Agora Nomic Ruleset

THE SHORT LOGICAL RULESET

Last updated: 24 July 2015

Last proposal with recorded effect on this ruleset: 7768
Last change to this ruleset: by Proposal 7768

Last ratification: Short Logical Ruleset of 7 April 2014
Last ratification date: 1 May 2014

Highest Rule ID number ever assigned: 2452

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The Game of Agora
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Rule 101/17 (Power=3)
The Game of Agora

      Agora is a game of Nomic, wherein Persons, acting in accordance
      with the Rules, communicate their game Actions and/or results of
      these actions via Fora in order to play the game.  The game may
      be won, but the game never ends.

      Please treat Agora Right Good Forever.

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Rule 2125/8 (Power=3)
Regulation Regulations

      An action is regulated if: (1) the Rules limit, allow, enable,
      or permit its performance; (2) describe the circumstances under
      which the action would succeed or fail; or (3) the action would,
      as part of its effect, modify information for which some player
      is required to be a recordkeepor.

      Regulated Actions CAN only be performed as described by the
      Rules.  The Rules SHALL NOT be interpreted so as to proscribe
      unregulated actions.

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Rule 2152/7 (Power=3)
Mother, May I?

      The following terms are defined.  These definitions are used
      when a rule includes a term in all caps, and provide guidance in
      determining the ordinary-language meaning of a term when a rule
      includes a term otherwise.  Earlier definitions take precedence
      over later ones.  If a rule specifies one or more persons in
      connection with a term, then the term applies only to the
      specified person(s).

      1. CANNOT, IMPOSSIBLE, INEFFECTIVE, INVALID:  Attempts to
         perform the described action are unsuccessful.

      2. MUST NOT, MAY NOT, SHALL NOT, ILLEGAL, PROHIBITED: Performing
         the described action violates the rule in question.

      3. NEED NOT, OPTIONAL:  Failing to perform the described action
         does not violate the rules.

      4. SHOULD NOT, DISCOURAGED, DEPRECATED:  Before performing the
         described action, the full implications of performing it
         should be understood and carefully weighed.

      5. CAN: Attempts to perform the described action are successful.

      6. MAY: Performing the described action does not violate the
         rules.

      7. MUST, SHALL, REQUIRED, MANDATORY:  Failing to perform the
         described action violates the rule in question.

      8. SHOULD, ENCOURAGED, RECOMMENDED:  Before failing to perform
         the described action, the full implications of failing to
         perform it should (in the ordinary-language sense) be
         understood and carefully weighed.

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Rule 1688/7 (Power=3)
Power

      The Power of an entity is a non-negative rational number.  An
      Instrument is an entity with positive Power.

      The Power of an entity cannot be set or modified except as
      stipulated by the Rules.  All entities have Power zero except
      where specifically allowed by the rules.

      Power less than one is called Ephemeral power, and an instrument
      with a power less than one is an Ephemeral instrument.

      A Rule that secures a change, action, or value (hereafter the
      securing Rule) thereby makes it IMPOSSIBLE to perform that
      change or action, or to set or modify that value, except as
      allowed by an Instrument with Power greater than or equal to the
      change's Power Threshold.  This Threshold defaults to the
      securing Rule's Power, but CAN be lowered as allowed by that
      Rule (including by the Rule itself).

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Rule 2140/1 (Power=3)
Power Controls Mutability

      No entity with power below the power of this rule can

      (a) cause an entity to have power greater than its own.

      (b) adjust the power of an instrument with power greater than
          its own.

      (c) set or modify any other substantive aspect of an instrument
          with power greater than its own.  A "substantive" aspect of
          an instrument is any aspect that affects the instrument's
          operation.

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Rule 2449/0 (Power=3)
Winning the Game

      When the Rules state that a Player or Players win the game,
      those players win the game; specifically they win the Round
      that ends with the indicated win.  Agora itself does not end and
      the ruleset remains unchanged. The Herald is then authorized to
      award those players the Patent Title of Champion.

      Winning the game is secured, except as described in Ephemeral
      Rules.

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Rule 104/0 (Power=3)
First Speaker

      The Speaker for the first game shall be Michael Norrish.

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Rules
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Rule 2141/9 (Power=3)
Role and Attributes of Rules

      A rule is a type of instrument with the capacity to govern the
      game generally, and is always taking effect.  A rule's content
      takes the form of a text, and is unlimited in scope.

      Every rule has power between 0.1 and 4.0 inclusive.  It is
      not possible for a rule to have a power outside this range.

      Rules have ID numbers, to be assigned by the Rulekeepor.

      Every rule shall have a title to aid in identification.  If a
      rule ever does not have a title, the Rulekeepor SHALL assign a
      title to it by announcement in a timely fashion.

      For the purposes of rules governing modification of instruments,
      the text, power, ID number, and title of a rule are all
      substantive aspects of the rule.  However, rules to the contrary
      notwithstanding, the Rulekeepor CAN set rule aspects as
      described elsewhere in this rule.

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Rule 217/11 (Power=3)
Interpreting the Rules

      When interpreting and applying the rules, the text of the rules
      takes precedence.  Where the text is silent, inconsistent, or
      unclear, it is to be augmented by game custom, common sense,
      past judgements, and consideration of the best interests of the
      game.

      Definitions and prescriptions in the rules are only to be
      applied using direct, forward reasoning; in particular, an
      absurdity that can be concluded from the assumption that a
      statement about rule-defined concepts is false does not
      constitute proof that it is true.  Definitions in lower-powered
      Rules do not overrule common-sense interpretations or common
      definitions of terms in higher-powered rules.

      Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, any rule change that
      would (1) prevent a person from initiating a formal process to
      resolve matters of controversy, in the reasonable expectation
      that the controversy will thereby be resolved; or (2) prevent a
      person from causing formal reconsideration of any judicial
      determination that e should be punished, is wholly void and
      without effect.

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Rule 1030/11 (Power=3.2)
Precedence between Rules

      In a conflict between Rules, the conflict shall be resolved by
      performing the following comparisons in the sequence written in
      this rule, until the conflict is resolved.

      - In a conflict between Rules with different Power, the Rule
        with the higher Power takes precedence over the Rule with the
        lower Power; otherwise,

      - If all of the Rules in conflict explicitly say that their
        precedence relations are determined by some other Rule for
        determining precedence relations, then the determinations of
        the precedence-determining Rule shall be used to resolve the
        conflicts; otherwise,

      - If at least one of the Rules in conflict explicitly says of
        itself that it defers to another Rule (or type of Rule) or
        takes precedence over another Rule (or type of Rule), then
        such provisions shall be used to resolve the conflict, unless
        they lead to contradictions between each other; otherwise,

      - If any of the rules in conflict have ID numbers, then the Rule
        with the lowest ID number takes precedence; otherwise,

      - The Rule enacted earliest takes precedence.

      Clauses in any other rule that broadly claim precedence (e.g.
      over "all rules" of a certain class) shall be, prima facie,
      considered to be limited claims of precedence or deference that
      are applicable only when such claims are evaluated as described
      within the above sequence.

      No change to the Ruleset can occur that would cause a Rule to
      directly claim precedence over this Rule as a means of
      determining precedence.  This applies to changes by the
      enactment or amendment of a Rule, or of any other form.  This
      Rule takes precedence over any Rule that would permit such a
      change to the Ruleset.

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Rule 2240/1 (Power=3)
No Cretans Need Apply

      In a conflict between clauses of the same Rule, if exactly one
      claims precedence over the other, then it takes precedence;
      otherwise, the later clause takes precedence.

