I'm not standing in the upcoming elections, but if I were, I believe the issues that I'd attribute the greatest importance would be as described in the following, imaginary manifesto. I will be using the list as my own personal checklist in finding out my political compatibility with the various factions running for office. I'm posting it here since other citizens might be interested in seeing it, discussing it and possibly using it as a source of inspiration:
[b:3aq0tiy6]The Party of Unity and Justice[/b:3aq0tiy6]
The Republic of Neufreistadt represents the most compelling vision for a virtual, self-governed community in Second Life based on the belief in justice, solidarity and the virtues of democracy, pluralism and constructive endeavours in creativity. The Party of Unity and Justice believes that this vision is best strengthened by emphasising the role of a strong government to preserve unity and maintain a framework of justice in promotion of the continuing evolution of our community.
[b:3aq0tiy6]A. Unity and the representation of sims in the Republic[/b:3aq0tiy6]
[i:3aq0tiy6]1) The Republic should remain a single whole. [/i:3aq0tiy6]
Sim borders are arbitrary borders and should not at the outset be considered to demarkate a seperate community of values or of governance. You choose a sim to live in simply out of a preference for architecture and landscaping and nothing else. The government must therefore abstain from potentially encouraging divisiveness in our community on the basis of the artificial borders constituted by a sim.
Individual sims should not have seperate representation in our legislating body. This will encourage candidates to run on a platform of working for "special/localised interests" rather than for the whole of the community.
That a constituency of 60 people is too large seems implausible. We have already in the current term experienced how difficult it can be from our present constituency to find enough candidates willing to sit in the RA. To start deliberating about subdividing our already small community further is unnecessary and will just add additional administrative overhead to our government. Even in a future community consisting of 5 sims.
[i:3aq0tiy6]2) Self-determination should be granted in those areas that are truly local in nature[/i:3aq0tiy6]
A sim in the republic should be allowed self-determination in those areas which are relevant for its uniqueness: That means the building code, the associated covenants and a government representative charged with developing and enforcing the building code in harmony with his community. This process can also inform him/her about pressing needs that the local development might have in relation to resource allocation and policy decisions of the whole community.
[b:3aq0tiy6]B. Maintaining the integrity of our collective government[/b:3aq0tiy6]
[i:3aq0tiy6]1) Groups in Second Life bestowed with governmental powers need to be actively maintained and their ownership should be managed in a way that alleviates the impact of Linden Lab's headless decision to grant eternal ownership of the group to the original founder regardless of his/her afiliation with or standing within the city.[/i:3aq0tiy6]
As our recent history shows the SL group system is a liability to our desire to enable collective, democratically governed ownership of our mutual resources within the sim. At any time the original founder of a group can contact Linden Labs to request that ownership of the group be given back to him/her alone and noone else. We need to find a way to work around this so that our community can never again be hijacked by individuals with sinister agendas.
[i:3aq0tiy6]2) Rights of intellectual property to any collectively owned content within the sim must be held by the government of Neufreistadt collectively. [/i:3aq0tiy6]
The best way to implement this is to put in place a system of legal, notarised documents to ensure that anyone working for the government to create content does so for a specified compensation in return for granting the government rights of ownership and usage of this content.
[i:3aq0tiy6]3) The expansion into a second sim should be designed especially to address the question of how to finance the development of the sim's particular theme and how to ensure that the government holds ownership over it[/i:3aq0tiy6]
As our recent history has shown us it is of vital importance that the development of a sim is planned in a way that devotes ample consideration to the questions of financing, ownership and development. In order for our new sim (Colonia Nova) to appear as an attractive, themed community it is necessary for us to perform a certain amount of development of the sim in advance. This development should be financed in a way that does not give any outside party any undue influence or ownership over the development of our community.
We propose that artisans be commissioned to produce a certain amount of templates and public buildings and that they be compensated partially in cash and partially in being honoured as being among the founders of the new community - possibly through time-limited discounts on land fees for shops in a central location at the new sim. Furthermore, citizen's bonds could be issued as a way to raise money for the sim. Alternatively, we might look into investing some of the current reserves that the Treasury holds or involving some of our financial institutions in the financing.
[b:3aq0tiy6]C. Justice and the role of the Scientific Council[/b:3aq0tiy6]
[i:3aq0tiy6]1) The SC should be an independent and impartial entity with the power to review the decision of any government body that affects the interests of a citizen[/i:3aq0tiy6]
As individual members of the SC do not have a democratic mandate tThe SC as an institution should not become an active "political player" and must therefore only initiate proceedings and possibly intervene at the request of one or more plaintiffs.
In order for the SC to be able to check the power of the other branches it should continue to be endowed with the power to review every decision made by a government official that affects a citizen using the Constitution as its legal and ethical foundation.
To remain independent and not need to seek "political goodwill or reward" the members of the SC should not have the renewal of their terms be dependent on the acceptance of other branches of government.
