Citizenship Discussion

[Hileville]

So in the last election we had 23 citizens vote out of 117 eligible citizens.  That is roughly 20% of the eligible citizenry that voted.

 

On the Delegate Election Enabling Law we had 22 citizens vote out of 132 citizens.  That is 16.67% of eligible citizens.

 

We currently have 133 total citizens of those 71 have logged into the forums in the last two weeks.

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Now while looking at these numbers I see an issue developing.  We only have a small amount of citizens actually participating by voting in the Assembly and such.  

 

How do we improve these numbers?

 

Do we strengthen citizenship requirements?

 

Do we drop the 7 day requirement for voting in elections?

 

Do we impose an activity requirement?

 

Is there not really an issue and I am just over thinking?

 

I love that we are open to everyone and typically am not a fan of the activity requirements but since we are open and citizenship is so easily gained (which is a good thing) how do we make sure people are participating.  I really started thinking about this when Osiris just imposed activity requirements.  Now I oppose them in Osiris because they do not have an open legislature.  But we do and there is in my opinion a breakdown occurring somewhere between application for citizenship and what the duties of citizenship are.

[Kris Kringle]

This is not really a full solution, but perhaps we should start by asking inactive citizens, maybe through telegrams, the reasons why they don't participate more often. That way we could have a clear idea of what we are facing as a problem.

[Hileville]

I really wasn't giving a solution more trying to entice discussion about it.

[Awesomiasa]

I agree with Kris. Apart from that we also have a huge majority of people in TSP not on forums.

[Southern Bellz]

Honestly, I don't think the percentage of active citizens is an important number, and I think using that number frames the debate in a direction I do not like.  For example, I would rather have 100 active citizens with a pool of 1000 total, than 50 active out of a pool of 75.

 

What we want is more active citizens.

 

That requires two things, gaining new citizens, and keeping current citizens active.

 

To do the first one requires the total opposite of some of the suggestions you've made.  I am not trying to insult your suggestions, as I realize you just made this thread to spit ball what we can do about activity, but increasing requirements to citizenship is a huge barrier to gaining new citizens.  Some nations ease into being a citizen, some people are active for a month then are inactive for a month.

 

To get new citizens, we also have to be where the potential citizens are, and that is on the RMB and in their telegram inbox.

 

To keep current citizens active (and get new ones interested) this forum needs constant organic content that is exciting.  While important, a philosophical debate on forum administration is not that exciting to me.

 

What's exciting to me, is how should this democracy move forward, what should agenda should The South Pacific try to execute internally and through out the NS world.  I find a lot of times that exciting conversation winds up being the idea of a minister and then the minister acts it out, where as the process needs to start here in the assembly.

[Letoilenoir]

Take it back to basics - what benefit does an Inhabitant gain from becoming a member of the forum? What benefit does it derive from becoming a Citizen?

 

In short what incentive is there for participation? What opportunities are there what activities are there?

 

Why join a Club whose whole rationale appears to be discussing how to run the Club?  

 

I know my motivation for joining is to make the TSP more inclusive, more democratic, more transparent and more active overall in NS overall - TSP could trailblaze how a Forum/Game relationship can benefit both. 

[Escade]

I definitely thinking that putting more barriers in the way of citizenship would reduce participation.  I do like the idea of doing RMB games\quiz night\RP's and then advertising for the sequel or a special one that will only be taken on the forums.  If it works well on the RMB then users will have more incentive to click on the forums.

 

To be completely honest, I really didn't like the forums at first. Unlike NS which seems "clean" or simpler design or let's say Facebook which is utilitarian but still sleek, the forums seemed some weird 80s place (like the IRC in a way) that never upgraded itself visually or even organizationally.  Now, I'm getting a little more used to them but I do think they are a bit intimidating in the beginning and hard to get into. 

 

A header for newbies which pointed them to "10 Things You Can Do on The Forum Right Now" Would be great.

[Bundesdeutschland]

Why can't we consider ALL TSPers to be citizens? At least this can actually be a fair election instead of just a nomination by a small minority on an off-site forum. Not that I don't like the forums, but I think we should get rid of all the restrictions on citizenship. It's a good suggestion.

[Bundesdeutschland]

In other words, we need more citizens.