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Rule 105/12 (Power=3)
Rule Changes

      Where permitted by other rules, an instrument generally can,
      as part of its effect,

      (a) enact a rule.  The new rule has power equal to the minimum
          of the power specified by the enacting instrument,
          defaulting to one if the enacting instrument does not
          specify or if it specifies a power less than 0.1, and the
          maximum power permitted by other rules.  The enacting
          instrument may specify a title for the new rule, which if
          present shall prevail.  The ID number of the new rule cannot
          be specified by the enacting instrument; any attempt to so
          specify is null and void.

      (b) repeal a rule.  When a rule is repealed, it ceases to be a
          rule, and the Rulekeepor need no longer maintain a record
          of it.

      (c) reenact a rule.  A repealed rule identified by its most
          recent rule number may be reenacted with the same ID number
          and the next change identifier.  If no text is specified,
          the rule is reenacted with the same text it had when it was
          most recently repealed.  If the reenacting proposal provides
          new text for the rule, the rule must have materially the
          same purpose as did the repealed version; otherwise, the
          attempt to reenact the rule is null and void.

      (d) amend the text of a rule.

      (e) retitle a rule.

      (f) change the power of a rule.

      A rule change is any effect that falls into the above classes.
      Rule changes always occur sequentially, never simultaneously.

      Any ambiguity in the specification of a rule change causes that
      change to be void and without effect.  An inconsequential
      variation in the quotation of an existing rule does not
      constitute ambiguity for the purposes of this rule, but any
      other variation does.

      A rule change is wholly prevented from taking effect unless its
      full text was published, along with an unambiguous and clear
      specification of the method to be used for changing the rule, at
      least 4 days and no more than 60 days before it would otherwise
      take effect.

      This rule provides the only mechanism by which rules can be
      created, modified, or destroyed, or by which an entity can
      become a rule or cease to be a rule.

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Rule 1681/20 (Power=1)
The Logical Rulesets

      The Short Logical Ruleset (SLR) is a format of the ruleset.  In
      this format, each rule is assigned to a category, and the rules
      are grouped according to their category.

      Rules are assigned to, ordered within, or moved between
      categories, and categories are added, changed, or empty
      categories removed, as the Rulekeepor sees fit.

      The listing of each rule in the SLR must include the rule's ID
      number, revision number, power, title, and text.

      The Rulekeepor is strongly DISCOURAGED from including any
      additional information in the SLR, except that which increases
      the readability of the SLR.

      The Full Logical Ruleset (FLR) is a format of the ruleset.  In
      this format, rules are assigned to the same category and
      presented in the same order as in the SLR.  The FLR must contain
      all the information required to be in the SLR, and any
      historical annotations which the Rulekeepor is required to
      record.

      The Rulekeepor SHOULD also include any other information which e
      feels may be helpful in the use of the ruleset in the FLR.

      Whenever a rule is changed in any way, the Rulekeepor SHALL
      record a historical annotation to the rule indicating:

      a) The type of change.

      b) The date on which the change took effect.

      c) The mechanism that specified the change.

      d) If the rule was changed due to a proposal, then that
         proposal's ID number, author, and co-author(s) (if any).

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Rule 1051/18 (Power=1)
The Rulekeepor

      The Rulekeepor is an office; its holder is responsible for
      maintaining the text of the rules of Agora.

      The Rulekeepor's Weekly report includes the Short Logical
      Ruleset.  The Rulekeepor's Monthly report includes the Full
      Logical Ruleset.

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Rule 2327/1 (Power=1)
Read the Ruleset Week

      The first Agoran week each year which falls entirely in February
      is Read the Ruleset Week.  Agorans are encouraged to read the
      ruleset during Read the Ruleset Week.

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Rule 2429/1 (Power=1)
Bleach

      Replacing a non-zero amount of whitespace with a different
      non-zero amount of whitespace is generally insignificant, except
      for paragraph breaks.

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Rule 2430/1 (Power=3)
Cleanup Time

      The Rulekeepor CAN, without objection, cause this rule to amend
      any specified rule by:

        a) Changing the capitalization of a word, except to or from
           all caps.
        b) Changing visual formatting (such as the layout and
           bulleting of a list).
        c) Correcting formatting inconsistencies (such as doubled or
           skipped items in a list).

      Such a change SHALL NOT be made if it would plausibly affect the
      interpretation of a rule.

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Players
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Rule 869/38 (Power=3)
How to Join and Leave Agora

      Any organism that is generally capable of freely originating and
      communicating independent thoughts and ideas is a person.  Rules
      to the contrary notwithstanding, no other entities are persons.

      Citizenship is a person switch with values Unregistered
      (default) and Registered, tracked by the Registrar.  Changes to
      citizenship are secured.  A registered person is a Player.

      A person CAN (unless explicitly forbidden or prevented by the
      rules) register by publishing a message that indicates
      reasonably clearly and reasonably unambiguously that e intends
      to become a player at that time.  A person, by registering,
      agrees to abide by the Rules.  The Rules CANNOT otherwise bind a
      person to abide by any agreement without that person's willful
      consent.

      A player CAN deregister (cease being a player) by announcement.
      If e does so, e CANNOT register by announcement for 30 days.

      If a player has not sent a message to a public forum in the last
      month, then any player CAN deregister em without objection.  In
      the first week of every month, the Registrar SHALL use this
      method to attempt to deregister every player that has not sent a
      message to a public forum in the preceding month.

      The Rules CANNOT compel non-players to act, nor compel players
      to unduly harass non-players.  A non-person CANNOT be a player,
      rules to the contrary notwithstanding.

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Rule 2139/7 (Power=2)
The Registrar

      The Registrar is an office; its holder is responsible for
      keeping track of players.

      The Registrar's report includes:

      a) A list of all players, including information sufficient to
         identify and contact each player.
      b) The date on which each player most recently became a player.
      c) For each former player for which the information is
         reasonably available, the dates on which e registered and
         deregistered.

      The Registrar is also responsible for tracking any switches that
      would otherwise lack an officer to track them, unless the switch
      is defined as untracked.

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Rule 1789/9 (Power=2)
Cantus Cygneus

      Whenever a Player feels that e has been treated so egregiously
      by the Agoran community that e can no longer abide to be a part
      of it, e may submit a document to the Registrar, clearly labeled
      a Cantus Cygneus, detailing eir grievances and expressing eir
      reproach for those who e feels have treated em so badly.

      In a timely fashion after receiving a Cantus Cygneus, the
      Registrar shall publish this document along with a Writ of
      Fugiendae Agorae Grandissima Exprobratione, commanding the
      Player to be deregistered. The Registrar shall note the method
      of deregistration for that Player in subsequent Registrar
      Reports.

      The Player is deregistered as of the posting of the Writ, and
      the notation in the Registrar's Report will ensure that,
      henceforth, all may know said Player deregistered in a Writ of
      FAGE.

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Rule 2438/4 (Power=3)
Ribbons

      The Tailor is an office, and the recordkeepor of Ribbons.

      Ribbon Ownership is a person switch, tracked by the Tailor in
      his monthly report, whose values are the subsets of the set of
      types of Ribbon, defaulting to the empty set.

      To "award a person a <Ribbon type>" is to add that type of
      Ribbon to that person's Ribbon Ownership. A person "owns a
      <Ribbon type>" if that type of Ribbon is an element of eir
      Ribbon Ownership.

