Delegate Griffindor and the Goblet of Cake Frosting (A Reelection Thread)

Elections Archive
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“The Tri-Dessert Tournament was first established some two decades ago as a friendly competition between the three largest dessert factions: Cake, Pie, and Ice Cream. A champion was selected to represent each faction, and the three champions competed in a dessert-eating competition … it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between the factions — until, that is, the death toll [from the pie faction poisoning the cake faction] mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued. There have been several attempts over the years to reinstate the tournament, none of which has been very successful. However, our own Delegate of the South Pacific has decided the time is ripe for another attempt…”

Part of the Start of Term Feast, as given by Professor Griffindore :mage: in:
Max Barry’s: Delegate Griffindor and the Goblet of Cake Frosting :magic_wand:

Greetings, my fellow South Pacificans,

We are approaching the end of my third term in office as your Delegate of the South Pacific, and boy, it’s been a wild ride. :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake:

My time in office has broadly been defined by navigating the NS-wide decline in endorsements associated with the general decrease in players and the formation of frontier regions. In recent months, it’s been about maintaining and stabilizing the regional base now that the decline appears to have bottomed out. All this time, one thing has remained consistent: The popularity of cake continues to grow and is unquestioning.

At the end of my last term, I said I had no new plans other than maintaining the agenda I had campaigned on before my first term and implemented across the terms. Let’s find out where I stand on that. I will also provide my plans for the upcoming term:

On Endorsements:

I have slightly fewer endorsements now than when I did at the last elections, but they have been stable in this range (+/- 10) since that time. The WA ratio has also remained steady at ~82%, confirming stability despite temporary peaks and troughs in endorsement levels.

On Moderation (and other uses of my powers):

I have continued to assist as needed on RMB moderation and have promptly acted when ordered to by other bodies within the region.

Telegrams:

I have gotten onto a consistent 14-day schedule for releasing fortnightly telegrams. During the first two terms, it was honestly something I would forget to do or think of as a chore to complete, but I have come actually to enjoy it. I intend to stick to the schedule and keep it as an enjoyable activity. Additionally, I will redouble my efforts to ensure that the content that goes out is accurate (proper names/roles) and also is accurate as to what actually happens in the region.

On WA Matters:
I have largely remained silent on WA matters and allowed OWL to issue their recommendations as they see fit, whether it is a preemptive order to vote or an order hours/days after the vote opened. I also ceased granting all discretionary approvals on proposals.

This term, I would like to once again be a bit more hands-on with WA Voting. I’ve noticed that in WA Votes, where I vote later (due to no OWL order or RL commitments), the side I voted on tended to be the losing side (unless I voted on the currently leading side). As the (current) 10th highest endorsed nation and the second highest endorsed Delegate in NationStates, the South Pacific could have a much more significant influence in votes if the Delegate voted in the opening minutes of all votes. That being said, if elected, I look forward to working out (with OWL and potentially the Assembly) an updated policy to maximize TSP influence in the WA.

Cake
As always, my established positions on cake will be upheld, and I will persecute extend a hand to all non-cake lovers as a show of autocracy goodwill.
:cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake::cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake:

Recruitment:
ProfessorHenn recently started up a new recruitment bot and initiative. I look forward to utilizing the soft power of my position (head of a region) to invite/recruit nations to the South Pacific.

In closing, I firmly believe that I have administered the region faithfully over the last term and will undoubtedly continue to do so in another term if granted one. The region, I would also wager, is more secure now than six months ago and has been consistently improving in security. :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake:

I will now take any questions the Citizenry has for me. But first…

My CoI:
My forum/Discord name is Griffindor, and my only current nation is Ebonhand.

  • I have been in TSP on and off since 2014.
  • I was a Local Council member circa 2016.
  • I was the Chair and Vice-Chair of the APC (did I trigger anyone? :wink: ).
  • I am an Associate Justice on the High Court.
  • I am a member of the Coral Guard.
  • I was elected as Minister of Engagement twice.
  • I am a member of the Citizenship Committee.

