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DispatchFactbookPolitics

by Suceavija. . 379 reads.

Political Climate










Pragmatism over party

The culture of politics within Suceavija may be summarized by stating political ideology ultimately takes a back seat to pragmatism and unity for the sake of making the government an effective ruling body for the majority of citizens. Political obstructionism based upon ideology is considered insulting to the intelligence and an affront to the interests of the citizenry. Politicians who abuse their positions to the detriment of the public are generally expelled from their offices by popular vote and subjected to multiple forms of public shaming and criticism.



A very active and educated electorate

The citizenry is very active in the political sphere, especially on the local level. The typical work week is only 35-hours long in order that five additional hours per week are constitutionally guaranteed to citizens and permanent residents so that they may attend their local council meetings, learn about current events, ensure transparency and honesty in public and political dealings, participate in frequent elections and referendums, meet with their local and national representatives, etc. so that the time required to to do these things is not at the expense of peoples' personal, social, leisure and family time (dimensions of life regarded throughout society as equally important to the vitality of the national economy as time spent in actual productivity). While tax credits are awarded for several aspects of verifiable democratic participation, almost everyone demands such involvement and intimacy with their democratic political system regardless of the financial incentives to do so. These methods are considered a preferable and better alternative to mere compulsory voting in order to achieve wide-scale participation in government without forcing democracy on the people.



The political spectrum

Numerous political parties share and compete for influence on all levels of government. In conventional terms, the vast majority of citizens are affiliated in varying degrees with factions of the political left-wing, though some centrist, right-wing and libertarian parties appear from time to time, usually to keep checks on taxation and distribution of private resources. Partisanship can become a factor from time to time, though the design of the parliamentary system -as well as a demanding and impatient citizenry- force different parties to find common ground for the greater good of society.



Frequent elections and active engagement

Elections, debates and referendums are by far the most significant social events that occur numerous times each year. People routinely gather en mass in parks, auditoriums or stadiums to cheer, lament, debate and watch/listen to election results together. Public universities and trade schools require predetermined lengths of time that students must spend working with a political party or on a political cause of their choosing before they are able to receive their degrees and diplomas upon graduation.



Political rules and rights for citizens and permanent residents

All citizens and permanent residents of at least 16 years of age may vote in any eligible election and form and participate within political parties and public debates within the governing standards of the IEPOB.

Free, open and transparent officer elections are held every five years for all branches of government; though special elections can be called at any time for any reason and referendums and other initiatives can be brought to public vote on a quarterly basis.

Voting is a voluntary, conditional right in all elections for citizens and permanent residents. The one condition on voting is that official personal identification is required to cast one's vote, though the full costs of acquiring such identification are the expense of the state, not the voter. Legal identification may be acquired at polling places on election day, and no one who appears at their designated polling place prior to the close of an election can be denied their rights to its acquisition or to cast their legal vote in that same election.

The state may not deny legal voters' access to legal identification or to their polling places.

Prior conviction of a crime shall not be a prohibition for any citizen or permanent resident to cast a legal vote in any election if all debts to society are paid prior to that election.

Voters receive a confidential print (electronic votes) or carbon-copy receipt (paper ballots) upon casting their vote that can be used to verify later that their ballot was cast, counted and was unaltered after casting it using randomly-generated verification codes (so that voters can't be personally identified by making their inquiries). Citizens and political parties are free and encouraged to perform their own audits of their polling places and elections above and beyond those conducted by the IEPOB.

Electronic voting can only be used with the consent of the public in any given voting district by 2/3 majority vote. All electronic voting equipment must be programmed with open-sourced software which, along with the associated hardware, must be able to be examined and tested by the IEPOB for compliance and for prevention of any vulnerabilities to its security and integrity. Even at polling places where electronic voting is in use, a paper ballot must be provided upon request by any legal voter and counted along with the electronic votes.

Monetary or other financial resources, or any tangible commodities, are not -nor may they ever be- legal forms of speech.



Political rules and rights for elected officials and candidates

Elected officials of each branch of government must nobly sacrifice all aspects of their personal financial and communicative privacy while serving their elected terms for the sake of total transparency into personal or business connections that could potentially lead to conflicts of interest. All communications between these officials and each other, and between all outside parties, must be made available to the public. Exceptions to these exist where such relationship of an official exists between doctor & patient, attorney & client, clergy & parishioner, and parent & child (below the age of 16); though documentation that these communications took place must be made a public record. While primary residences of elected officials are considered private domains, a continuous, accurate registry of all residents and visitors of the residence must be kept by each elected official and submitted to the IEPOB for ethical and legal oversight. Audits and verifications to the accuracy of these records can be conducted at any time by the IEPOB.

Colluding with private business entities for non-public interests is an impeachable offense for any government official.

If conflicts of interest arise for any official, they must abstain from participation in and execution of all aspects of their job pertaining to said conflict of interest until such conflicts are fully resolved. Substitute officials may be elected where such cases are expected to infringe upon an official's ability to adequately serve the duty of their office.

Each elected official shall be summarily audited by the IEPOB to investigate that official's personal conduct and compliance with the responsibilities and duties of their office. Said audit may occur at any time, in whatever frequency deemed appropriate, for any reason, at the sole discretion of the IEPOB. The maximum period of time between an individual official's summary audit by the IEPOB may not exceed one calendar year.

No private or public tangible donations to political parties or their candidates may be solicited, given, nor received.

No candidates may use personal resources for promoting their campaigns, nor advertise their campaign using any media form other than those provided equally to all candidates exclusively by the IEPOB.

Political candidates may only campaign during a uniform allotted window of time provided to all candidates in which to do so.

Each candidate is given the opportunity -and is obligated- to answer the exact same series of questions as all other candidates during public debates.



The Independent Election and Political Oversight Board (IEPOB)

The IEPOBis an independent branch of the government which is bound only by its constitutional duties to continuously pursue a corruption-free political system for the health and stability of the nation's political system and benefit of the citizenry of Suceavija. The IEPOB is charged with managing all aspects of public electoral processes. The IEPOB is also charged with providing an adequate public forum for political debates, providing an impartial platform that allows equal time and access to each participating candidate in all levels of government. IEPOB moderators of public debates are held to the same strict standards regarding conflicts of interest as all other government officials. The IEPOB has sole discretion as to how public forums shall be held with regard to sensible applications and utilization of media technology with the intent to reach as much of the citizenry as possible. The IEPOB may only use its own resources to achieve these ends and may not collude or collaborate with private media entities for any purpose whatsoever.

The IEPOB alone provides all funding for all aspects of public electoral processes.

Political parties may only be funded through the IEPOB's public trust for which any political party is free to apply for equitable resources as all other political parties.

IEPOB moderators of debates may not have any current ties to or interests in privately-held businesses, political or similar entities during the election over which they would be moderating. All past, pending, current and known future ties to any of these entities must be fully disclosed to the public prior to moderating any debates or offering political commentary in public or private forums.

Officials of the IEPOB may not campaign for or hold any other political office in any other branch of government before, during or after their elected terms with the IEPOB.

The IEPOB maintains constant surveillance and supervision over all polling places and security of all ballots.

The IEPOB must keep and secure all voting records and ballots for not less than ten years following any given election and make these records available to the public during that time.









Suceavija

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