      While a person qualifies for a type of Ribbon, any player can
      generally award em that type of Ribbon. A person qualifies for a
      type of Ribbon if e has earned that type of Ribbon within the
      preceding 7 days (including earlier in the same message) and has
      not owned that type of Ribbon within the preceding 7 days.

      While a person owns all types of Ribbon, that person can Raise a
      Banner by announcement. This causes that person to win the game.
      That person's Ribbon Ownership becomes the empty set.

      The types of Ribbon, and the methods of obtaining them, are as
      follows:

      Red (R): When a proposal is adopted and changes at least one
      rule with Power >= 3, its proposer earns a Red Ribbon.

      Orange (O): When a proposal is adopted via an Agoran Decision on
      which no valid votes were AGAINST, its proposer earns an Orange
      Ribbon.

      Green (G): While a person has held an elected office
      continuously for 30 days, and has not failed to perform any
      duties of that office within the appropriate time limits during
      those 30 days, that person qualifies for a Green Ribbon.

      Cyan (C): When a person deputises for an office, that person
      earns a Cyan Ribbon.

      Blue (B): When a person assigns a judgement to a CFJ, and has
      never violated a time limit to assign a judgement to that CFJ,
      that person earns a Blue Ribbon.

      Magenta (M): During Agora's Birthday, each person who has
      publicly acknowledged the fact qualifies for a Magenta Ribbon.

      Ultraviolet (U): When a person is awarded the Patent Title
      Champion, that person earns an Ultraviolet Ribbon.

      Violet (V): When a person is awarded a Patent Title other than
      Champion or a degree, that person earns a Violet Ribbon.

      Indigo (I): When a person is awarded a degree, that person earns
      an Indigo Ribbon.

      Platinum (P): The Speaker qualifies for a Platinum Ribbon.

      Lime (L): A person qualifies for a Lime Ribbon if three or more
      proposals adopted in the preceding 7 days had that person as a
      coauthor.

      White (W): A player qualifies for a White Ribbon if e has never
      previously owned a White Ribbon (including under previous
      rulesets). A player who has been registered for at least 30 days
      and has never caused another person to gain a White Ribbon
      (including under a previous ruleset) CAN award a White Ribbon to
      another person by announcement.

      Black (K): This rule does not specify any methods of obtaining
      Black Ribbons.

      Gray (Y): The Tailor CAN award a Gray Ribbon by announcement,
      unless e has done so earlier in the month. E is ENCOURAGED to
      award such a Ribbon in the same message in which e publishes eir
      monthly report.

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Definitions
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Rule 1023/34 (Power=2)
Common Definitions

      The following terms are defined:

      (a) The phrase "in a timely fashion" means "within 7 days".
          This time period is set when the requirement is created
          (i.e. X days before the limit ends).  A requirement to
          perform an action at an exact instant (e.g.  "when X, Y
          SHALL Z"), but not "in the same message", is instead
          interpreted as a requirement to perform that action in a
          timely fashion after that instant.

      (b) Agoran epochs:

          (1) Agoran days begin at midnight UTC.

          (2) Agoran weeks begin at midnight UTC on Monday.

          (3) Agoran months begin at midnight UTC on the first day of
              each Gregorian month.

          (4) Agoran quarters begin when the Agoran months of January,
              April, July, and October begin.

          (5) Agoran years begin when the Agoran month of January
              begins.

          (5) A pivot is either the instant at which Agora Nomic began
              (June 30, 1993, 00:04:30 GMT +1200) or an instant at
              which at least one person won the game.  When used as a
              period of time, a "Round" (historical syn: "game") is
              the period of time between a pivot and the next pivot.

          These definitions do not apply to relative durations (e.g.
          "within <number> days after <event>").

      (c) If a regulated value, or the value of a conditional, or a
          value otherwise required to determine the outcome of a
          regulated action, CANNOT be reasonably determined (without
          circularity or paradox) from information reasonably
          available, or if it alternates instantaneously and
          indefinitely between values, then the value is considered to
          be Indeterminate, otherwise it is Determinate.

      (d) Two points in time are within a month of each other if:

          (1) they occur in the same Agoran month;

          (2) they occur in two consecutive Agoran months, and the
              later of the two occurs in an earlier day in the month
              than the earlier one;

          (3) they occur in two consecutive Agoran months on the same
              day of the month, and the later of the two occurs at the
              same or earlier time of day.

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Rule 1769/13 (Power=3)
Holidays

      The period each year from midnight GMT on the morning of 24
      December to the beginning of the first Agoran week to begin
      after 2 January is a Holiday.

      The week that contains the beginning of Agora's Birthday,
      together with the following week, is a Holiday.

      If a person breaks a Rule by missing a deadline that occurs
      during a Holiday, punishment is generally not appropriate.

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Rule 2448/1 (Power=1)
Eras

      An Era is a period of time that has a defined start, either
      has a defined end or is still ongoing, and has been initiated
      as specified by this rule.

      Upon the initiation of an Era, each existing Ephemeral Rule
      (in the order they were created) is repealed, unless the
      initiation specifies otherwise.

      A player CAN initiate a new Era with Agoran Support.

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Rule 2162/6 (Power=2)
Switches

      A type of switch is a property that the rules define as a
      switch, and specify the following:

      a) The type(s) of entity possessing an instance of that switch.
         No other entity possesses an instance of that switch.

      b) One or more possible values for instances of that switch,
         exactly one of which is designated as the default.  No other
         values are possible for instances of that switch.

      c) Optionally, exactly one office whose holder tracks instances
         of that switch.  That officer's (weekly, if not specified
         otherwise) report includes the value of each instance of that
         switch whose value is not its default value; a public
         document purporting to be this portion of that officer's
         report is self-ratifying, and implies that other instances
         are at their default value.

      At any given time, each instance of a switch has exactly one
      possible value for that type of switch.  If an instance of a
      switch comes to have a value, it ceases to have any other value.
      If an instance of a switch would otherwise fail to have a
      possible value, it comes to have its default value.

      "To flip an instance of a switch" is to make it come to have a
      given value.  "To become X" (where X is a possible value of
      exactly one of the subject's switches) is to flip that switch to
      X.

      If an action or set of actions would cause the value of an
      instance of a switch to become indeterminate, the instance
      instead takes on its last determinate and possible value, if
      any, otherwise it takes on its default value.

      A natural switch is a switch with a default value of 0, unless
      the rules explicitly specify a different default value.  If the
      rules define an upper limit for the switch, then the possible
      values are non-negative integers not greater than that limit,
      otherwise the values are the non-negative integers.

      A singleton switch is a switch for which Agora Nomic is the only
      entity possessing an instance of that switch.

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Rule 478/32 (Power=3)
Fora

      Freedom of speech being essential for the healthy functioning of
      any non-Imperial nomic, it is hereby resolved that no Player
      shall be prohibited from participating in the Fora, nor shall
      any person create physical or technological obstacles that
      unduly favor some players' fora access over others.

      Publicity is a forum switch with values Public, Discussion, and
      Foreign (default), tracked by the Registrar.  Changes to
      publicity are secured.

      The Registrar's report includes, for each forum with non-Foreign
      publicity, sufficient instructions for players to receive
      messages there.

      The Registrar may change the publicity of a forum without
      objection as long as:

      (a) e sends eir announcement of intent to that forum; and

      (b) if the forum is to be made public, the announcement by which
          the Registrar makes that forum public is sent to all
          existing public fora.

      Each player should ensure e can receive messages via each public
      forum.

