WaywardBall
Citizen
- Username: WaywardBall
- Suggestion Title: Making the government more transparent by transferring ownership to the public.
- Elaborate (Why do you think it should be added, how will it improve the server, etc.):
Contention One: Justification.
I. As is the case of many representative governments (including the likes of Republican Rome, post-Magna Carta England, and the United States), citizens were and are expected to provide the funding which keeps their government in operation. As such, the citizens' government is expected to operate in the capacity which is most beneficial to its citizens; in more recent years (post-Magna Carta England and beyond), it became the expectation of the government to maintain almost complete transparency in its operation and spending of public funds and inform the public of its operations.
II. The most viable example lies in the United States, where the government is expected to provide access to publicly funded property (including the houses of government), publish detailed financial reports of government spending, and make available all records of government actions, meetings, and sessions.
III. It should be expected that the BusinessCraft government, which takes its primary motivation from the United States republican system and the English parliamentary system, exercise the same transparency as these systems. This will add a new level of immersion and realism to the server, and bring new depth to players' interaction with the government.
Contention Two: Implementation.
The implementation of transferring ownership of the government should come in three phases, outlined as short-term phase, mid-term phase, and long-term phase. Each will be described below.
I. Short-term Phase:
1.) Allow public access to government buildings when the government is not in session. This is as simple as unlocking doors to the capital building, thus allowing public access.
2.) Publish records of parliamentary sessions and cabinet meetings. This responsibility can be handed to the Department of Public Affairs, wherein they will be responsible for providing public briefs of non-classified cabinet meetings and parliamentary sessions.
3.) Allow journalists into parliamentary sessions. Journalists should be allowed to apply for permission to sit in on parliamentary sessions in order to gather information directly from the source.
II. Mid-term Phase:
1.) Implement a taxation system. The tax doesn't have to be exorbitant, perhaps a monthly tax of 0.5-2.0% of a player's available balance. This is simply to provide context and justification for citizens being allowed access to government records and property.
III. Long-term Phase:
1.) Creation of a Department of Treasury. This department would collect all taxes and allocate government funds appropriately, as decided by Parliament. This would make the government's balance more meaningful and add a level of realism to the economy. As such, the Department of Treasury would be required to release spending reports perhaps every four months, or every quarter of the year.
- Does this require the installation of a new plugin (Yes/No): Maybe. Depending on whether or not a taxation system can be created/engineered using current plugins. If not, I will leave a plugin that can serve this purpose below.
- If you answered Yes on the previous question, please link the plugin (Leave blank if you answered No): https://www.spigotmc.org/resources/taxes.21695/
- Additional Information: The plan of implementation is designed to allow full or partial implementation in a timeframe that allows the easy things to be done, which would lead up to the hard things being easier or more sensible to implement. These phases are not mutually inclusive, meaning the suggestions do not rely on each other to be implemented.
- Suggestion Title: Making the government more transparent by transferring ownership to the public.
- Elaborate (Why do you think it should be added, how will it improve the server, etc.):
Contention One: Justification.
I. As is the case of many representative governments (including the likes of Republican Rome, post-Magna Carta England, and the United States), citizens were and are expected to provide the funding which keeps their government in operation. As such, the citizens' government is expected to operate in the capacity which is most beneficial to its citizens; in more recent years (post-Magna Carta England and beyond), it became the expectation of the government to maintain almost complete transparency in its operation and spending of public funds and inform the public of its operations.
II. The most viable example lies in the United States, where the government is expected to provide access to publicly funded property (including the houses of government), publish detailed financial reports of government spending, and make available all records of government actions, meetings, and sessions.
III. It should be expected that the BusinessCraft government, which takes its primary motivation from the United States republican system and the English parliamentary system, exercise the same transparency as these systems. This will add a new level of immersion and realism to the server, and bring new depth to players' interaction with the government.
Contention Two: Implementation.
The implementation of transferring ownership of the government should come in three phases, outlined as short-term phase, mid-term phase, and long-term phase. Each will be described below.
I. Short-term Phase:
1.) Allow public access to government buildings when the government is not in session. This is as simple as unlocking doors to the capital building, thus allowing public access.
2.) Publish records of parliamentary sessions and cabinet meetings. This responsibility can be handed to the Department of Public Affairs, wherein they will be responsible for providing public briefs of non-classified cabinet meetings and parliamentary sessions.
3.) Allow journalists into parliamentary sessions. Journalists should be allowed to apply for permission to sit in on parliamentary sessions in order to gather information directly from the source.
II. Mid-term Phase:
1.) Implement a taxation system. The tax doesn't have to be exorbitant, perhaps a monthly tax of 0.5-2.0% of a player's available balance. This is simply to provide context and justification for citizens being allowed access to government records and property.
III. Long-term Phase:
1.) Creation of a Department of Treasury. This department would collect all taxes and allocate government funds appropriately, as decided by Parliament. This would make the government's balance more meaningful and add a level of realism to the economy. As such, the Department of Treasury would be required to release spending reports perhaps every four months, or every quarter of the year.
- Does this require the installation of a new plugin (Yes/No): Maybe. Depending on whether or not a taxation system can be created/engineered using current plugins. If not, I will leave a plugin that can serve this purpose below.
- If you answered Yes on the previous question, please link the plugin (Leave blank if you answered No): https://www.spigotmc.org/resources/taxes.21695/
- Additional Information: The plan of implementation is designed to allow full or partial implementation in a timeframe that allows the easy things to be done, which would lead up to the hard things being easier or more sensible to implement. These phases are not mutually inclusive, meaning the suggestions do not rely on each other to be implemented.
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