Region/Social Liberal Union

Social Liberal Union
Regional Flag
Forum	http://socialliberal.proboards.com/index.cgi
Official Language	English
Founder	Ainland
Delegate	Courelli
Government	Intergovernmental organization Direct democracy
Legislature	Open Parliament
Date of Formation	January 2, 2011
Member Nations	Residents 147 Member States n/a (Oct. '14)
Population	474,110,000,000 (Oct. '14)
GRP	$9.87 quadrillion (Oct. '14)
GRP Per Capita	$20,838.27 (Oct. '14)
WA Members	43.165% 60 / 137
Delegate Support	69.49% 41 / 60
Links: NationStates • NSTracker

The main wiki for the Social Liberal Union is currently located at the Library of Parliament.

The Social Liberal Union (SLU) is a large, democratic region founded 2 January 2011 by Ainland. In the view of Ainland, a significant number of socialist regions had started to contain a high number of intolerant dictatorships and authoritarian regimes, whilst many apparently liberal regions had contained more economically right wing libertarian nations. Thus, the Social Liberal Union was designed to be a place for social liberals, democratic socialists, social democrats and other broadly democratic leftist nations to call home. Since its inception, the region has proclaimed its dedication to democracy, social welfare, and equality.

Ainland later went inactive (12th of April, 2011) before returning on the first anniversary of the Founding, now called Founding Day, on the 2nd of January, 2012.. The elected leader of the region is the World Assembly Delegate, elected by the region every four months. The Delegate's power is kept in-check by the region's constitution, and the region's cabinet, and ultimately supreme power is held by the member-states of the region.

History

The Founder's Period/Traditional Period

The Region was founded by Ainland on January 2, 2011. One day after the region was founded Eggy216 was elected as the first delegate, however the nation lost the position within the first 12 hours and Tennisplayers was elected delegate. This was not an issue because during that time the region was in its very early days and the delegate acted more as a figurehead with leadership belonging to the founder until the first formal elections could happen. The delegate was elected to a 30 day term during this period. Teshuva was the first Delegate elected, over Eggy216 and Tennisplayers, but went inactive soon afterward and little of note happened during his term. Ainland did create a separate regional Wiki, which fell into disuse later. The following month, the Floridian Coast and Eggy216 ran for delegate. The Floridian Coast claimed victory over Eggy216 and oversaw the first active delegacy in the SLU. The Floridian Coast oversaw the growth of the SLU to a minor power. Eggy216 ran unopposed the next month and reclaimed the delegacy. Several notable events occurred during this term and it is the start of the modern form of the SLU: the first Regional Forum was created by Destorio, Ainland started his almost year long inactivity and the Constitution was created. To allow for the Constitution to be signed, it was agreed to break tradition and allow Eggy216 to continue past the 30 days of his traditional term until Constitutional Elections could be held. The term changed to three months, although it was still self nomination. The Constitution was created and the first campaign was run between Eggy216, the incumbent, Azerzia, co-writer of the Constitution, and Mintonity, an important early state. Destorio managed the election. By just one vote, Eggy216 maintained his seat. There was a Constitutional crisis during this election, when all member states were invited to take part, while the Constitution stated only WA member states could do so. Due to this accident, because secret balloting was used, a Constitutional Amendment had to be passed to legitimize the election and all elections since of been open voting. Of other interest to the election, there was a role-play (although silly) war between all the candidates using rubber ducks and other rather harmless weapons.

The First Eggic Constitutional Period (May 2011-February 2012)

Eggy216's First Constitutional Term (12 May 2011 to 11 August 2011)

Eggy216 then created the first Cabinet (as described in the Executive Cabinet Act, or ECA), consisting of his opponents, Mintonity and Azerzia, as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Communications respectively, Mare Nectaris, as Minister of Immigration, and Destorio as Parliamentary Secretary.