      A public message is a message sent via a public forum, or sent
      to all players and containing a clear designation of intent to
      be public.  A rule can also designate that a part of one public
      message is considered a public message in its own right. A
      person "publishes" or "announces" something by sending a public
      message.

      Where the rules define an action that CAN be performed "by
      announcement", a person performs that action by unambiguously
      and clearly specifying the action and announcing that e performs
      it.  Any action performed by sending a message is performed at
      the time date-stamped on that message. Actions in messages
      (including sub-messages) are performed in the order they appear
      in the message, unless otherwise specified.

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Rule 1728/33 (Power=3)
Dependent Actions

      A rule which purports to allow a person (the performer) to
      perform an action by a set of one or more of the following
      methods (N is 1 unless otherwise specified):

       1) Without N Objections, where N is a positive integer no
          greater than 8.  ("Without Objection" is shorthand for this
          method with N = 1.)
       2) With N Supporters, where N is a positive integer.  ("With
          Support" is shorthand for this method with N = 1.)
       3) With N Agoran Consent, where N is an integer multiple of 0.1
          with a minimum of 1.
       4) With Notice.

      thereby allows em to perform the action by announcement if all
      of the following are true:

       a) A person (the initiator) announced intent to perform the
          action, unambiguously and clearly specifying the action and
          method(s) (including the value of N for each method), at
          most fourteen days earlier, and (if the action depends on
          objections or notice) at least 4 days earlier.

       b) At least one of the following is true:

            1) The performer is the initiator.

            2) The initiator was authorized to perform the action due
               to holding a rule-defined position now held by the
               performer.

            3) The initiator is authorized to perform the action, the
               action depends on support, the performer has supported
               the intent, and the rule authorizing the performance
               does not explicitly prohibit supporters from performing
               it.

       c) Agora is Satisfied with the announced intent, as defined by
          other rules.

       d) If a set of conditions for the performance of the action was
          given in the announcement of intent to perform the action,
          all those conditions are met.

      The actor SHOULD publish a list of supporters if the action
      depends on support, and a list of objectors if it depends on
      objections.

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Rule 2124/18 (Power=2)
Agoran Satisfaction

      A Supporter of a dependent action is an eligible entity who has
      publicly posted (and not withdrawn) support (syn. "consent") for
      an announcement of intent to perform the action.  An Objector to
      a dependent action is an eligible entity who has publicly posted
      (and not withdrawn) an objection to the announcement of intent
      to perform the action.

      The entities eligible to support or object to a dependent action
      are, by default, all players, subject to modification by the
      document authorizing the dependent action.  However, the
      previous sentence notwithstanding, the Executor of the
      announcement of intent is not eligible to support it.

      Agora is Satisfied with an intent to perform a specific action
      if and only if:

      (1) if the action is to be performed Without N Objections, then
          it has fewer than N objectors;

      (2) if the action is to be performed With N supporters, then it
          has N or more supporters; and

      (3) if the action is to be performed with N Agoran Consent, then
          the ratio of supporters to objectors is greater than N, or
          the action has at least one supporter and no objectors.

      The above notwithstanding, if the action depends on objections,
      and an objection to it has been withdrawn within the past 24
      hours, then Agora is not Satisfied with the intent.

      The above notwithstanding, Agora is not satisfied with the
      intent if the Speaker has objected to it in the last 48 hours.

      A person CANNOT support or object to an announcement of intent
      before the intent is announced, or after e has withdrawn the
      same type of response.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

======================================================================
Offices
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 1006/37 (Power=2)
Offices

      Officeholder is an office switch tracked by the IADoP, with
      possible values of any person or "vacant".  An officer is the
      holder of an office, who may be referred to by the name of that
      office.  If the holder of an office is ever not a player, it
      becomes vacant.

      An imposed office is an office described as such by the rule
      defining it.  All others are elected.  A person CANNOT be made
      the holder of an elected office without eir explicit or
      reasonably implied consent.

      The holder of an elected office CAN resign it by announcement,
      causing it to become vacant. Any player CAN cause an office to
      become vacant without 2 objections.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2143/24 (Power=1)
Official Reports and Duties

      For each person:

      a) If any task is defined by the rules as part of that person's
         weekly duties, then e SHALL perform it at least once each
         week.  If any information is defined by the rules as part of
         that person's weekly report, then e SHALL maintain all such
         information, and the publication of all such information is
         part of eir weekly duties.

      b) If any task is defined by the rules as part of that person's
         monthly duties, then e SHALL perform it at least once each
         month.  If any information is defined by the rules as part of
         that person's monthly report, then e SHALL maintain all such
         information, and the publication of all such information is
         part of eir monthly duties.

      Any information defined by the rules as part of a person's
      report, without specifying which one, is part of eir weekly
      report.  Failure of a person to perform any duty required of em
      within the allotted time is the Class-2 crime of Tardiness.

      An official duty for an office is any duty that the Rules
      specifically assign to that office's holder in particular
      (regardless of eir identity).

      A person SHALL NOT publish information that is inaccurate or
      misleading while performing an official duty, or within a
      document purporting to be part of any person or office's weekly
      or monthly report.

      Reports SHALL be published in plain text.  Tabular data must
      line up properly when viewed in a monospaced font.  Publishing a
      report that deviates from these regulations is the Class 2 Crime
      of Making My Eyes Bleed.

      Officers SHOULD maintain a publicly visible copy of their
      reports on the World Wide Web, and they SHOULD publish the
      address of this copy along with their published reports.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2379/0 (Power=1)
No News Is Some News

      If the rules define a report as including a list, then while
      that list is empty, that report includes the fact that it is
      empty.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2160/13 (Power=3)
Deputisation

      Any player (a deputy) CAN perform an action as if e held a
      particular office (deputise for that office) if all of the
      following are true:

        (a) The rules require the holder of that office, by virtue of
            holding that office, to perform the action (or, if the
            office is vacant, would so require if the office were
            filled).  This requirement is fulfilled by the deputy
            performing the action.

        (b) A time limit by which the rules require the action to be
            performed has expired, or the office is vacant.

        (c) If the office is filled, then the deputy announced between
            two and fourteen days earlier that e intended to deputise
            for that office for the purposes of the particular action.

        (d) It would be POSSIBLE for the deputy to perform the action,
            other than by deputisation, if e held the office.

        (e) The deputy, when performing the action, announces that e
            is doing so by deputisation.

      When a player deputises for an elected office, e becomes the
      holder of that office.

      A rule which purports to allow a person (a special deputy) to
      perform an action via special deputisation for an office thereby
      allows them to perform the action as if e held the office, as
      long as

        (a) it would be POSSIBLE for the special deputy to perform the
            action, other than by special deputisation, if e held the
            office, and

        (b) the special deputy, when performing the action, announces
            that e is doing so by special deputisation.

      Special deputisation is not a type of deputisation, and
      therefore does not generally have the effects that deputisation
      has.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2154/47 (Power=2)
Election Procedure

      A player CAN initiate an election for a specified elected office
      for which no election is already in progress

      a) by announcement, if e is the IADoP, if the office has been
         deputised for within the past two weeks, or if no election
         has been initiated for the office either since the last time
         a player won the game or within the past 90 days;

      b) with 4 Supporters, otherwise.

      After the election is initiated, any player CAN once initiate an
      Agoran decision to determine the new officeholder, and the IADoP
      SHALL do so in a timely fashion if no one else does first.  For
      this decision, the valid options are the players and the vote
      collector is the IADoP. Upon the resolution of this decision,
      its outcome, if a player, is installed into office, and the
      election ends.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2138/22 (Power=1)
The Associate Director of Personnel

      The Associate Director of Personnel (ADoP) is an office; its
      holder is responsible for keeping track of officers.

