(Year 232, Spring) Every year in Spring the political parties will arrange their annual meetings. This is where they debate adjustments to their Political Plan, as well as make changes to their internal core group. Their Political Plan normally includes 2 Causes, 4 N.A.P.s and 4 Statements. While Causes and N.A.P.s rarely get adjusted, the Statements are what directly reflect the party's direction, as it might influence on some groups of residents through the «5 years tax».
These meetings are normally minor events that are not reported on this blog. But this time there is a brand new party, SIM WORLD party, which was founded last Winter and just held their very first annual gathering. Due to the switch from 3 to 4 parties, there were also minor changes to each political party's platform. Biggest change regards fewer N.A.P.s per party. The 5 years election is still a couple years ahead of us, so it was the perfect timing for the chambers to decide on a few minor adjustments to the political system, which have immediate effect.
President Wilder (RIGHT party) is satisfied with the results.
- We tried to limit those changes. Just four N.A,P.s per party (used to be 6) will hardly be noticed, and then we have a change to the Statements, which must now represent all five department fields. There will now be only two fractions within each party, and this might also help voters to see differences between parties more clearly. These adjustments will not be affected by the upcoming «Regional Reform Year 233».
We also wanted to simplify by replacing the 56 Hood Contacts with 23 District Councilors. This will tick in with the next 5 years election (Year 235). Previously the number of won Hood Contacts gave each party's seats at People Chamber, but now the focus will be lifted to the number of District Councilors won. By this change fewer persons will be locally involved with political administration.
The eight regional mayors will, like today, form the Regional Council, which has no vote or direct influence, but they secure the local approach with People Chamber in certain cases. Their highest ranked Mayor (based on election score) will lead the Regional Council, which will now replace the former Reg1 Council, Reg2 Council, Reg12 Council, and so on.
Anyone running for election still needs support from an officially registered political party. They must belong to a fraction by picking one of the two causes supported by their party. Belonging to a party means you also will support the party's N.A.P.s and Statements.
The SIM WORLD Party's first annual gathering got most attention this year, because it was the test on whether they would manage to agree on a Political Plan at all, not to mention the fact that they needed many more members to cover all 8 regions of the kingdom. The latter will be even more crucial in time for their first Nomination Day, which is still 2 years ahead.
All details on each party's political focuses can be found on the Political Parties page. Below you find more info on the adjusted structure and a few headlines regarding each party.
Fractions and Causes
A political party will often have multiple fractions, each supporting one of the 5 Causes available. Each party must declare their 2 biggest fractions (most members), and because the fractions form their political agenda so deeply, those 2 Causes will never change. It is also important to mention that Politicians can join a party even if they picked a different Cause, they just won't reach the core group of their party, and might never get shortlisted for a seat at People Chamber.
Each Cause can be supported by up to 2 parties, but with a different political flare they will still be differently defined by the party. The new structure gives room for 5 political parties.
RIGHT party: Foundation of less Mischief, Simoleons for Everyone.
LEFT party: Simoleons for Everyone, No Sim Left Behind.
MIDDLE party: Speak for the Trees, World United.
SIM WORLD party: World United, No Sim Left Behind.
N.A.P.s
While the party theoretically can have 5 fractions, only the 2 largest fractions will be official and pick their 2 N.A.P.s. These are normally stuck over time, too, just like the Causes. But because size of fractions might fluctuate a little over the years, there might be occasional changes to each fraction's 2nd N.A.P. Such changes might involve another party because it will often be a question of two parties swapping N.A.P.s. Therefore those changes are very rare.
Today we have a total of 17 officially accepted N.A.P.s, and the new system is rigged for 2 N.A.P.s per fraction, which means 4 N.A.P.s per party. This gives a total of 16, meaning only one N.A.P. is vacant. Formerly the 3 parties had 5 N.A.P.s each, but with the new "SIM WORLD Party" this had to change. If we ever get a 5th party, which is unlikely at the moment, there can be only 3 N.A.P.s per party.
Each N.A.P. can be supported by one party only. In Fall before Election Day, the local N.A.P. vote takes place, and we get to see what party is favored in each district.
RIGHT party: 1. Tech Support, 2. Juiced Community.
LEFT party: 1. Foodies Unite, 2. Water Conservation.
MIDDLE party: 1. Green Gardening, 2. Self-suffiency.
SIM WORLD party: 1. Support the Performing Arts, 2. Fun-loving Community.