During this term, the SLU became ever larger under Mare Nectaris' guidance at Immigration. Azerzia saw to changes to the Constitution, passing Amendments 2-5, which revoked Amendment 1, created an elected version of the Founder called the Speaker of the Union, and limited the Delegate's powers and diving it up between the Delegate and the Ministers. Azerzia also saw to an addition to the ECA, called the Modified Executive Cabinet Act or MECA, which merged the powers of Parliamentary Secretary and Speaker of the Union and expanded the powers of the ministries to cover all facets of activities. Mintonity saw to the creation of an alliance with the [1] following The Great Split. At that time, the Democratic Socialist Assembly was by far the most influential and largest democratic leftist region in nation states.

There was discussion of the SLU joining the Founderless Region Alliance but it was decided to not be in the regions best interests. Azerzia joined the organization individually, later leaving the region for a few hours to assist, poorly, in a liberation attempt with the FRA.

It was around this time that the Floridian Coast left the SLU for role-play oriented regions, leaving the only ever serving delegate in the region at the time as Eggy216.

Two more Amendments were passed in this time, 6 and 7, written by Mare Nectaris and Gunir/Azerzia respectively, which were for the possibility of the WA delegate being ejected from the WA and created term limits on the delegacy.

As the first term wound down in late July, Destorio had a period of on-and-off activity, which hindered use of the regional forum. The election started with Eggy216, Mare Nectaris and Goncar running for Delegate. Problems with the forum led to a crisis and a switch, first temporary and then permanent, to the current forum administrated by Azerzia. Eggy216 ran on a platform of continuing the status quo, Mare Nectaris ran on changes to the running of immigration based on his experience as Minister of Immigration. Goncar ran on a platform of increased regional security. Eggy216 won by a significant margin.

Eggy216's Second Constitutional Term (12 August 2011 to 11 November 2011)

Eggy216 maintained his Cabinet for his second term, minus Destorio. The position of Parliamentary Secretary was not filled for this period due to the soon upcoming first Speaker Elections. The region decreased in size during this period, possibly due to school related decreases in free time increasing inactivity. This reduced activity also affected Mare Nectaris and immigration slowed. Little happened in the first half, other than a change of names from "Ministry of Communications" to "Ministry of Domestic Affairs" and clarification on the powers of the Ministries by means of an amendment to the ECA and an act defining regional policy on embassies. In the middle of the term, a major shift happened: both Mintonity and Mare Nectaris stepped down and Azerzia was elected the first Speaker of the Union. The election of the first Speaker of the Union, for a term of three months, ended on 29 September after a two week period of self-nomination and open, preferential voting. Azerzia was nominated by Michutopia, Gunir by Mintonity, Peace Strivers by Millyland and Millyland by Goncar. Mare Nectaris was also nominated by Mintonity but declined. Azerzia won by a significant margin in the election.

To replace the original Ministers, Eggy216 placed Gunir at Foreign Affairs, Michutopia at Domestic Affairs and Peace Strivers at Immigration. Gunir and Peace Strivers maintained the positions of the previous occupants, albeit improving the functionality of both Ministries. Michutopia completely revamped the Ministry of Domestic Affairs, turning it in a truly core portion of the region. The region continued to grow in size, breaking 200 for the first time. These changes in the region continued to the next Delegate election. In that election, Eggy216 faced Goncar, Millyland, Peace Strivers, and Michutopia. Azerzia stated he would administer the election but was busy during the important times of the election and so it was run by Gunir for all practical purposes. Eggy216 again ran on a policy of keeping the status quo, although promising to not run again, and Goncar again on regional defense. Millyland and Peace Strivers both ran on platforms emphasizing involvement in the region although not making calls for new changes in the region. Michutopia called for a government which listened to the population of the region directly and acted as a direct democracy, similar to Eggy216's style. In the end, Eggy216 won by a large margin and maintained the delegacy.

Eggy216's Third Constitutional Term (12 November 2011 to 11 February 2011)

Eggy216 chose to maintain his second cabinet. Azerzia stayed on, due to his term as Speaker. During this time, Michutopia went inactive and was replaced by North American Republics. Peace Strivers was temporarily inactive, so her duties were performed by Millyland in the interim. NAR continued the activities of their predecessors, and Millyland went back to his post when Peace Strivers returned without issue. Regional power also reached high levels, with over 260 member states.

