The Constitution of The Abh Nation
We the people of The Abh Nation, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for The Abh Nation.
I. Government Policy
The Abh Nation is first and foremost, a democracy. As such it is the
duty of elected officials to maintain this state of democracy. That
said, all major decision-making processes by the government will be
public. All members will have an equal say in how things go down. No
one member’s vote, regardless of status, will be weighed more heavily
or lighter than another member’s vote.
A. Passing a New Motion
A motion will be
considered any action or change in policy that affects an individual, a
group, or the nation as a whole. Each and every member of The Abh
Nation has the right to make a motion and to vote in a motion started
by another member.
The Abh Nation defines a
“member” as a person who has made no less than 50 posts. Individuals
who have not yet achieved member status, will have all of the rights of
a member, but will not be allowed to make a motion or vote in someone
else’s motion.
We believe that individuals who have not adequately contributed to the
nation should not be allowed to have a say in how it is run. Therefore
we establish this law as fair and just, and in the best interest of the
people.
B. The Democratic Process of Passing a Motion
Once a member has an
idea on how to change the nation or its policies, they can create a
poll in the Senate Floor where members will discuss the proposed
change(s) and vote on it.
Any motion raised will stand on the Senate Floor for a period of time
specified by the person who raised the motion. If the person who raised
the motion did not specify a time limit less than one month but greater
than three days, the motion will stand for a period of one week. After
one week is up, the motion will be passed into law, put into effect, or
dropped. If the motion is about to expire, the member who raised the
issue may request another 2 weeks for discussion. If that member
chooses not to request this, the motion will be passed or dropped
depending on the vote at closing hour. All requests for more time
should be made to an Administrator or Global Moderator. A motion can
only have its time limit extended once, for a maximum of 4 weeks on the
senate floor before a decision must be reached.
As a democracy, all members have the right to raise and pass any motion.
C. Government Power
1.
The government of The Abh Nation has the right to do the following
things without first getting public approval or passing a motion.
a. The Abh Nation has the right to raise funds to support operational expenditures.
b. The
Abh Nation has the right to raise an army to evict foreign invaders or
quell a rebellion that is threatening the security of the nation.
c. The
Abh Nation may banish any member for any reason without a trial or any
convicting evidence if the administration feels it is in the best
interest of the people.
i. The
members of the site have a right to request suitable evidence that
would condemn the banished individual. The government cannot deny this
request and will be forced to supply evidence.
ii. The members, upon reviewing any evidence, or lack thereof, may pass a motion to relinquish the ban.
d. The
Abh Nation is not required to seek public approval for the installation
of ‘minor’ modifications or addition of features. The modification of
larger features, such as skin sets, or changing hosts, requires a
passing vote of at least 2/3 in favor of the change.
e. The
Abh Nation may appoint additional power to any elected official
temporarily if the circumstances call for it. However once the
situation has been settled, that person will be required to relinquish
additional powers vested in them.
2. The
government of The Abh Nation does not have the right to do the
following things without seeking public approval or passing a motion.
a. The
Abh Nation may not make an alliance with another non-anime site of any
membership, or any anime-site with over 2,000 members without first
putting it to a vote. This kind of alliance tends to bring in many
unwanted troublemakers and does not promote tranquility.
b. The
Abh Nation may not deface any member’s account in any way. However if
the user has inappropriate content in their account, The Abh Nation
retains the right to remove such materials without warning. Restricting
access to certain account features is not considered defacing.
c. The Abh Nation may not appoint or remove officials from office without following proper election or impeachment procedures.
d. The
Abh Nation cannot alter this constitution without following the proper
ratification procedures. This document will be on public display. Any
changes to it will be logged and connected to a passing motion.
