Kilobugya

Flag of Kilobugya
Motto: "Happiness is always a new idea."
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Region	Democratic Communist States
Capital	Fraternia
Official Language(s)	French
Leader	none (The People)
Population	3 billion
Currency	The Columbus
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General

Disclaimer

The policies of Kilobugya mostly reflect my own political views, but don't necessarly do it on any single aspects. Kilobugya is half-way between the dreamland I would like to be part of, and a realistic nation that could exist in the early XXIest century, a couple of decennias after becoming "socialist". On some issues, I don't have a strong opinion, and use the one that feels the more logical according the country structure, which may not be my real opinion.

Please also note that "my opinion" doesn't mean either the UDCP of NationStates, nor my real life political party, the PCF (French Communist Party). I am in no way empowered by any those two parties (be it the fictional one or the real one) to speak in their names. If you want to read more on my political opinions, you may have a look at my blog, on http://blog.kilobug.org, but it is in french only for now.

Anyway, there it is ;)

Summary

Country name 

The United Socialist States of Kilobugya

Flag 

A yellow columbus (symbol of peace) on a red background (symbol of communism)

National motto 

"Happiness is always a new idea", motto coming from the French Revolution of 1793.

National anthem 

Still thinking about it... maybe "La Paix sur Terre" from Jean Ferrat ("Peace on Earth"). Or a song from Paris' Commune ? Or just the Internationale ? Or a song from South America, like "El pueblo unido" ?

Political system 

Mostly direct democracy, mixed with some representative democracy

Economial system 

Socialism

Languages

The official language of the country is French. Most citizen are bilingual, most of them speaking either English, Spanish, German or a regional language. Teaching of regional languages as second or third language is highly encouraged.

NationStates snaphost

Civil Rights:		Economy:		Political Freedoms:
Excellent		Fragile		Superb

The United Socialist States of Kilobugya is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, notable for its complete lack of prisons. Its compassionate, intelligent population of 1.85 billion love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, socially-minded government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of the Environment, Education, and Social Welfare. The average income tax rate is 100%. The private sector is almost wholly made up of enterprising fourteen-year-old boys selling lemonade on the sidewalk, although the government is looking at stamping this out.

The nation has opened its arms to an influx of refugees, the arms industry has been shut down in a surge of pacifism, copyright laws have been abolished and the nation is currently revamping its entire education system. Crime is totally unknown. Kilobugya's national animal is the Bunny, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the Columbus.

Kilobugya is ranked 1st in the region and 588th in the world for Most Compassionate Citizens.

Political system

The ultimate power of Kilobugya is the people. But a political system is required, to handle the subtilities of law making, and to avoid putting too much burden on every citizen.

The political system of Kilobugya, at every georgraphical level, is organised around 3 entities: the Soviet system, the Assembly and the Governement.

Direct voting (referendum, or Condorcet voting on several texts) is always the ultimate source of legitimity in Kilobugya legislative process.

The geographical levels

There are 4 geographical levels inside the United Socialist States of Kilobugya: the city, the "département" (around 40km-radius, smaller in densly populated areas), the "région" (about 50 regions inside the whole nation) and the "nation" (the federal and ultimate level).

The Soviet System

The role of the Soviet system is to have citizen directly concerned by the elaboration of major laws.

Basic principles

The Soviet System, the major step of Kilobugya towards direct democracy, is the most important of the three bodies. The local Soviets are assemblies of citizen debating over the issues. Every citizen is allowed to be part of several local Soviets: one on his workplace, one on his living area, and some others when needed. The level Soviets discuss about issues, and then send representative to higher level Soviets, with an imperative mandate on what they should support. The pyramid goes up to the Supreme Soviet.

The Soviet system is designed to work with several up-and-down discussions, representative to an higher level going back to the lower level, explaining what was decided, what position they finally supported. The lower-level Soviets are allowed to recall their representative at any time, if they feel betrayed, or simply stop agreeing with him.

