[M:977802]
Post by Qwerty on Feb 12, 2012 8:23:04 GMT
In days of yore, when men were real men, women were real women, and the "PM all" feature was used regularly, we attempted to construct a forum constitution.
This constitution, constructed by Veers, TSL, and myself, was meant to do many things, but mostly it was meant to put a cap on the expanding power of Listo and allow for an impeachment method.
It ended up being an overcomplicated mess that would in no way work in the actual forum.
Nonetheless, I am posting what I believe to be the final version (although I am not certain) here, quoted verbatim from a PM from Veers to me:
Preamble
We the people of the Official Dan-Ball Forums, in order to form a more perfect Forum, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense against spam, promote the general activity, and secure the blessings of on-topic-ness to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Official Dan-Ball Forums.
Article I: The Administrative Bodies
The Official Dan-Ball Forums Staff shall consist of three distinct bodies. These three bodies shall be the Site Owner, the Cabinet, and the Legislature.
Section 1: The Site Owner
[1.] The Forum shall be headed by a single leader known as the Site Owner. He/she shall make up the first body.
[2.] The duties of the Site Owner are to encourage site activity, keep the site safe, update the site, propose and pass and veto bills, serve as the site figurehead, resolve issues when there is no conflict of interest, and collaborate with the other staff.
[3.] The Site Owner must be active enough to preside over all the other bodies, oversee all Forum activity, and be aware of all important goings-on of the Forum.
[4.] The Site Owner shall use the Admin account. The Site Owner may never change the password to the Admin account unless Forum security is at stake or he gives the new password to the high staff members. The Site Owner must change the password after a member of the Cabinet is fired.
[5.] The Site Owner shall serve in office for an indefinite term, until he/she resigns or is impeached. If a Site Owner is inactive for a long stretch of time, the forums may choose to impeach him.
Section 2: The Cabinet
[1.] Just below the Site Owner shall be the Cabinet, which shall consist of High Administrators and the Graphic Artist. They shall make up the second body.
[2.] The duties of the Cabinet are to encourage site activity, keep the site safe, update the site, aid the Legislature, propose and vote on bills, resolve issues when there is no conflict of interest, collaborate with the other staff, and serve as advisers to the Site Owner.
[3.] Members of the Cabinet shall have predetermined administrative powers, less than those of the Site Owner, but the maximum possible for non-owners in Proboards.
[4.] The Cabinet shall also be entrusted with the password to the Admin account. However, they must ask the Site Owner to carry out any acts that require the Admin account's powers, or they must gain the approval of the majority of the Cabinet. Members of the Cabinet may also use the admin account or password in times of emergency, and only if the Site Owner is not present at the time of said emergency. Members of the Cabinet may not use the Admin account or password for anything else.
[5.] The members of the Cabinet shall serve in office for an indefinite term until they resign or are impeached.
Section 3: The Legislature
[1.] Below the Cabinet shall be the Legislature. It shall consist of Administrators and Category Moderator. They shall make up the third body.
[2.] The duties of the Legislature are to encourage site activity, keep the site safe and clean, propose and vote on bills, moderate their assigned categories and everything below them, resolve issues when there is no conflict of interest, and collaborate with the other staff.
[3.] The Category Moderators shall oversee activity and coordinate efforts within their assigned category. The Administrators shall supervise the Category Moderators and serve as general overseers, keeping order throughout the Forum.
[4.] Members of the Legislature shall have predetermined administrative powers, less than those of the Cabinet and Site Owner. Administrators shall have more administrative powers than Category Moderators.
[5.] The members of the Legislature shall serve in office for an indefinite term until they resign, or are impeached.
Article II: Staff Hierarchy Alterations
Section 1: Hiring and Promotion
[1.] Any Forum member, Staff or Community, may suggest the hiring of a new staff member, or the promotion of a current Staff member, after which it must be voted on by the Staff.
[2.] Any Community member may be hired to a Staff position by a 3/4 vote of the entire Staff, with the Site Owner’s vote being the equivalent of 1/4 of the Staff. New Staff members start at the lowest existing rank.
[3.] Any Staff member may be promoted to any position by a 3/4 vote of the entire Staff, with the Site Owner’s vote being the equivalent of 1/4 of the Staff.
Section 2: Impeachment and Demotion
[1.] The Staff of the Official Dan-Ball Forums shall have the power to--provided with a good reason--impeach or demote a Staff member if he/she is not satisfactorily fulfilling his/her duties.
[2.] Any Forum member, Staff or Community, may suggest a Staff member’s impeachment or demotion, after which it must be voted on by the Staff.