Changing it without following the proper ratification procedures will
be considered treason.
e. The
Abh Nation may not postpone, delay, or cancel regularly scheduled
elections for any reason except in the event that the site ceases to
operate properly, at which time elections will take place immediately
after the site becomes functional again, or if the proper government
officials are indisposed, in which case elections will be held as soon
as the proper government officials are available again. The Abh Nation
defines “proper government officials” as Administrators who have had at
least 6 months of experience and have been granted the authority to
manage elections.
f. The
Chief Admin of The Abh Nation may veto any motion at any time and
remove it from the Senate Floor for any reason or for no reason at all.
If such action is taken, any member may bring the issue back up as a
new motion.
II. The Electoral Process
The Abh Nation, being
a democracy, will be run in such manor that all officials in power,
with exception to the owner, will be elected. And as such, these
officials will be subject to rules and impeachment for failure to act
according to the rules that the members deem to be fair and just.
A. Elections
Elections shall take
place every 6 months. One month prior to each election, an
Administrator will open nominations. Any members meeting the
requirements for a position may nominate themselves for that position.
No member will be allowed to occupy more than one office at a time. If
a member currently holds an office and wishes to run for another
office, upon winning in an election, that member forfeits their
previous position for their new position. In this case the office
formerly occupied by that person would remain empty until the next
election. Upon losing an election, that member will retain their former
office.
B. Limitations on Positions Available
In order to maintain a
sizable, yet functional government, the number of positions open will
be limited based on population. The Abh Nation defines a “registered
user” as a person with a registered account, regardless of post count,
who has not been banished to Abh Hell permanently.
1. Moderators
A forum must have two
thousand five hundred (2,500) posts to warrant the establishment of a
Moderator position. For every one hundred fifty (150) registered users,
a qualifying forum may have one (1) Moderator position open, but no
more than three (3) Moderators may be elected to a forum unless the
post count of that forum exceeds fifty thousand (50,000) posts.
A forum that does not meet the minimum requirements may not establish a
Moderator position. Unqualified forums will be policed by the Global
Moderators.
The above regulations will apply to all forums except exempt forums.
a. All
forums in the category "Site Updates" are exempt. All forums under this
category fall under the jurisdiction of the Global Moderators.
b. The
Seikai Discussion forum will be exempted from the above regulations.
For this forum there will be two (2) offices open at all times,
regardless of post count and/or population. In bi-annual elections,
only Moderators will be allowed to run for the position of Seikai
Moderator. A Seikai Moderator will have the same powers and duties as a
Moderator, but will have no less than 6 months of experience as a
Moderator.
2. Global Moderators
For every 100
registered users, including non-members, one Global Moderator position
will be open. If all positions are filled, no new positions will open.
3. Junior Admin
For every 500
registered users, including non-members, one Junior Admin position will
be open. If all positions are filled, no new positions will open.
C. Requirements
1. Moderators
a. Registered for no less than 3 months.
b. No fewer than 200 total posts.
c. No capital offenses on record.
2. Global Moderators
a. Registered no less than 6 months.
b. No fewer than 500 posts.
c. No capital offenses on record.
3. Junior Admin
a. Registered no less than 8 months.
b. No fewer than 800 posts.
c. No capital offenses on record.
d. Administrative approval.
D. Duties
Moderators and Global
Moderators are responsible for maintaining peace and justice by
enforcing the rules and solving disputes between members. Each elected
official will have their own policy on how they do this but will be
subject to the rules of conduct for staff members. Those rules shall be
laid out in a separate document, “Moderator Rules”.
Moderators and Global
Moderators are also responsible for ensuring that members direct
questions to the Help Desk where any available staff member can answer
their questions.
In a dispute over the
proper course of action in any area of the forum, except for the
Moderator’s home forum, the Global Moderator will have more authority.
If a dispute can’t be settled than a higher power will intervene and
hear both sides before making a decision.
Junior Admins are
expected to perform all the things the Moderators and Global Moderators
do, as well as having a basic knowledge of how the Admin Control Panel
(ACP) works. Junior Admins have the right to ban users. Junior Admins
may also be required to perform maintenance on the site. For this,
basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, and MySQL is required.
