Post by Ian Plätschisch on Oct 22, 2019 11:09:27 GMT -6
After a great first term, it is time for AMP to humbly request your vote in the elections to the upcoming Cosa. So, without further ado, the most comprehensive actionable policy document in recent memory, the
MANIFESTO OF AWAKENING AND MAGNIFYING PASSION FOR THE 54TH COSA
…and we’re prepared to go left, right, up, down, and center to make that happen. Just look at the rest of our manifesto; our ideas don’t conform to a single ideology, but instead revolve around the idea that the Government is here to enrich (rather than direct) the Talossan lives of its citizens.
Of course, the prime example of this is our desire to get bureaucracy out of our own way. Time and time again, we have seen that the Government simply cannot take it upon itself to create more activity in Talossa by passing new laws or advertising new positions. Government initiatives to increase activity generally attract even less participation than private projects. Instead, we advocate reforms that would make it easier for Talossans to engage in and enjoy whatever it is that they like to do (“awakening” passion) and make it more likely that such engagement will lead to even more engagement by other citizens (“magnifying” passion). In short, the Government needs to be a conductor of activity, not the battery itself (and definitely not an insulator, which all too often it is).
Talossa more than just another internet forum, and we must make that clear. In our view, if even one citizen finds purpose in a particular aspect of Talossan culture, they are helping us achieve this goal, and their activity should not be shouted down by others just because they personally don’t see the point of it. Further, we recognize the Monarchy as an important source of prestige and, for lack of a better term, pizzazz which would not exist without it. Finally, remember that a nation much easier to conceptualize, and therefore “sell,” than an otherwise random collection of people, and this is where peculiarism in Talossa goes awry. However, we also know the consequences of too much derivatism and traditionalism; namely, organizations structured to inhibit activity and a commitment to the Monarchy as it is currently arranged even when that arrangement is not delivering on the potential of a Monarchy.
As part of a recent social media campaign, the current Minister of STUFF (an AMP member) has been asking Talossans various questions about why they are Talossan. The variety in the responses illustrates the principle that the Government should enable citizens to experience Talossa in the way they wish, rather than dictate how Talossa should be experienced.
2. Rookie of the Year
In just our first term as a party, we have already delivered on numerous promises:
- The Spreading the Word Act allows citizens to opt-in to receiving emails from other Talossans about their new initiatives.
- The Still Into This Amendment and The Ain’t it Fun Act ensured that, after years of trying, the Talossan people will finally get comprehensive and broadly supported Organic reform, along with the needed changes to el Lexhatx.
- The Honours Bill broadened the Kingdom’s system of honors; adopting the best practices from other countries while enhancing the uniquely Talossan aspects.
- The Civil Service (Commissioner Abolition) Bill eliminated the role of Commissioner of the Civil Service, streamlining the appointment of Secretaries
- The Slimming Down Title I Act gave control over the day-to-day operations of the Talossan military to the people who care about it the most.
- Finally, AMP personnel have dutifully served in a variety of Cabinet and civil service posts.
We have no intention of slowing down, and we need your support to continue enacting the reforms that will generate activity and passion for Talossa.
3. We’re in it to Win it
AMP is fully prepared to lead the next Government, and we hope to be given a mandate to do so. Not only is our manifesto the most detailed of any party, and tailored to meet Talossa’s modern challenges, but AMP is also filled with members with legislative and executive experience. Finally, we are a truly national party; our members and affiliates sat in all but one provincial assembly during the previous Cosa, and AMP member Breneir Itravilatx is running for Senate in Florencia.
4. Goldilocks Bureaucracy
There has been much complaining recently about the ability of some people to effectively “veto” new initiatives simply by not engaging with them. Of course, such lack of engagement need not be intentional (there are plenty of reasons why a Talossan may need to take a leave of absence), but the fact remains that there are several areas of Talossan life that are subject to the oversight of a person or body that either is no longer interested or capable of providing that oversight or never served anything but an overly bureaucratic role in the first place.
From this description, it may appear that anarchy is the best way to operate our civil institutions. After all, if any citizen could act unilaterally, no one would ever need someone else’s approval and we would all be free to use the avenues of Talossan culture how we saw fit. However, besides turning Talossa into a “bathtubbia” subject to radical reformulations on a weekly basis, this policy would have another subtle but no less important drawback. Any time a group of citizens might seek consensus to ensure a proposed change became widely accepted, there would be no indication of when, or if, that consensus was obtained. This would cause either progressively worse fracturing of our organizations, and a loss of unity and consistency in our nation, as change-makers went ahead without a way to make their new policies official, or a permanent stasis if no one was willing to move forward on anything without the express consent of all imaginable stakeholders, some of whom may not even be contactable. Unfortunately, examples of this kind of governance are not rare in Talossa.
Therefore, both too many and too few organizational procedures can be quite detrimental. Lasting organizational structures both describe exactly how business may be conducted and do not rely too much on a single person or group. Additionally, we must eliminate as many purely bureaucratic roles as possible and devolve the corresponding responsibilities and privileges to everyone involved. For a more detailed discussion, including several examples, please see the article “Structured to Fail” from the September 2019 edition of La S’chinteia.
5. Where is the King?
Talossa is a Kingdom. Even though the King does not have very much political power, he still wields a tremendous amount of ceremonial power and controls all the trappings people like to see in a Kingdom. Thus, the fact that the current King only rarely visits Wittenberg (or any other Talossan forum that we are aware of) is a big problem. There are so many ways the King could increase the prestige and interest of many aspects of the Kingdom, and insofar as people are attracted to Talossa because of the novelty of the Monarchial ascetic, he is not. Imagine if the King granted personal commissions to each new member of the Royal Civil Service? Imagine if he had a monthly bill-signing ceremony? Imagine if he talked directly to immigrants? Imagine if he did much of anything besides drop in occasionally to wield his political power without warning? We cannot express enough our gratitude to the King for his exquisite leadership in the past, but if he is no longer interested in his position, he should abdicate in favor of someone who will follow through on the awesome duties of the position.
