The United AscendancyBoard

The Constitution of The United Ascendancy is a document essential to the governance of the region. Originally drafted in late 2018, it has been frequently amended and rewritten in November of 2019 and 2020. The original principles of the document remain, however, despite any amendments.

• Definitions

• Preamble

• Article I: Individual Rights

• Article II: The Executive Branch

• Article III: The Founder Clause

• Article IV: Discord Moderation

• Article V: The Legislative Branch

• Article VI: Elections

• Article VII: Amendments

• Article VIII: Laws

• Article IX: Impeachment

• Article X: Treaties

For the purpose of the appropriate interpretation of this document, the following terms are to be used for the interpretation of terms throughout the constitution.

CITIZEN shall refer to an individual that has a nation present in this region, The United Ascendancy, and is appropriately registered as a citizen through established procedure.

RESIDENT shall refer to an individual that has a nation present in this region, The United Ascendancy.

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WE THE PEOPLE of The United Ascendancy recognize the importance of unbiased and free governance, as well as the right to the people of this region to govern themselves. Understanding this absolute right, the people of The United Ascendancy sign this constitution into law and full effect for the governance of this region. The United Ascendancy is united for the purposes of a community, where one can be free to express their opinions and beliefs without fear of unjust persecution from government, to participate in fair and free elections, as well as government process, and to garner respect for our greater systems of self-responsibility and respect.

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All Citizens and Residents of this region are to be granted certain absolute and inalienable rights, that shall not be infringed upon by any action of the Government of The United Ascendancy.

1. The right to freedom of speech and expression shall not be infringed upon. This includes the right of the people to establish and maintain a free press; however, the right to freedom of speech, expression, and freedom of the press shall fall within the constraints of the rules set forth by www.nationstates.net and any other communication platforms utilized by The United Ascendancy.

2. The right to practice freedom of religion shall not be infringed upon. No laws or policies shall be created to discriminate against any individual religion or spiritual practice.

3. No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, skin colour, nationality, or disability.

4. All individuals are entitled to a fair and just trial. Any individual suspected of violating the laws of this constitution or any laws passed post scriptum, shall be provided with a defence, should they wish, and an unbiased jury of their peers.

5. All individuals are entitled to receive just punishment for any crimes committed. No excessive punishment shall be given.

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The Executive Branch of The Government of The United Ascendancy shall handle all day-to-day operations of the region, as well as establishing through collaboration with the Legislative Branch a long-term plan for the region.

1. The Executive Branch is to be lead by the President of The United Ascendancy.

2. The President shall serve a term of 6 months between elections.

3. The President has no limit on total terms served, but they cannot serve more than 2 terms consecutively.

4. The responsibilities of the President shall be to:

   1. Lead the region in major decisions,

   2. Act in accordance with this constitution and the interests of this region, in order to be an effective leader,

   3. Nominate positions to the Cabinet to fill a vacancy until a byelection is held,

   4. Protect the citizens of The United Ascendancy.

5. Several positions shall exist on the Cabinet of The United Ascendancy, which shall assist in running several of the basic functions of the region. More positions may be established as necessary, but at minimum, the following positions shall exist:

   1. The Secretary of State

      1. The Secretary of State is responsible for the bulk of foreign affairs, including but not limited to creating embassies and maintaining foreign relations with other regions and organizations. They are also responsible for the flow of ambassadors to and from the region, and to keep track of those ambassadors and their regions. They are also responsible, as they hold the World Assembly Delegacy, to represent the region to the World Assembly and any organizations related to the World Assembly. The Secretary of State will be appointed as a regional officer with the following permissions: embassies, polls, appearance, and communications.

   2. The Secretary of Internal Affairs

      1. The Secretary of Internal Affairs is responsible for affairs within the region. They are the chief facilitator of events and activity and have the authority to appoint whomever they wish to assist them in these taskings (Cartographers, etc.). They are also in charge of the regional roleplay and may appoint roleplay moderators in order to assist them in this tasking. The Secretary of Interior will be appointed with the following permissions: border control, polls, communication, and appearance.

6. The positions within the Cabinet of The United Ascendancy shall serve terms of 6 months, between elections, with no term limits.

7. Other positions that are not a part of the Cabinet may be established and appointed by the Executive Branch if necessary, as long as this appointed position has a reasonable use that does not fall under the direct jurisdiction of a pre-existing government position and the newly appointed position does not serve to expand the powers of a pre-existing government position.

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1. The Founder Account of the NS region shall be owned jointly by the President and the Speaker of the House.

2. A new password for the founder account shall be created each time a new member enters either role.

3. In order to ensure the appropriate security of the founder account, the previous President and/or speaker shall retain the password for 5 days after they have left office, during which a thorough background check will be performed by the Administrator to determine the trustworthiness of the individual.