General Soviets

The general purpose Soviet system is the principal decision organ of Kilobugya. Each citizen is member of two general soviets: one at his work place, and one at his living place. They can discuss of every subject, and every soviet of a given level can submit a motion to the higher level soviet.

Special Soviets

Special Soviets are Soviets concerning a special field. For example, there is an education Soviet system, composed of students, teachers and parents, speaking only about education issues. Special Soviets can be permanent (like the Soviets running the public services) or temporary soviets, handling a specific reform, or a specific crisis.

Inside special soviets, some people may have more voices than others. For example, in the education soviet, only students, teachers and parents have official voices. Someone who is both a parent and a teacher has two voices, one as each.

The idea of special Soviets is to have people concerned about one field to debate and take decisions about that field. Since all fields will definitely affect the society outside the field only, those Soviets will work in cooperation with the other parts of the political system.

The Assembly

The role of the Assembly is to ensure stability, to prevent overreaction to a given situation, where feelings, anger, fear, ... could cloud the wisdom of the populationl. It is also to take care of the less important issues that can be handled without bothering the citizens.

The Assembly, at each geographical level, is elected directly using proportional list voting. The National Assembly is renewed by half every 3 years, the regional Assembly is renewed by half every 2 years, and the other Assemblies are renewed totally every 3 years.

Every elected representative can do only up to two consecutive mandates at the same level.

The Soviet of the same level of an Assembly can call for the dissolution of an Assembly. A referendum is then held, and if a majority of voters vote in favor of the dissolution, the Assembly is dissolved, and new elections are held. Only one dissolution at the same level can be done each year.

The Governement

The Governement is elected by the Assembly, but must be accepted by the general Soviet of its level (the Federal Governement by the Supreme Soviet, and so on). The Governement is fully responsible of his acts, and can be censored at any time by both the Assembly and the Soviet.

The role of the Governement is to be able to react quickly to emergency issues, and to handle even less critical issues. It is also the public front-end of Kilobugya, handling all the diplomacy (under control of both the Assembly and the Soviets).

Put all that together...

Constitution

The Constitution of Kilobugya, the ultimate source of law, can only be modified with a referendum. Both the Supreme Soviet and the Assembly can propose a constituional reform to the population. Such a modification will be discussed inside local Soviets before any vote.

A change of the Constitution needs either an absolute majority of 50% of the total population allowed to vote, or a relative majority at the referendum AND the absolute majority in the Assembly.

Orientation laws

Orientation laws are major laws on a specific subjet. They state the goals and the main change to do in this field, with a timeframe of several years.

For every orientation laws, a specific Soviet system is created (or used, if one is already existed for the field). The specific Soviet handle most of the primary discussion on the orientation law, with regular feedback of the general Soviet system and of the Assembly.

At the end of the process, one or more laws are proposed to the population for direct voting using the Condorcet method. The specific Soviet, the general Soviet and the Assembly can each propose a law. Significant minorities inside each of those structures can propose their own versions, too.

To be accepted, the orientation law must have been approved by both the population (the direct voting) and either the Assembly or the specific Soviet.

Normal laws

Normal laws are usually written by the Assembly or the Governement, and voted by the Assembly, inside the framework of Orientation laws and of the Constitution.

If a strong opposition is found against a law, then the Soviet system (general Soviet or specific Soviet) can ask for it to be handled like an orientation law. A minority of 33% in either of the specific soviet or the general population is required to acheive this.

Minor issues

Minor issues, which would be handled as decrees in most representative democracies, are handled by the Governement, and voted by the Assembly. A minority of 33% of the Assembly can promote it to the status of "normal law", and then the Soviet system can promote it to the status of Orientation laws, but this is very rarely done.

Of course, the Soviet system can always propose an Orientation law which supersedes a decision taken on a minor issue that it doesn't agree with.

Emergency decisions

In case of emergencies, temporary decisions can be taken by the Governement, the Supreme Soviet or the Assembly. Those cases are strictly limited. The Assembly as the ultimate word in emergency crisis, until a referendum can be held.

