Funnyjunk senate

Here i will provide the rules and idea's of the FJ senate.

What is the Senate?

The senate is a roleplay mock congress where people can join a party, gain votes and debate on bills that they pass. It's a great way to stimulate different worldviews coming together and have some fun.

What are the parties? How do join one? Can i make my own party?

There will be a number of standard political parties that you are able to join, you could be the sole owner of the party or you could share it together, although one of you will have to be the representative of the party. If there's not a party that suits you then you are simply able to make your own political party. If a party is too similar to another party they must either show how they are different from the other party or else they're requested to merge

What are the platforms of the standard parties?

The standard parties are expected to have viewpoints based around it's worldview. For example the libertarian party would have to promote private property and laissez faire economics.
However the people within the standard parties are allowed to set certain priorities and decide on how extreme the party is. For example whether the Conservative party allows for certain LGBT rights or completely criminalizes them.

All parties must have a clear platform list of viewpoints.

How do elections work?

Depending on the pace of the senate we will have elections at certain periods, for now before the senate officially gets started we need to have elections first so we can establish the senate.
For now the senate will have a maximum of 100 seats and seat distribution will be based on the D'hondt method. The party with the highest seat will be the one who essentially governs the senate.


What are coalitions?

Like I previously mentioned the political party with the highest seats are the ones who govern, however this strongly depends on how many seats the highest party has. If the highest party has 51 seats it has the  majority in the senate and forms the government overall. But if the highest party has 45 seats it does not hold the majority and thus needs to form a coalition with another political party with similar views in order to gain the majority. The opponents of coalitions are known as the opposition.
So the highest political party in the senate if not getting the majority is recommended to form a coalition. If he is unable to he will be a minority government and it makes it more difficult for them to pass bills.



What are oppositions?

Oppositions are political parties who oppose the current coalition in the government. They can be divided between official and unofficial oppositions. Official oppositions are led by the largest party not in the coalition and can make a coalition of their own with other parties. Unofficial oppositions are the remaining parties who are neither part of the coalition nor the official opposition

Example:
Coalition: Social Democratic Party, Liberal People's Party
Official Opposition: Conservative Party, Libertarian Party
Unofficial Opposition: Communist Workers Party, National Socialist Workers Party, National Party

What are bills?

Bills are proposed laws that attempt to set policies or actions that either make something legal or illegal. A political party that at least holds 1 or more seats is allowed to make a bill and try getting it past congress, to which it then becomes law. You are also allowed to try to repeal the bill.



A bill would look something like this:

Freedom of Weaponry Act

Preface: A law to protect the freedom of citizens to keep and bear arms
1. Congress shall not infringe on the right of citizens to bear arms. These include: Bans or regulation or certain guns and ammo, putting taxation on guns and ammo or confiscating aformentioned things
2. Congress shall not infringe the rights of man to defend his property with his weapon in case he is in danger of theft, murder or other criminal activities. Lethal force shall be permitted in threatening situations.

A repeal would look something like this:

Gun Control and Safety Act

Preface: A law to repeal the FoWA and to establish gun control for the safety of our citizens
1. Repeal the Freedom of Weaponry Act and acknowledge it as a dangerous bill that can motivate gun crime
2. Gun ownership will be limited to handguns which must be registrated and undergo training mandates. Taxation will be put on ammo.

How will voting on bills be acted on?

Every party in the senate will have the ability to vote, either by yay, nay or abtaining.
How many votes you are able to give for something will depend on how many seats your party has. If your party has 13 seats and you vote yay the yay vote will get 13 extra points.
If there are more points on yay the bill will get passed but if the bill gets nay or abstain it will not be passed.

It will look something like this:

Freedom of Weaponry Act final votes:
Yay: Conservative Party, Libertarian Party, National Party (45 seats)
Nay: Social Democratic Party, Liberal People's Party (30 seats)
Abstain: Communist Workers Party, National Socialist Workers Party (25 seats)
Bill passed!





List of Standard parties (May change in the future)

Social Democratic Party - Social democracy, Progressivism, Democratic Socialism
Conservative Party - Conservatism, Economic Liberalism
Liberal People's Party - Centrism, Social Liberalism
Libertarian Party - Libertarianism, Classical Liberalism
Communist Workers' Party - Communism, Marxism-Leninism
National Socialist Workers' Party - National Socialism, Fascism, Third Position
National Party - Nationalism, National Conservatism