Mousebumples
TNPer
The GA Proposal Categories (formerly the WA Proposal Categories, formerly-formerly the UN Proposal Categories) have developed and evolved over time.
The original UN had no Repeal option. *sadface* Education & Creativity, as well as Advancement of Industry, have both been introduced since the start of the WA - in March of 2006, I believe. (Repeals were introduced in September of 2004.) The Health category was introduced in February 2014. There have also been some discussions in the Tech forum (of NS) to add more, new categories:
- Healthcare and International Standards (as two separate categories; Health has since been added, but there is no International Standards category as of yet)
- Economic Development
Bookkeeping
This one ... doesn't really exist. Max used it to pass WA#1 - The World Assembly, but it's not a category we - as the general public - can use. Doesn't stop me from hoping that Max will use it again to start the next incarnation of the UN, though. 
Enviornmental
The Environmental Category is one of the few categories that doesn't use strengths ... but rather has an Area of Effect. Or, in this case, Industry Affected. Until recently, the only possible "industry affected" options were fairly specific and difficult to write for. The industry affected options were altered and expanded and now include: Automotive, Mining, Logging, Manufacturing, Agriculture, or Fishing.The other Environmental option is "All Industries" - and this is a really strong "category strength" because it impacts all industries. If you're writing a resolution to this category - and that affected industry - make sure that your text is strong enough to match the stat impact that'll have on the WA nations if it passes. As such, be prepared to face explain why you think your proposal should be passed, despite it's strong impact on both the environment ... and on all a nation's industries.
Human Rights
The Human Rights Category is one of the easier categories in which to pass a proposal. (After all, what sort of read-nothing fluffy doesn't like human rights?) Significant is the most common strength used here - mostly because most proposals "Strongly impact a specific arena of legislation." For example, last year, I passed Biomedical Donor (& Recipient) Rights, and they strongly impacted the rights of biomedical donors (& recipients) ... but only them. So it wasn't "Strong," but it certainly wasn't "Mild" either. As such: significant!Moral Decency
Maybe it's a sign of all the amoral people who play NS, but there are only two Moral Decency resolutions currently in effect. Generally, this isn't a category that inspires the interest of most proposal authors ... apparently.Free Trade
If you want to boost your nation's economy, a Free Trade proposal is likely just what you're looking for. Most of the proposals in this category are Mild as the ones with wide-reaching effect are (often) met with opposition from those darn NatSov'ers that want the WA to stop telling us what to do with our import/export laws. Social Justice
The Social Justice category is sometimes referred to as the "shoehorn it in there" category. If you have a semi-fluffy topic and don't know where to put it, you can probably turn it into a Social Justice proposal. (Pre-Education & Creativity, my first Universal Library Coalition resolution - in the UN - was passed as Social Justice.) Many resolutions that would now be a better fit in the new Health category are currently under Social Justice. (World Health Authority, Access to Life Saving Drugs, Quality in Health Services, etc.) They were passed before the Health category existed, and despite some discussion about "moving already passed resolutions to the new category," they are currently staying in the category they were originally passed in.The Furtherment of Democracy
Writing in The Furtherment of Democracy Category can be difficult - mostly because of the Ideological Ban rule. NationStates - obviously - has non-democratic government types. (Dictatorship, Tyranny, etc.) By GA law, you can't "outlaw" non-democratic government types (see, again, the Ideological Ban rule), so wording in this resolution needs to be careful, depending on what you're going for.Of course, Freedom of Assembly is one thing - and a bit easier to accomplish here - but Elections and Assistance Act was likely a more complicated balancing act for the author. As such, these resolutions tend to be the closest you can get to having a legal proposal that's optional, to some extent. (i.e. set standards for elections, but if a nation never has elections, the provisions of the resolution don't apply to them)
Political Stability
Apparently, Political Stability is another yawn-worthy category. (Political Upheaval is no doubt more interesting. ) However, I'd argue that one of the more important/essential GA resolutions (Rights and Duties of WA States) is such a resolution, so there's certainly some merit to be found here. Of course, since Rights and Duties already covered, like, everything ... what else is there to write proposals about here? 
Gun Control
The Gun Control Category is another non-strength category. You have two "decision" options - Tighten or Relax. Both of these are pretty darn strong, which means that you can't merely "recommend" XYZ change.The first resolution passed in this category (in the WA) was my first repeal - once more, my NatSov side shining through ... There is currently one active resolution passed in this category.
International Security
The International Security Category has a much more obvious "international component" and - as such - is likely easier to "justify" - versus the political stability category. (Please note: "justify" - as used previously - is probably mostly applicable to the NatSov types, such as myself. )Global Disarmament
The Global Disarmament Category is another that isn't all that popular. Probably because many "leaders" in NS really like their guns and weapons. (After all, how many storefronts like that are there on NS? )There are some really good topics to be had here - Nuclear Testing Safety and The Landmine Convention - but given that there are waaaaay more non-WA member nations out there versus WA nations ... Good luck convincing the majority of nations to give up their nukes.
