In which we discuss the Constitution we intend to implement if we win. :)

How about
"No president can can an early election without unanimous support from congress"

Good idea. I don’t know why we even need early elections honestly. Maybe that makes sense to you Canadians and others from a country with a Parliamentary system. Here in America, it’s set in stone under the Constitution to be every four years. :)

It doesn’t make any sense to have early elections, even to Canadians.
All it does is let prime ministers call early elections when their popularity is at maximum and ensure their victory.

Owners: I’m in broad agreement with this provision in Pr1ce’s Constitution.

Owners should: (1) Manage elections to make sure they’re safe, secure, no fraud is taking place, determine the winner, then ensure the right government is installed by being modded; (2) Approve images that don’t violate TOS; (3) Make sure WhiteNat and similarly flagrantly TOS-violating extremist trolls are deleted and banned; (4) Maintain the stream description and keep the stream updated on things like upcoming elections; (5) Otherwise stay out of “stream politics” to the greatest extent possible.

I don’t hate Owners, but historically I do think their attempts to insert themselves into impeachment and judicial questions and things like that oversteps their boundaries and creates unnecessary drama.

Owners: Let the government do its thing. It’s why we have elections, and it’s what keeps this roleplay fun and interesting. If anyone disagrees with the government’s actions, then don’t try to lobby the Owner to interfere: meme about it, raise awareness, run for the next election and change those policies.

^UPDATE: In light of everything we've learned in IG's impeachment trial, I think that the above statement needs clarifying.

Regardless of what any Constitution says, Owners have the right and obligation to enforce the "implicit Constitution" of IMGFLIP_PRESIDENTS, which guarantees things like: (1) Imgflip TOS is followed; (2) Elections are free and fair; (3) Presidents don't start being blatantly censorious, rude, and abusive to the community just because they feel confident the government has their back.

IF Congress is reformed to be actually reflective of the stream as a whole, then my comments above would stand, and I don't think the Owner should generally be involved -- but as it stands, there's a glaring gap between Congress and public opinion, as surveyed in many strawpolls that have been taken this term on subjects like the Bank and impeachment.

IG's modding and conduct has brought him right up to the line of where the Owners could be justified in removing him as Mod, regardless of the impeachment process, in my opinion.

Legislative Branch (Congress): To be filled according to the existing process, which is this.

—Note: We may consider Congressional reform, such as reducing its membership, since 15 is a lot of Congresspeople and inevitably some of them are pretty inactive in PRESIDENTS. However, we won’t have the authority to “reform Congress” until we actually pass our own Constitution, which requires Congress to vote on it. :) So, appointments to Congress come first. Then we’ll be asking Congress to vote on reducing its own size, which Congress probably won’t be keen to do for obvious reasons. :)

UPDATE: Based on patronage problems from this cycle, we're reforming Congress to be a parliamentary system. We expand Congress from 15 to 20 and every Party that wins at least 5% of the vote gets a seat. Importantly, parties get to choose whom they send and don't need any approval from the winner. The seats that Parties earn in the election belong to them and no one else. No more relying on the ruling Party for favors. Parties can also replace their Congressmembers as needed for afk-ness, or because a Congressmember was promoted to Cabinet, etc.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tz6QLpLpdpvQAawvgXsaRX2opl6k5gxfJjSLXFER9UA/edit

Pr1ce’s draft Constitution (which is currently in force for the RUP government) is also detailed and a great place to compare notes.

Actually, this seems like a good idea. Wanna pass it now? I'll call pollard up, and see if he can get congress to approve it.

Go right ahead!

Okay, it’s time to brainstorm some ideas!

So we need some rules concerning the new currency, especially. If not governed properly, it could cause a lot of problems for people. I don’t have much ideas but if you do, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Agreed. Mostly what we need at this point is for people to use the Bank, and for the Bank itself to stay organized so people have confidence in it.

Some bank rules & regs spelled out in the Constitution would be great as well.

Also, new draft RUP constitution: imgflip.com/i/5mhqkl

WAR & PEACE: N.E.R.D. Party is pacifist in that it rejects PRESIDENTS being used to conduct hostile actions against other streams. Therefore, stream raiding is banned. However, N.E.R.D. vigorously supports the defense of PRESIDENTS stream from raiders and extremist trolls since such abuse makes it impossible for government to function or for our regular streamers to have a good time.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH: Freedom of speech is highly valued. Good-natured spam and trolling with humorous intent is tolerated at mod discretion and will be moderated only if it gets out of hand. TOS-violating hate speech such as racism, homophobia, sexism, violent threats, terrorism, and Holocaust denial will not be tolerated as it violates Imgflip’s own terms.