During this time several important events took place: The creation of a forum between the DSA and the SLU, the re-election of Azerzia as Speaker, and the passage of a number of acts to change several functions of the SLU and the return of Ainland. In the [[2]], the Founder, Cynthia McKinney, an enemy of the DSAssembly and the SLU, timed out. This allowed for a reopening of relations between the two regions. Also fundamentally important was a crisis in the Leftist Interregional. The LI, as it was known, was supposed to be a forum for discussion among left leaning regions in NationStates. It failed to meet its goals and was used by Anti-FA raider regions to discredit universal defending, but still left leaning, defender regions. The DSAssembly, a member of the LI, spoke out against such practices, especially those against other members of the LI and the DSAlliance. The SLU was considering entering the LI (which had been considered previously but always turned down), and was voting on it when the crisis above came to light. The vote was in favor until Azerzia declared its intention to change its vote to against to make clear the displeasure of the SLU. Azerzia also stated an idea of creating a democratic leftist, or even democratic moderate, interregional organization to replace the LI. This idea grew into the 'Democratic Regions Alliance', later referred to as the Union of Democratic Leftist Regions (UDLR), which would include the DSAs and the SLU in a defensive, supportive organization whose goals would be to present a united front to the WA and to hostile regions. It would provide for peaceful and friendly relations between individual member states within the three regions.

Due to the coming holidays, the Speaker election was held early to allow for the maximum number of members being able to vote. Azerzia was nominated by Cemaes and Cemaes was nominated by Goncar for the position. Millyland was nominated by Eggy216, but declined, which led to another roleplay war within the region. In a close race, Azerzia was re-elected on 22 December. Soon after the start of his second term however, the term was ended with the return of Ainland to NationStates. At that point, Azerzia became the ministry level position of Parliamentary secretary last used in August by Destorio. Ainland has been fairly inactive but has kept in contact with the important leaders of the SLU (Eggy216 and Azerzia particularly) to stay on top of events.

Leading up to and during the election for Speaker, Azerzia proposed the REPA and the VRA, which were passed. The Re-Aligned Executive Powers Act (REPA) adds a Ministry of Defense and clearly lays out the organization of the regional government, which had been vague in the MECA and ECA. The VRA or Voting Regulation Act saw to codify the election traditions of the SLU into actual rules which would have to be followed.

After all of this happened in short succession in late November and December, January was quiet. At the end of January, the next Delegate election began, administered by Eggy216. It would be the first time Eggy216 would not be running in a Delegate election. Azerzia, Gunir, Goncar and Timpetotia ran in the election. Gunir ran on a position following Eggy216's stance on a weaker delegacy with high ministerial independence. Azerzia supported a stronger delegacy with more control over the ministers. Goncar ran on a platform about regional defense and Timpetotia, a new comer, ran on a platform to change the region into a more politically moderate region by allowing social libertarians to join. Azerzia won unanimously, with Gunir taking the majority of second round votes.

The Azerzian Constituional Period (February 2012-August 2012)

Azerzia's First Constitutional Term (12 February 2012 to 11 May 2012)

For the first half of its term, Azerzia over saw several important events: first was the start of a new democratic tradition in the form of Approval-elections for ministers, second was the passage of several new acts and amendments and third was a vote of impeachment.

Azerzia noticed a way to allow a democratic process in the current appoint procedures for the Ministers. To do this, Azerzia appointed at least two nations to each Ministerial position and allow the Open Parliament to approve of just one. Through this, the states the Delegate felt were best suited for a position still got chosen by Parliament got the final say over which ones. In this way, it was not a true election but, using the term Azerzia created for it, an 'approval election'.

In the approval elections, several states ran for each position. The elections decide both the Minister and the Deputy, with the victors as follows: for Foreign Affairs Eggy216 became Minister with Franco-Lowlands as Deputy; for Domestic Affairs, Avaerilon with North American Republics; for Immigration Cemaes with Grolsch; for Defense, Millyland; for Secretary of the Open Parliament, Peace Strivers.