4. In order to run for the position of President or Speaker of the House, or hold such positions, again in order to ensure the safety of the founder account, and individual must meet the following requirements:

   1. Have a WA Nation in The United Ascendancy,

   2. Have resided in The United Ascendancy for at least 6 months prior to running, or to have spent at least one consecutive year residing in The United Ascendancy in the past, and;

   3. Be a member of the discord server.

5. Should either the President or the Speaker of the House face impeachment, the other member with access to the founder account will change the password and give access of the account to the Administrator to ensure no ill effects throughout the impeachment process.

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1. The Discord Server shall be moderated by the Administrator and a team of moderators of their selection.

2. The Administrator shall be granted ownership of the discord server.

3. The Administrator shall be appointed to a lifetime term, and shall be selected through the following process:

   1. The President shall select a minimum of three, and a maximum of five individuals from within the region.

      1. Should there not be three qualified candidates, the President may select less than three.

   2. Each individual selected must be thoroughly vetted by the Government and the previous Administrator, or, if it is the first appointment of one, an external contractor,

   3. The regional community shall vote among these three to five individuals to decide which of them shall become the Administrator.

4. It is the responsibility of the Administrator to appoint Moderators to assist them in the moderation of the discord server.

5. Beyond this article, the Administrator shall not be governed by the systems of government within The United Ascendancy outside of impeachment by the people of the region in order to maintain impartiality.

6. There shall be no restrictions on the Administrator, or any other members of their Moderation Team, from holding positions within the Government.

7. The Administrator and their Moderation team is responsible for the moderation of the discord server in its entirety.

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1. A unicameral legislative branch shall exist that will draft, propose, and vote upon bills and legislation on behalf of the region, as well as confirmations of appointments made by the executive branch.

2. There shall be one member of parliament for every 6 citizens within the region.

   1. Should there be less than 24 citizens, there shall be four seats in parliament regardless of citizen count.

3. Parliament shall be tasked with oversight of the executive branch and, if necessary, may impeach members of this branch by a 2/3 vote.

4. The Parliament will establish its own policy on passing laws, resolutions, and confirmations.

5. Members of Parliament will make laws that are necessary and proper for the well being of the region, which adhere to this constitution.

6. Parliament may remove a member of its body for high crimes and misdemeanours with a ⅔ vote.

7. If the bill passes the Parliament must inform the President of its passing, who will have 3 days to sign or veto it. If they do nothing the bill will remain on the table until a deliberation is made.

8. The Parliament, with a unanimous vote, can override an executive veto.

9. The Parliament shall pass laws with a simple majority vote. In the case of a tie, a referendum is called to be posted as a poll on the NationStates region page for 3 days.

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1. The election process for a single position will use Single Transferable Vote (STV) with one round of voting. During elections for multiple positions, there will be multiple rounds of voting based on how many positions are free. Citizens will rank their candidates in order of preference. At the end of the voting period(s) votes will be organized by their first choice. Votes will be moved as candidates are eliminated until a single candidate has received a majority of the vote for that round. The person who has received the majority is elected to their associated position in The United Ascendancy. Elections will be held on a google form created and monitored by a member of the government chosen by the three branches of government.

2. Elections will take place over the course of 2 weeks. The first week will mark the beginning of the campaign season. The second week will mark the opening of the ballot box.

3. Elections in the legislature shall occur every 3 months. They shall be held through a google forms poll.

4. In order to run for an election, you must be a citizen, not currently hold a position in government (with the exception of re-election bids) as well as publicly announce your candidacy on the Regional Message Board.

5. In order to vote in an election, you must be a citizen.

6. All parts of an election’s results shall be made public, with the exception of the identity of voters.

7. An election can only be delayed during a state of emergency.

   1. A State of Emergency can be declared by the Executive Branch, by the President, or by a vote through the Parliament.

   2. A State of Emergency can only delay an election for a maximum of 1 month.

8. The World Assembly Delegate position shall be held by the Secretary of State.

9. At no point shall there be any punishment for not endorsing the current delegate, or for endorsing any members that have not been identified as raiders.

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1. An amendment to this constitution shall have to pass through the legislature with a simple majority and then ratified by citizens of the region with a vote.

2. Amendments can be proposed by any member of the legislative, judicial, or executive branches. Individual citizens may contact a member of the legislature for their district and request them to propose a specific amendment, but they cannot directly propose an amendment to the legislature.

3. At least once a year, the whole of government shall decide whether to hold a Constitutional Convention, lasting up to 2 months. Any member nation can request a member of the government to post a popularity poll for a constitutional convention on the NationStates website to show the mandate of the people. Any government official can request a constitutional convention after a 6 month cool-down period from the previous convention. The legislative and executive branches will then hold a single vote together on whether or not to hold the convention. A 2/3 majority is required to officially announce a constitutional convention. During this time, the entire Constitution is up for review and edit. The final version shall be sent to the legislature and the public as one amendment. The process is open to the entire government and for the public to see. If parliament decides, a clause by clause vote can be reached through a 2/3 majority vote.

