joe and Durkadurkiranistan I & II (see SC#33, 34, 49, 63, 129, 168, 169, 177 [repealed], 182, 242, 268, 279, 282, 283, 285, 286, and 296);

So the resolution citations should definitely be cut, that's just obnoxious.

To me, this is the key clause and should be higher in the resolution - acting as the skeleton of the rest of the resolution:

"ADMIRING TNP's revolutionary endorsement trading scheme, which has aided its retention of newcomers and general regional security by increasing endorsement counts on its WA Delegate (the highest of any region) and its Security Council, while serving as a model for similar schemes within many feeders and other regions that helps lower their risk of falling to a fatal coup;"

At one time TNP was known as the "unstable" GCR. It was constantly being couped. That changed over the course of '11-'12 when TNP began to think differently about endorsements. Suddenly you had a GCR that was encouraging citizens to collect endorsements! And lord and behold, it was like a shot in the arm for both TNP's retention of WAs and its regional security and stability.

The North Pacific of today is a model democracy: it encourages participation in all aspects of the game, it has a strong assembly, legal culture, media, and military.

RECALLING that the North Pacific Army, once a well-connected defender military of note, was reconstituted in 2012 when feeder and sinker militaries were less prevalent; its more pragmatic outlook has since paid dividends, whether in freeing TNP's allies from their oppressors - The South Pacific from its Socialist Republic, Osiris from Gatesville, Lazarus from The Pacific, and more vulnerable allies like Stargate and (under the rule of Equilism) Warzone Europe on countless occasions - or in neutralising major threats to the multiverse such as NAZI EUROPE;

I dislike this clause 1) When NPA was reconstituted in 2012, feeder and sinker militaries were more common than ever before. 2) This clause makes it sound like NPA never accomplished anything until it stopped being defender. 3) Why is an independent army a "more pragmatic outlook" than a defender army - and why should the WA commend a region for adopting a less humanitarian position than before? 4) Has being independentist made NPA a better army than if it had remained a defender army? We've seen strong defender GCR armies before. 5) You know who also fought the SPPR, Gatesville, NLO, Nazi Europe (when they raided) and defended Stargate.. and got far less credit? Defenders! The same people this clause craps on.

My advice is just write a clause that talks about NPA's strength, its accomplishments, and prominent missions, and leave out the references to TNP's ideology.

[New Jakobly]

Although the goal itself is not a bad one, I believe you still need more details and better explanation if you want to get the bill through.

[Blueflarst]

If this commendation passes well good game they will have took down any significant opposition to liberal progressive views

[Lamenia]

If this commendation passes well good game they will have took down any significant opposition to liberal progressive views

Left and Right don't really apply to regional governments.