The three acts passed served several purposes. First, was the creation of a new embassy policy, the Modified Embassy Policy Act. The original Embassy Policy Act was written by Azerzia but was written during the time the DSAlliance was an enemy of the SLU; in line with that, it was specifically written to exclude, and in the process alienate, the DSAlliance. With the abrupt change after CMK's disappearance, a new embassy policy was felt to be needed. The new policy, written by North American Republics, was more comprehensive than its predecessor as well. The second act was the Illegal Activities act which was written by Azerzia to create a list of actions which were illegal in the SLU, such as ad spamming. Next were three amendments, written by Azerzia, which removed the powers of the Founder and gave them to the permanent position of Speaker of the Union, modified the expectations of the SLU and streamlined bans and ejections. A third act was created, co-written by Azerzia and Animo Libertatis, explained the streamlined banjection policy and added restraints onto it, to prevent another incident like the one which caused the impeachment vote.

The impeachment vote started from a minor issue. Within a week of Azerzia ascending to the Delegacy, a trio of non-WA states entered the region which appeared to be attempting to raid or troll the region. Azerzia promptly banjected with approval of the Founder and then placed the banjections up to a vote of approval in Parliament, as per the rules before streamlining. Parliament voted that the bans were inappropriate since the states in question did not pose a security risk. This caused an immediate vote of impeachment on abuse of power, as the pre-streamlined ban process worked. The initial returns on the vote were in favor of impeachment and removal from office. Following this, Azerzia made an appeal stating that it was not an abuse of power, simply an overzealous act of defense. The region eventually agreed and voted against conviction.

After this, the next Speaker of the Union was elected. In the election, Michutopia and Goncar ran against one another. Michutopia ran on a platform of strengthening Domestic Affairs and improving Defense. Goncar ran on a platform to reduce the restrictions placed on member state membership. The election saw a switch from open voting to private voting. Michutopia won, 10 votes to 1.

Following these major events of the first half the term, the second half was much quieter. The region expanded to the record size of 357 nations, placing it as the 21st largest in NationStates. The UDLR was up and running, although has not yet met its full potential as of the time of writing. There were concerns over an invasion of an allied region but nothing materialized.

At the end of the term, the election for the next Delegate was the closest contest in the region since the first Constitutional Delegate election. Azerzia, Grolsch and Goncar all stated their intentions to run, but Goncar dropped out a few days before the start of voting due to a perceived lack of interest in his campaign. Grolsch and Azerzia had very similar positions; the only major policy differences emerged on the issue of regional alignment and how to improve the investigations into the member states breaking laws. The major difference between the two was the difference between the executive delegacy (where the delegate acts as the leader of the government and controls actions) of Azerzia and the democratic delegacy (where the delegate acts as a leader of the government but the government jointly decides policy) of Grolsch. Goncar again pushed to reduce membership restrictions and emphasized his youth in his campaign.

Azerzia ran a very traditional campaign to start, with most of his information being copied from previous elections. Grolsch came out with a campaign website and campaign video, which is expected revolutionize future elections. Grolsch also carried the public endorsements of several Ministers in the region, giving Grolsch 5 votes to start with. This turn of events lead Azerzia to almost withdraw from the election, as previous elections had only seen 12 votes; Grolsch's 5 votes was almost a majority before the election even formally began. Instead of withdrawing, Azerzia responded with a critique of Grolsch's positions, which was viewed by several in the region as mudslinging; Azerzia denied the accusation and stated it was an pointing differences in policy while spinning the turn of events in his favor. The voting for the election was at 11 with only 2 days left, which likely meant Grolsch had the majority. In another revolution in campaigning, Azerzia sent personal messages to all the eligible states who had not yet voted and encouraged them to do so. This led to a massive jump in voter turn out, with 25 valid votes cast by the end of voting. By one vote cast in the last hour and a half of voting, Azerzia won 13 to 12.

