International Democratic Union

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International Democratic Union
Forum: IDU
Population: circa 70 nations
Delegate: Grosseschnauzer
Founder: The IDU
Info: NSEconomy RC XML

The regional flag, created by cartographers from Sober Thought.
The IDU's regional landmass. (detail)

The International Democratic Union (abbreviated IDU) is a democratic and peaceful region, very active in United Nations politics. The region is currently host to many UN resolution writers and a few UN Forum regulars. It also hosts the Custom Flag Service, Cartographic Service, UN Proposal Writing Service and the NSwiki & Factbook Writing Service. The IDU is governed by its fundamental values along with an election charter. Its delegate is currently Grosseschnauzer and elections are held every three months.

Geographically, the region is located on a large, diverse landmass, occupying a planet from around 20°N to around 55°N, although due to the reality of NationStates, lines of latitude and longitude don't end up being straight in practice, due to the effects of fractal reality interference on normal reality. The IDU is also host to a number of flora and fauna, most of which thrive in the stunning environments of the majority of the region.

The region has a reputation for being more liberal than others, despite not endorsing this ideology officially. This is possibly due to the oft-correlation between beliefs in high social freedom, high political freedom, and, to a lesser extent, low economic freedom. The region also tends towards international federalism, with nations such as Disjunction being vocal opponents of repeals and national sovereignty, at least on the IDU's forum.

Government

The International Democratic Union is governed primarily by its fundamental values and then by its short formal election charter for its top two officials.

Fundamental values

The IDU stands for democracy. No delegate will ban without a regional vote. No delegate will cast his UN vote without a regional vote. No interregional alliances will be forged without a regional vote. The UN Delegate's vote breaks a tie.

The IDU stands for a powerful UN. Recruitment campaigns will be run in the Pacifics. UN non-members are welcomed but encouraged to join the UN. UN members are encouraged to draft and assist with proposals, as well as to participate in discussions in either or both of our UN forums. The Delegate is encouraged to read the current proposals and approve those deemed worthy of UN attention. With each proposal that reaches quorum, a regional vote will be taken and the Delegate will vote in accordance with the will of the people.

The IDU stands for balance between individual freedom and national sovereignty. Nothing aside from compliance with the IDU Constitution will be required of any individual nation. Our team of UN writers will strive as much as possible to keep our proposals from infringing upon national sovereignty. However, most nations in our region value the individual freedom of a nation's citizen higher than national or international rules. As long as no harm is done, people should be free to develop themselves as free, happy and productive citizens in their society.

The IDU stands for regional stability and security. Constructive rather than destructive competition will be the norm. This will insure that whoever holds the Delegacy, they will have the maximum possible number of endorsements, strengthening us against outside attack. There will be no appeals process for known raiders, they will be regarded as enemies of the state.

The IDU stands for community. Through this forum and through our internal and external diplomatic relations, we will establish a strong, influential, and vibrant NS community. We will show no hostility to diversity, but rather welcome it with open arms.

The IDU stands for secular government. We support as a basic human right the right to worship without inference from the state, and also the right to govern without interference from the church.

Regional officials

We are currently debating the structure of our regional government. See Internal politics for more detail. In the meantime, we have the following officials in the region:

UN Delegate, currently Grosseschnauzer
Elected within the region to serve as UN Delegate at the NS United Nations and prime minister of the region for three months. Responsible for UN discussions, approving worthwhile proposals, keeping UN contacts and upholding the values of the IDU within the region.

UN Vice-Delegate, currently Antrium
Elected within the region (as the runner up to the UN Delegate election), or appointed by the delegate if there is no other candidates, and holding only one fewer endorsement than the UN Delegate. Responsible for assisting the Delegate and taking over as Acting Delegate when necessary.

Minister of Immigration, currently Baranxtu
Semi-formal office responsible for recruiting and welcome new member nations.

Foreign Minister, currently Disjunction
Semi-formal office responsible for the region's relations with other regions and organizations.

Chief Cartographer, currently Domnonia
De facto office responsible for maintaining a regional map for roleplaying purposes.

