Democratic Underground

Democratic Underground (DU) is a very liberal region of 40 nations, originally founded by members of the DemocraticUnderground.com political forums.

History

Origins and Inactivity (May 2003 to September 2003)

A link to NationStates was posted on the Democratic Underground political forums on 17 May 2003. Goobergunchia quickly created a region for all the participants in the discussion thread, and the Democratic Underground region became a fairly large region almost immediately, with over 60 nations in a couple days. The early goal of the DU region, as it was referred to by its inhabitants, was to secure the passage of left-leaning United Nations resolutions. Most region members joined the United Nations, and Nova Alaska became the region's first UN Delegate on 20 May 2003.

However, the regional inhabitants soon took measures to make the region exclusively for members of DemocraticUnderground.com. The region was password-protected on 19 May, and the only way to obtain the password was to PM Goobergunch (Goobergunchia's player) or VermontDem2004 (Nova Alaska's player) on DemocraticUnderground.com. Although this was not a problem in the beginning days of the region, due to continuing interest on the DemocraticUnderground.com, the difficulties of passing a UN resolution proved too much for many members, and the region soon began to die off. Additionally, many members turned to invading other, more conservative regions, and some participated in minor griefing. The first invasions that Democratic Underground participated in were that of Alliance of FReepers and Capitalism.

Another problem erupted on 31 May. Nations in the New Conservative Alliance, chiefly Allanea, posted in the forums (roleplay) that they were being attacked by DU region terrorists. Region members decided to ignore them; however, the NCA became one of the region's chief opponents in NationStates.

On 5 June, Nova Alaska left the region to participate in the invasion of Free Republic dot Com. Goobergunchia therefore became Delegate of Democratic Underground on 6 June, with over twenty endorsements.

However, interest in NationStates at DemocraticUnderground.com dwindled over the first half of June, and nations soon began to die out. The regional password prevented new nations from joining, due to the strict policies against letting non-DUers into the region, and the region soon declined to around forty nations. It remained inactive, along with most members (except for Goobergunchia) until the password was lifted towards the end of August 2003.

Growth and Organization (September 2003 - July 2004)

After the password was lifted, Democratic Underground began to grow again, even welcoming former enemy Allanea into its borders. Allanea became Delegate of the region on 27 November 2003. To provide more checks and balances against the power of the Delegate, Goobergunchia proposed a Regional Charter to better regulate regional affairs. This charter was adopted with Allanea's consent and no objection being heard to it. Regional forums were established on 26 December 2003, and became the official place for regional business to be conducted.

On 2 July 2004, Goobergunchia posted a formal vote for joining the Red Liberty Alliance. It was approved on 11 July with four votes in favor, two votes against, with one abstention, and the RLA voted for admission the next day. So began a new stage in the history of Democratic Underground, which had in the past been generally non-aligned.

International Activity (July 2004 - Present)

• Source

On 8 April 2005, Democratic Underground was griefed by Srbija i Crna Gora, the Delegate. Due to swift action by Goobergunchia and Game Moderator Myrth, the griefer was deleted and the banlist cleared; regional controls for the delegate have been indefinitely deactivated. It remains to be seen how Democratic Underground will cope with the aftermath of the griefing.

List of Delegates

• 19 May 2003 - Goobergunchia was elected Delegate for one day due to a tie with Nova Alaska.
• 20 May 2003 to 5 June 2003 - Nova Alaska, First Delegate
• 6 June 2003 to 26 November 2003 - Goobergunchia, Second Delegate
• 27 November 2003 to 18 May 2004 - Allanea, Third Delegate
• 19 May 2004 to 26 September 2004 and 10 April 2005 to 5 July 2005 - The Jovian Worlds, Fourth Delegate
• 27 September 2004 to 4 January 2005 - The Magdalen Islands, Fifth Delegate
• 5 January 2005 to 4 February 2005 and 4 March 2005 to 5 March 2005 - Dutch Berhampore, Sixth Delegate
• 5 February 2005 to 3 March 2005 and 6 March 2005 to 8 April 2005 - Srbija i Crna Gora, Seventh Delegate
• 6 July 2005 to 12 August 2005 - Leedon, Eighth Delegate
• 23 October 2005 to 25 October 2005 - Rubyduby, Ninth Delegate
• 26 October 2005 to 27 April 2024 - Social Carolina, Tenth Delegate