      The ADoP's report includes the following:

      a) The date of the last change (if any) to each office's
         Officeholder.
      b) The date on which the most recent election for each office
         was initiated.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 1551/18 (Power=3.1)
Ratification

      A public document is part (possibly all) of a public message.

      When a public document is ratified, rules to the contrary
      notwithstanding, the gamestate is modified to what it would be
      if, at the time the ratified document was published, the
      gamestate had been minimally modified to make the ratified
      document as true and accurate as possible.  Such a modification
      cannot add inconsistencies between the gamestate and the rules,
      and it cannot include rule changes unless the ratified document
      explicitly and unambiguously recites either the changes or the
      resulting properties of the rule(s).  If no such modification is
      possible, or multiple substantially distinct possible
      modifications would be equally appropriate, the ratification
      fails.

      An internally inconsistent document generally cannot be
      ratified; however, if such a document can be divided into a
      summary section and a main section, where the only purpose of
      the summary section is to summarize information in the main
      section, and the main section is internally consistent,
      ratification of the document proceeds as if it contained only
      the main section.

      Text purportedly about previous instances of ratification (e.g.
      a report's date of last ratification) is excluded from
      ratification. The rules may define additional information that
      is considered to be part of the document for the purposes of
      ratification; such definitions are secured at a Power
      Threshold of 3.

      Ratifying a public document is secured with power threshold 3.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2202/6 (Power=3)
Ratification Without Objection

      Any player CAN, without objection, ratify a public document,
      specifying its scope.

      Ratification Without Objection CANNOT cause the repeal,
      amendment, enactment, or mutation of any Rule, rules to the
      contrary notwithstanding.

      A player SHALL NOT knowingly use or announce intent to use
      Ratification Without Objection to ratify a (prior to
      ratification) document containing incorrect or Indeterminate
      information when a corrected document could be produced with
      reasonable effort, unless the general nature of the document's
      error and reason for ratifying it is clearly and plainly
      described in the announcement of intent.  Such ratification
      or announcement of intent to ratify is the Class-8 Crime of
      Endorsing Forgery.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2201/6 (Power=3)
Self-Ratification

      A public document defined by the rules as self-ratifying is
      ratified when it is continuously undoubted for one week.

      A doubt is an explicit public challenge via one of the following
      methods, identifying a document and explaining the scope and
      nature of a perceived error in it:

       a) An inquiry case, appropriate for questions of legal
          interpretation.

       b) A claim of error, appropriate for matters of fact.  The
          publisher of the original document SHALL (if e was required
          to publish that document) or SHOULD (otherwise) do one of
          the following in a timely fashion:

              i) Deny the claim (causing it to cease to be a doubt).
             ii) Publish a revision.
            iii) Initiate an inquiry case regarding the truth of the
                 claim (if the subject is actually a matter of law),
                 or cite a relevant existing inquiry case.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 103/22 (Power=2)
The Speaker

      The Speaker is an imposed office and the figurehead leader of
      Agora.

      The player or players who have most recently won the game are
      called Laureled. If at any time the office of Speaker is vacant,
      or when one or more players win Agora, then the Prime Minister
      CAN and SHALL, once and in a timely fashion, appoint a Laureled
      player to the office of Speaker.

      If the office of Speaker has been held continuously by the same
      person for 90+ days, then any player CAN appoint another player
      to the office with Support.

      The offices of the Speaker and the Prime Minister are
      incompatible. If at any point in time one player holds both of
      these offices, e ceases to hold the position of Prime Minister.

      For an election of the Prime Minister, the Speaker has voting
      strength one greater than e would have if e did not hold the
      office.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2423/0 (Power=2)
First Among Equals

      The Prime Minister is an office. The Prime Minister is elected
      by the players of Agora primarily on account of not being the
      other guy. The Prime Minister SHOULD ensure that Agoran affairs
      proceed smoothly.

      The holder of the office of Prime Minister has voting strength
      one greater than e would have if e did not hold the office. This
      does not apply in respect of an election of the Prime Minister.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2451/0 (Power=1)
Executive Orders

      Once per week and except as otherwise forbidden by this
      rule, the current Prime Minister CAN issue a Cabinet Order
      and perform the action(s) authorized by that Order.

      Each Cabinet Order is associated with an office. The current
      Prime Minister CANNOT issue more than one Cabinet Order
      associated with the same office more than once in the same
      month, nor can e issue a Cabinet Order associated with a
      vacant office.

      The available Cabinet Orders are:

      - Certiorari (CotC): The Prime Minister assigns emself as
        judge of a specified open case.

      - Dive (Referee): The Prime Minister issues a specified Card
        to a specified player. In doing so, the Prime Minister
        SHOULD cite a specific grievance against that player, not
        necessarily a violation of a rule.

      - Manifesto (Promotor): The Prime Minister distributes a
        specified proposal in the Proposal Pool.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2446/1 (Power=1)
The Agoran Newspaper

      The Agoran Newspaper is a weekly publication describing
      noteworthy recent events that occured in the public fora in the
      prior Agoran Week.  The Herald SHALL write and publish The
      Agoran Newspaper each week.  When the Herald publishes the
      Newspaper for a given Agoran week, any obligation e has to
      publish the Newspaper for a prior week is discharged.

      The Agoran Newspaper will be formatted at the discretion of the
      Herald. The Herald SHOULD include all information necessary to
      give the Agoran people a comprehensive understanding of the
      events occuring in Agora in a given week.

      The purpose of the Agoran newspaper is to provide the Agoran
      people an easily understandable source of information concerning
      the happenings of Agora in order to create a more informed
      people.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

======================================================================
Agoran Decisions
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 693/14 (Power=3)
Agoran Decisions

      When the rules calls for an Agoran decision to be made, the
      decision-making process takes place in the following three
      stages, each described elsewhere:

          (a) Initiation of the decision.
          (b) Voting of the people.
          (c) Resolution of the decision.

      When submitting a ballot, a player can select PRESENT (syn.
      ABSTAIN) rather than one of the options provided by the
      decision. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, a ballot cast
      for PRESENT is considered to be a valid ballot, but, unless
      specified otherwise, does not count as a valid option.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 107/17 (Power=3)
Initiating Agoran Decisions

      An Agoran decision is initiated when a person authorized to
      initiate it publishes a valid notice which sets forth the intent
      to initiate the decision.  This notice is invalid if it lacks
      any of the following information, and the lack is correctly
      identified within one week after the notice is published:

      (a) The matter to be decided (for example, "the adoption of
          proposal 4781").

      (b) A clear indication of the options available.

      (c) The identity of the vote collector.

      (d) Any additional information defined by the rules as essential
          parameters.

      The publication of such a valid notice initiates the voting
      period for the decision.  The voting period lasts for 7 days.
      The minimum voting period for a decision with at least two
      options is five days.  The vote collector for a decision with
      less than two options CAN and SHALL end the voting period by
      announcement, if it has not ended already, and provided that e
      resolves the decision in the same message.

      The voting period for a decision cannot be set or changed to a
      duration longer than fourteen days.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 683/20 (Power=3)
Voting on Agoran Decisions

      An entity submits a ballot on an Agoran decision by publishing
      a valid notice indicating which one of the available options e
      selects.  To be valid, the ballot must satisfy the following
      conditions:

      (a) The ballot is submitted during the voting period for the
          decision.