Azerzia's Second Constitutional Term (12 May 2012 to 11 August 2012)

Immediately following the victory, changes were made in the region. Several amendments were passed which placed limits on veto powers and diffused powers. The policy's involving prosecution of member states were revamped to allow easier prosecution and stream line the process.

The region also saw its first consistent decline in population since the previous summer during this term, with the region dipping back into the 200s for a period. This trend had begun to reverse by the end of the term, however. The decline is likely due to changes in priorities among college aged students during the summer months, limiting time for NationStates. This would reduce returns on recruitment efforts and decrease the number of available recruiters.

Following Michutopia's inactivity, a new Speaker was elected for the next term. Grolsch, North American Republics, Michadantom and Goncar all ran for the position. Grolsch wanted an increase in the number of active states. North American Republics ran on a platform emphasizing honesty, expansion of activity and a push for activity in the UDLR, which was still stagnant. Goncar stated an interest in pushing for more extraregional contacts. Michadantom did not actively campaign. North American Republics received 7 votes, Grolsch 4, Goncar 3 and Michadantom 1.

The second half of the term was more active. A new Constitution was proposed by Azerzia. Azerzia stated concerns over the wide variety of amendments when reading the existing Constitution, to the point where only half the original text was still intact. There were also concerns over the different bills of importance scattered around. The new Constitution would combine all of those in one place. Significant debate raged among members of the administration over the finer points of the Constitution, particularly what the relationship between the Delegate and the Ministers was.

The agreed upon new system was that the Cabinet, now defined as the Delegate and Ministers, was the decider of policy. The Delegate was the leader of the Cabinet but needed the individual Ministers for the policy in that Ministry and the Cabinet as a whole for regional policy. The Delegate does maintain some executive initiative under the system, which prevents it from being an executive council, but is bound to the Ministers, making them not a full executive in their own right.

To go along with the Constitutional reforms, new bills were written to modify already existing legislation to adopt changes

Advisory committees were also proposed for the UDLR. The proposal met significant SLU support, and was accepted by the DSAlliance, but no comment was made by the DSAssembly. as it did not go to a vote, it has not been enacted at the time of writing.

Following this, a new election was held for the Delegate. Azerzia stated they would not run and would administer the election. The candidates were Millyland and Eggy216. Millyland used easily readable pamphlets for his campaign, going over his experience and goals. He stated interested in gaining more recruiters for Immigration, overhauling Mentorship, expanding Roleplay, and increasing activity in Foreign Affairs, including the UDLR and embassies.

Eggy216 used moving images to draw attention to particular sections and gain ideas. He ran on a similar platform, although not as detailed except in Foreign Affairs. Eggy216 went into more depth on that matter.

Following voting, Millyland won 11-8 with 1 abstention. New, detailed demographic graphs were created to give more information about electoral results.

The Millylandish Constitutional Period (12 August 2012 to 11 November 2012)

Major events occurred within the first two weeks of Millyland's election. Several states not meeting requirement poured into the region during the shift, likely hoping to take advantage. The region also gained several states, arguably trolls, attempting to convert the region to Conservatism. It was one of the first times the NS moderators had to get involved in the region in order to maintain order. It also saw the creation of several regional organizations, including banks, law firms and a defender organization.

The region also became featured for the first time and became the 20th most populous region in NationStates.

The Grolschian Constitutional Period (12 November 2012 - 22 May 2013)

Grolsch pledged to reform the judiciary, revitalize role-play, and help increase recruiting. He defeated Bonaria 69% to 31%. Under his term, the position of Public Prosecutor was created to prosecute states not in compliance with the SLU's laws. Also, the Regional Honors and Awards Act was passed and Cemaes and Mare Nectaris were awarded the Order of the Dove and the Rose. The Electoral Reform Act was also passed which codifies election procedures. The first time this act went into effect was the Delegate Election of February 2013. In it, member state Ceni ran against him and lost 67% to 33% with a voter turnout of 21 voters, one of the highest ever. Also going into effect in this election was E-2, which provided for parliamentary review of election telegrams. The only person who was affected by this was Ceni, who sent out a massive telegram campaign to solicit votes. During his new term, a Governmental Reorganization Act, reorganizing the government and getting rid of the Ministry of Defense, was passed. A milestone was reached when Ceni was elected to Speaker of the Union, the first time someone not from the Old Guard was elected. The second half of the term was marred by computer issues of the delegate, who chose not to run in the next elections, scheduled for May 2013.