Statements
Statements show what resident groups the party must pay extra tax, and what conditions will give those groups tax relief. In short this will show what groups or activities a party wants to support more and less. Statements are normally set by the party, and not by each fraction.
Statements affect the «5 years tax», which is effectuated every 5th year on Nomination Day and comes on top of regular bills. A household's extra tax can never be negative, meaning if they are affected by only discounts/reliefs, their extra tax will still be §0. Because each region will have a total of minimum 4 Statements (2 extra tax, 2 tax relief), a household scoring on all extra tax Statements will be charged maximum §4,000. Therefore it might be smart checking the regional Statements before moving between regions.
Each party can create one new Statement for their 5 years political program, which is normally voted at their annual gathering in Spring one year before Election Day. Each Statement can be supported by max two parties, and support can be adjusted every 5 years. A new Statement is exclusive to the party that created it for 5 years only.
RIGHT party: §1,000 extra tax if Adult or Elder in household and §1,000 if Cat or Dog in household. Tax relief of §1,000 if Child in household and §1,000 if private High School degree.
LEFT party: §1,000 extra tax if Teen in household and §1,000 if Wedding. Tax relief of §1,000 if University degree and §1,000 if Wedding in church.
MIDDLE party: §1,000 extra tax if Swimming Pool on lot and §1,000 if Funeral. Tax relief of §1,000 if University degree and §1,000 if growing minimum 20 edible plants.
SIM WORLD party: §1,000 extra tax if of High Nobility house and §1,000 if Sales Table on lot. Tax relief of §1,000 if household member i Entertainment career and §1,000 if running a hotel.
Spread
What is new is that each party's political focuses (total of 10, including Causes, N.A.P.s and Statements) must now represent fields under all 5 departments, in order to avoid a very narrow focus. It is still possible to have 6 of the 10 political focuses in the same department, though, so a total balance is not asked for.
Political Plan
Each Party must provide a Political Plan valid for 5 years, covering 2 Causes, 4 NAPs and 4 Statements. Through annual gatherings (normally in Spring) parties with no seats at People Chamber and no District Councilor can adjust their Political Plan. The year before an Election the party must provide their Political Plan with details on how it will affect national, regional and district levels, as well as the list of their running candidates.
The Political Plan must include:
Statements that come into effect nation wide if the party won the President, and regional if the party won the regional Mayor:
- 2 extra tax
- 2 tax relief
Regional N.A.P. that comes into effect in all hoods of districts (=worlds) of a region where the party won the Mayor.
District N.A.P. that comes into effect in all hoods of a district (=world) where the party won the Councilor.
List of candidates running for the upcoming election.
Most districts/hoods info page (see LOCAL pages) gives information on NA.P.s and active Statements.
- Our political system is indeed detailed, but also very functional. With minor adjustments it has served us well for several generations. Filling the 21 seats of People Chamber is the most obvious mission, but we also have the High Court and the Royal Chamber, so there are many ways residents can affect our community. Most residents see this as a 5 years event including the election, but the parties also have their internal process during the 5 years period. The many small battles between both individuals and fractions, mostly within each party, is probably what actually is forming our great community.
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So how did the new SIM WORLD party's gathering turn out?
Their founder and most active member, Roger Mistfield (Chestnut Ridge), has claimed that Mazaloom kingdom needs a stronger international approach, instead of constantly debating the local agendas.
- We want to be the international alternative, he said prior to the gathering. - I personally think this approach should affect trades as well as culture and tourism. I'm not so concerned whether Dresden (hood in Windenburg) use more or less electricity or if the Windenburg Recreation Center offers a meeting room or not. I think we will benefit more from broadening our horizon, including better relations with other nations, than from rigid power conservation.
The number of members is still quite low, but at least they now managed to cover all 8 regions, which is required for a national party.
The «World United» fraction («Support the Performing Arts» and «Fun-loving Community») is their greatest fraction, and probably the group that will set the direction of the party. Additional N.A.P.s are «Roughhouse Encouraged» and «Promote the Creative Arts».
They also debated the 4 Statements, although extra taxes and tax reliefs won't get active this period. They want crafters selling their goods at their home lot to pay extra tax, because these craftsmen and -women should rather reach out to markets both national but perhaps even international. Working with Entertainment is supported, so will this party be aimed for Artists in general?
- We think culture and arts are fine for understanding other nations, it could be a much bigger business across borders, too. Lets export creative arts, le's import a touring musician. We can't allow the «Moon Liza» conflict stop future exhibitions. While our creative groups can affect this, we want to be a party for any group of community that wants a bigger picture.
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