      (b) The entity casting the ballot (the voter) was, at the
          initiation of the decision, a player.

      (c) The ballot clearly identifies the matter to be decided.

      (d) The ballot clearly identifies the option selected by the
          voter.

      (e) The voter has not publicly retracted the ballot during the
          voting period.  ("Changing" a vote is equivalent to
          retracting it and casting a vote with the new value.)

      (f) At the time of the submission of the ballot, the voter did
          not have another valid ballot on the same decision.

      The strength of an option is the total voting strength of all
      voters with valid ballots cast for that option.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2422/0 (Power=3)
Voting Strength

      The voting strength of an entity is an integer between 1 and 5
      inclusive, defined by rules of power 2 or greater. If not
      otherwise specified, the voting strength of an entity is 1.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2127/8 (Power=3)
Conditional Votes

      If a vote on an Agoran decision is submitted conditionally (e.g.
      "FOR if <X> is true, otherwise AGAINST"), then the selected
      option is evaluated based on the value of the condition(s) at
      the end of the voting period, and, rules to the contrary
      notwithstanding, is clearly specified if and only if the value
      of the condition(s) is/are determinate at the end of the voting
      period.  If the option cannot be clearly identified, a vote of
      PRESENT is cast.

      Casting a vote endorsing another voter is equivalent to
      conditionally casting a vote whose value is the same as the most
      common value (if any) among that voter's valid votes on that
      decision.

      Casting a vote denouncing another voter is equivalent to
      conditionally casting a vote whose value is opposite to the most
      common value (if any) among that voter's valid votes on that
      decision.  FOR and AGAINST are opposites.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2168/7 (Power=1)
Extending the voting period

      Whenever the voting period of an Agoran decision would end, and
      the result would be FAILED QUORUM, the length of the voting
      period for that decision is instead increased to 14 days, except
      if it is already that length, provided this has not already
      happened for the decision in question.

      Upon such an occurrence, the vote collector for the decision
      SHALL issue a humiliating public reminder to the slackers who
      have not yet cast any votes on it despite being eligible, and
      CAN end its voting period by announcement (resolving it
      constitutes an implicit announcement that its voting period is
      first ended) if the result would no longer be FAILED QUORUM, or
      if the decision is whether to adopt a proposal and no voter
      (other than possibly the proposal's author) has voted FOR.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 208/10 (Power=3)
Resolving Agoran Decisions

      The vote collector for an unresolved Agoran decision CAN resolve
      it by announcement, indicating the option selected by Agora.  If
      it was required to be initiated, then e SHALL resolve it in a
      timely fashion after the end of the voting period.  To be valid,
      this announcement must satisfy the following conditions:

      (a) It is published after the voting period has ended.

      (b) It clearly identifies the matter to be resolved.

      (c) It specifies the outcome, as described elsewhere, and, if
          there was more than one valid option, provides a tally of
          the voters' valid ballots on the various options.

      Each Agoran decision has exactly one vote collector, defaulting
      to the initiator of the decision.  If the vote collector is
      defined by reference to a position (or, in the default case, if
      the initiator was so defined), then the vote collector is the
      current holder of that position.

      This rule takes precedence over any rule that would provide
      another mechanism by which an Agoran decision may be resolved.

      In general, changes to the gamestate due to the outcome of an
      Agoran decision take effect when the decision is resolved.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 955/18 (Power=3)
Determining the Will of Agora

      After an Agoran Decision's voting period ends, it has an outcome
      (syn. "the <appropriate noun> chosen by Agora").

      (a) If there is more than one available option, and the number
          of distinct voters who submitted valid ballots is less than
          quorum, then the outcome is FAILED QUORUM, regardless of the
          remainder of this rule.  Otherwise, the decision achieved
          quorum.

      (b) If the decision has an adoption index, then if the strength
          of FOR is greater than the strength of AGAINST, and the
          ratio of the strength of FOR to the strength of AGAINST is
          greater than or equal to the decision's adoption index (or
          the strength of AGAINST is zero), then the outcome is
          ADOPTED; otherwise, the outcome is REJECTED.

      (c) Otherwise, the outcome is the option with the most votes.
          In case of a tie, the vote collector SHALL select one of the
          leaders as the outcome. If there are no options, the outcome
          is null.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 879/32 (Power=2)
Quorum

      Quorum for an Agoran Decision is equal to the number of players
      who voted on the most recently resolved Agoran Decision to adopt
      a proposal, minus 3.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2034/8 (Power=3)
Vote Protection and Cutoff for Challenges

      A public message purporting to resolve an Agoran decision
      constitutes self-ratifying claims that

       a) such a decision existed,
       b) it was resolved as indicated, and
       c) (if the indicated outcome was to adopt a proposal) such a
          proposal existed, was adopted, and took effect.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

======================================================================
Proposals
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2350/9 (Power=3)
Proposals

      A proposal is a type of entity consisting of a body of text and
      other attributes.  A player CAN create a proposal by
      announcement, specifying its text and optionally specifying any
      of the following attributes:

      * An associated title.
      * A list of co-authors (which must be persons other than the
        author).
      * An adoption index.

      Creating a proposal adds it to the Proposal Pool.  Once a
      proposal is created, nether its text nor any of the
      aforementioned attributes can be changed.  The author (syn.
      proposer) of a proposal is the person who submitted it.

      If a decision of whether to adopt a proposal was resolved as
      FAILED QUORUM in the last seven days, the Promotor CAN once add
      the proposal back to the Proposal Pool by announcement.

      The author of a proposal in the Proposal Pool CAN remove (syn.
      retract, withdraw) it from the Pool by announcement.

      The Promotor CAN remove a proposal from the Proposal Pool by
      announcement if it is not pending and has been added to the Pool
      more than 14 days ago.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2445/0 (Power=1)
How to Pend a Proposal

      Imminence is a switch, tracked by the Promotor, possessed by
      proposals in the Proposal Pool, whose value is either "pending"
      or "not pending" (default).

      Each office has a spending power, which is a natural number.
      The spending power of each office is 1, except as otherwise
      defined by rule. The spending power of Rulekeepor, of Speaker,
      and of Prime Minister is 2. The spending power of Promotor is 4.

      A player can flip a proposal's imminence to "pending" by
      announcement, unless e has already done so a number of times
      that week that equals or exceeds the total spending power of the
      offices e holds.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2443/0 (Power=3)
Expediting Proposals

      A player CAN expedite a proposal whose adoption index is at most
      1.5, in a message containing the character string "[Expedition]"
      in the subject line,

        (a) by specially deputising for the Promotor to distribute the
            proposal, if it has not been distributed; or
        (b) by announcement, otherwise.

      If, in an Agoran Decision to adopt a proposal, the strength of
      AGAINST is zero, and the proposal was expedited at least 7 days
      earlier, then any player CAN specially deputise for the Assessor
      to resolve the decision.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 106/35 (Power=3)
Adopting Proposals

      When a decision about whether to adopt a proposal is resolved,
      if the option selected by Agora is ADOPTED, then the proposal in
      question is adopted, and unless other rules prevent it from
      taking effect, its power is set to the minimum of four and its
      adoption index, and then it takes effect.  Except as prohibited
      by other rules, a proposal that takes effect CAN and does, as
      part of its effect, apply the changes that it specifies.  If the
      proposal cannot make some such changes, this does not preclude
      the other changes from taking place.

      If there is no Agoran Decision to adopt a particular proposal
      that has an outcome of ADOPTED, that proposal CANNOT take
      effect, rules to the contrary notwithstanding.