The nations Griffin , Griffindor13 , Ebonhand 2 , Ebonhand 3 , Ebonhand 4 , and Ebonhand 5 are/were under my control. I have joint access to Citizenship Committee with the members of the Citizenship Committee.

Other regions:
I was a citizen of Balder from 2018-2020 and was the Lawspeaker/Talman of the Storting/Odelsting (the Chair of their Assembly).

OK! Now for your questions! :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake: :cake:

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The campaign is where you provide your plans for the upcoming term, so voters can decide if they like it or not. What are they?

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It seems to me the only plan you have to change is you becoming more active in the decisions of owl

If you don’t have any new plans you should just step down let someone with new ideas take charge

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“If I secure reelection” is a typo and should not have been included in that sentence. The sentence without the typo says I will share my plans.

My plans for the term are included further down within the campaign thread.

My plan is to continue the practices I have done so far, which I state in my campaign. I also have a new plan to be more involved in OWL to strengthen our regional influence in the WA. From the perspective of good governance, you don’t change practices if they are working as intended.

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And there’s three bids for delegacy, perfect for the Tri-Dessert Tournament, a member of Cakewarts, a member of (Ice)Creamstrang, and a member of of Independbatons.

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No desseauxbatons

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Almost like I planned for three people running :wink:

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Do you have different plans on how to do stuff differently if you do get elected? Or do you have the same plans in place?

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Echoing PRSM’s statement here pretty much ^^
I will still vote for you my cake king!

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Very well, let’s take a look.

How will you ensure this? I’ve never seen a question come my way on any matter concerning me or something I was involved in that went into a telegram. Would you reach out to South Pacificans to get clarifications or information on telegram info?

Can you elaborate how the South Pacific would have a greater influence in the WA if the Delegate voted in the first few minutes?

As an engagement matter and beyond the election, the Assembly should be the primary forum for discussing our WA policy. I hope to see such a discussion happen regardless of the outcome of the election, though.

How do you intend to use the soft power of the Delegate (head of a region) to invite and recruit nations? You’ve been added on as a recruiter, but have not publicly commented on the matter since. Do you intend on recruiting as the Delegate, or as a South Pacifican?

The circle isn’t squared for me here. How do you figure that the region is more secure now than 6 months ago? What improvements to our security have been made?

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I’m not Griff, but I would like to speak a bit on this. In my time as delegate of Wintreath I have seen how important the delegate’s vote is in the WA, and the importance of the big GCR delegate’s votes. In my experience, WA nations will generally vote how their delegate is voting, and if their delegate isn’t voting yet then they’ll mostly vote with the WA majority. If Griff votes early then it guides not only nations in TSP to vote with the delegacy, but also sways nations across NS as a whole. This is especially true when a new resolution goes to vote at minor (as there are more people active at minor than at major), and has its greatest impact here. While voting within a few minutes is great goal, I’d argue Griff should aim to vote within the minute a resolution goes to vote at minor, should his schedule permit.

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This is Griff’s campaign, boss, and this isn’t the first time he’s spoken about the Delegate being more involved in WA affairs in general, not just about voting early on in the horse race. I would rather hear his own thoughts, as it relates to our status as a GCR, with all the fixings that entails.

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By ensuring that when I say “Chair of the Assembly XYZ issued a statement,” I actually mean that and not “Chair of the Assembly ABC issued a statement.”

Because I only write about what takes place in visible public areas. If you want me to confirm with the CoA or the PM that the CoA or PM gave a press release, you are wasting my time and their time. That being said, to ensure the accuracy of what was reported, I take my time and read the threads in question. I report both sides as I understand them, and if I misunderstand, I will issue a correction. To date, there have been only a few of instances over a year and a half where I misreported and had to issue a correction. If I don’t understand what has happened or need clarification, I will certainly reach out to the person in question.

What they said is exactly what I was going to respond. I have no intention of unilaterally deciding our WA positions. What I am campaigning on is being proactive by asking OWL to get me a recommendation before the vote in question starts (or as soon as possible thereafter).