[Kris Kringle]

As far as I know all TSPers can be citizens. I think the application process is so that applicants can certify that they are in fact residents of The South Pacific. I think the point here is that we should ask those who don't participate the reasons why they don't do it in the first place. We can keep on speculating here but in the end we need to hear from those that decide not to spend time here. That could be our best piece of evidence for taking future decisions on increasing participation in the forums. And I do agree that we need more involvement from the government in the RMB and through telegrams. The forum is important but we also need engagement in game and not just during elections.

[Bundesdeutschland]

The application process merely seems to be a technicality. Is it really necessary?

[Kris Kringle]

I think that all residents in The South Pacific have the requirements for citizenship. The application process is just the resident providing evidence of them having in fact a nation in the region and accepting to work within the proper channels (i.e. the Charter). That I think is the importance of having such a process: to ensure that just residents acquire citizenship as opposed to residents or citizens of other regions, that politics will remain civilized and that our democratic principles will be respected. Rather than removing the requirements for citizenship I think we should focus on keeping the process technical instead of political and understanding the reasons for some residents not to get involved, either because of personal lack of interest or other causes that we should address.

[Common-Sense Politics]

Why can't we consider ALL TSPers to be citizens? At least this can actually be a fair election instead of just a nomination by a small minority on an off-site forum. Not that I don't like the forums, but I think we should get rid of all the restrictions on citizenship. It's a good suggestion.

You guys just can't get away from this kind of thing in the GCRs, can you? It's going to take some getting used to.

[Hileville]

 

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Bundesdeutschland" data-cid="101926" data-time="1370776131">
<div>
Why can't we consider ALL TSPers to be citizens? At least this can actually be a fair election instead of just a nomination by a small minority on an off-site forum. Not that I don't like the forums, but I think we should get rid of all the restrictions on citizenship. It's a good suggestion.

You guys just can't get away from this kind of thing in the GCRs, can you? It's going to take some getting used to.

 

</div>
</blockquote>
 

Good luck with that.

[Sandaoguo]

How many of the citizens actually have their main nation in TSP? There may be a correlation with dedication  to TSP and nation residency...

[Bundesdeutschland]

If we lifted the restrictions, do you think more people would join the forums? That's a suggestion.

[Kris Kringle]

What restrictions are you referring to exactly?

[Rebel-topia]

TSP doesn't have any restrictions on citizenship except the requirement of actually having a nation in the region. The rest is actually declaring that nation, and saying you'll bring TSP no harm. If that's "restrictive", I'd hate to see what you call most other regions requirements...

[QuietDad]

   The forum tends to be restrictive as to what you can even see vs what you can actually do on it unless you register AND become a citizen. In today's world of identity theft and internet forum spam trollers many people feel reluctant to register for ANYTHING on the internet without compelling reason. 

  I feel that all areas of the forum should be much more visible to everyone, including even those not registered to generate interest. Maybe reading a thread about something that annoys you will get you to register to comment. Can't hurt.

  As for "applying for citizenship", If someone in the game has a nation in The South Pacific, they are a "resident". Rename the citizen application process here to Voter registration. Let people registered to the forum at least have a voice in the government. Local town halls, school board and government meetings let everyone in and speak whether your registered to vote or not.

   And if the 120 or so people need to keep all the fourm secret, the delegates and council needs to do a better job using the in game RMB to the the other 2500+ residents of The South Pacific up to date on their activities. 

   Just saying that to a new comer to the region, it really looks like a secret society. Communications and accessibility sparks interest.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[Belschaft]

You've got to remember that it's not just TSP residents who are on these forums. The default member masking can't be used as the citizen masking; it's just not feasible.

[Southern Bellz]

I Will be Introducing A Residents Bill Of Rights And My Thoughts On Forum Reorganization Shortly. I Want To move On From This Issue.

[Bundesdeutschland]

Seems feasible.

[Hileville]

As a note there are not many areas that non-registered users can't see. I am not home at the moment but I can post the permissions for this group.

We are one of the most open forums in all of NS as far as what you can and can't see.

[Bundesdeutschland]

I get that. You also have the most lenient endorsement cap in all the feeder regions, I think.

[Hileville]

I was directly addressing QD's claim that the forum is restrictive as to what you can see before registering.  The only areas non-registered members and registered non-citizens can see exactly the same thing.  Citizens only get the added benefit of the Assembly private halls and the voting chamber area.