      Preventing a proposal from taking effect is a secured change;
      this does not apply to generally preventing changes to specified
      areas of the gamestate, nor to a proposal preventing itself from
      taking effect (its no-effect clause is generally interpreted as
      applying only to the rest of the proposal).

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 1607/42 (Power=3)
Distribution

      The Promotor is an office; its holder is responsible for
      receiving and distributing proposals.

      Determining whether to adopt a proposal is an Agoran decision.
      For this decision, the vote collector is the Assessor, the
      adoption index is initially the adoption index of the proposal,
      or 1.0 if the proposal does not have one, and the text of the
      proposal is an essential parameter.  Initiating such a decision
      is known as distribution, and removes the proposal from the
      Proposal Pool.

      The Promotor CAN distribute a proposal which is in the Proposal
      Pool at any time. The Promotor SHALL NOT distribute proposals
      which are not pending.

      In a given Agoran week, the Promotor SHALL, as part of eir
      weekly duties, distribute all pending proposals.

      Distributed proposals have ID numbers, to be assigned by the
      Promotor.

      If there is a Proposal in the Pool that it would otherwise be
      IMPOSSIBLE for any player to distribute, then any player CAN
      distribute that Proposal Without 3 Objections.

      The Promotor's report includes a list of all proposals in the
      Proposal Pool, along with their text and attributes.  This
      portion of a public document purporting to be a Promotor's
      report is self-ratifying.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 1950/30 (Power=3)
Decisions with Adoption Indices

      Adoption index is an untracked switch possessed by Agoran
      decisions and proposals, whose value is either "none" (default)
      or an integral multiple of 0.1 from 1.0 to 9.9.

      Adoption index is secured with a power threshold of 2.

      An Agoran decision with an adoption index has the following
      essential parameters:

      a) Its adoption index.
      b) Its author (and co-authors, if any).

      For any Agoran decision with an adoption index, the available
      options are FOR and AGAINST.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2137/2 (Power=1)
The Assessor

      The Assessor is an office; its holder is responsible for
      collecting votes and keeping track of related properties.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2431/1 (Power=1)
Proposal Competitions

      Any player CAN, with Agoran Consent, initiate a Proposal
      Competition with a specified Objective. Only one Competition may
      be in progress at a time. The Objective should be a
      specification of effects of a proposal, and SHOULD NOT depend on
      factors that could not be determined from the text of a
      proposal.

      During the Agoran Week following the initiation of a Proposal
      Competition, any player CAN specify that a Proposal e submits is
      a Competition Proposal for that Competition.  Players are
      ENCOURAGED to describe how their Competition Proposals fulfill
      the Objective.

      The Promotor SHALL distribute all Competition Proposals for a
      given Competition in the same message. The Assessor SHALL
      resolve all the Agoran Decisions to adopt the Competition
      Proposals for a given Competition in the same message.

      Once all Agoran decisions to adopt Competition Proposals for a
      given Competition have been resolved, the Competition ends.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 1698/4 (Power=3)
Agora Is A Nomic

      Agora is ossified if it is IMPOSSIBLE for any reasonable
      combination of actions by players to cause arbitrary rule
      changes to be made and/or arbitrary proposals to be adopted
      within a four-week period.

      If, but for this rule, the net effect of a proposal would cause
      Agora to become ossified, or would cause Agora to cease to
      exist, it cannot take effect, rules to the contrary
      notwithstanding.  If any other single change to the gamestate
      would cause Agora to become ossified, or would cause Agora to
      cease to exist, it is cancelled and does not occur, rules to the
      contrary notwithstanding.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2444/0 (Power=1)
Silver Quill

      The Silver Quill is a biannual award designed to honor the
      authors of proposals of outstanding merit and influence on the
      game.

      The Marker Dates are July 14, two weeks after Agora's Birthday
      (to avoid the Holiday), and December 29, the day of Agora's
      Half-birthday, of each year, except for dates preceding the
      enactment of this Rule.  After midnight on a given Marker Date,
      the Herald CAN once initiate a Silver Quill Ceremony for that
      Date by announcement, and SHALL do so in a timely fashion; e is
      ENCOURAGED to initiate it on that exact Date if possible.

      After a Silver Quill Ceremony has been initiated, players are
      ENCOURAGED to discuss which eligible proposals best satisfy the
      aforementioned criteria.  To be eligible, a proposal must have
      been adopted at least 2 months, but no more than 14 months,
      before the Marker Date, and must not have previously won a
      Silver Quill Ceremony.  Proposals submitted by new players
      SHOULD be given somewhat higher weight, but the primary
      reference should be the proposals themselves and their effect on
      the game since adoption.

      Once four days have passed since initiation, the Herald CAN once
      initiate the Agoran decision to determine the winner, and SHALL
      do so in a timely fashion.  For this decision, the valid options
      are all eligible proposals and the vote collector is the Herald.

      Upon the resolution of the decision, if the outcome received at
      least three votes (and is not FAILED QUORUM), that proposal wins
      the Ceremony, and the Herald is authorized to award its author
      the Patent Title of "Silver Quill YYYY/MM", substituting the
      Marker Date; otherwise, there is no winner.  This ends the
      Ceremony.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

======================================================================
Adjudication
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 991/15 (Power=2)
Calls for Judgement

      Any person (the initiator) can initiate a Call for Judgement
      (CFJ, syn. Judicial Case) by announcement, specifying a
      statement to be inquired into.  E may optionally bar one person
      from the case.

      At any time, each CFJ is either open (default), or has exactly
      one judgement.

      The Arbitor is an office, responsible for the administration of
      justice in a manner that is fair for emself, if not for the rest
      of Agora.

      When a CFJ has no judge assigned, the Arbitor CAN assign any
      player to be its judge by announcement, and SHALL do so within a
      week.  The players eligible to be assigned as judge are all
      players except the initiator and the person barred (if any).
      The Arbitor SHALL assign judges over time such that all
      interested players have reasonably equal opportunities to judge.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 591/41 (Power=1.7)
Delivering Judgements

      When a CFJ becomes open and is assigned to a judge, that judge
      SHALL assign a valid judgement to the case within a week of
      assignment, by announcement.  If e does not, the Arbitor CAN
      remove em from being the judge of that case by announcement.

      The valid judgements, based on the facts of the case at the time
      the CFJ was initiated, are TRUE, FALSE, and DISMISS.  DISMISS is
      appropriate if the statement is malformed, undecidable,
      irrelevant to the game, if insufficient information exists to
      make a judgement with reasonable effort, or the statement is
      otherwise not able to be answered TRUE or FALSE.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 911/50 (Power=1.7)
Motions and Moots

      If a CFJ (1) has a judgement that has been in effect for less
      than seven days and not been appealed, and (2) has not had a
      Motion to Reconsider filed for it at any time while it has been
      assigned to its current judge, then any Player CAN file a Motion
      to Reconsider the case with 2 Support, or by announcement if e
      is that case's judge.  When a Motion to Reconsider is so filed,
      the case is rendered open again.

      A judgement assigned to any CFJ within the past two weeks CAN be
      entered into Moot by any Player with 2 support, unless that
      judgement has already been entered into Moot.

      Entering a Judgement into Moot is considered to be the
      publication of notice of intent by the Arbitor to resolve the
      Moot with Notice.  The Arbitor SHALL follow through in resolving
      the Moot.

