Constitution of Political Animal

This is the constitution of the Democratic Dictatorship of Political Animal. If there is any ambiguity or confusion in it's interpretation, or omissions, the follow two principles apply.

1) This constitution is designed and intended to limit the power of exalted leader. The rational interpretation that places the greatest restriction on exalted leader's authority, and the greatest power in the hands of members, shall prevail.

2) If there is a precedent, use it.

There will be fresh elections for the position of exalted leader at least every twelve months. An early election or a referendum can be called at any time on the whim of exalted leader, or via petition.

Petitions

A petition can be used to trigger an election for the position of exalted leader or to trigger a referendum. A petition will be deemed successful if the number of signatories meets or exceeds the magic number. The magic number is calculated as follows: take the number of valid votes from the last election, divide by two, round up if necessary (by adding 0.5), then subtract the number of people who submitted a valid vote in that election who are currently unable to sign due to the actions of the admin (eg if they are banned or suspended). The signature of a banned member is not counted if the magic number has already been reduced on their account. All petitions remain active until they succeed or the current exalted leader is replaced with someone else. Once a referendum or election is triggered by a petition, it cannot be 'untriggered'.

Referenda

A referendum can be used to alter the constitution or overrule a decision of exalted leader, for example to reinstate a banned member. A referendum that obtains over 50% approval will be deemed a bloody good idea and will be passed. Anything less and the proposal will be deemed indecent. A referendum can be triggered by petition or by exalted leader.

Voting

All voting and petition signatures must be made public - no secret ballots, unless it is impossible to do so. One vote per person. All voting will be based on mixed runoff and instant runoff elections. Voters may rank candidates, in which case preference distribution will be instantaneous at the close of polls. If this proves insufficient to reach a decision without disenfranchising any voters, one additional runoff round will be held. Only those members who voted for excluded candidates and did not allocate sufficient preferences need recast their vote in a runoff round. The option to change votes will be extended to all who have already voted, but only for the reduced candidate pool. A referendum may have more than two options, providing they are clearly defined.

Elections

All candidate nominations must be made on the forum by an enfranchised member. However, if a candidate is unable to accept on the forum, they may accept externally, provided it can be verified.

Role of exalted leader

Exalted leader has authority over forum policy and the day to day administration of the forum. This includes:

• appointing moderators
• deleting, editing and banning
• forum settings and forum layout, within the limitations imposed by the forum software

Exalted leader is servant of members, not master. Exalted leader has special constitutional powers to call an election or referendum at any time, without requiring a petition. Where a provision of the constitution undermines the authority of exalted leader, exalted leader is obliged to support the provision. This obligation comes without authority over the constitution or it's interpretation. That is, exalted leader is to serve the people via the constitution, but does not have final say on any constitutional matter. Exalted leader must facilitate the expression of the will of the members through constitutional processes by:

• helping members to use the constitution
• counting votes and signatures
• suggesting the outcome of an election or referendum
• suggesting the magic number

If the Exalted Leader is removed under exceptional circumstances within the twelve (12) month period of service then the discharged Leader will forfeit the eligibility to nominate him/herself or to be nominated as administrator in an ensuing election for a further period of twelve (12) months.

Rules

Personal information about other forum users must not be posted without their consent, which can be withdrawn at any time. This includes anything related to their true identity, for example a first name or nickname, ISP, IP number, location etc

Past elections

These are included for reference only and do not form part of the constitution. However, they may be used as a precedent.

Sept 2011:

http://www.ozpolitic.com/polanimal/viewtopic.php?t=9533&start=40#p72576

March 2011:

http://www.ozpolitic.com/polanimal/viewtopic.php?t=7322&start=30#p51194

March 2010:

http://www.ozpolitic.com/polanimal/viewtopic.php?t=1852

http://www.ozpolitic.com/polanimal/viewtopic.php?t=1876

Oct 2008:

http://ozpolitic.com/polanimal/viewtopic.php?t=181

http://ozpolitic.com/polanimal/viewtopic.php?t=174

June 2008:

http://www.ozpolitic.com/polanimal/viewtopic.php?t=29&start=40