[i:3aq0tiy6]2) Since the Constitution is the most important constraint on the exercise of the powers of the SC, the SC should have its powers to restrict modification of the Constitution constrained or kept in check by another entity - preferably the people[/i:3aq0tiy6]
[i:3aq0tiy6]3) Impeachment is too blunt and stigmatising an instrument to be used in our community for anything but the most gross illegality and incompetence - it is therefore not useful in cases of disagreement in substance between branches of government. A seperate procedure is needed.[/i:3aq0tiy6]
[i:3aq0tiy6]4) In the interpretation of the meaning of specific clauses in the Constitution or any other acts the Scientific Council will only take into account the actual wording of the legislation plus any other statements made at the time when the bill was proposed. [/i:3aq0tiy6]
An author of an act or a legal document cannot claim any kind of special ability to interpret the meaning of a passage in the constitution or any other legislation that he or she wrote originally. It is rather obvious that if this privilege be granted to authors of legislation they remain free to re-interpret the wording of the bill in the indefinite future to promote their own interests. This has been attempted already. If the intention of a bill has not been made clear at the point of presentation before the RA then it was not present and the SC must interpret it accordingly.
[i:3aq0tiy6]5) The Constitution should embody the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as adapted to our special circumstances.[/i:3aq0tiy6]
Granted - "special circumstances" is what every government of the world appeals to in trying to explain why a specific provision of the UDHR does not apply to them in this very unique case and most often the argument rings hollow. However, it is important to acknowledge that Neufreistadt does not have an RL government and that it is not part of the RL world. When the UDHR was written there was no anticipation of the possibility for people to fly, to evade imprisonment by being able to teleport home or by logging off. There was no anticipation of the possibility for criminals to evade sanctions being imposed on them by creating and using alts. Similarly, there was no expectation that countries with "micro economies" could arise as sustainable entities with government officials working in a voluntary capacity. In embodying the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in our Constitution it is therefore the view of the Party of Justice and Unity that the Republic of Neufreistadt should apply its unique experience with the workings of a virtual government to adapt these principles to be workable for such special circumstances yet striving to keep loyal to the original spirit and intention of the declaration. A special committee under the auspices of the Scientific Council should be established for the purpose of going through the UDHR and annotating the articles with special interpretations and adaptations to cater for the special circumstances of a virtual country. The annotations should result in a seperate catalogue that should be referenced in the Constitution by way of an amendment passed by the RA.
[b:3aq0tiy6]D. Foreign policy and the Confederation[/b:3aq0tiy6]
[i:3aq0tiy6]1) The Confederation of Democratic Sims should be a forum for cooperation and a way to leverage the idea of democracy in SL[/i:3aq0tiy6]
There is no future in a bureaucratic superstructure that acts as a restricting "world government". Instead our confederation should be an open forum based on voluntary participation that enables its members to cooperate on joint initiatives and achieve leverage in areas that are important to them. Specifically, the development of land management tools, governance tools and addressing our needs vis a vis Linden Lab are areas where cooperation would be fruitful.
[i:3aq0tiy6]2) The Confederation should be open to democratically governed, territorially based communities in SL[/i:3aq0tiy6]
Since the Confederation will be basing its mission on the idea of promoting and promulgating self-governance and democracy it will be one of its most important tasks to define the requirements of what constitutes a democracy in SL. Mechanisms for including and excluding members should be predominantly based on objectively verifiable criteria rather than for example criteria based on politics, voting and majority.
[i:3aq0tiy6]3) As a true confederation the CDS should not have any power to enforce decisions on individual members[/i:3aq0tiy6]
[i:3aq0tiy6]4) The Republic of Neufreistadt and Colonia Nova and any future sims added to our Republic (or "Neufreistadt and provinces") should join the CDS as a single whole[/i:3aq0tiy6]
[b:3aq0tiy6]E. Neufreistadt as a living community[/b:3aq0tiy6]
[i:3aq0tiy6]1) Our Government needs to do more than talk and take decisions - it must act![/i:3aq0tiy6]
An active - and proactive - government can play a strong facilitatory role in stimulating a prospering community and a vibrant city life. At present the role emphasised by most branches of government is one where discussion is undertaken and decisions are made. We need to incorporate better into this vision of a government the ability to act
on these decisions and carry them through to the goal has been achieved. This means that we need to devote more resources to developing a tier of government officials that are independent of the political leadership of the government branches. These officials should be salaried and employed with explicit goals to be accomplished within delimited periods of time. Members of the leadership of government should not carry out duties as officials of the government if it is not absolutely necessary.
[i:3aq0tiy6]2) Our non-governmental institutions should be supported by the city[/i:3aq0tiy6]
A dedicated amount of money and other resources should be set aside every term in a foundation to be distributed among non-governmental institutions of Neufreistadt on the basis of proposals submitted specifying how the initiatives contained in the proposal will contribute to making Neufreistadt a more vibrant community.
[i:3aq0tiy6]3) Our covenants must be flexible, transparent and enforced[/i:3aq0tiy6]
One of our greatest attractions compared to the mainland is our ability to offer to prospective residents and citizens co-determination with respect to their immediate visual environment. Our covenants are the mechanism by which we ensure this possibility. However, the current covenants appear to be rigid, not enforced and certainly not based on an ongoing discourse founded on the local environment. It should be one of the primary concerns of our government to put in place a mechanism that enables local communities to come together and agree on how to balance the three concerns of flexibility, transparence and enforcement in their particular covenants. A key task for central government in this regard will be to provide support in the form of tools and resources to facilitate this process.
