Post by Ivory Rhodes on Jul 23, 2019 2:51:18 GMT
I am Ivory Rhodes, and I'm proud to announce my candidacy for Minister of Immigration here in the SLU. I have been a Nationstates player for nearly 7 years now, and am excited to mark this as a new journey in my career.
I'm currently a college student who maintains a very politically active lifestyle. In my time as a Nationstates player, my nation of Ivory Rhodes has existed almost exclusively in the Democratic Socialist Assembly, the sister region of the SLU. The large chunk of my experience comes from not only working as a Minister in the DSA, but overseeing several dramatic transformations of the region. My time there drew me to the SLU, where I had proudly formed strong relationships with many members before finally moving my main nation in April of this year.
As mentioned, I served as a Minister in the DSA, and still hold the record for most terms served in Cabinet (13 terms total at 3 months apiece). When I took the reigns in the DSA, we had been in dire straits. We had declined to 157 nations, similar to the size of the SLU at the time. As President, I pushed forward, alone in a region where only two people ran to fill 7 positions in the executive, fighting tooth and nail to revive the community- and it worked. From our low of 157 residents in August of 2017, we climbed all the way to nearly 400 nations by mid-April of 2018. When my successor failed to sustain our success, we once more dropped to 258 nations in just three months, only to be bolstered to 401 nations in April of this year. My nearly 3 years in government resulted in an explosion of activity, setting records for resident counts, Congressional membership, contested elections, and democratic participation. The race to succeed me as President in April of 2018 had the highest turnout of any election in the region's history, with 47 nations casting a ballot. More recently, I undertook a massive project by revising every law in the region, closing loopholes and increasing efficiency all the while cutting dozens of pages of laws out of the books.
I think the most important part of understanding my record in the past is how it informs my plans in serving as your Minister of Immigration. What was done for another region is simply done for them- it doesn't affect anyone here. That being said, my plan is as follows:
Background & Record
I'm currently a college student who maintains a very politically active lifestyle. In my time as a Nationstates player, my nation of Ivory Rhodes has existed almost exclusively in the Democratic Socialist Assembly, the sister region of the SLU. The large chunk of my experience comes from not only working as a Minister in the DSA, but overseeing several dramatic transformations of the region. My time there drew me to the SLU, where I had proudly formed strong relationships with many members before finally moving my main nation in April of this year.
If you don't know me well, read below. Otherwise, continue past this section
As mentioned, I served as a Minister in the DSA, and still hold the record for most terms served in Cabinet (13 terms total at 3 months apiece). When I took the reigns in the DSA, we had been in dire straits. We had declined to 157 nations, similar to the size of the SLU at the time. As President, I pushed forward, alone in a region where only two people ran to fill 7 positions in the executive, fighting tooth and nail to revive the community- and it worked. From our low of 157 residents in August of 2017, we climbed all the way to nearly 400 nations by mid-April of 2018. When my successor failed to sustain our success, we once more dropped to 258 nations in just three months, only to be bolstered to 401 nations in April of this year. My nearly 3 years in government resulted in an explosion of activity, setting records for resident counts, Congressional membership, contested elections, and democratic participation. The race to succeed me as President in April of 2018 had the highest turnout of any election in the region's history, with 47 nations casting a ballot. More recently, I undertook a massive project by revising every law in the region, closing loopholes and increasing efficiency all the while cutting dozens of pages of laws out of the books.
What We Can Do In the SLU
I think the most important part of understanding my record in the past is how it informs my plans in serving as your Minister of Immigration. What was done for another region is simply done for them- it doesn't affect anyone here. That being said, my plan is as follows:
Recruitment Campaign
Traditional recruitment is often a pain, with telegrams having to be manually sent as a very arduous and almost futile task. This is where the auto-recruiter comes in. As Minister of Immigration, I shall propose that the Ministry will use not just any recruiter, but the same bug-free version which led the DSA to such incredible growth. The current version of pyNSRecruit has numerous bugs in it which plague its ability to work reliably, however, testing with the tweaked version created for me by the program's author has proved it has a virtually 0% chance of failure. This means that the recruiter can simply be turned on and then completely forgotten about. The recruitment telegram used with be crafted with careful consideration for the culture of the SLU, so that we may invite people who will become active and constructive contributors to our region.
Retention Promise
The purpose of a recruiter is not just to bolster numbers for the sake of the size of the region, but to capture players who are enthusiastic about participating in the SLU's government, Open Parliament, role play, and community. As Minister of Immigration, I would aim to work closely with the Minister of Domestic Affairs and the Delegate to prioritize retention of new residents. New residents should be made immediately aware of our Discord server, as well as the opportunities for role-play and functions of the Open Parliament. I firmly believe that participation in the legislature is the hallmark of region's capacity to endure. Change for the sake of change is never good, however, familiarizing new nations who show a willingness to learn about the Open Parliament should be a key priority. Acts, Resolutions, and elections all require minimum vote thresholds in the SLU, and for good reason. As Minister of Immigration, I can guarantee that a bill shall never fail because of a lack of participation, and I will do all in my power to encourage robust participation in regional elections. Furthermore, as Minister of Immigration, I will work closely with Delegate Courelli to involve our newest members in the weekly Discord "fireside" chats and the training of interested players for civil service. In response to my distinguished opponent, I do not believe a mentor system would work, rather
Conclusion
While this is a relatively short platform, I do not wish to belabor my point at the risky of bloviating. As Minister of Immigration, I promise to deliver sustainable growth and nothing less. We cannot pretend that there is some magic, one-step solution to the SLU's participation woes, however, by bringing in new residents and making the best case with can through our actions and not just words to them that the SLU is the place for them, we can slowly but surely build a healthier, stronger, SLU
Declared interests: I currently serve as the Director of World Assembly Affairs in the DSA for the purpose of advising the President & World Assembly Delegate. Additionally, I serve as the Parliamentarian of the Legal Counsel, the DSA's equivalent of the Law Commission until August 31.
While this is a relatively short platform, I do not wish to belabor my point at the risky of bloviating. As Minister of Immigration, I promise to deliver sustainable growth and nothing less. We cannot pretend that there is some magic, one-step solution to the SLU's participation woes, however, by bringing in new residents and making the best case with can through our actions and not just words to them that the SLU is the place for them, we can slowly but surely build a healthier, stronger, SLU
Declared interests: I currently serve as the Director of World Assembly Affairs in the DSA for the purpose of advising the President & World Assembly Delegate. Additionally, I serve as the Parliamentarian of the Legal Counsel, the DSA's equivalent of the Law Commission until August 31.