Meta Constitution
===
###### Adopted 2022-03-09

### Article 1 - Constitutional Supremacy
1. This constitution governs the entirety of the Republic of Testudinia Discord Server
2. This document is supreme to all other documents both meta and canon, including any Act of Parliament and any canon constitution.

### Article 2 - Amendment
1. Any server member may propose an amendment to the meta constitution.
2. Amendments must be debated by the server for a period of at least 4 days before going to a meta vote.
3. Minor edits to the Constitution, such as changes to spelling or grammatical errors that do not change the intent of the Constitution may be made by the President without a meta vote.
4. During the consideration period for an amendment, the author of the proposal may make minor modifications to the initial proposal as is needed.
5. When an amendment goes to vote, it must achieve either a two-thirds majority OR a majority of all server members in order to pass.
6. Minor edits to the constitution to address grammatical and spelling errors may be made by the President without a vote, and the President must notify the server when this takes place.

### Article 3 - Members
1. A Server Member is a human member of the discord server.
2. A Player Character (PC) is a server member who is actively participating in the server as a Member of Parliament (ie not the President). Server members who are inactive for a period of thirty days will cease to be considered PCs, until such a time that they become active again.
3. A Member of Parliament (MP) is a PC or NPC who is, within the universe, a member of the Testudian parliament.

### Article 4 - Meta Votes
1. A Meta Vote is any vote that has a meaningful impact on the operation of the server.
2. All server members are eligible to participate in meta votes
3. A meta vote is to be operated by the President, with the exception of a vote of no confidence against the President, which will be conducted by the most senior Moderator.
4. Server members will debate any meta issues for a period of at least twenty-four hours.
5. Meta votes will last at least twenty-four hours and no more than seventy-two hours.
6. Meta votes will be conducted with a secret ballot.
7. During the duration of meta votes, no-one is permitted to knowingly and actively attempt to direct another person to vote a certain way, beyond discussion of the vote or information that it is ongoing.

### Article 5 - Canon Votes
1. A canon vote is any vote that takes place within the universe, among the Members of Parliament.
2. A canon vote is to be operated by the President.
3. Canon votes will last at least six hours and no more than seventy-two hours
4. Canon votes will be conducted with a public ballot.
5. Each PC is allowed to cast their vote however they like. (This rule does not however protect the member from retribution from their Party.)
6. Proxy votes for PCs are not allowed.
7. NPC votes will be attributed automatically according to how the PCs of each party vote.
1. If all PCs of a party vote for one option all of the NPC votes of that party will be attributed to that option.
2. If PCs of a party are divided among several options the votes of NPCs will be apportioned among such options according to a formula promulgated by the President.

### Article 6 - President
1. The President shall have supreme authority over all decisions made within the server, including questions of canonicity as well as actions taken in meta.
2. The President is not a Member of Parliament and may not be a member of any political party.
3. The President must be a moderator with full permissions on the Discord server.
4. Upon the President’s resignation or removal, any server member may nominate a replacement.
1. If there is only one nominee, they will advance to a vote of confidence which requires a two-thirds majority to pass.
2. If there are multiple nominees, an election using approval voting will be used to select one nominee, who will then advance to a vote of confidence which requires a two-thirds majority to pass.
4. If a nominee fails the vote of confidence threshold, the process will start anew.
5. The President may designate an Acting President to perform the duties of the President for up to two weeks.
6. When the office of President is vacant, the most senior Moderator is Acting President.

### Article 7 - Moderation Team
1. The Moderation Team consists of the President and any other Moderators appointed by the President.
2. All server members are eligible to be Moderators with the exception of Party Leaders (including the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition).
3. Moderators appointed by the President must be confirmed via a meta vote with a simple majority.
4. The Moderation Team will consider punishments, as well as maintain peace within the server.

### Article 8 - Removal of Team Members
1. The President and Moderators may resign.
2. The President may dismiss any Moderator.
3. Votes of no confidence may be brought against the President or an individual Moderator.
1. a petition must be presented to the Moderators which outlines the justification for the vote of no confidence, as well as the signatures of at least two community members.
2. Server members will debate the vote of no confidence for a period of at least four days. The President may participate in this debate.
3. After the debate, a vote will be taken. A simple majority of members voting is required retain confidence.

### Article 9 - Political Parties
1. A political party, or a party, is a formal grouping of PCs working together to achieve similar policy goals.
2. Parties are self governing and may determine their own internal structure, but each party must have a Leader, or equivalent, elected by and responsible to the members of the party.
3. A PC may be a member of a single party at a time. Parties have control over their own membership and may expel members.
4. In order to form a new political party, a group must meet the following requirements:
1. An acceptable name.
2. At least three members.
3. A brief manifesto outlining a distinct policy platform.
5. New parties may be refused for any of the following:
1. Excessive similarity to an existing political party.
2. Offensive, satirical or otherwise inappropriate nature.
6. Parties may be dissolved for repeated violations of community rules, inactivity, or for any other valid reasoning.
7. Party manifestos and governing documents must be publicly available.
8. No parties may be created or continue to exist that bring the server into serious disrepute or are used simply as a front for offensive mockery, casual bigotry or being toxic, abrasive, or creating a hostile environment in general. Parties may have inflammatory positions, but inflammatory positions should not be the purpose of any party.

### Article 10 - Elections
1. Elections determine the relative strength of each party in Parliament by awarding a number of NPC Members of Parliament to each party.
2. Elections will be called by the Presdient.
3. A General Election must be held between five and ten weeks after the previous election.
1. At one weeks’ notice must be provided before a General Election.
2. An early election may be held if Parliament passes a bill calling for one.
4. All political parties are required to submit a manifesto which details their policies for the next Parliament.
5. Campaign posts may not plagiarise other campaign posts from any government simulation.
6. Elections are simulated using dice rolls.
1. Each PC contributes 2d20 to their party. All of a party’s dice are rolled and summed to determine the party’s “vote total”.
2. Twice as many NPCs are created as there are PCs at the time of the election.
3. NPCs are apportioned to each party in proportion to their vote total using the Webster/Sainte-Lague version of the highest averages method, taking into account each PC for each party’s seat total.
7. After every election, the President will release the results of the election.

### Article 11 - Government
1. After the release of the election results, there will be a period no longer than seven days for the formation of a government.
2. If a party or coalition can demonstrate to the President that they have the confidence of the Parliament, then the President may invite them to form a government and appoint the Leader as Prime Minister. The Prime Minister will then be responsible for appointing Ministers to the Cabinet.
3. If no party or coalition has majority support in the Parliament, then the President may invite the largest party or coalition to form a minority government.
4. If no government can be formed in the seven days, another election must be held.
5. If at any time during the parliamentary term the government is dissolved, then a new government may be formed within a seven day period as above.

### Article 12 - Opposition
After the formation of the government, the next largest party or coalition will form the Official Opposition.
The leader of this party or coalition shall be appointed the Leader of the Opposition and they will form a Shadow Cabinet composed of Shadow Ministers. Shadow Cabinet positions must correspond with positions in the government’s Cabinet.
If at any time during the parliamentary term the Official Opposition is dissolved or another party or coalition becomes larger than the Official Opposition, a new Official Opposition may be formed.

### Article 13 - Motions of No Confidence
Any leader of an Opposition party, including but not limited to the Leader of the Opposition, can present a vote of no confidence against the Government.
If more than fifty percent of the votes cast are against the government, then the President will invite the Leader of the Opposition to form a government; however, formation of a new government is not limited to the Official Opposition.