Just pointing out a few things about the procedures amendment bill that people might have missed. Or not. I'm kinda neutral on the bill itself.
Anyways, you might remember that when the Landsraad was dukes-only, the discussion on any bill almost always took place at the Front Gate. Sure, the Landsraad itself did barely anything but vote on things... but it was OK, if you ask me. There was a fairly clean separation between voting and debate, and while participation in voting was restricted to only a few people, everyone could take part in the debate.
Now that half of Shireroth has access to the Landsraad proper, a lot of discussion on bills has moved into the Landsraad forum, and thereby out of the reach of those of us who don't currently have a position of nobility. Thus if you want to participate in the debate you have to start a parallel thread at the Front Gate. There's less of a chance this thread gets started in the first place since there are fewer people who can't just voice their concerns in the Landsraad proper.
Of course there's more going on here, hence my neutrality. For instance there's accounting for the fact that the ability to debate in the Landsraad is something of a privilege so having it might encourage people to use it (check out the fairly detailed discussion in the IAC archives sometime). And then there's the fact that if you have a vote you'll want to cast it, and when you cast it in a public place you'll want to justify it.
... man, not having a vote in the Landsraad is such a relief sometimes