Gambling
Another Oh-fer category here with Gambling. The two "decisions" here are Legalize or Outlaw - and, again, this is a Strong category by nature. It's unlikely that a strong proposal around one of those decisions will win enough support to pass - especially since the NatSov crowd is likely to vote against regardless of what the subject is. As such, the one passed resolution that deals with Gambling? It's actually listed under the Education & Creativity category.Recreational Drug Use
Recreational Drug Use is another highly difficult category to write to - again, because of the "decision" options here: Outlaw, Legalize, or Promote. Essential Medication Act, I honestly feel, was only passed because it's essentially a Medical Marijuana resolution, and who doesn't want to help people in need who don't have any other form of treatment that works for them?Not an impossible category to write to, but pretty darn difficult, all the same. I will admit, however, to having endless amounts of amusement during the days of the UN. Rarely did a week go by (or so it seemed) where there wasn't a "Let's legalize pot, man!" proposal submitted to the proposal list for my entertainment back in the Olden Days. There are still occasional proposals on that topic now, but they don't seem nearly as prevalent as they used to be ... [/nostalgia]
Advancement of Industry
One of the "new"(er) proposal categories, Advancement of Industry has not been used over-much. This category has "Areas of Effect" - Environmental Deregulation, Labor Deregulation, Protective Tariffs, and Tort Reform. If you can think of a proposal that fits here, you may have some luck with it, but - in my opinion - it almost seems too specialized to be overly useful (overall).Education and Creativity
E&C (as I often short-hand it) is a much more popular category - in part because it's got such a fluffy name. (Who doesn't like education, right?) This category also has "Areas of Effect" - Artistic, Educational, Cultural Heritage, and Free Press. The middle two are by far the most common - and, if you ask me, we've never had a "real" Artistic resolution pass. (There was technically one, but I maintain that it should have been pulled on a category violation. Of course, I wasn't active enough to file a protest on that at that time, so I should probably just let that argument die ... )Health
Health (which is a category I've been begging for, for ages!) is the newest category, at the moment, and doesn't yet have any proposals passed within it yet. (*Mouse-note: as of May 2014, anyhow )Similar to Education and Creativity, this is another category that has "Areas of Effect" - Healthcare, International Aid, Research, and Bioethics. Healthcare is relatively straightforward, if you ask me - as is International Aid. Research will likely have some overlap with Education & Creativity, but is a more natural home for health-oriented educational resolutions. And, lastly, Bioethics is a good fit for a lot of the resolutions that aim to set international standards with regards to ethics and the like within the health/medical field.
Repeal
Probably (technically) the most successful category - in part because you can't repeal a repeal. This is also one of my favorite categories as it allows us to get rid of problematic legislation. However, it's also possible to repeal legislation I like and want to keep, so - like every category - it has its possible downsides ....Anyhow, I think that most of these categories are (fairly) straightforward, but feel free to ask any questions you might have in the interim. I've linked each category (except for Bookkeeping, since that's not "real") to the appropriate section of my Passed Resolutions, sorted by category listing. If you're looking to write to a particular category, it can help to see what sort of style and arguments were used on other topics. Plus, it's often a way to find similar resolutions that you need to be careful not to contradict or duplicate.
ASSIGNMENT:
- Pick 3 of the following "proposal topics" and assign a Category to them. Give a short-answer response, explaining why you picked the Category you did - especially as many of these topics could fit multiple categories.
For example:
Adoption - Human Rights
I would want to ensure that all children (and prospective adoptive parents) are not discriminated against based off on gender, race, sexuality, etc.
Adoption - Social Justice
I would want to improve the welfare and wellbeing of all children who are parentless by ensuring that they can be adopted into loving homes.
. - After you've done that, think of an additional 2 or more proposal topics not listed below and repeat the same process. (Pick a topic and assign it to a category, and then explain why you chose that category.)
Topics to Choose From:
- Prisoners of War
- Red Cross
- Labor Unions
- Refugee Protection
- Diplomatic Immunity
- Boating Safety
- Patent law
- Necrophilia
- Biological Warfare
- Save the Whales
- International Medical Association
- Recycling
- Cloning
- Infrastructure
- Tree Planting
- Using nuclear weapons
- Child Support
- Literacy
- Organ donation
- Black Market trade
(Side note: apologies for the slight delay in getting this up - I know I said Tuesday/Wednesday earlier, but for various reasons, the past two days have been busier than anticipated. Next week's post is likely to be posted on Wednesday ... )