In case of emergency decisions concerning foreign policy, the Governement usually propose a draft. Then the local Soviets are summoned by local citizen, who discuss this draft, or propose new ones. The pyramid is walked quickly, and the Supreme Soviet propose an official text, which is then voted by either the Assembly or a referendum depending of the situation.

Running public services

Public services are runned by a specific soviet composed of workers and users, inside limits decided by laws (using the standard legislative process).

The general Soviet or the Assembly can oppose any decision, in which case the orientation law procedure is followed.

Major parties

Kilobugya's Communist Party 

The major ruling party, supported by around 60% of the population, whose policies are mostly the ones of the country itself, even if sometimes even more progressive (or "leftist", if you prefer).

United Conservative Party 

After several divisions, the Kilobugyan conservative capitalist forces finally united themselves into the second party of the country, which scores at around 15% on elections.

Kilobugya's Socialist Party 

Sometimes allied, sometimes opponent of the Communist Party, the Sociliast Party is a small party trying to maintain most the Kilobugya democratic socialist policies, but not all of them. It scores at around 8% on elections.

Kilobugya Liberal Party 

The Kilobugya Liberal Party is an ally of the United Conservative Party on all economical issues, but it sides with the progressive forces (mostly the Communist Party and the Greens) on social issues. It scores around 5% on elections.

The Greens 

Kilobugya's Green party is small, because the Communist Party itself takes environement protection as one of the most serious issues. It's mostly an ally of the Communist Party, even if closer to the Socialist Party on non-environement related economical issues. It scores around 5% on elections.

Kilobugya First 

A neofascist party, with very few power, whose major demands are on rebuilding the army and police force, and closing borders to immigrants. They also support reducing individual freedoms (no gay marriage, raising the age of consent, ...). It scores around 3% on elections.

Kilobugya's Workers Party 

A division of the Communist Party, supporting a reduction of political freedom in order to quicken the move towards an even more socialist country. It scores around 3% on elections.

Actual policies on major issues

Economy

• Kilobugya is currently running a dual economy system. All the major industries, vital services, and networks are nationalised. Small-scale services and proximity buisnesses are performed by cooperatives, in which the decisions are taken by the workers. Cooperatives are strongly regulated by both federal and local laws, preventing damage on the environement, or other global side-effects.

• While the Kilobugya's Communist Party support the disparition of money on the long term, the Kilobugyan society is not yet ready for that. Kilobugya currency, the Columbus, is printed by the National Bank.

• The only bank is Kilobugy'as National Bank, which is runned as all others Kilobugyan public services.

• Usury is illegal. All money on bank accounts is used by local or federal soviets to build infrastrcture, invest in research or education. The benefits of those investements are for the whole society. A small interest is paid to people saving money, but only to compensate for inflation, nothing more.

• Free clean and decent housing is granted to every family or citizen asking for it, starting at the age of 16. Citizen are free to spend the money they earn on bigger or more luxurious houses.

• Free, sane, healthy but cheap food is available at People's Restaurants. Citizen who wish to are, of course, free to make their own food or to go more luxurious restaurants (cooperative, of course).

• Small-scale private property is allowed and protected, as long as it doesn't lead to usury or exploitation of someone else work. The society ensure insurance to all those private goods, in case of natural disaster, theft, vandalism, ...

• Inheritance is limited in value, such as to allow inheritance of items with sentimental values, but nothing else.

Healthcare

• All healthcare is totally free for every human being inside Kilobugya.

• Drugs patents are not allowed. Refusal to hand out life-critical drugs recipies is considered as a crime.

• Preventive healthcare, early disease detection and health informations are top priorities.

• Contraception is freely available, and information about it widely spread.

• Free, medically trained, councilers are available for anyone feeling depressed or having personal problems.

Education

• Education is completly free, including books and everything needed to study, at all levels.

• Education is compulsory from the age of 3 to the age of 18. Kids are welcomed in schools at the age of 2 if parents ask for it.

• Starting of the age of 15, the teens can start chosing specialities.

• In addition to basic language skills (reading, grammar, ...), every citizen of Kilobugya is trained in the following subjects during all their school life: logic; history; philosophy, rhetoric and critical thinking; biology, especially human biology; basic physics and informatics.

