International Democratic Union

International Democratic Union IDU
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: Justice, environment, industry, education
Administrative capital	Democracity
Type	Political Region
Membership	170
Leaders
• WA Delegate	Laeral
• Vice Delegate	Bears Armed
• IDUSA Speaker	Laucenoiria
Establishment	25 July 2004
Population
• 2018 estimate	1,256,560,000,000
GDP (nominal)	2018 estimate
• Per capita	27,245.28
Website www.theidu.us/forum/

The International Democratic Union (abbreviated IDU) is a democratic and peaceful region, historically active in United Nations and later World Assembly politics. The region is currently host to several UN/WA resolution writers. The IDU is governed by its fundamental values along with an election charter. Delegate elections are held every three months. The current Delegate is Laeral.

Geographically, the region is located on a large, diverse landmass, occupying a planet from around 20°N to around 55°N, although the lines of latitude and longitude don't end up being straight in practice, due to the effects of fractal reality interference on normal reality. The IDU is also host to a number of flora and fauna, most of which thrive in the stunning environments of the majority of the region.

The region has a reputation for being more liberal than others, despite not endorsing this ideology officially. This is possibly due to the oft-correlation between beliefs in high social freedom, high political freedom, and, to a lesser extent, low economic freedom.

Government

The International Democratic Union is governed primarily by its fundamental values and then by its short formal election charter for its top two officials.

Fundamental values

The IDU stands for democracy.

No delegate will ban without a regional vote. No delegate will cast his WA vote without a regional vote. No interregional alliances will be forged without a regional vote. The WA Delegate's vote breaks a tie.

The IDU stands for a powerful WA.

Recruitment campaigns will be run in the Pacifics. WA non-members are welcomed but encouraged to join the WA. WA members are strongly encouraged to endorse the elected delegate. WA members are encouraged to draft and assist with proposals, as well as to participate in discussions in either or both of our WA forums. The Delegate is encouraged to read the current proposals and approve those deemed worthy of WA attention. With each proposal that reaches quorum, a regional vote will be taken and if the necessary quorum (of three nations in addition to the Delegate) is reached then the Delegate will vote in accordance with the will of the people.

The IDU stands for balance between individual freedom and national sovereignty.

Nothing aside from compliance with the IDU Constitution will be required of any individual nation. Our team of WA writers will strive as much as possible to keep our proposals from infringing upon national sovereignty. However, most nations in our region value the individual freedom of a nation's citizen higher than national or international rules. As long as no harm is done, people should be free to develop themselves as free, happy and productive citizens in their society.

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. 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 inference from the state, and also the right to govern without interference from the church.

Regional officials

The region is currently debating the structure of its regional government. See Internal politics for more detail. Below are the current regional offices.

WA Delegate, currently Laeral

Elected within the region to serve as WA Delegate at the NS World Assembly and prime minister of the region for three months. Responsible for WA discussions, approving worthwhile proposals, keeping WA contacts and upholding the values of the IDU within the region.

WA Vice-Delegate, currently Bears Armed

Elected within the region (as the runner up to the WA Delegate election), or appointed by the delegate if there is no other candidates, and holding only one fewer endorsement than the WA Delegate. Responsible for assisting the Delegate and taking over as Acting Delegate when necessary.

Politics

World Assembly politics

The IDU has a large proportion of members active in the World Assembly, and its members authored almost 8 percent of all passed resolutions from the old UN prior to its collapse. Proposals adopted as UN and WA resolutions that were written by IDU nations are:

UN

Feb 2004 Ballast Water Mikitivity Jul 2004 Tracking Near Earth Objects Mikitivity Jul 2004 Refugee Protection Act Xtraordinary Gentlemen Jul 2004 Needle Sharing Prevention Mikitivity Sep 2004 Habeas Corpus Enn Oct 2004 Good Samaritan Laws Mikitivity Jan 2005 Tsunami Warning System Grosseschnauzer Feb 2005 Sex Industry Worker Act Groot Gouda Apr 2005 Natural Disaster Act Groot Gouda Aug 2005 Mitigation of Large Reservoirs Mikitivity Sep 2005 Labeling Standards Antrium Dec 2005 Repeal "Right to Divorce" Fonzoland Jan 2006 Repeal "Save the forests of the World" Fonzoland Mar 2006 The Right to Form Unions Groot Gouda Mar 2006 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act Franxico Apr 2006 Waste Disposal Covenant Fonzoland May 2006 UN Patent Law Ceorana Jun 2006 UN Copyright Convention Ceorana Oct 2006 Freedom of Assembly Mikitivity