Cool, I had an idea to ban the No Anime Violations, but I don't know if that would be fair

I think so, since it’s spam and harassment. Doesn’t contribute anything productive. Anti-anime opinions that are respectful should be allowed, but those violations are seeking trouble.

Yeah. But just to make it fair, I think all kinds of violations should be banned. I don't think anyone has the right to judge or be judged for who they are.

Absolutely. Aggressive spam and harassment of other memers for what they like is prohibited.

SPAM POLICY: Spam is a delicate internet art form. We recognize “spam” is a term open to many interpretations and is not necessarily bad. Our guiding principle: Creativity is prized; everything in moderation. Therefore, thematic, creative stream “takeovers” (example: Furret spam) are okay. However, tacky or uncreative spamming (like 12 Memecats or Rickrolls in a row) may be modded. All spam must be non-harassing and otherwise compliant with Imgflip TOS. If a citizen dislikes being bombarded with the same image or comment over and over again, then the citizen may report their concerns to the government and we will mod the offending content. The government also encourages citizens to be free to use the sister stream imgflip.com/m/IP-AfterDark as an alternative channel for funny off-topic spam and shitposts.

imgflip.com/i/5erv3d Here is the EYM’s draft constitution which SuGaS mentioned to me. I think it’s a great place to start as it’s detailed and peace-oriented — exactly what N.E.R.D. stands for!

imgflip.com/user/Bored_Knox drafted most of these provisions. Might want to get his permission to use them if we intend to.

In order to form a more perfect union, N.E.R.D. Party officially ratifies the IMGFLIP_BANK as a part of PRESIDENTS stream and adopts its provisions and bylaws as set forth in imgflip.com/m/IMGFLIP_BANK .

The IMGFLIP_BANK is a semi-independent institution of PRESIDENTS, responsible for managing the financial system. Citizens can petition the Bank to change its salary table and other policies through the elected government of PRESIDENTS. The government may either negotiate directly with the Bank, or hold formal votes to change the Bank’s policies. The Bank must honor majority votes of Congress, or else the Head Banker must resign his position and be replaced. Otherwise, the Bank sets its own policies and carries out its day-to-day functions independently.

No citizens are required to use the Bank. A future government may choose to close the Bank if it wishes.

JUSTICE SYSTEM: [Note these are stream-of-consciousness thoughts not intended to be actual Constitutional text — a distillation will come.]

I’m flattered you think of me as a judge. :)

But honestly, the thought of serving as a judge on a “trial” here fills me with dread. Trials here have proven challenging to almost unworkable to manage for all sorts of reasons:

—“Supreme Court”-type side streams have never really taken off.
—The IMGFLIP_PRESIDENTS main stream is a bit too fast-paced for a trial to get much traction. A trial could always in theory get spammed to page two or three or four by a round of Furret spam and then who the hell is gonna find it?
—Missed connections: The PRESIDENTS community is all over the world in different time zones. People log into Imgflip whenever they have a few free moments. Getting all the trial personnel in the same “room” at the same time is gonna be tough.

And yet, we need some way to manage drama on this stream and ensure good-natured trolling and sharp campaigning doesn’t cross that line into harassment.

I propose we turn the notion of “justice” on its head. A trial seeks to establish the “guilt” of the accused: or alternatively, the accused’s “innocence.” The truth usually lies somewhere in between those two poles. We’re not talking actual murders here, after all. We’re seeking to establish, basically, where exactly that line between trolling and harassment falls. It’s a gray area. It’s a judgment call. And reasonable people can decide differently.

What if instead of seeking after “guilt” or “innocence,” we seek for truth and reconciliation?

What if we simply get the accuser and the accused in a room together along with one mediator — have them talk out their differences openly and frankly? Have the process conclude with these simple words: “I’m sorry” and “apology accepted.”

It’d certainly be easier to manage than a full trial.

That’s not to say truth and reconciliation is an unserious process. Those unwilling to participate in it could still face penalties for flouting the justice process — “contempt of court,” basically.

Other alternative: Now that we have a financial system, this allows for the imposition of lighter, non-coercive “civil” penalties rather than the “criminal” punishment of a ban. What if the troll had to simply pay this target, but didn’t otherwise have his “free speech” impaired?

I’ll be finding a way to work these principles into the N.E.R.D. Party Constitution.

We could do that while in power, as pollard has already written some rules on the justice system, and I don't think he'll wanna draft em again…However I think they'll work greatly with the principles we have!

Our LGBTQ policy, to be adopted as constitutional text.

“Bill of Rights”:

imgflip.com/i/5qza69