User:Simetrical/Constitutional draft

Preamble

This document exists to define the roles of the bodies that run and govern this site and community. The guiding principle of the site is to be that barring technical or fiscal obstacles, any considered mandate from the appropriate legislative body of contributing members will be implemented by the administrators.

The Executive

The Executive is composed of the Council Officers and other Staff Officers who run the Site.

The Council

The Council is the overarching governing body of the site. Any Council Officer can veto any act or decision on TWC. However, this veto is provisional until approved by the Council as a whole.

One member of the Council will be The Speaker of the House, who is elected by the Curia from among those members ranked as Citizen, and will serve a term of three months.

Every Council Officer must be ratified by the Curia immediately after appointment. An appointed Council Officer who fails the ratification vote is returned to his previous position.

Other Staff Officers

Other staff officers will be appointed as is appropriate to handle such tasks as moderation, site content, and server administration. Any staff officer whose rights include the ability to moderate general discussion forums must be a Citizen, and he must be ratified by the Curia.

The Legislature

The Curia is a place for Citizens to discuss and propose Decisions that affect the governing of the Site and Site Policy, and also to amend this document. Therefore, infractions of Forum Rules made in this forum are doubly serious.

Election Procedure

When the Curia is required to elect an Officer or Rank Holder, or ratify an appointment, the following process is followed.

Ratification Votes

Two weeks after any member has been appointed as a Staff Officer whose rights include the ability to moderate general discussion forums, a one-week ratification poll will be posted. The member is ratified if he or she receives a majority of non-abstaining votes.

Election Votes

When a Curial Election is required, eligible members can apply in a thread created for that purpose, where they must post their reasons for applying. A vote will then be opened for one week, with the winner (or winners, if multiple positions are open) being the one who receives the plurality of non-abstaining votes. In the case of ties, a three-day run-off vote is held between the tied candidates.

Legislative Procedure

Any Citizen may propose a bill for discussion by posting a thread in a designated forum. Bills can take several forms:

Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of the Constitution. Amendments can alter or remove existing text and add entirely new text.
Decision: A proposal for the creation of an official Decision of the Curia on a topic relevant to the functioning of TWC. Decisions are not binding on staff, but are to be taken under advisement.
Vote of No Confidence: A proposal to remove the rank of an elected or Council Officer for neglect of duty or abuse of authority. Elected officers who fail a vote of no confidence lose their rank; for non-elected Council Officers the result is not binding.

For a bill to be moved to vote, it must be supported by three Citizens other than the proposer and must have been posted for at least three days. When a bill is moved to vote, a poll thread is posted for one week in the appropriate forum. Posts in this thread are limited to notification of having voted. Messages lobbying to vote for or against, including via signatures and avatars, are prohibited except in the original debate thread. Bills pass if they receive two-thirds support. If any bill fails a vote, no re-vote on a substantially similar bill will be permitted within twenty-eight days.

Where a Decision requires the Curia to choose between multiple options, two polls are run concurrently. The first poll is a normal decision, while the second poll outlines the options to choose from if the decision passes. Whichever option receives the plurality of non-abstaining votes is implemented, but only if the Decision also passes in the usual manner.

All Amendments and Decisions have immediate effect and no retroactive effect unless specifically stated otherwise.

The Curator can amend the text of the Constitution and any Curial Decision to correct any spelling and grammatical errors.

Consilium de Civitate

The Consilium de Civitate manages the granting and removal of all Curia Ranks. It has the following members:

Twelve elected Citizens, who may discuss and vote on all matters within the Consilium de Civitate Forum.
Council Officers, who may discuss all matters within the Consilium de Civitate Forum, but have no vote.
The Curator, who may take part in all Consilium de Civitate discussions, and has the deciding vote only in the case of a tie. The Curator has veto powers over any Consilium de Civitate decision.

Elected Consilium de Civitate members must have no staff warnings at the time of election and must have held the rank of Citizen for three months. Each elected member has a term of three months, and when their term expires, new elections will be held. Elected Consilium de Civitate members can be removed from office for appropriate reason by a majority vote of the elected councillors.

If an elected member of the Consilium de Civitate resigns or is removed during their term, or if during elections fewer than twelve eligible Citizens apply in the candidates thread, the vacant positions may be filled by a volunteering Staff Officer with at least Citizen rank.

Elected members of the Consilium de Civitate and the Curator must actively participate in discussions and votes. Council Officers' participation is optional.

Consilium Belli

A number of members shall be elected to the Consilium Belli to facilitate and improve relations between the modding community, the Curia, the Wiki Officer and the Council itself. The duties of the Consilium Belli also include, but are not limited to, overseeing all projects designed to promote the Total War sections of TWC to the modding community and the general membership. Its forum is publicly viewable and accessible by all, but posting and voting rights are restricted to members of the Consilium Belli.

All members of the Council, the Wiki Officer, and the Modding Registrar have permanent membership on the Consilium. Other members may ask the Council at any time if they wish to join.

Member Ranks and Curial Officers

All members of the Forum can be divided into the following ranks. An individual may hold only one account of the rank Citizen or higher.

Ranks

The following ranks, along with medals, are honours given to members based on their merit. Members who refuse or resign their honours may request them back at will if they have not been revoked by ordinary procedures in the meantime.

Peregrinus

The Rank of Peregrinus is conferred automatically with registration to the TWC forums.

