[Sober Thought]

The IDU stands for democracy.
No delegate will ban without a regional vote. No delegate will cast his UN vote without a regional vote. No interregional alliances will be forged without a regional vote. The UN Delegate may vote and that vote decides a tie.

The IDU stands for a powerful UN.
Recruitment campaigns will be run in the Pacifics. UN non-members are welcomed but encouraged to join the UN. UN members are encouraged to draft and assist with proposals, as well as to participate in discussions in either or both of our UN forums. The Delegate is encouraged to read the current proposals and approve those deemed worthy of UN attention. With each proposal that reaches quorum, a regional vote will be taken and the Delegate will vote in accordance with the will of the people.

The IDU stands for national sovereignty.
Nothing aside from compliance with the Constitution will be required of any individual nation. Our team of UN writers will strive as much as possible to keep our proposals from infringing upon national sovereignty.

The IDU stands for regional stability and security.
Constructive rather than destructive competition will be the norm. This will insure that whoever holds the Delegacy, they will have the maximum possible number of endorsements, strengthening us against outside attack. Should such an attack occur, the Founder will remove the known invaders as soon as humanly possible. There will be no appeals process for known raiders, they will be regarded as enemies of the state.

The IDU stands for community.
Through this forum and through our internal and external diplomatic relations, we will establish a strong, influential, and vibrant NS community. We will show no hostility to diversity, but rather welcome it with open arms.

The IDU stands for secular government.
We support as a basic human right the right to worship without interence from the state, and also the right to govern without interference from the church.

Brief history of the founding of the IDU
Formerly located at the top of the document

The IDU was founded after a series of raids against The North Pacific. The raiders managed to take the delegacy and mass-ejected many of the region's most valuable members and even some completely random members. At the time of the IDU's founding, the North Pacific ban list contained approximately 150 nations. The vast majority of these were nations who wanted nothing more than a peaceful region where democracy ruled and people were free to play the game without fear of the random banishments that would be illegal in any other region. The current rules unfortunately do not favor that playing style in a Pacific. The IDU is that peaceful, democratic region.

Amendments

This statement was added 9 February 2006 as a new principle:
The IDU stands for secular government. We support as a basic human right the right to worship without interence from the state, and also the right to govern without interference from the church.

This line was added 13 April 2005 to our first principle, but the practice was in force long before it was officially listed:
The UN Delegate may vote and that vote decides a tie.

Originally Posted: Jul 25 2004, 04:34 AM by Xtraordinary Gentlmen, Administrator of the old forum, sometime UN delegate, former active member and sadly now extinct nation.
Group: Admin
Posts: 199
Member No.: 1
Joined: 24-July 04

[Sober Thought]

The IDU Social Contract

The social contract tries to summarise the rights and responsibilities the region owes you and which you owe the region. Like most of the International Democratic Union's official and semi-official documents, this describes the principles of the deeper customary law of our beloved region without excessive legalism, and in fact the contract itself does not have the force of law.

1. Read, support and expect the region to support the fundamental values.
This is our de facto constitution, and describes what we stand for. If you do not share these values, we understand and hope you find a region which does share your values. With roughly fifteen thousand regions, there is plenty of room in NationStates for all opinions and values. By design and custom, the Statement of Fundamental Values is a slowly-evolving living document which has only been amended on two occasions.

2. Read, support and insist the region adhere to the electoral law. (A.k.a. the Charlottenberg clause)
The Election Charter is the most detailed, clear and conventionally legalistic of our important documents. It was written to ensure fairness in the most important exercise of the democratic franchise. Please read it to further your own legitimate political ambitions and electability, and to avoid antagonising your neighbours.

3. Promptly give and receive the appropriate UN endorsements.
The region democratically elects its UN Delegate and UN Vice Delegate (a regional only office not recognised by the game) by regional rather than by strictly game mechanisms. To make invasions or region crashing more difficult, and to demonstrate a commitment to the democratic constitutional order, all UN members are required to endorse the winning candidates. In return for their two UN endorsements, all UN members are guaranteed at least two endorsements from their fellow members. This ensures that all UN members in the region may write and submit their own UN proposals. After the final results of each election are posted, be sure to alter your endorsements accordingly.

4. Participate in such regional institutions and activities as you enjoy.
No member is required to register at the offsite forum, occupy a spot on the regional map, contribute to the services run by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, write encyclopedia articles, roleplay, vote on or discuss regional issues and UN proposals, etc.; however, all members are free to do so. This is one of the ways to enhance one's enjoyment the game, and get to know one's neighbours better. You can also start such new regional institutions and activities as you enjoy and are consistent with the region.

[Sober Thought]

IDU Charter: Choosing the UN Delegate.

For a full history of the charter with previous versions, see Library > Documents and Treaties

1. In the IDU, there shall be bi-monthly elections to elect the UN Delegate. The elections are to be held in the first week of the period (january, march, may, july, september, november). Times and dates in GMT.

2. The elections are supervised by an election commission consisting of the current delegate, the founder, and an independent (preferable non-UN-member or non-candidate) nation, to ensure fair proceedings. The independent member is chosen by the founder and current delegate (everyone is welcome to offer their services).

3. Any UN member in the IDU who has been in the IDU for more than 2 weeks may announce their candidacy and can be voted on. However, no UN delegate is allowed to be the delegate for more than 2 consecutative periods and no more than 4 periods in total per year. There is no limit for Vice Delegate

4. From one week before the election process up until the end of the election process (midnight on the 7th of the month), nations can announce their candidacy and campaign.

5. Campaining can be done in the Important Discussions forum.

6. Each IDU nation who is a UN member has one vote. Non-UN nations are not allowed to vote. The voting procedure is as follows: Each UN members sends his or her vote by Telegram to every member of the election commission. At the end of the voting period, they will each post the results in the form of Candidate: # of votes. In no case shall any result be made public before the end of the elections, on the 7th day of the month 11.59pm GMT.

7. If there is no winner, a second round is held with only the 2 most voted on nations, for a period of 3 days.

8. After the election period has ended, all UN member nations must endorse the winner. The second nation will become the Vice Delegate and should have one endorsement less, preferably not endorsed by the new delegate. That way, the Vice Delegate and UN delegate can easily swap if the UN delegate is temporarily unable to fulfill his duty. All other UN members should have at least one endorsement less than the Vice Delegate, and two less than the UN delegate.
If there is no single candidate second in number of votes, the VD is selected by the elected UN delegate from the UN members who came second. If no other candidates exist, the VD is selected from all UN members.

9. In case of suspected unfair proceedings, misbehaviour by the UN delegate or other good reasons, a call for new elections can be made in the election forum. The last election commission (Founder, previous UN delegate and impartial member) can then at their discretion start a new procedure. In that case, a temporary delegate should be endorsed. In order of preference, this should be either the Vice Delegate, the Founder, the previous UN delegate or the impartial member. In case of mid-term elections, the Election Commission can decide to keep the temporary delegate in place until the time for new elections has come. This doesn't count as a period for rule 3.

10. All important announces, such as the members of the election commission, campaining start, election start and stop and election result should be posted on the IDU regional board and in the IDU forum by one of the members of the election commission, either the Founder, the current UN delegate or the impartial member.