Indeed.

It’s only been 5 days, and we are in the middle of an election. :stuck_out_tongue:
The recruitment Telegram you asked me to make will be drafted in such a way that essentially conveys “ME, the Delegate, personally invites you to TSP since I think you will be an asset to our region”. Who better to butter you up than the “leader” of the region?

If I am not reelected, then I will be a South Pacifican recruiter. But it’s inaccurate to say that I can’t be a South Pacifican AND the Delegate while recruiting, they are not mutually exclusive roles.

We haven’t been in a crisis in-game, it wasn’t that long ago when TNP had a Del-Tip (and they have more security councilors!). As for improvements, we have had gains in the WA ratio relative to the decrease in endorsements during my tenure. In a perfect world, endo counts always go up, but realistically, that’s not possible, as you yourself told me. Instead, the higher the WA ratio of the Delegate, the harder it is for a bad actor to secure nations to overtake the lawfully elected Delegate.

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I am having a hard time reconciling these statements. On the one hand, you indicate that, over the course of your term, there has been a “decline” in regional activity that has now “bottomed out.” On the other hand, you indicate that there is little need to change your approach to the role because things are “working as intended.” If we have seen a consistent decline in regional activity during your tenure, doesn’t that suggest that it would be worth considering a different approach?

Also, this question comes across as more accusatory in text than I mean it to sound. You might well say–No, the decline in activity has been driven by exogenous factors (e.g., frontiers), and it’s not the job (and/or within the authority) of the Delegate to address it. I’m just curious if that is your view.

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I’m not talking about regional activity in this. I’m talking about regional endorsement levels. Endorsements alone are not an huge indicator of overall activity (less we have 500+ citizens, which would be epic!). From my endorsement trends, we appear to be bottoming out from that drop.

The only way we can get endorsement levels back to where they were a couple years ago is to remove frontiers and/or boost recruitment. Since we are unlikely to remove frontiers, we have to boost recruitment, which is something I touched on earlier.

As far as this issue goes, I see it as the Delegate’s job to maximize their endorsements based on the available pool and do what they can to assist with the pools growth (be it recruiting from other regions or getting current nations to join the WA).

Regional activity is driven by the government (Assembly, Executive, Delegate, Etc.) doing things that get drive engagement and average citizens making contributions to it as well.

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That’s fair. I have been reading quickly in hopes of catching up with all of the election happenings and missed your mention of endorsements in this portion of your platform.

That said, I think the question still stands. The Charter makes the Delegate “responsible for . . . promoting growth and activity” in the region. I take it that refers to more than just endorsements. It does seem that regional activity has trailed off in the last few months. These elections are perhaps a welcome reversal of the trend, but it remains to be seen if that will be a long term change. So my question is: given that there has been at least some decline in regional growth and activity, an area for which the Delegate is responsible, do you think that suggests a greater change of approach than is promised in your platform would be worth considering?

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In the literal sense, regional growth can only be obtained by an increase in nations founded in TSP or a more robust recruitment approach bringing nations to TSP from elsewhere. So unless Trump (as an example) name-drops NationStates as the place where he learned how to govern at his inauguration, resulting in an influx of new players, or NationStates announcing the abolishment of frontiers, a more robust recruitment effort (which I have included in my campaign) is needed. Whether I win the election or not, I intend to assist in that effort.

Regarding regional activity, the Delegate (or any other official for that matter) cannot force activity in the region. For instance, I have asked each PM if they would like to have a State of the Coalition address, and since the July 2024 address, there has not been one, because I can’t force action to occur! In that same vein, the mentor program I oversaw before becoming Delegate had activity issues as I couldn’t force mentors to engage with their mentees (and vice versa).

The best thing the Delegate can do is be active and visible and encourage others to do things (such as run for elections). I have most certainly done this with 1) every fortnightly telegram, 2) by participating in debates across all our platforms, 3) being a helpful guide to those asking questions, and 4) encouraging people to run for office, to name just a few.

Thank you for your question!