[2238.AB] Amendment to the Charter, Section IV, Clause 2

[Pronoun]

If the status quo works, why not codify it the way it actually works? After all, we would be taking away the incentive of winning re-election.

[ProfessorHenn]

@Pronoun

If the status quo works, why not codify it the way it actually works?

That would be an option, but it would touch on several acts and the Charter, so it might be better to repackage the whole thing.

[Tmezestos]

Does a Chair have to win an election? It should be a fairly apolitical position - you don’t want them to be making promises they can’t keep to an electorate who don’t understand they can’t keep those promises, or treating political allies better than enemies. If there’s no defined end of term, you should only have people in the position until they become a problem, and it’s not codified as any form of “race”.

[ProfessorHenn]

@Tmezestos

Does a Chair have to win an election?

The Chair has been an elected position for years.

[Tmezestos]

Sorry, I misspoke. Does a Chair have to regularly win elections to continue their legitimacy?

I like this idea. They get voted in, they serve for as long as they feel they should or until voted out. No regular elections held every few months for every role.

[Comfed]

Politicization of the office of the Chair has not been an issue so I am not sure why people are acting as though it is.

[maluhia]

I’d agree with Comfed. Those who run for Chair obviously are invested in the Assembly and don’t care about the politics— they just care about the formatting of discussion and votes. Now, I’m the case where one seems to be unqualified for the position or is obviously not the right choice for the post, we should be smart enough to not vote for. An emphasis on “should be.”

[maluhia]

@Tmezestos

they serve for as long as they feel they should or until voted out. No regular elections held every few months for every role.

Kind of like the Supreme Court of the US, right? And I barely have any faith in that judicial body anymore, mainly because its lack of term limits.

Though these aren’t the same thing, they’re under the same idea: this “serve as long as you want” thing is quite problematic.

[ProfessorHenn]

@maluhia

Though these aren’t the same thing,

Then don’t include them. An IRL judiciary has very little in common with regular elections for the Chair.

@maluhia

this “serve as long as you want” thing is quite problematic.

Why do you find it problematic? Legislators who run for Chair are aware that their role is primarily ceremonial and administrative.

[maluhia]

@ProfessorHenn

Why do you find it problematic? Legislators who run for Chair are aware that their role is primarily ceremonial and administrative.

What about this?

https://tspforums.xyz/thread-10276.html

It makes me laugh every time.

However, if there’s no problem with the office of the Chair being political, what’s the point of this?

[ProfessorHenn]

@maluhia

ABSOLUTE POWER

That’s a campaign for Prime Minister, not Chair.

@maluhia

However, if there’s no problem with the office of the Chair being political, what’s the point of this?

I don’t see a need for a regular election for a position that isn’t political.

[maluhia]

@ProfessorHenn

That’s a campaign for Prime Minister, not Chair

Yeah it is— but an example overall!

[Pronoun]

Genuine question, because I’m not quite following — what point are you trying to make with a joke campaign that didn’t even make the ballot?

[maluhia]

Sure- they didn’t make the ballot. But it’s an example of a, well, different type of campaign!

[Pronoun]

How is that related to whether or not we should hold regular Chair elections?

[ProfessorHenn]

It’s not related, at all.

[maluhia]

It was related to a point I made about candidates running for any political office.

@maluhia

Now, I’m the case where one seems to be unqualified for the position or is obviously not the right choice for the post, we should be smart enough to not vote for. An emphasis on “should be.”

[Pronoun]

I struggle to see the link between “some guy ran a joke campaign once” and “we might vote for someone unqualified.”

[genericsequencealias]

I read a reply from someone about moving this to a complete “(re)packaging” draft; bad idea. However, here are all the currently active laws which mention the Chair:
ChairAll_laws_involving_the_Chair.pdf (19.6 KB)

[ProfessorHenn]

@genericsequencealias

bad idea.

Why do you think so? It was presented as an option, not the end goal of this particular discussion.