Curial Overhaul 66

Overview

On a dark summer night the Hex quietly and cleverly drafted a new plan for the Curia, changing it forever. However, it was posted by Hader and as such he's seen as the mastermind, backed up by his numerous posts in the thread and his continuous involvement in the Curia post the implementation of the amendment, going so far as to running as Consul. The reactions and reception of the amendment was largely mixed, though after several changes and long debilitation ended up passing with a majority of 19 to 5. The opposition was vocal and firm in their belief, though they could not stop the majority from passing it.

For an in-depth look at the discussion around the proposal, the reaction, controversy and changes it is highly recommended to take a look at the original proposal thread, but the end draft and latest result will be summed up below.

The First bit: On moderation

The Curia had in the past been largely self-regulated and moderated, but past controversy and citizen referrals deemed that the Curia must be brought in line with the rest of TWC, and have moderation enforced in equal measure. However, the Curia is in part its own elitist society, and thus will have the privilege in electing its own moderators, namely the Praefectus. They replaced the Censors role of handling Citizen referrals, with the added responsibility of moderating the Curia proper. The Praefectus cannot hold another Curial office at the same time, and they are led by a Praefectus Primus, who must have had previous moderation experience either as a Global Moderator,a Tribune or Magistrate.

The Second bit: On referrals

Citizen referrals would now be handled by the Praefects, with the Consul taking no active part in them. The referral could be in private, or in public as per the Ostrakon amendment, which was partially adapted into the overhaul. Any infraction instilled on a citizen will also lead to a referral, as they are supposed to show a higher standard than regular forum users.

The Third bit: On Censors and the Curators assistants

Seeing as the role of the Censor would fall obsolete should the amendment pass due to the introduction of the Praefectus, the Consuls assistants would instead take over the name and badge. In the past, the assistant sported the same badge and usergroup as the Consul proper, but this has been changed. They will be selected by the Consul, and help in the day-to-day administration of the Curia

The Fourth bit: The Grand Opening of The Prothalmos

The Prothalmos was the dedicated subforum for all citizens to propose and discuss amendments, award suggestions and any proposals a Citizen may have. This was seen as one of the major privileges of the citizen to have, but as times changed the Hex deemed it needed change. While this as a stand-alone amendment had been rejected several times in the past, incorporating this into the overall amendment meant it stood a greater chance of being implemented. Thus, it was decreed that it should be open for all members of TWC to both start threads and post in. However, the Citizens would still hold some form of power, as they would still hold exclusive voting rights on anything coming out of the Prothalmos.

Thus it was moved out of the Curia and into the Site Administration subforum, where every registered TWC could actively participate, though it still technically stands under the Curia, and as such the jurisdiction of the Praefectus. The reasoning behind the opening was to further facilitate normal users interest in becoming citizens, and as such breaking down this one boundary would ease the flow and invoke some active interest in site contribution, making citizenship meaningful to not just the members but the site as a whole.

The Fifth bit: Consul Cleanup

The fifth part of the amendment clarified the role of the Consul as primarily being that of a caretaker of the Curia, a local moderator. They are responsible for managing the day-to-day affairs, such as making polls, archiving and closing threads, running elections and keeping the annals of elections. Actual moderation was to be left up to the Praefectus. This was perhaps the simplest bit.

The Seventh Bit: Reshuffling the Forum (More specifically the relevant bits of it)

This one was short and simple, but necessary, so this bit is copied straight out of the amendment.

"The Capitol" Category Renamed to "Site Administration"

-->Curia -->Prothalamos (because you're going to let this whole thing pass so this part happens...right?) -->Questions and Suggestions -->Infraction Appeals and Discussion -->Official TWC Store -->TWC Cemetery

End copypaste.

The bit were we talk about what happened afterwards

The Sixth Bit: Staff liasions

As you might have noticed, there was a seventh bit and not a sixth bit in the original revised amendment. This was due to the discussion leading to the exclusion of the sixth bit, but the addition of a seventh, new one. For clarity one therefore includes the seventh bit as part of the sixth-bid-bit, and the sixth bid as a seventh not included option. It all just makes sense.

The main idea behind this was for people, not just citizens to get an idea of what that specific staff branch did, and perhaps use it as a warm-up to join it in the future. However, it was deemed too rough and separate from the main overhaul, and was thus dropped. For the specifics, see the post #3 in the thread. The main idea behind the drop of this bit was that this bit stood quite different from the main bits included in the overhaul. While the five original bits and the seventh bit included as the sixth bit directly involved the Curia, the sixth bit was deemed as worthy of its own proposal. It was judged too different and met quite the resistance, and therefore to save the bigger picture this bit was dropped.

The Ironic Bit

The Curia has always prided itself in being an almost independent body, operating on its own terms with its own laws and moderation. However, soon after the Overhaul was implemented, Hader, the renowned Curia-disliking-want-nothing-to-do-with-it Hex stood for election as Consul. He won the election

Next term he stood again, and won.

Thrice.