During the previous Government, AMP took the lead in issuing several multi-partisan statements demanding the King increase his presence as a cultural figure. If he does not meet these demands, AMP is prepared to remove him from the throne. We already have developed “The We Mean Business Amendment,” an easy mechanism to do just that. To be clear, we would very much like to not have to move forward with this, but eventually we will not have a choice.
AMP also advocates removing the hereditary aspect of the Monarchy. Passion for Talossa is not hereditary, and we cannot afford to vest one of the most important institutions of the State in someone based solely on who their parents were.
6. There are Still Too Many Ministries
Many current portfolios entail so little work they are mere sinecures, and the duties of others are mostly non-political and could be handled by a civil servant. AMP proposes a cabinet of only four people; a Seneschal, a Distain, a Minister of Culture, and a “Minister of State” who would combine the roles of Foreign Minister, Interior Minister, Finance Minister, and Attorney-General. Not only would this add prestige to being in the Cabinet and ensure that only the very best are selected as Ministers, but transferring more responsibilities to civil servants would also provide more continuity between Governments. However, we recognize that this will only work if the Royal Civil Service is also made more prestigious.
7. And Still Too Many Provinces
Activity builds on itself; so long as there is some amount of activity in a province, other citizens will be attracted to it, resulting in more activity, and so on. However, because the citizens that are active at any given time are spread between eight difference provinces, it is nigh on impossible for any single province to ever reach this minimum level. AMP proposes that Talossa reduce to four provinces; few enough give each population a jump-start but still enough to allow provinces to have unique identities and an important role in Talossan life. Yes, all eight provinces currently have distinct histories, but that will be little consolation when their histories cease for lack of anything happening there.
Unfortunately, as we have seen from the rejection of the merger of Florencia and Fiôvâ, it will probably be difficult to get provinces to agree to merge. Even worse, unless all of the mergers happen at the same time, any provinces that merge will have their representation in the Senate reduced. To counteract this, and to incentivize mergers, we advocate an amendment which will allow two Senators to any province born out of a provincial merger.
8. Immigration: The First Frontier
The immigration process must convey to immigrants why they should care about Talossa beyond its novelty. While the truth is that Talossa is a community of people who are together building and carrying on the legacy of a country unique in its place in the world, it is too easy to think it is just another internet forum. This misconception is reinforced by the fact that immigration revolves around Wittenberg. To remedy this, AMP proposed “The Talossa is Not Wittenberg Act,” which would have required an immigrant to interact with a Talossan citizen off of Wittenberg (such as on Chatzy, Discord, Facebook, email, etc) during the previous Cosa, but it was voted down. An AMP-led Government will reintroduce this proposal.
9. Civil Service by the People
As it stands, the Government dictates what Civil Service roles are available (and the associated requirements) and then hopes (or expects) someone will fill them. This is the reverse of what should happen; if the Government is here to serve the citizens, it should ask what the citizens would like to use the power and prestige of the Royal Civil Service to accomplish. Sure, there are a few positions that just have to be filled and are kind of a slog no matter how you slice it, but given that all current Civil Service roles are described in the way a boring job would be described, the lack of applicants is hardly surprising. We need to spice it up by letting people do what they want instead of what the Government wants. An AMP-led Government will actively encourage citizens, especially new immigrants, to be creative in developing roles for themselves.
10. Another Manifesto Item About the Civil Service? Yep.
Current law prohibits any Secretary in the Royal Civil Service from also be a Cabinet Minister. Proponents of this requirement argue it is necessary to prevent undue concentration of power, and if there were many people seeking positions, this would be a good point. However, given relatively low activity, we believe it does more harm than good. The purpose of the Civil Service is that it allows citizens to remain in nonpolitical posts for long periods of time, thereby reducing transition costs and allowing development of expertise. However, if a Secretary must vacate their whenever they join a Cabinet, this purpose is undermined (especially since joining a Cabinet is a fairly common thing for an active citizen to do). To remedy this, AMP proposed “The Bartholomew Cubbins Act” during the previous Cosa, but it was voted down. An AMP-led Government will reintroduce this proposal.
11. Happiness for Talossa!
If we are to share in this community that we and those before us have built, we must be mindful of how we communicate with each other. At the very least, if we cannot tone down our rhetoric for our own benefit, we must do it for the benefit of immigrants; why would anyone want to immigrate to Talossa if all they see are people tearing one another apart? Given the dearth of non-political activity in Talossa, politics is nearly the only thing prospective citizens can observe, and we are not putting our best foot forward. This is not to say that spirited debates or harsh critiques should be frowned up, far from it, only that at the end of the day we must strike a balance and remember why we are all here in the first place (and we can guarantee it is not to engage in endless arguments that go nowhere). AMP members have acquitted themselves with dignity and treated all other politicians and citizens with respect for the entirety of the previous term. As leaders of the next Government, we will ensure all Cabinet members uphold this standard.
Congratulations for making it to the end of the Manifesto. If you actually read most of it then you probably should
Become a member of AMP! We always need engaged citizens to hold our seats in the upcoming Cosa. There are no requirements except that you generally agree with this manifesto. Send Ian Plätschisch a PM if you are interested.
Even if you don’t want to be an MC, your membership (or even just your vote) would be much appreciated.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