WA

May 2008 Humanitarian Transport Mikitivity May 2010 Responsible Offshore Drilling Embolalia Aug 2010 Clean Water Act Embolalia

UN/WA organizations

Historically, the IDU has been home to many members of the United Nations Old Guard, with Mikitivity, Groot Gouda, Grosseschnauzer, Fonzoland, Ceorana and Enn all having membership in the organization at one time. However, Mikitivity has since left the organization, Grosseschnauzer and Groot Gouda stopped being active in it, Enn left the region, and Ceorana and Fonzoland ceased to exist altogether.

External politics

The IDU has historically concluded alliances with, befriended or exchanged embassies with:

Avengers Assemble Allied Union of Nations European Union Free States of Gaia Futaba Aoi Lazarus Legion of Unrestricted Democracy Nederland RED SOX NATION The North Pacific The West Pacific

Internal politics

As a region devoted to promoting democratic rule, the top IDU official, the WA Delegate, is democratically elected by member states to serve three month terms.

In each of February, May, August and November, IDU members vote to decide which member nation will become UN Delegate. The runner up becomes the Vice Delegate. Only nations that have been members of the IDU for two weeks and are currently WA members are eligible for the WA delegacy position. The results of the election are monitored by an appointed Election Commission. The election is limited to IDU WA members only. See the IDU Library for the current election charter.

All WA members must endorse the WA Delegate and Vice Delegate so that the IDU may defend against non-native raiders, although this need has become much less pronounced with the reactivation of the IDU's founder, The IDU. The Vice Delegate holds only one fewer endorsement than the UN Delegate in theory (although in practice he generally holds quite a few less), and may assist the Delegate and take over as Acting Delegate when the Delegate is unable or unwilling, in times of inactivity or crisis, to fulfill the responsibilities of the office.

Other officials have been elected or appointed with much less formality as the need arises and people have shown interest in creating or appropriating jobs for themselves.

IDU Council

In January of 2007, the IDU approved a document which created a non-mandatory regional organization. The charter, which can be found here, defined it's purpose as "...heightening regional cooperation, improving life in our respective nations, presenting a united but diversified front to the world, and for other generally good purposes.."

However, a cumbersome voting and election process caused the Council to fail. Efforts are currently underway to re-found the council.

Roleplaying

A fictitious political map portraying the homeland of many IDU nations has been drawn to facilitate political roleplaying purposes within the region. One creative application arising from this bit of cartography has been the dramatization and solution to the concept of failed states (NS nations that become so inactive so as to be removed from the game temporarily).

The region has hosted a few regional festivals and events in support of roleplaying. The following is a list of previous IDU sponsored events:

IDU Cheese Festival IDU Sister City Program

History

The International Democratic Union (IDU) was founded on July 25, 2004 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 prominent members and even some completely random members. At the time of the IDU's founding, the North Pacific banlist 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 were unique to the feeders.

By the spring of 2005, the size of the IDU had settled to about 17 nations. Over the next several months, it climbed slowly but steadily and has plateaued at about 70 member nations since then. For a list of former members which have gone extinct or emigrated, see Former IDU members.

In honour of the founding of the IDU, many member nations have declared the anniversary of the region's founding a public holiday, Democracy Day.

Media

There are a number of news services in the International Democratic Union. Though most of these services tend to focus more on the nations from which they are headquarters, many of these sources cooperate with other IDU media services covering news for other nations in the IDU.

Events

The IDU is a very active region that often has special events for its members. The largest holiday in the IDU is Democracy Day, a celebration of the region's independence. Celebrations are held throughout the region, as most IDU nations consider it a national holiday.

The IDU also holds the IDU Football Championship each September, which are often great successes. This tournament brought citizens from all over the region together to enjoy some exciting games of football.

Another popular event is the International Democratic Union Cheese Festival, where nations enter their most popular specialty cheeses and cheese-related products to be judged. Nations from outside the region can enter the "Best Imported Cheese" category.