Chief Vexillologist, currently Sober Thought
De facto office responsible for flags within the region and the coordination of the Custom Flag Service.

Proposal Writing Service Director, currently Mikitivity
Office created by Grosseschnauzer responsible for overseeing the UN Proposal Writing Service on the IDU forums.

NSwiki and Factbook Writing Service Boy Toy, currently Baranxtu
Office created by Ceorana, responsible for overseeing the NSwiki and Factbook Writing Service on the IDU forums.

Politics

United Nations politics

The IDU has a large proportion of members active in the United Nations, and it's members have been the authors of almost 10% of all passed resolutions. Proposals adopted as resolutions that were written by nations now in the IDU are:

Feb 2004 Ballast Water Mikitivity
Jul 2004 Tracking Near Earth Objects Mikitivity
Jul 2004 Refugee Protection Act Xtraordinary Gentlemen
Jul 2004 Needle Sharing Prevention Mikitivity
Sep 2004 Habeas Corpus Enn
Oct 2004 Good Samaritan Laws Mikitivity
Jan 2005 Tsunami Warning System Grosseschnauzer
Feb 2005 Sex Industry Worker Act Groot Gouda
Apr 2005 Natural Disaster Act Groot Gouda
Aug 2005 Mitigation of Large Reservoirs Mikitivity
Sep 2005 Labeling Standards Antrium
Dec 2005 Repeal "Right to Divorce" Fonzoland
Jan 2006 Repeal "Save the forests of the World" Fonzoland
Mar 2006 The Right to Form Unions Groot Gouda
Mar 2006 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act Franxico
Apr 2006 Waste Disposal Covenant Fonzoland
May 2006 UN Patent Law Ceorana
Jun 2006 UN Copyright Convention Ceorana
Oct 2006 Freedom of Assembly Mikitivity

Historically, the IDU was home to many members of the United Nations Old Guard, with Mikitivity, Groot Gouda, Grosseschnauzer, Fonzoland, and Ceorana all having membership in the organization at one time. However, since Mikitivity left the organization, Grosseschnauzer stopped being active in it, and Groot Gouda and Fonzoland ceasing to exist altogether, Ceorana is the region's sole remaining representative nation.

External politics

The IDU has concluded alliances with, befriended or exchanged embassies with:

Internal politics

As a region devoted to promoting democratic rule, the top IDU official, the UN Delegate, is democratically elected by member states to serve three month terms.

In each of February, May, August and November, IDU members vote to decide which member nation will become UN Delegate. The runner up becomes the Vice Delegate. Only nations that have been members of the IDU for two weeks and are currently UN members are eligible for the UN delegacy position. The results of the election are monitored by an appointed Election Commission. The election is limited to IDU UN members only. See our IDU Library for the current election charter.

All UN members must endorse the UN Delegate and Vice Delegate so that the IDU may defend against non-native raiders, although this need has become much less pronounced with the reactivation of the IDU's founder, The IDU. The Vice Delegate holds only one fewer endorsement than the UN Delegate in theory (although in practice he generally holds quite a few less), and may assist the Delegate and take over as Acting Delegate when the Delegate is unable or unwilling, in times of inactivity or crisis, to fulfill the responsibilities of the office.

Other officials have been elected or appointed with much less formality as the need arises and people have shown interest in creating or appropriating jobs for themselves.

Roleplaying

A fictitious political map portraying the homeland of many IDU nations has been drawn to facilitate political roleplaying purposes within the region. One creative application arising from this bit of cartography has been the dramatization and solution to the concept of failed states (NS nations that become so inactive so as to be removed from the game temporarily). This map can be viewed in the political map thread, and other maps (such as a geographical one) can be found in the IDU Cartography Forum.

The region has hosted a few regional festivals and events in support of roleplaying. The following is a list of previous IDU sponsored events:

Services

The IDU operates several services for the benefit of its members and like-minded other nations.

Geographic services

Domnonia, the Chief Cartographer, maintains a regional map on the IDU forum and the region's cartographical efforts can been seen at its host, as the vector map file is quite large.