[3.] The Site Owner may be impeached or demoted to any position by a 3/4 vote of the entire Staff. The votes and plans for this impeachment may be kept off-site in secret until the impeachment is complete.
[4.] A member of the Cabinet or Legislature may be impeached or demoted by a 3/4 vote of the entire Staff, with the Site Owner’s vote being the equivalent of 1/4 of the Staff.
Article III: The Lawmaking Process
[1.] A law (or rule, for the less formal) may be proposed by any member of the Official Dan-Ball Forums, Staff or Community.
[2.] A simple majority vote of either the Cabinet or the Legislature is required to pass a law.
[3.] The Site Owner has the power to veto any law passed by the Staff. The veto may be overridden by a 2/3 majority vote of the entire Staff.
[4.] The same process above shall also be used for repealing existing laws.
[5.] Enforcement of the rules on the forums shall be done by the Category Moderator responsible for the category in which the rule was broken. If the rulebreaking is in doubt, then a Warning Archive thread will be created for staff discussion. A simple majority of all the interested staff members will suffice to pass the punishment.
Article IV: Treaties of Affiliation
The Staff of the Official Dan-Ball Forums shall have the power to make Treaties of Affiliation with other sites.
Section 1: Requirements for Affiliation
[1.] In order to Affiliate with another site, that site must be active, as well as constructive and beneficial to the Official Dan-Ball Forums and its members.
[2.] The content and/or topics of the site to be Affiliated with must not violate the Official Dan-Ball Forums' rules.
Section 2: Power to Affiliate
[1.] A Treaty of Affiliation may be made by the Site Owner's standalone approval.
[2.] It may also be made by a 2/3 vote of the Cabinet.
[3.] An affiliation may be formally challenged--if given good reason--by any member of the Official Dan-Ball Forums, Staff or Community, after which it must be voted on by the entire staff, decided by a simple majority vote.
Article V: The Chat
[1.] A Live Chat system shall be established on the Official Dan-Ball Forums. The purpose of this Chat shall is to allow a faster method of communication between Forum members.
[2.] The Chat is an extension of the Forum, and therefore all Forum rules apply to Chat. However, bans on the Forum shall not carry over to Chat, and vice-versa. If a chat moderator requires banning, any Cabinet member may demote them in order to ban them on the Chat Admin account, however, they must ban them on their own account.
[3.] Like the Forum Admin account, the password to the Chat Admin account shall be entrusted to the Site Owner and the Cabinet. The Cabinet may only use the Chat Admin account or change its password in times of emergency. If the password is changed or the administrator is changed, the chat may also be changed.
Article VI: The Amendment Process
Section 1: Constitutional Supremacy
[1.] This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land. If, after the Ratification of this Constitution, any current laws are found to be in conflict with it, the Constitution shall reign superior and negate those laws.
[2.] No future law shall be passed that conflicts with this Constitution. If such a law is desired by the Forum, the Constitution must first be Amended to accommodate the law.
Section 2: Amendment Requirements
[1.] An Amendment to this Constitution may be proposed by any Forum member, Staff or Community.
[2.] For an Amendment to be passed, it must receive a simple majority vote of the Community, plus a simple majority vote of the entire Staff.
[3.] No Amendment shall be removed from this Constitution. Instead, another amendment that negates it must be passed.
Article VII: Ratification
The simple majority vote of the Community, plus the simple majority vote of the entire Staff, shall be sufficient for the Ratification of this Constitution for the Official Dan-Ball Forums.
I. All members of the Forum shall enjoy freedom of political speech. This does not extend to flaming, harassment, and/or spam.
II. All members shall also enjoy freedom of peaceful assembly and petitioning of the government. This does not include riots or spamming Staff members with their views.
III. No law shall be passed that discriminates against or infringes upon the rights of any particular group, unless that group is based on posting ranks, Staff ranks, or warning levels, or on the bases of trust and site security.
IV. No member shall be formally charged and/or punished for a crime without any concrete evidence, witnesses, and/or security logs presented against the accused.
V. All members have the right to a fair trial, in which the accused may present counter-evidence. The trial should be held on the Neutral Dan-Ball Chat. Preliminary bans may be administered until the trial is completed.
VI. No member of the Staff shall abuse his power to commit acts against the Community or Forum as a whole, nor any individual members, nor may he use his powers for his own personal gain, lest he be permanently removed from office.
VII. No excessive or unreasonable punishment shall be imposed for a crime, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. People cannot be banned for accidentally double-posting.
VIII. No member of the Staff shall punish a member or members based on personal bias or hatred, lest he be permanently removed from office. If such bias or hatred is suspected, it must be proven with concrete evidence.
