ELECTIONS ARE BEING HELD IN the South American nation of Carbania, for the first time in fifty years. In 1972, an Air Force captain named Marcelo Mandes seized power with the help of a brutal military junta; he died only in 2016, and when the aged oligarchs attempted to carry on the legacy of repression, massive protests and international condemnation forced them to promise a peaceful transition. Now, the world is watching — election observers have been sent from the United Nations; nervous CIA spooks curry favor with parties they expect to win; organized crime groups eye their chance at grabbing political power; the streets are filled with new ideas; and a low-intensity Communist insurgency rumbles in the southeastern rainforests. In this brand new sandbox of a democracy — how will you shape Carbania?
Basic Information
Carbania is a multiparty SEMI-PRESIDENTIAL democracy. The executive power is split into a semi-presidential system — a PRESIDENT is elected by the people, and a PRIME MINISTER is an MP chosen by a Parliamentary majority. Coalitions are allowed and encouraged.
The President runs as a candidate — while the legislature is chosen in a party list. LEGISLATURE elections follow PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION. What that means is that instead of voting for candidates, voters pick a party — and then the parties are allotted seats based on their percentage of votes. Separate lists are run in each province — which means that the Conservative Party may run a list in Province A, but not Province B. If the Conservative Party gets 23% of the vote in Province A, they will get approximately 23% of seats allocated to that province in Parliament. A province gets seats based on size; so a more populous state will likely have far more seats than a less populous one.
PRESIDENTIAL elections are very similar to Presidential elections in the U.S. or France. Voters each have one vote. If no candidate breaks 50% (unlikely they will in a multiparty democracy) then there is a RUNOFF between the two candidates with the largest vote share — and the winner of that wins it all. It is very feasible that a President is from a different party than the Prime Minister.
Presidential Term: 4 years
MP Term: 4 years
The capital is named Intichiquan, which comes from Quecha... it is built on the site of an Inca agriculture hub, in a lush delta. Intichiquan is a primate city; it is more than double the size of the next largest city in Carbania. For other cities and towns that are not Intichiquan, feel free to make your own as long as 1.) they are reasonably small and 2.) you give a little detail about them.
There are 7 provinces and 1 Federal District in Carbania. The amount of seats allotted by population will be published later.Industry Province: Valenzuela — Capital Cayañar
Mountain Province: Alturas Carbania (Alturas) — Capital Paz de Luna
Coastal Province: Tres Rios — Puerto Plata
Desert Scrub Province: Buñuel — Bosqueviejo
Jungle Province: Mugre Oro — Carnicería
Farmland Province: Bolívar y Carbán (BC) — Santa Carmen
Rice Province: Camparroz — Santiago de Carbania
Currently, the government is still a military junta transitional government. There is no Parliament or President. However, Governors and Mayors do exist and have been elected in relatively fair and recent elections... but keep in mind that these elections were held under a right-wing military junta, so no communist Governors or anything.
THE RULES:
1. The OP's words are the words of the Gods, but these Gods are not infallible, you can argue your position in a civil way but in the end their decision is final.
2. No real people or celebrities as characters. There is no Bernie Sanders that you can play. As per the introductory note, politicians post-Reagan do not exist, or have been replaced with generic stand-ins: you can play them, should you wish. Records and history are the same, including statistics, save in the places where player-characters have brought about a change.
3. Regarding absences- If you, for whatever reason, must take a leave from the roleplay-that is of course fine. But please inform us ahead and how long it may take. If you are found to have just up and left the RP, we may have to simulate how you character act in votes per say, especially depending on their importance.
4. When it comes to writing; please do it well. We expect a certain level of quality with your posts. One or two sentences will not be acceptable, but we can be permissive-if your character is engaged in conversation, a sentence is fine
5. Please make characters of quality and substance. We don't want Mary Sue flawless characters who are 30 year olds, models, former sharecroppers with military service earning a medal of honor and then returning from war to attend Harvard. Those characters aren't very fun to play or interact with. But on the other hand-no sabotage characters. Just because you hate liberals, don't make a hopelessly corrupt and scandal-ridden liberal with no redeeming qualities. Character models also have to be googleable, no photoshopped models, if we can't google your character model you can't have them!
6. No cheat-edits. Once you've made an IC post, leave it. Edits to formatting are all right along with typos, but don't try to change anything major compared to what you have already written, especially if it has already been responded to. If your character said it in public, it must stay. Gaffes happen, after all.
7. If you are not sure if something is legal or okay, ask OOC first. Always better to check-and there is limited leniency for things that are obviously bad.
8. No events that directly affect another character without permission first. In essence, avoid physical altercations and outrageous "accidents". Assassination is banned, any external action taken against politicians will take place in the form of an event.
9. No meta-gaming. Do not let the OOC influence the realism of your character's actions. If they are in a closed situation in which information is limited, they cannot state specific statistics, for example.
10. PG-13 limit. Per site-wide rules, nothing too saucy or racy. You know it when you see it.
11. Good-faith interactions are literally mandated. If you are constantly rude or mean-spirited, then you won't be allowed in the RP. There are roleplays that die over interpersonal OOC drama.
Madrinpoor • Jovuistan • Tehrangeles • Alozia • The Sarangtus Lands
Administrators are responsible for decision making within the RP, they collectively manage polling, special events and so on. They are your last source of appeal if you have any issue within the RP. Do not hesitate to contact any of the above with any question or issue as you may have.
Resources
imgur.com — great photo hosting site, use "BBCode link" for images on NationStates
canva — easy to use logo-making tool*
*Logos don't have to be complicated! Just your party acronym in colorful block text is enough.