Flag and heraldic services

The regional flag.

The Custom Flag Service has several regular contributors who volunteer to help IDU members and other nations adopt customized flags. Occasionally, logos, coats of arms and the like will be designed as well.

Proposal writing services

The IDU operates a drafting forum for United Nations proposals, currently led by Mikitivity.

NSwiki writing services

The IDU also has several nations willing to contribute to documents, factbooks, and encyclopedia articles about nations. These efforts are coordinated at the IDU forum.

Member nations

Only those with a Wiki page and nations that have a long or special IDU history (such as former delegates) are listed. For nations which have gone extinct or emigrated, see Former IDU members.

IDU Country Codes are listed in parentheses.

History

The International Democratic Union (IDU) was founded on July 25, 2004 after a series of raids against The North Pacific. The raiders managed to take the delegacy and mass-ejected many of the region's most prominent members and even some completely random members. At the time of the IDU's founding, the North Pacific banlist contained approximately 150 nations. The vast majority of these were nations who wanted nothing more than a peaceful region where democracy ruled and people were free to play the game without fear of the random banishments that were unique to the feeders.

By the spring of 2005, the size of the IDU had settled to about 17 nations. Over the next several months, it climbed slowly but steadily and has plateaued at about 70 member nations since then. For a list of former members which have gone extinct or emigrated, see Former IDU members.

In honour of the founding of the IDU, many member nations have declared the first anniversary of the region's founding a public holiday, Democracy Day.

History of government officials

UN Delegate

25 Jul 2004- 5 Aug 2004  Randomerica
 6 Aug 2004-26 Sep 2004  Cheney-land
27 Sep 2004- 9 Oct 2004  Groot Gouda
   Oct 2004              Randomerica
   Oct 2004              Groot Gouda
   Oct 2004- 7 Nov 2004  Nieuwe Munchkinland
 8 Nov 2004- 7 Jan 2005  Groot Gouda (first non-gameplay election)
 8 Jan 2005- 7 Mar 2005  Adam Island
 8 Mar 2005-11 Aug 2005  Groot Gouda 
 late July 2005          Acting UN Delegate Scoopy and Mikitivity
12 Aug 2005- 6 Oct 2005  Sober Thought (resigned)
 7 Oct 2005- 7 Nov 2005  Grosseschnauzer 
 8 Nov 2005- 8 Feb 2006  Grosseschnauzer
 9 Feb 2006- 8 May 2006  Antrium
 9 May 2006- 9 Aug 2006  Ceorana
10 Aug 2006-11 Nov 2006  Malabra
12 Nov 2006-             Grosseschnauzer

UN Vice-Delegate

 8 Nov 2004- 7 Jan 2005  Nieuwe Munchkinland
 8 Jan 2005- 7 Mar 2005  Groot Gouda
 8 Mar 2005- 8 May 2005  Adam Island
 9 May 2005-11 Aug 2005  Scoopy (Acting UN Delegate in late July 2005)
12 Aug 2005- 6 Oct 2005  Grosseschnauzer (Acting Delegate 30 Aug-7 Oct 2005)
 9 Oct 2005- 7 Nov 2005  Keeslandia (Acting Vice Delegate)
 8 Nov 2005- 8 Feb 2006  Keeslandia
 9 Feb 2006- 8 May 2006  Ceorana
 9 May 2006-30 Jun 2006  Groot Gouda
 1 Jul 2006- 9 Aug 2006  Baranxtu (Acting Delegate 9 Jul-19 Jul 2006)
10 Aug 2006-11 Nov 2006  Gnejs
12 Nov 2006-             Antrium 

Minister of Immigration

 2004-spring 2005         Randomerica
 spring 2005-11 Aug 2005  Sober Thought
 12 Aug 2005- 8 Oct 2005  vacant
  9 Oct 2005- 7 Nov 2005  Sober Thought/Antrium (acting)
  8 Nov 2005- 8 Feb 2006  Antrium
  9 Feb 2006- 8 May 2006  Domnonia
  9 May 2006- 9 Aug 2006  Jonquiere-Tadoussac/Sober Thought (de facto interim)
 10 Aug 2006-13 Nov 2006  Antrium
 14 Nov 2006-             Baranxtu

