New Steward.

[Jacobus Loki]

I'm tanned, rested and ready.

Of course so is Corey, but there should be at least two candidates.

With Corey, you get a smart, good person who is a decent administrator.

With me, you get a squirrel who will go off on a tangent as soon as the Kaiser's back is turned.

Excuse me, I have to go drink turpentine with Malarbor.

[Oroigawa Koreyasu]

With Corey, you get a smart, good person who is a decent administrator.

I...what?

[Kaiser Agni I]

...I'll keep quiet.

[Jacobus Loki]

Ari said-

Actually I've been absent mostly due to, well, lack of interest. Achwell. I guess interested people make better stewards anyway

Not necessarily. An interested person could easily damage serious stuff by over-fiddling with it, or igniting civil conflict.

Of course, that generates activity, of a sort.

[Icebreaker]

ENOUGH SCREWING AROUND, PUT ME IN AS STEWARD. YOU GET SOME NEW BLOOD, AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH A FURRY AND/OR A MILDLY SCHIZOPHRENIC OLD GUY.

[Jacobus Loki]

Six candidates!

Icebreaker

Corey

Kitchen appliance

M. Pocket Lint

Malarbor

Me.

MILDLY SCHIZOPHRENIC OLD GUY

(Mildly? )

6 candidates, 5 dukes!

Participation_ yeeeHAA

Vote for the most experienced and least qualified! Vote Jacobus!

[Oroigawa Koreyasu]

Something makes me think Icebreaker will actually win it...just to spite me and the lint...

[Ari Rahikkala]

I'd support him.

[Kaiser Agni I]

So we have 3 choices now. Jake, Corey and IceBreaker...

[Jess]

Im running, if thats OK.

[Jacobus Loki]

Its OK with me!

There are enough candidates to start a new MN.

(Stewardia? Stuland? Stuovinia?)

[Kaiser Agni I]

No the Landsraad just needs to get its act together and elect one.

[Harald of Froyalan]

Well, since Nathan's LOA has commenced now, I will, as Deputy Prætor conduct the election of the Steward.

[Kaiser Agni I]

Thanky.

[Harald of Froyalan]

You're welcome.

[Oroigawa Koreyasu]

Um...did I just win the election without getting a 4-point vote? ...actually, I won by being second...

[Jacobus Loki]

Yes, by being everyone's second choice, you win. You were almost supported by everyone, whereas I was whole-heartedly supported by a majority and vetoed by a minority. But Democracy this is not, and does not pretend to be.

Congratulations!

I want to thank the Dukes of Yardistan, Elwynn, and Kildare for their support, and thus the support of three of the five
Du(t)chies.

I have full confidence in the new Steward, (since, hey, I appointed him to the same job twice previously), and I belive in his abilities.

[Harald of Froyalan]

Um...did I just win the election without getting a 4-point vote? ...actually, I won by being second...

Yes, you have indeed been elected Steward of Shireroth.

[Kaiser Agni I]

I like this system better.

[Malliki]

There is something un-democratic with the voting system. Instead of getting the most liked, we get the least disliked.

[Jacobus Loki]

There is something un-democratic with the voting system. Instead of getting the most liked, we get the least disliked.

True, but then Democracy is a bad word in Shireroth.

[Harvey Steffke]

Yeah, and I've always found that sort of odd. You have more democratic elements here than half the nations around but somehow think that if you don't say the word that makes it not count.

[Kaiser Agni I]

We have a system.. and it works... If we actually became democratic.. it would all fall apart...

[Harvey Steffke]

Er, I think you missed the point. You're a mostly democracy nation as you are without changing anything. You're just too strange (scared?) to admit it.

[Kaiser Agni I]

When I think democracy I think Jasonia. At best we have a republic. But even then. Dukes are appointed, not elected. Nor do they have to even pretend to represent anyone but themselves.

[Harvey Steffke]

Eh. Democracy means rulelections and stuff is a tool used by a democracy for organizational purposes, but Shireroth is small enough and everyone knows eachother well enough to be able to skip that whole step. If enough people in Shireroth want something badly enough, they tend to get what they want. It's how the voting credit thing got in (some people convinced others that it would be harmless enough) and also how it went away (some people demonstrated how upset they were and the others relented).

Dukes may not have to pretend to care about the people in their duchy, but if grossly mistreat their subjects, they will leave and duchy and the duke will find himself alone. And then sooner or later someone will notice this and try to do some sort of restructuring that gets the duke out of power. It's not public elections, but it is rule by the people and it can get the job done.

This is in contrast to many older-style micronations where, no matter how much you dislike the king and want him gone, nobody cares and they ignore you. This was pretty much the normal micronation before we hit the hobby by storm in 2000 or so, as I'm sure you remember (I'm largely saying this for anyone newer that may be reading.)

Fact is that Shireroth, by its very nature, invites people to come in and jump into the fray and get themselves heard. That's what democracy is about.

[Kaiser Agni I]

Meh. By your logic no micronations can ever NOT be a democracy.

[Andreas the Wise]

They can, if they have a dictator who enforces his/her will. They just tend to end up without many members.

[Harvey Steffke]

Meh. By your logic no micronations can ever NOT be a democracy.

It's hard not to be have democratic since micronations are small and a dime a dozen. Smart nations give their people a voice. But it doesn't always work out so pretty. For a current example, look at the (ironically named) Republic of Ocia. Guy gets elected to office. Current administration overturns the results, puts self into office. Elected guy gets pissed, starts a country in exile. Administration tells him to stuff it. Cold war brews. Sounds sort of similar to what happened in Menelmacar, yeah? The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Any time there is a major disconnect between what the people want and what actually happens in the nation, democracy is failing.

[Bacchus]

Terribly sorry to resurrect an old thread again, but I was going through the malarborss and I noticed this and thought it deserved attention.

While democracy does technically simply mean ruling by the people, there is a great difference between democratic rule and mob rule, which is itself a form of "democracy" but is in fact a very undemocratic way of doing things. In its most democratic moments (wait, no, in its most democratic moments, Shireroth IS a democracy. When some nut calls an election for whatever, I'm sure its happened before. Let's say, "most of the time, in its most democratic moments") Shireroth is ruled by the mob, the citizenry, which is of sufficient size here to form a mob. Who can shout the loudest and the best and get the most attenion from the greatest number of people- his opinion is reflected in the mob, and indirectly or directly that will is carried out. In smaller nations, things tend to be less mobby because there are only 2 or 3 people that give a damn, so the term "mob" can't really apply. I can go into more detail, but I think I have made the point well enough without doing so.