IX. No law shall be passed that undermines the any of the rights listed above.
TSL and I finished going over this draft. Is there anything else you would like to include?
This constitution, constructed by Veers, TSL, and myself, was meant to do many things, but mostly it was meant to put a cap on the expanding power of Listo and allow for an impeachment method.
It ended up being an overcomplicated mess that would in no way work in the actual forum.
Nonetheless, I am posting what I believe to be the final version (although I am not certain) here, quoted verbatim from a PM from Veers to me:
Constitution
Preamble
We the people of the Official Dan-Ball Forums, in order to form a more perfect Forum, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense against spam, promote the general activity, and secure the blessings of on-topic-ness to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Official Dan-Ball Forums.
Article I: The Administrative Bodies
The Official Dan-Ball Forums Staff shall consist of three distinct bodies. These three bodies shall be the Site Owner, the Cabinet, and the Legislature.
Section 1: The Site Owner
[1.] The Forum shall be headed by a single leader known as the Site Owner. He/she shall make up the first body.
[2.] The duties of the Site Owner are to encourage site activity, keep the site safe, update the site, propose and pass and veto bills, serve as the site figurehead, resolve issues when there is no conflict of interest, and collaborate with the other staff.
[3.] The Site Owner must be active enough to preside over all the other bodies, oversee all Forum activity, and be aware of all important goings-on of the Forum.
[4.] The Site Owner shall use the Admin account. The Site Owner may never change the password to the Admin account unless Forum security is at stake or he gives the new password to the high staff members. The Site Owner must change the password after a member of the Cabinet is fired.
[5.] The Site Owner shall serve in office for an indefinite term, until he/she resigns or is impeached. If a Site Owner is inactive for a long stretch of time, the forums may choose to impeach him.
Section 2: The Cabinet
[1.] Just below the Site Owner shall be the Cabinet, which shall consist of High Administrators and the Graphic Artist. They shall make up the second body.
[2.] The duties of the Cabinet are to encourage site activity, keep the site safe, update the site, aid the Legislature, propose and vote on bills, resolve issues when there is no conflict of interest, collaborate with the other staff, and serve as advisers to the Site Owner.
[3.] Members of the Cabinet shall have predetermined administrative powers, less than those of the Site Owner, but the maximum possible for non-owners in Proboards.
[4.] The Cabinet shall also be entrusted with the password to the Admin account. However, they must ask the Site Owner to carry out any acts that require the Admin account's powers, or they must gain the approval of the majority of the Cabinet. Members of the Cabinet may also use the admin account or password in times of emergency, and only if the Site Owner is not present at the time of said emergency. Members of the Cabinet may not use the Admin account or password for anything else.
[5.] The members of the Cabinet shall serve in office for an indefinite term until they resign or are impeached.
Section 3: The Legislature
[1.] Below the Cabinet shall be the Legislature. It shall consist of Administrators and Category Moderator. They shall make up the third body.
[2.] The duties of the Legislature are to encourage site activity, keep the site safe and clean, propose and vote on bills, moderate their assigned categories and everything below them, resolve issues when there is no conflict of interest, and collaborate with the other staff.
[3.] The Category Moderators shall oversee activity and coordinate efforts within their assigned category. The Administrators shall supervise the Category Moderators and serve as general overseers, keeping order throughout the Forum.
[4.] Members of the Legislature shall have predetermined administrative powers, less than those of the Cabinet and Site Owner. Administrators shall have more administrative powers than Category Moderators.
[5.] The members of the Legislature shall serve in office for an indefinite term until they resign, or are impeached.
Article II: Staff Hierarchy Alterations
Section 1: Hiring and Promotion
[1.] Any Forum member, Staff or Community, may suggest the hiring of a new staff member, or the promotion of a current Staff member, after which it must be voted on by the Staff.
[2.] Any Community member may be hired to a Staff position by a 3/4 vote of the entire Staff, with the Site Owner’s vote being the equivalent of 1/4 of the Staff. New Staff members start at the lowest existing rank.
[3.] Any Staff member may be promoted to any position by a 3/4 vote of the entire Staff, with the Site Owner’s vote being the equivalent of 1/4 of the Staff.
Section 2: Impeachment and Demotion
[1.] The Staff of the Official Dan-Ball Forums shall have the power to--provided with a good reason--impeach or demote a Staff member if he/she is not satisfactorily fulfilling his/her duties.
[2.] Any Forum member, Staff or Community, may suggest a Staff member’s impeachment or demotion, after which it must be voted on by the Staff.
[3.] The Site Owner may be impeached or demoted to any position by a 3/4 vote of the entire Staff. The votes and plans for this impeachment may be kept off-site in secret until the impeachment is complete.