Citizens

Contributing members of TWC have the opportunity to become a Citizen of the forum. Once a member becomes a Citizen, they can then choose between three different badges: Artifex, designed for those who are modders; Civitate, designed for those who have contributed to the debating side of the Site, whether in Total War or non-Total War parts of the site; or Citizen, for those who associate with both.

All Citizens can post in the Curia and the Symposium, and patronise other members.

Patronisation

Any Citizen holding their rank for three months can patronise a Peregrinus for Citizenship. To qualify for Citizen, a member must have at least fifty posts, been a registered member for one month, and have no warnings within the last three months. The process of patronisation is as follows.

The nominee explains to his patron his duties and privileges as a Citizen, and his contributions to the community. The patron forwards this explanation, along with his own explanation of why he nominated the member, to a Consilium de Civitate member.
The CdeC member opens a thread in the CdeC forum and the proposed nominee is discussed and voted upon.
If the nominee achieves sixty per cent of the non-abstaining votes after the thread has been open for seven days, he becomes a Citizen.

If a nominee fails his vote, he is not eligible to be considered again for one month. Members of the CdeC must abstain from voting on members they patronise.

Curial Officers

A Curial Officer is a Citizen who has been elected by the Curia to administer a project or institution at TWC. A Curial Officer holds their office for three months from the day they are elected. If an office is vacant, its duties are assumed by the Curator, or, failing that, by the Speaker of the House. The Council may dismiss any Officer it feels has neglected their duties or abused their position.

Permanent Curial Officers

The following are permanent Curial Officers:

The Curator: Responsible for the day to day administration of the Curia, including but not limited to any tasks outlined in this document and any duties he may be given in the Curia by the Speaker of the House.
Modding Registrar: The Registrar shall be responsible for maintaining the Modding Registry, answering questions about the registry and resolving disputes between members concerning the registry in a fair and impartial manner.
The TWC Wiki Editor: Is in charge of overseeing the Wiki Project.

Further Permanent Officers may be created by amendment. Any member of Citizen rank may apply unless otherwise stated.

Non-Permanent Curial Officers

Non-Permanent Curial Officers may be created to oversee specific short-term Curia Projects. They may be created by a Curia Decision and cease to exist upon the completion of the project.

The Judiciary

Citizens' Behavior

The suspension and removal of a rank is handled by the Consilium de Civitate via the following disciplinary process. No Citizen may be subject to more than one process for a single post.

Procedure

Any member may bring a complaint against a Citizen to the Consilium de Civitate. If a Citizen receives a warning, a Council Officer will bring a complaint on that basis, providing all relevant information. In either case, the accused will then be asked by the Speaker of the House to produce a defence within forty-eight hours. At the end of this period, a four-day poll is opened to decide whether to take action, and if this passes, a second four-day poll is opened to decide the punishment. Punishment may include censure, temporary suspension of rank, or removal of rank. Ranks may not be removed except by the procedure outlined here.

Tribunal

Three Judges appointed by the Council will form a Tribunal to judge appeals of members who have been penalized by staff. Any member may appeal a staff penalty in the Tribunal forum, which the Judges will review and either uphold or overturn. Judges are not tasked to decide the appropriateness or validity of a forum rule, and only rule on whether the rule was correctly enforced and the punishment suitable for the offence.

Additional Provisions

The Symposium

All Citizens have access to the Symposium forum. This forum exists as a general meeting place for both old and new Citizens of the Total War Center Forums. Within the Symposium, rules are generally more relaxed so as to allow for more concentrated debates to take place.

Community Medals

A medal can be awarded to any member who has in some way contributed and achieved something which was of benefit to the wider community. Medals are controlled by the Curia, and created by amendment.

Large Size

Divus

A Divus is a member who has served as a Council Officer or previous equivalent, made a clear and distinguished contribution to the community, and provided exceptional service to TWC in their capacity as an administrator. No member can be nominated within three months of resigning their Officer position, nor within six months of failing a Divus nomination.

Any Citizen can nominate an eligible member for the rank of Divus. If the member accepts, the Consilium de Civitate will discuss the issue for at least a week and then vote upon the candidate. If the member receives three-fourths support of non-abstaining members, The Curator will post a discussion within the appropriate Curia forum lasting at least three days. The nomination will then move to vote according to normal procedure, but it requires two-thirds support to pass.

Opifex and Phalera

To qualify for an Opifex or Phalera award, the nominee must have made exceptional input to the boards: the Total War sections, in the case of Opifex, and the other sections in the case of Phalera. A member of any rank is eligible to receive an Opifex or Phalera award, but must also meet the criteria to become a Citizen. Nominations must be seconded by an elected member of the Consilium de Civitate.

Qualifying nominees have their nomination posted in the appropriate forum of the Curia according to normal procedure, but the vote requires two-thirds support instead of majority support. Any member made an Opifex or Phalera is made a Citizen as well.

Medium Size

Staff Service Awards

Members who have served as Staff Officers for appropriate periods may be given medals in recognition of their service by the Council.

Small Size

Member and Modder Awards

This category of medals is awarded to every member who wins an award in the TWC Site Awards. The medal will have a year number on it to show when it was awarded. The Medal should also link to the relevant Awards thread. The precise medal is awarded based on the precise nature of the Award won. The specific medals will be created by those in charge of the awards at the time and implemented by the Technical staff.