Foreign Minister

    Aug 2005- 8 May 2006  Mikitivity
  9 May 2006- 9 Aug 2006  Antrium
  9 Aug 2006- 2 Sep 2006  vacant  
  3 Sep 2006-13 Nov 2006  Grosseschnauzer
 14 Nov 2006-             Disjunction

Chief Cartographer

 spring 2005-August 2006  Domnonia
 August 2006-13 Nov 2006  Mikitivity
 14 Nov 2006-             Domnonia

Chief Vexillologist

  spring 2005-           Sober Thought

Proposal Writing Service Director

  9 Feb 2006- 8 May 2006 Groot Gouda
  9 May 2006-            Mikitivity

Factbook Writing Service Boy Toy

  8 June 2006-          Baranxtu

Timeline of memorable events

This is a timeline of memorable events in the history of the International Democratic Union.

2004.07.24 The Xtraordinary Gentlemen, Randomerica, Nieuwe Munchinland, Cheney-Land, and Mikitivity left the North Pacific (organization) to form the International Democratic Union.

2004.07.25 Mikitivity's "Needle Sharing Prevention" is adopted by the United Nations, making a bold step in the treatment of portions of populations that had been previously ignored and raising the awareness of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

On the same day, Randomamerica is elected as the first UN Delegate.

2004.08.06 Cheney-land is elected as the second UN Delegate.

2004.10.08 Mikitivity's "Good Samaritan Laws" is adopted by the United Nations, dramatically increasing the role of the International Red Cross and establishing greater civil protections for disaster relief workers. Relief agencies begin enhancing international assistance programs.

2004.09.27 Groot Gouda elected as third UN Delegate.

2004.10.09 - 2004.10.21 Week Of The Musical Delegate Chairs; Nieuwe Munchkinland, Randomerica and Groot Gouda are elected for short periods of time as UN Delegate. Groot Gouda proposes a formal election system to elect the UN Delegate, which is adopted by the region. Until the first elections Nieuwe Munchkinland remains UN Delegate.

2004.11.08 Groot Gouda elected as UN Delegate, the first in the new formal election system, 9th Delegate in the history of the IDU. Groot Gouda was the only candidate. Nieuwe Munchkinland becomes Vice Delegate.

2005.01.08 In an exciting head-to-head election, Adam Island becomes the 10th delegate, with Groot Gouda as Vice Delegate.

2005.01.27 Grosseschnauzer's "Tsunami Warning System" is adopted by the United Nations, establishing an international Tsunami Emergency Warning Center and increased international disaster preparedness. This resolution is later cited by NationStates founder Max Barry as being an example of an interesting resolution and of the effectiveness of the NationStates United Nations compared to the RL UN.

2005.02.06 Groot Gouda's "The Sex Industry Workers Act" is adopted by the United Nations, promoting limited deregulation of the sex industry and safer working conditions for workers in this industry.

2005.03.08 Groot Gouda elected as UN Delegate as only candidate. Adam Island becomes Vice Delegate.

2005.03.24 Domnonia announces its plans to coordinate and centralise (i.e. create) a map of the entire region.

2005.03.25 Election Charter amended to reflect organisational changes in the region after the disappearance of the Founder.

2005.04.06 After two rounds of very close balloting -- and the deciding vote cast by Delegate Groot Gouda -- the IDU chose its regional flag, which had been discussed and refined for months.

2005.04.12 Delegate Groot Gouda founds a new invision forum, assigning more moderators and admins to take care of the growing IDU needs.

2005.04.24 Groot Gouda's "Natural Disaster Act" is adopted by the United Nations, establishing a Natural Disaster Assistance Organisation (NDAO) tasked with researching and helping nations prepare for natural disasters, with the understanding that the NDAO works with the already existing TWEC. This is the 5th resolution to come from the IDU and 8th resolution created by an IDU member.