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1. Common criminal offences will hereby be defined as offences in which anyone (citizen, government official, or foreigner, etc.) can be prosecuted for. Any nation can take any other nation within United Ascendancy territory to judgement by the Moderation Team over a common criminal offence. These offences include,

   1. Persistent harassment of one nation directed at another nation within any of the territories owned by The United Ascendancy.

   2. Any actions which go against any laws established by parliament. However, in the case of sole legal precedent or no precedent at all, the nation in question can decide to contest the claim and have the Moderation Team consider overturning the precedent in favour of a new one.

   3. Any actions which go against any laws dictating the behaviour of NationStates in the territory in which they were taken to judgement by the Moderation Team for. However, in the case of sole legal precedent or no precedent at all, the nation in question can decide to contest the claim and have the Moderation Team consider overturning the precedent in favour of a new one.

2. High criminal offences will be hereby defined as offences which any member nation (citizen, resident, government official) can be prosecuted for. These are offences which are typically dealt with through kicking the nation, banning the nation or an equivalent. Any nation can take any member nation within The United Ascendancy territory to the Moderation Team over a high criminal offence. These offences include,

   1. Treason. Treason is defined as an act wherein a member nation works/cooperates/colludes with a foreign entity to either take over or influence the region for the benefit of said foreign power. This includes: helping raiders take over the founder account or highly influential position in government such as House Speaker or Administrator, helping raiders topple the standing government in favour of a new one, sew discontent among the populace, destabilize the community.

   2. Corruption. Corruption is defined as an act wherein a member nation intentionally works to benefit themselves over the region by forming off the record or generally unknown allegiances to halt branches of government from doing their duty, to compensate themselves in any way which harms another member nation, or does anything on their own which goes against any regional laws for personal gain of any sort.

   3. Anti Constitutionalism. This is defined as treason without corroboration with a foreign entity. Homegrown insurrection for the benefit of themselves and said member nation’s regional native conspirators.

3. No member of the region is permitted to hold positions in separate branches of government at once. This is including if the member nation also owns puppets.

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1. Impeaching a government official, in any event, has the member nation step down from their post and relinquishing their authority. The appointment/election of the recently vacated position is to be executed as is outlined for that position.

2. If the Administrator is impeached and removed, the region must hold a region-wide referendum on which member nation will become the new Administrator in accordance with previous policy.

3. The protocol for the impeachment and removal of a government official, Administrator or otherwise, is as follows,

   1. If a member nation is concerned, they may wish to contact a government official about beginning an official investigation.

   2. A government official must request a vote in parliament to begin an official investigation into the nation in question’s behaviour. If passed by a simple majority in parliament, an investigation will commence.

   3. If damning evidence were to arise incriminating the nation in question and found sufficient enough to call a second vote by any government official, a joint legislative/executive vote will be held on whether or not to call a trial.

   4. The Moderation Team is to hold a hearing with Article 1 section C being taken into account.

   5. Articles of impeachment are to be written up and officially read in front of the Moderation Team before the trial.

   6. The Moderation Team is to deliberate on the issue until a unanimous decision is made and announced. If a stalemate ensues, the Moderation Team can ask for aid from the other to branches in picking an unbiased arbitrator from either within the region or outside of it. Once the final verdict is made, it is to be announced publicly.

   7. If the Moderation Team finds the defendant guilty, they are officially impeached. From there on, the Moderation Team may decide whether to hold an internal dual-branch referendum between the legislative and executive or to hold a region-wide referendum to decide if they should be removed from their position.

   8. If the defendant is forced to step down from office, the Moderation Team is to decide the harshness of the punishment based on the severity of the crime.

4. If the Administrator or a member of government with access to the founder account is not willing to step down even after found guilty, the community is to replace the territory with a newer, similar one and have the community move there, with a new Administrator, Speaker of the House, or President being elected.

5. If the Speaker of the House or the President is not willing to step down, whether due to not complying with impeachment protocol or having the account taken by a hostile entity, the region is to ensure a copy of the constitution, recruitment telegram, and World Factbook Entry survives, and the community is to found a new region with these said resources in tow. Above all, the region under such circumstances not only have the right to protest and rebel but are urged to.

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1. The executive branch, as well as any other diplomats appointed by the branch, can negotiate treaties with other regions or organizations.

2. Diplomats may be appointed as general diplomats for the region, or ones specific to one relationship and may be appointed and dismissed by the Executive Branch at any time.

3. A treaty may be written up by the Executive Branch or another region and sent to the legislature for a ⅔ majority vote.

4. The Executive Branch may ask the Parliament to vote on the end of a treaty which must be approved with a ⅔ majority vote.

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