Cpanel access shall not be granted to any Junior Admin unless the Chief
Admin is indisposed and the situation is dire.
E. Impeachment
Given that all officials
will be elected from the people, by the people, the same people who
elected these officials may also impeach them from office at any time
so long as there is a 2/3-majority vote with no less than 10 members in
favor of this action. If a staff member is impeached they may run for
re-election in the next election.
F. Terms of Office
1. Moderators
Moderators will be elected for a term of six months. One week
prior to nominations, a discussion will be raised on their term in
office where members will be asked to share good things as well as
complaints, and vote on whether they will stay in office or be forced
to re-run in the coming election. This process will be known as a
review. The review process will last exactly one week, and will be
immediately followed by the opening of nominations. In the event of a
tie, the person in question will be given an opportunity to step down
by the Admin or a Junior Admin. If the offer is declined, the poll
shall remain open for two additional days. If the vote remains tied,
the Chief Admin will be granted an additional vote to break the tie.
The decision will be based on the comments posted from Members about
the person in question.
2. Global Moderators
Global Moderators will be elected for a term of six months.
One week prior to nominations, a discussion will be raised on their
term in office where members will be asked to share good things as well
as complaints, and vote on whether they will stay in office or be
forced to re-run in the coming election. This process will be known as
a review. The review process will last exactly one week, and will be
immediately followed by the opening of nominations. In the event of a
tie, the person in question will be given an opportunity to step down
by the Admin or a Junior Admin. If the offer is declined, the poll
shall remain open for two additional days. If the vote remains tied,
the Chief Admin will be granted an additional vote to break the tie.
The decision will be based on the comments posted from Members about
the person in question.
3. Junior Admins
Junior Admins will be elected for a term of one year. One
week prior to the end of their term they will be subject to a review by
the public as well as the Moderators and Global Moderators. In
addition, they will also be subject to review by the Chief Admin. Then
the vote will determine if they are to stay in power or be removed. A
2/3-majority vote is required to retain their office. The review
process will last exactly one week, and will be immediately followed by
the opening of nominations. If the office is retained, it is retained
for life or until the public votes to impeach the official, or the
official resigns from office. If the vote remains tied, the Chief Admin
will be granted an additional vote to break the tie. The decision will
be based on the comments posted from Members about the person in
question.
III. Member Rights
We the people believe
that in order to establish a fair nation with liberty and justice for
all, members as well as staff members have rights.
All members have a
right to freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, freedom of and from
religion, freedom to challenge the government’s policies, and freedom
of expression.
The Abh Nation defines these things as follows:
A. Freedom of speech
All users have a right to say what they want, when they want,
how they want, so long as it does not endanger security or violate the
rights of others. Harassment, racism, directed insults, and other
vulgarities that are meant specifically to harm others or the site as a
whole are not considered free speech and not protected under this
document.
B. Freedom of opinion
All users have a right to think and believe whatever they wish.
C. Freedom of and From Religion
All users have a right to their own religious beliefs, a well
as a right to be free from the religion of others, or from religion in
general. Proselytizing or soliciting religious beliefs onto other users
shall not be permitted outside the context of debates in the designated
area of the forum.
D. Freedom of Protest
All members have a right to make and pass motions to change
and alter the policies on how the nation is run. They also have the
power to challenge decisions and overturn them by a majority vote.
E. Freedom of Expression
All users have a right to customize their profiles, signatures,
avatars, personal photos, and posts to their own liking so long as it
conforms to all applicable laws. Appropriate content is defined in
“Member Rules”.
IV. Ratification of the Constitution
Any member may create
and pass a motion to ratify this constitution. Any portion of this
constitution may be ratified except for Article I, subsection B, clause
6, Article II, sub-section E, and Article IV.
The aforementioned
pieces of this document may not be modified or removed by vote or by
the government. A 2/3-majority vote is required to ratify the
constitution.
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