Structural Analysis of NationStates Legislatures

In NationStates, there are nearly as many types of regional government as there are regions in the world. Absolute dictatorships are common, especially among stronghold regions, where the founder or Governor maintains a vice grip on power. Others are monarchies, either absolute or constitutional, where the head-of-state is there either by virtue of their control over the Governor or appointed by some process, be it simple or byzantine. Numerous regions are democracies, and common to almost all of these regions is some kind of legislature that debates and enacts laws governing the community.

These legislatures can be broken down into three broad kinds: open legislatures, where all citizens or residents are given the right to participate; elected legislatures, where citizens run for office; and semi-open legislatures, where members of the community apply to join. Each of these have their advantages and disadvantages, and can be more effective at different times in a region’s lifecycle.

Open legislatures typically allow all citizens or residents to debate and vote on legislation. Often, a region requires a citizen to take an oath or go through some other ritual in order to fully participate. The main advantage of this type of legislature is that it has a very low barrier to entry, making it most effective when a region wants to increase activity. When I was the first Minister-President of Carcassonne, I found our open legislature crucial to our early success. It is very easy to tell newcomers to participate when it doesn’t require a great deal of effort on their part. On the other hand, though, this format can pose challenges: a low barrier to entry is also a low barrier to exit. When new players have not spent much energy getting involved in governance, it is no great loss to themselves if they fade away.

It is also difficult to guarantee in an open legislature that your region’s participants will foster a healthy political culture all on their own. Many will be new to this game, and not understand the unspoken conventions that are present in every region. And you will have a great deal of citizens who are members of the legislature but do not participate at all; it is borderline impossible to institute any kind of quorum rules in an open legislature.

Elected legislatures are at the opposite end of the spectrum from open ones. In this case, much as in the real world, prospective legislators are elected by the region’s population. Sometimes an elected upper house is paired with an open or semi-open lower house. In any case, there are typically a limited number of seats to which a candidate may be elected. The primary advantage of this form is that it is much easier to get legislators that care about the work. Throwing your name in and getting elected is enough to assure that any candidate at least has some interest in the position. It’s more secure: a prospective spy or plant would have to work much harder to get into the regional government. Finally, elected legislatures can also more easily institute quorum rules, ensuring that the majority of legislators have a chance to look at a law before it is passed and ratified.

There are issues with this format as well, though. One is ensuring activity. These really work best in large regions with plenty of people who wish to get involved. When a region enters a slower period, they may find their Senate or Parliament filled with the “old guard” or, even worse, filled with empty seats. Nothing scares region-builders as much as seeing positions go unfilled, and with elected legislatures this only provides more opportunities for such a moment to arise. This is not to mention another inconvenience – newcomers who arrive after a just-completed election cycle find that they may have to wait weeks or more to get a chance to run for election themselves.

A “semi-open” legislature, like our own Magisterium, is a middle ground between these two poles. In this instance, a legislature has stricter rules for admission than a completely open one, but does not have limited seats. Here, players with their WA nation in The East Pacific are admitted upon giving an oath and posting a public disclosure form detailing their membership and responsibilities in other nations. Players with their WA nation abroad have to post the same public disclosure form and be admitted by a majority vote of the Magisterium. This way of managing the legislature has the advantage of making it easier for new TEPers to join the government while helping to keep the region secure from foreign agents.

The drawbacks here are arguably more manageable: it’s not quite as easy for new players to join the legislature as a total open-door policy, but it is easy enough for most people, and provides an opportunity for new TEPers to think about the responsibilities of being a Magister. Quorum can be tricky; the Magisterium is small enough that it is usually not a problem, but the issue has occasionally been a roadblock.

So which option is best? It’s complicated. They each have their advantages and disadvantages, especially at certain times. A completely open legislature can help get a regional government off the ground quickly, but can become unwieldy as the region grows. An elected legislature can ensure a high quality of debate, and a robust political culture, but is most effective when a region has tons of energy and an already substantial population of potential legislators. The middle ground like we have is flexible, and probably sufficient in most circumstances, but has drawbacks from either side.

It behooves region builders to be responsive to the needs of the community they are building, and for this reason it is best to see what is needed at each moment in a region’s lifecycle. As a new region matures, it may be best to switch from a completely open legislature to a semi-open or even elected one, especially if a good culture of governance needs to be built. On the other hand, a region experiencing a slow period could re-energize itself by opening its legislature to all citizens to participate in.

Analyses like these are instrumental so that community members can re-evaluate what their region needs to thrive at any given moment. A region’s strengths and weaknesses should be continually weighed so that the community a legislature serves can remain healthy. Lawmakers in NS should be flexible and open to change if it proves necessary for the betterment of the region they serve.