The Second Eggic Constitutional Period (22 May 2013 - 12 October 2013)

-To be Finished-

The Feeblish/Marinarian Constitutional Period (22 May 2013 - 12 February 2014)

-To be Finished-

The Avaerilonian Constitutional Period (12 February 2014 - 11 November 2014)

-To be Finished-

(Temporary note by Avaerilon- Could someone else please do this? I don;t think it'd be fair to write an account of my own delegacy)

The Anaaxese Constitutional Period (12 November 2014 - August 2015)

-To be Finished-

The Northern Inertian Constitutional Period (August 2015 - January 2016)

-To be Finished-

The Mons Garlean Constitutional Period (January 2016 - March 2017)

-To be Finished-

The Austeren Constitutional Period (March 2017 - Present)

-To be Finished-

Embassies

1. Democratic Socialist Assembly

2. A Liberal Haven

3. International Democratic Union

4. Versutian Federation

5. Labour and Socialist International

Current Administration

Speaker of the Union: Anaaxes

World Assembly Delegate: Courelli

Minister of Domestic Affairs: New Ireland and Wales

Minister of Foreign Affairs: Freeland Newworldia

Minister of Immigration: Hirematia

Deputy Minister of Domestic Affairs: Vacant

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs: Harndon

Deputy Minister of Immigration: Normandy and Picardy

Past Positions

World Assembly Delegate:

Eggy216: 2 January 2011(Less then one day)

Tennisplayers: 2 January 2011 - 17 January 2011

Ainland: 17 January 2011 (Less then one day)

Teshuva: 17 January 2011 - February 20 2011

The Floridian Coast: 21 February 2011 - 20 March 2011

1. Eggy216: 21 March 2011 - 11 February 2012

2. Azerzia: 12 February 2012 - 11 August 2012

3. Millyland: 12 August 2012 - 14 November 2012

4. Grolsch: 15 November 2012 - 22 May 2013

5. Eggy216: 22 May 2013 - 12 October 2013

6. Marinar/Feebland: 12 October 2013 - 12 February 2014

7. Avaerilon: 12 February 2014- 11 November 2014

8. Anaaxes: 12 November 2014- Present

N.B. Italic text denotes delegatory nations prior to formal constitutional periods

Speaker of the Union:

1. Azerzia: 29 September 2011 - 2 January 2012 (ad interim: 3 January 2012 to 28 March 2012)

2. Michutopia: 29 March 2012 - 28 June 2012

3. North American Republics: 29 June 2012 - 14 February 2013 (ad interim: 15 February 2013 to 15 March 2013)

5. Ceni: 16 March 2013 - 27 February 2014

6. United Democracy of Scientists: 27 February 2014 - 3 August 2014

7. North American Republics: 3 August 2014 - Present

Regional Map

The SLU's regional map features numerous SLU nations who have requested to appear on the map. The original regional map was created by Michutopia using Adobe Photoshop on the 15th August, 2011, before being updated by North American Republics on the 18th of December that year, after Michutopia became inactive. The new map included, for the first time, different water depths. From the 22nd of February, 2012, Avaerilon updated the map.

On 5th May, 2012, Avaerilon released a new regional map, created using Microsoft Paint and Paint.NET. The higher-resolution map featured topographical features such as rivers, mountains and different kinds of woodland. Notably, nations were given a more realistic look, distinguishing them from the more basic polygons of the previous map. Cities were also featured. As of 27th February, 2014, the hosting is provided by Imgur. Avaerilon remains in-charge of adding new nations who request a place to the map.