The Great ExperimentBoard

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Preamble
Whereas the Fifth Constitution of The Great Experiment enacted in December 2022 is exceedingly long, occasionally bureaucratic, and sometimes rather incomprehensible:

And whereas a simpler constitution is required for the relief of new and less-informed Great Experimenters:

Be the following Constitution enacted by the citizens of The Great Experiment.

Section 1: Definitions

1. In this Constitution, "assignable authorities" mean the Appearance, Border Control, Communications, Embassies, and Polls authorities; "TGE" means The Great Experiment; "RMB" means Regional Message Board; and "WA" means the World Assembly.

2. A resident of TGE at any point in time is any nation that resides in the region of The Great Experiment at that point in time.

3. A citizen of TGE is any resident thereof who has WA membership, or who does not have WA membership but has been granted citizenship as a result of a bill to that effect.

   Section 2: How a bill becomes a law

4. Every citizen of TGE, and only a citizen of TGE, may vote in any regional election or on any regional bill. Votes cast by those who, at the end of such a vote, are not citizens must not be counted.

5. Any resident of TGE may propose a bill by posting a dispatch containing that bill's text on TGE's RMB, which must not be changed after its proposal except in line with Article 8, and expressly declaring that they are proposing it. A bill shall only be voted on by citizens if it receives three likes from citizens within three days of its proposal and its dispatch has not been deleted. If multiple bills have received three likes, the bill that was proposed the earliest shall be voted or revoted on first.

6. All bills eligible to be voted on under Article 5 must be put up to vote through a two-day poll on TGE's region page. Such a poll shall be given the title of the bill's dispatch and must contain a link to that dispatch, an option to vote for the bill, and an option to vote against the bill only.

7. Bills to amend or replace this Constitution, grant residents citizenship, remove the President or any appointed regional officer from office, impose a password upon TGE, eject any resident of TGE other than the founder, or ban any resident of TGE other than the founder for a period of up to thirty days, require a two-thirds majority to pass. Bills to repeal this Constitution without a replacement require unanimity to pass. All other bills require a simple majority to pass.

8. The Founder of TGE may veto a bill passed under Article 7 within two days of its passage by explicitly announcing on TGE's RMB that they have vetoed it. All such vetoes must include at least one explanation by the Founder of why they have vetoed the bill, as well as a copy of the vetoed proposal. Vetoed bills may be resubmitted, with alterations as necessary, at any time after they have been vetoed.

9. All bills not vetoed in line with Article 8 are automatically enacted; such bills shall be stored in a dispatch which must be pinned to TGE's region page. No bill's dispatch may be deleted after its enactment.

10. A bill may prescribe a punishment for an action prohibited by this Constitution.

    Section 3: Regional officials

11. The nation of Holy Empire of Loaf is the Founder of TGE. The Founder shall have Executive authority and all assignable authorities, shall not be banned or ejected from TGE under any circumstances, and must further resolve any legislative disputes that may arise. The Founder alone may impose a ban of longer than thirty days upon any resident. If the Founder ceases to exist, their legal powers and responsibilities revert to the WA Delegate.

12. The Founder of TGE may appoint any resident of TGE to a regional officer position not defined in this Constitution with at least one assignable authority for any duration. A resident so appointed shall lose their position if they cease to be a resident of TGE, resign, are dismissed, or are removed from office in line with Article 7.

13. The President of TGE shall be elected once every five weeks starting from August 23rd 2021 except as provided in Article 15. The President shall hold an appointed regional officer position entitled "President" with all assignable authorities.

14. At any point during a President's term, any citizen of TGE may announce their intention to stand at the next Presidential election on TGE's RMB, unless an intention to seek a third consecutive term as President can be inferred from such an announcement. Any citizen who makes such an announcement may retract it only by making a statement to that effect on TGE's RMB or ceasing to be a resident of TGE.

15. If the President ceases to be a resident of TGE for more than five minutes, resigns, or is removed from office in line with Article 7 more than five days before the end of their scheduled term, early elections for the Presidency shall be announced on TGE's RMB and scheduled for five days after that announcement; any citizen of TGE may announce their intention to stand at such early elections during those five days, and may retract it only under the circumstances detailed in Article 14.

16. The procedures for how a Presidential election organised under Articles 13 or 15 is organised varies depending on how many citizens intend to stand, although the Founder shall break all ties in Presidential elections where this Article does not clarify how they are to be broken and the incumbent President shall remain in office until the Founder breaks such a tie:

    1. if no citizens intend to stand, the incumbent shall remain (for an election organised under Article 13) or the Founder shall become (for an election organised under Article 15) President;

    2. if one citizen intends to stand, that citizen shall become President;

    3. if two citizens intend to stand for the Presidency, they shall run against each other in a two-day poll on TGE's region page, with the most voted-for citizen becoming President; and

    4. If three or more citizens intend to stand for the Presidency, they shall run amongst themselves in a two-day poll on TGE's region page, with the citizen obtaining a simple majority of votes becoming President; if no citizen obtains a simple majority, the two most voted-for citizens shall progress to a further one-day poll on TGE's region page to be organised as soon as possible, with the most voted-for citizen becoming President.

17. The WA Delegate of TGE shall be elected and removed solely via endorsements, and shall vote on WA resolutions and approve proposals as they believe best serves the interests of TGE.

    Section 4: Final provisions

18. This Constitution is TGE's highest legal document. No bill or action of a regional official may contradict it, and it may only be amended or repealed as outlined in Article 7.

19. The Fifth Constitution of TGE is null and void.

20. No poll organised under Articles 6 or 16 may be deleted under any circumstances by anybody other than a person fulfilling their responsibilities as a NationStates Game Moderator. All such polls must be clearly and directly advertised in both the region of The Great Experiment and its associated Discord server to all citizens.

21. If a new Article is added to this Constitution, all other Articles and references to other Articles within must be renumbered accordingly.

22. The Founder or the President of TGE may change the flag or World Factbook Entry of TGE within reason at any time.

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ARTICLE - I: How to Initiate a Vote of No Confidence

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• A Vote of No Confidence can be levelled against the sitting President by any Citizen of The Great Experiment

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ARTICLE - II: What Constitutes as Grounds for a Vote of No Confidence

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• A Vote of No Confidence may be called for any of the following reasons:• The President has no intention to serve the region, has admitted this and has not resigned.

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ARTICLE - III: Consequences of an Unsuccessful Vote of No Confidence

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• If a Vote of No Confidence is unsuccessful against the sitting President, they are to remain in office for the duration of their term.
• If a Vote of No Confidence fails to pass, another vote cannot be levelled on the same charges. A new charge must be levelled otherwise such a Vote will be seen as illegal and will hold no legal merit.

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ARTICLE - IV: Consequences of a Successful Vote of No Confidence

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• If a Vote of No Confidence is Successful against the sitting President, they are to be removed from office immediately and a by-election be held as per Article V of the Constitution unless 72 hours before the next Official Presidential Election. In which case, no by-election will be held.
• If a President is defeated by a Vote of No Confidence, they are to be barred from standing for the next election as a result of losing the people's confidence and being dismissed from Office.
• If the need arises, an Impeached President can be permanently barred for standing for election again in any capacity in the region until such time as an overturn is agreed by a margin of 75% of the total voters

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