2005.05.09 Groot Gouda re-elected Delegate, with Scoopy becoming Vice Delegate.

2005.07.12 Isles of Koster is rated as the nation with the most rebellious youth in all of NationStates, making this the first time that an IDU member ranked first!

2005.07.24 First anniversary of founding of IDU, celebrated as IDU or Democracy Day in many member nations.

2005.08.02 IDU Standard Time is adopted.

2005.08.08 Mikitivity's "Mitigation of Large Reservoirs" is adopted by the United Nations. This is the 6th resolution to come from the IDU and 9th resolution created by an IDU member.

2005.08.12 Sober Thought is elected Delegate, with Grosseschnauzer becoming Vice Delegate.

2005.09.22 Antrium's "Labeling Standards" is passed 11,399 to 3,190. This is the 10th resolution by an IDU member.

2005.10.07 Sober Thought resigns as delegate and Grosseschnauzer formally becomes delegate after serving as acting delegate since 2005.08.30.

2005.11.08 Grosseschnauzer is elected delegate as only candidate. He chooses Keeslandia as his Vice-Delegate.

2006.02.09 Antrium is elected delegate as only candidate. He chooses Ceorana as his Vice-Delegate.

2006.03.17 Groot Gouda's "The Right to Form Unions" is adopted by the United Nations, 7,577 to 5,394. This resolution established the right for workers to go on strike. This is the 11th resolution to come from the IDU.

2006.03.27 Franxico's "Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act" is adopted by the United Nations, by just 298 votes. This is the 12th resolution by an IDU member.

2006.04.30 Fonzoland's "Waste Disposal Covenant" is adopted by the United Nations, 9,108 to 3,547. It established the UN Waste Disposal Authority, and encouraged responsible waste disposal. It is the 13th resolution by an IDU member.

2006.05.05 Ceorana's "UN Patent Law" is adopted by the United Nations, 7,084 to 3,998. It is the 14th resolution by an IDU member. It created the United Nations Patent Registry to keep a registry of all patents in UN nations.

2006.05.08 Ceorana is declared the winner of the UN delegate elections. Runner-up Groot Gouda becomes Vice-Delegate.

2006.06.08 Baranxtu launches the NSwiki & Factbook Development Service, a place in the IDU forums for nations to request help with their NSwiki pages.

2006.06.29 Ceorana's "UN Copyright Convention" is adopted by the United Nations, 8,227 to 4,059, against vocal opposition from Kelssek, Discoraversalism, and other nations. It mandated standards for copyrights across the United Nations.

2006.07.01 Groot Gouda resigns as Vice-Delegate, to pursue his position in the RL Gouda city council. Ceorana chooses Baranxtu to replace him.

2006.08.09 Malabra wins the UN delegate elections, 5 to 3. Runner-up Gnejs becomes Vice-Delegate.

2006.10.05 Mikitivity's "Freedom of Assembly" is adopted by the United Nations, 9,338 to 4,153. It extended the right of peaceful assembly to all UN nations.

2006.11.12 Grosseschnauzer wins the UN delegate elections, 9 to 6. Runner-up and only competitor Antrium becomes Vice-Delegate. This election had the highest turnout to date, with 47% of UN members participating.

Media

There are a number of news services in the International Democratic Union. Though most of these services tend to focus more on the nations from which they are headquarters, many of these sources cooperate with other IDU media services covering news for other nations in the IDU.

Here is a list of some of the most active IDU news services:

Events

The IDU is a very active region that often has special events for its members. The largest holiday in the IDU is Democracy Day, a celebration of the region's independence. Celebrations are held throughout the region, as most IDU nations consider it a national holiday.

The IDU also holds the IDU Football Championship each September, which are often great successes. This tournament brought citizens from all over the region together to enjoy some exciting games of football. The Isles of Koster won in 2005, while Mikitivity won the following year.

Another popular event is the International Democratic Union Cheese Festival, where nations enter their most popular specialty cheeses and cheese-related products to be judged. Nations from outside the region can enter the "Best Imported Cheese" category.