• On all education issue, the emphasis is put on understanding rather than on learning by heart. Learn-by-doing is combined with theorical teaching, when possible (debates between students in rhetoric and critical thinking, experiments in physics, programming in informatics, ...).

• Starting at the age of 11, and up to the age of 14, Kilobugya citizen receive sex education (including contraception, MST, pregnancy, safe sex, abortion) and drug education (including the risks and effects of various drugs).

• Every citizen of Kilobugya is given first aid lessons, and basic medical training.

• All life education is favoured. On average, adults should spend between 1/4th and 1/6th of their working time in training.

• Kilobugya teens are incitated to take part of the public life of their schools. They are allowed to vote for representatives in the school council and on issues concerning their school as soon as they are 10. Those votes are purely consultative, but are used to both train teens and preteens into citizenship and to allow adults or more grown teens to know the opinion of their younger comrades before taking decisions. As the age of 14, teens get a real, binding vote into all issues concerning their schools.

Governance

• See the Political System section above for inner working of the governement.

• Voting is not compulsory, but awarness programs encourage people to vote.

• Kilobugya citizen are allowed to vote at the age of 16. On issues concerning directly teens or education, the voting age is lowered to 14.

• Immigrants are allowed to vote on all local issues after living in Kilobugya for at least 3 years. They are allowed to vote on all national issues after living in Kilobugya for at least 8 years.

Environment

• Environement is a major priority of Kilobugya.

• All public transports are free, and as clean as possibe.

• A dense high-speed monorail network links all major cities together.

• A dense subway, train, tramway and bus network expands from major cities to all suburbs and rural areas.

• Bicycles are freely available on all stations for the final last miles, if needed.

• Energy is produced from clean sources as much as possible, the remaining energy is produced by nuclear power plants.

• Cars with internal combustion engines are banned. Electric or hydrogen cars are allowed, but discouraged.

• Clean taxis are available for exceptional situations.

• Recycling and sustainable production methods are strongly encouraged.

Freedom

• All forms of discrimination are strongly opposed, be they based on ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, handicap, age, religion or any other aspect.

• Freedom of speech and religion are upheld. (Note: inciting riots and threats are crimes and not protected under freedom of speech)

• Official organisations are neutral towards any form of religion.

• Euthanasia is permitted, but tightly controlled to avoid abuses.

• Capital punishment and torture are completly prohibited.

• Rehabilitation is strongly favoured over punishment.

• Except in case of invasion, possession of firearms is not allowed.

Mariage, family and sexuality

• Mariage is allowed starting at the age of 18, between two consenting adults of any sex.

• Divorce is allowed, but free councilers are available, and couples are encouraged to try to work out their problems first, especially if they have children.

• Same sex couples have exactly the same rights than bisexual couples, including the right to adopt kids.

• Abortion is allowed within 14 weeks of pregnancy, on the decision of the mother, after an interview with a psychologist explaining to the woman the risks, consequences, and alternative possibilities (like adoption); a 2 weeks delay to allow the mother to think clearly about it is required.

• Mothers and fathers both have the same rights and duties over their children.

Drugs

• Cannabis and other "light drugs" are legalised, with regulation and high safety standards.

• The legal age for cigarettes, alcohol and cannabis is set at 18.

• Smoking in closed public areas (including restaurant, train stations, ...) is prohibited, to prevent harming non-smokers.

• Taxes on drugs are put in order to pay for the extra medical costs they generate.

Science

• Scientific progress and education is highly encouraged.

• Computer networks and digital media are highly encouraged.

• Free Internet access center are available at every post office.

• Free Wifi is made available inside cities, as much as possible.

• Intellectual property laws are abolished. Authors and inventors are granted the right to have their name associated with their work. Fair rewarding of artists, writers, and scientists is organised collectively.

• All utility softwares (not games or related softwares) have to come with complete source code, to allow a full understanding of their inner workings and custom modifications.

• Human cloning is prohibited.

• Embryonic stem-cell research is permitted.

