FJ Parliament Rules

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

What is the Parliament?

The Parliament 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 and list of viewpoints otherwise they will not be allowed within the election.

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.
Before the election starts people will have to post what their party is about and their platform. A party can only be part of the election if it has a representative.
This is how the elections will work: People will vote for a group of parties represented within the elections, depending how often we have these elections is still up for discussion. Our parliament has in total 100 seats to distribute.
Each seat will be based on percentage. So if a person reaches over 1% of votes they have reached the threshold for a seat. If a person has 51% they will get 51 seats, ect.

Here are the ways the political parties can become part of the government
- If a party gains over 50 seats they will rule the government as a majority.
- If a party gets first place but less than 50 seats they will have to make a coalition with other parties in order to gain a majority
- If the leading party fails to make a coalition then the opposition is capable of forming their own coalition, if they get over 50 seats with a coalition they will form a government
- If the opposition also fails to gain a coalition then the leading party will become a minority government


What are coalitions?
A coalition is an alliance with another party in order to gain a majority in parliament, this is used for when the biggest party in incapable of gaining over 50 seats. As mentioned above if a party gets first place but do not have 50 seats they can attempt to find a party to make a coalition with, if they fail to do so then the other parties are allowed to form a coalition and get over 50 seats.

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.
We will be using a Two-Third majority system to avoid coalitions from having absolute power too easily. Meaning that a bill will only pass if the yay vote is over 66%

It will look something like this:

Freedom of Weaponry Act final votes:
Yay: Conservative Party, Libertarian Party, National Party (70%)
Nay: Social Democratic Party, Liberal People's Party (20%)
Abstain: Communist Workers Party, National Socialist Workers Party (10%)
Bill passed!