      During a Moot, any player CAN publish or retract eir Brief
      concerning the judgement, clearly recommending a valid
      judgement.  The Arbitor resolves the Moot by assigning a valid
      judgement to the CFJ from among the judgements that received the
      most unretracted recommendations, if any; otherwise the Arbitor
      SHALL assign a valid judgement of eir choice.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2175/9 (Power=1)
Judicial Retraction and Excess

      A new case is a judicial case that has not had any judge
      assigned to it.  The initiator of a new case CAN retract it by
      announcement, thus causing it to cease to be a judicial case.

      An excess case is a new case whose initiator previously
      initiated five or more cases during the same week as that case.
      A person SHALL NOT initiate an excess case.  The Arbitor CAN
      refuse an excess case by announcement, thus causing it to cease
      to be a judicial case.  When e does so, e fulfills any
      obligations with regards to that case.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2426/4 (Power=1)
Cards

      The Referee is an office; its holder is responsible for keeping
      track of wrongdoing.

      The Referee CAN issue a Card to a specified player by
      announcement.  When issuing each Card, e SHALL cite a unique
      violation of the rules e perceives to have occurred within the
      last 14 days, and CANNOT issue more than three Cards per week,
      or one per week to a single player.  The Arbitor CAN issue Black
      Cards to the Referee solely for alleged violations of the former
      requirement.

      The following Cards exist:

      - Green Card, intended for offenses which the Referee does not
        believe warrant effective punishment.  When a Green Card is
        issued, the target player is ENCOURAGED to travel to the
        United States.

      - Red Card, intended for more severe offenses.  The effects of a
        Red Card are described elsewhere.

      - Black Card, naming an office held by the player, intended for
        severe abuses of power (the perceived rule violation must
        involve use or non-use of that office's powers).  Within seven
        days after a Black Card is issued, any player CAN become the
        holder of the target office with two support;  the issuer of
        that Card CANNOT initiate or support this.

      The Referee SHALL issue at least one Card per week, unless no
      violations occurred that week.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2450/0 (Power=1.7)
Pledges

      Breaking a publicly-made pledge is a cardable offense.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2427/0 (Power=3)
Red Cards

      After a Red Card has been issued to a player, e SHOULD publish a
      formal apology of at least 200 words, including all the
      prescribed words, explaining eir error, shame, remorse, and
      ardent desire for self-improvement; other effects are described
      elsewhere.  Until e does so or 30 days have passed, e CANNOT
      cast votes other than PRESENT, rules to the contrary
      notwithstanding.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

======================================================================
Patent Titles and Degrees
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 649/37 (Power=1.5)
Patent Titles

      A Patent Title is a legal title given to a person in recognition
      of the person's distinction.  The Herald is an office; its
      holder is responsible for tracking Patent Titles in eir monthly
      report.

      Awarding or revoking a Patent Title is secured.  A person
      permitted and enabled to award (revoke) a Patent Title SHALL do
      so in a timely fashion after the conditions authorizing em to do
      so are announced, unless there is an open judicial case
      contesting the validity of those conditions.

      The Herald CAN award a specified Patent Title to a specified
      player With 2 Agoran Consent.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 1367/19 (Power=3)
Degrees

      Certain patent titles are known as degrees.  The degrees are

      - Associate of Nomic                 (A.N.)
      - Bachelor of Nomic                  (B.N.)
      - Master of Nomic                    (M.N.)
      - Doctor of Nomic History            (D.N.Hist.)
      - Doctor of Nomic Science            (D.N.Sci.)
      - Doctor of Nomic Philosophy         (D.N.Phil.)

      Degrees are ranked in the order they appear in this rule, with
      degrees listed later being ranked higher.  A specific degree
      CANNOT be awarded to any person more than once.

      A specified degree CAN be awarded with 2 Agoran Consent, and
      SHOULD only be awarded for the publication of an original
      thesis of scholarly worth (including responses to peer-review),
      published with explicit intent to qualify for a degree.  The
      Herald SHOULD coordinate the peer-review process and the
      awarding of degrees.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2231/5 (Power=3)
Order of the Hero of Agora Nomic

      Heroic titles are Agora's premier patent titles of distinction,
      and CAN be awarded to persons for meritorious service only by a
      proposal of power 3 or greater, which SHOULD explain why those
      persons are qualified.  Bearers of heroic titles (Heroes)
      constitute the Order of the Hero of Agora Nomic.

      The Heroic titles in decreasing precedence are:

      Grand Hero of Agora Nomic (GHAN) -- This title may be awarded to
      any person obviously and directly responsible for the existence
      of Agora and/or Nomic in general.  As this title is the highest
      honour that Agora may bestow, a Bearer of this title OUGHT to be
      treated right good forever.

      Hero of Agora Nomic (HAN) -- This title may be awarded to any
      person for outstanding meritorious service to Agora above and
      beyond the call of duty.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2415/0 (Power=1.5)
Badges

      A Badge is any patent title with the word 'badge' as part of
      its name.  A badge SHOULD be used to award multiple persons for
      participating in specific event of note within Agora.  Any
      player CAN award a badge that does not yet exist to three or
      more persons simultaneously, with Agoran Consent.  The Herald
      CAN award an existing badge to persons Without Objection.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

======================================================================
Ephemera
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2452/0 (Power=0.5)
Trust Tokens

      Any player can issue a Trust Token to another person by
      announcement.

      A player can win the game by announcement if e has been issued a
      Trust Token by each other player; if no player has won via this
      mechanism in the past; and if in the same message, e quotes, for
      each player, a public message in which that player issued em a
      Trust Token.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

======================================================================
Trophies
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 1727/18 (Power=1)
Happy Birthday

      WHEREAS, in June 1993, the world's only MUD-based nomic, Nomic
      World, had recently collapsed; yet, many of its players enjoyed
      nomic and did not wish to forego such a noble pursuit;

      And WHEREAS, Originator Chuck Carroll therefore composed an
      Initial Ruleset for an email nomic, based on the Initial
      Rulesets of Peter Suber, inventor of Nomic, and on the Rulesets
      of Nomic World and other nomics,

      And WHEREAS, a nomic thus rose like a phoenix from the ashes of
      Nomic World, played on the mailing list originally set up for
      discussion of Nomic World, and coming into existence at June 30,
      1993, 00:04:30 GMT +1200, with a message sent by FIRST SPEAKER
      Michael Norrish, which read, in part,

          "I see no reason to let this get bogged down; there are no
          precedents or rules that cover this situation, so I think we
          may as well begin directly.... Proposals for new rules are
          invited. In accordance with the rules, these will be
          published, numbered and distributed by me at my earliest
          convenience."

      And WHEREAS, this nomic began as a humble and nameless nomic,
      known unofficially as yoyo, after the mailing list it was played
      on, until its Players, much later, gave it its OFFICIAL NAME of
      Agora,

      And WHEREAS, Agora has now become the wisest, noblest, eldest,
      and most interesting of all active email nomics, due to the hard
      work and diligence of Agorans as well as the frequent advice of
      Agoraphobes,

      And WHEREAS, Agorans desire to joyously commemorate Agora's
      founding,

      BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that Agora's Birthday is defined to be
      the entire day of June 30, GMT +1200, of each year.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 2029/0 (Power=4)
Town Fountain

                      /\   /\
                      / \ / \
                         T
                        his
                      Power-4
               Rule (the first ever)
                was placed to honor
           The Agoran  Spirit Of The Game
           by Goethe, Steve, Murphy, root
           and OscarMeyr, Scamsters. Look
           on our works, ye Marvy, but do
      always Dance a Powerful Dance.  Hail Eris!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

END OF THE SHORT LOGICAL RULESET