Animal cruelty

• Cruelty towards animals is prohibited.

• Cosmetic animal testing is abolished.

• Hunting for fun is prohibited (hunting for pest control is allowed, within limits).

Military & Security

Military

• The regular army was disbanded. The Kilobugya protection force is the National Guard.

• The National Guard is a small, voluntary, civilian, democratic protection force.

• In time of peace, no member of the National Guard can spend more than 1/4th of his yearly working time serving inside the National Guard, in order to have the National Guard always in contact with other workers.

• The National Guard is entitled with the protection of Kilobugya's citizens from external threats or organised crime.

• The National Guard is prohibited to act with weapons outside the borders of Kilobugya, except on the direct request of the target country's population.

• In case of invasion, the People of Kilobugya would be massively given weapons, and invited to join the National Guard.

• Kilobugya is a peaceful nation, and always put all its political weight to prevent or end wars.

Police

• A small police force, equiped with non-lethal weapons only, is entitled with ensuring respect of laws.

• All police agents are responsible towards the justice of all their acts.

• Proximity police, knowing well the habitants of a given area, is encouraged.

• Education, prevention and teaching is always favored over repression.

• In case of armed opponents (organised crime, terrorism, ...), the police can request help from the National Guard.

Emergency services

• A well developped, well trained and well equiped emergency service exists within Kilobugya to handle emergency situations, like natural or artificial disasters.

• A well-supllied stock of drugs, tents, prebuilt houses, water cleaning devices, and other emergency material is kept at all levels.

• The Kilobugya Emergency Service is composed of the Firefighters, well trained volunteer who handle day-to-day emergencies, the Medical Emergency for day-to-day medical emergency situation and a federal Emergency Agency for coordination on high-scale disasters.

• The National Guard and the police will provide full support to the Emergency Agency if needed.

• Any volunteer can receive a training about emergency situations, with different durations proposed. They will become part of the emergency reserve, which may be summoned by the Emergency Agency in time of need.

• The Emergency Agency can send support to foreign country requesting it. The exact amount of the support depends of the will of the Assembly and/or of the Soviets. No citizen of Kilobugya can be sent by force to foreign countries, only volunteers will be members of such missions.

Children

• Children are considered human beings as soon as they are born. They cannot be sold nor bought.

• Both parents are allowed to work half-time, for full pay, during the first two years after the birth of a baby (single parents are granted a two years full paid holiday).

• The interests of the child are always the important issue in any decision about a child. In any affair involving children, the opinion of the children is taken into account.

• Parents have duty towards their children, and children are not considered to be a possession of parents.

• Any form of physical violence towards children is prohibited.

• Children with health problems are taken care of by the society as a whole. Children hospitals are designed in order to ease the sufferings of the young patient as much as possible, and must include playing areas with toys suitable for various ages and various kind of health problem.

• Play grounds and other children facilities are totally free, high quality and widespread.

• The transition from cildhood to adulthood is designed to be progressive; there is no single "majority" date. The major steps are 10 (non-binding right to vote), 14 (right to binding vote on school or teen-related issues) 15 (age of consent for sexual relationships), 16 (full right to vote, right to live in their own flat), 18 (right to marry and to use soft drugs).

Other issues

• The age of consent is set at 15. Before 15, it'll be examined on a case by case basis, the age difference and nature of relationship taken into account.

• All genuine asylum seekers and all people with close family living in Kilobugya are welcomed in Kilobugya. Other immigrants are welcomed as much as possible.

Working code

• The weekly work hours are set to 32 hours. It can never be put at more than 40 hours on the same week, except on emergency situations.

• All citizen are granted 6 weeks of fully paid holidays.

• Workers safety is taken very seriously, and everything is done to prevent work accidents.

• Dangerous work, such as firefighters, are rewarded with highest salary and/or lower working hours.

• Right to unionize and strike is protected by the Constiution.

• All citizen are allowed to spend 1/6 of their working hours in universities or training centers, on variable periods (can be 2 months of training each year, or 5 hours a week, or 1 year every 6 years, and so on).

History

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