[4.] A member of the Cabinet or Legislature may be impeached or demoted by a 3/4 vote of the entire Staff, with the Site Owner’s vote being the equivalent of 1/4 of the Staff.
Article III: The Lawmaking Process
[1.] A law (or rule, for the less formal) may be proposed by any member of the Official Dan-Ball Forums, Staff or Community.
[2.] A simple majority vote of either the Cabinet or the Legislature is required to pass a law.
[3.] The Site Owner has the power to veto any law passed by the Staff. The veto may be overridden by a 2/3 majority vote of the entire Staff.
[4.] The same process above shall also be used for repealing existing laws.
[5.] Enforcement of the rules on the forums shall be done by the Category Moderator responsible for the category in which the rule was broken. If the rulebreaking is in doubt, then a Warning Archive thread will be created for staff discussion. A simple majority of all the interested staff members will suffice to pass the punishment.
Article IV: Treaties of Affiliation
The Staff of the Official Dan-Ball Forums shall have the power to make Treaties of Affiliation with other sites.
Section 1: Requirements for Affiliation
[1.] In order to Affiliate with another site, that site must be active, as well as constructive and beneficial to the Official Dan-Ball Forums and its members.
[2.] The content and/or topics of the site to be Affiliated with must not violate the Official Dan-Ball Forums' rules.
Section 2: Power to Affiliate
[1.] A Treaty of Affiliation may be made by the Site Owner's standalone approval.
[2.] It may also be made by a 2/3 vote of the Cabinet.
[3.] An affiliation may be formally challenged--if given good reason--by any member of the Official Dan-Ball Forums, Staff or Community, after which it must be voted on by the entire staff, decided by a simple majority vote.
Article V: The Chat
[1.] A Live Chat system shall be established on the Official Dan-Ball Forums. The purpose of this Chat shall is to allow a faster method of communication between Forum members.
[2.] The Chat is an extension of the Forum, and therefore all Forum rules apply to Chat. However, bans on the Forum shall not carry over to Chat, and vice-versa. If a chat moderator requires banning, any Cabinet member may demote them in order to ban them on the Chat Admin account, however, they must ban them on their own account.
[3.] Like the Forum Admin account, the password to the Chat Admin account shall be entrusted to the Site Owner and the Cabinet. The Cabinet may only use the Chat Admin account or change its password in times of emergency. If the password is changed or the administrator is changed, the chat may also be changed.
Article VI: The Amendment Process
Section 1: Constitutional Supremacy
[1.] This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land. If, after the Ratification of this Constitution, any current laws are found to be in conflict with it, the Constitution shall reign superior and negate those laws.
[2.] No future law shall be passed that conflicts with this Constitution. If such a law is desired by the Forum, the Constitution must first be Amended to accommodate the law.
Section 2: Amendment Requirements
[1.] An Amendment to this Constitution may be proposed by any Forum member, Staff or Community.
[2.] For an Amendment to be passed, it must receive a simple majority vote of the Community, plus a simple majority vote of the entire Staff.
[3.] No Amendment shall be removed from this Constitution. Instead, another amendment that negates it must be passed.
Article VII: Ratification
The simple majority vote of the Community, plus the simple majority vote of the entire Staff, shall be sufficient for the Ratification of this Constitution for the Official Dan-Ball Forums.
Bill of Rights
I. All members of the Forum shall enjoy freedom of political speech. This does not extend to flaming, harassment, and/or spam.
II. All members shall also enjoy freedom of peaceful assembly and petitioning of the government. This does not include riots or spamming Staff members with their views.
III. No law shall be passed that discriminates against or infringes upon the rights of any particular group, unless that group is based on posting ranks, Staff ranks, or warning levels, or on the bases of trust and site security.
IV. No member shall be formally charged and/or punished for a crime without any concrete evidence, witnesses, and/or security logs presented against the accused.
V. All members have the right to a fair trial, in which the accused may present counter-evidence. The trial should be held on the Neutral Dan-Ball Chat. Preliminary bans may be administered until the trial is completed.
VI. No member of the Staff shall abuse his power to commit acts against the Community or Forum as a whole, nor any individual members, nor may he use his powers for his own personal gain, lest he be permanently removed from office.
VII. No excessive or unreasonable punishment shall be imposed for a crime, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. People cannot be banned for accidentally double-posting.
VIII. No member of the Staff shall punish a member or members based on personal bias or hatred, lest he be permanently removed from office. If such bias or hatred is suspected, it must be proven with concrete evidence.
IX. No law shall be passed that undermines the any of the rights listed above.
TSL and I finished going over this draft. Is there anything else you would like to include?
