Censureship

[Cosmosplosion]

How would we feel about censuring people, both inside and outside of the region? Effectively, the bills would serve to act as a symbol that we, as a region oppose what someone did, said, etc. It would act as a way to express outrage, concern, etc, over an action taken. Is this something we would find worth our time in the RA or would it be looked at as a waste of time since they would be purely symbolic?

 

[Brasesco]

I would support it. In constitutional scholarship, the ability of the legislature to censure members of the executive branch is seen as an important aspect of safeguarding democracy.

 

[St George]

The RA has always had this ability - I was considering at certain points asking for the RA to censure the government for failing to abide by the FoIA Ruling after my r4r, but decided against it after @mcmasterdonia declassified some stuff.

 

[mcmasterdonia]

I think we have done this in the past, but I could be wrong.

That said, I would argue that a recall can achieve the same result. If you move a recall and it achieves a substantial vote (say majority, but not 2/3rds required) that would still clearly show the RA's displeasure with an official.

 

[Cosmosplosion]

I think we have done this in the past, but I could be wrong.

That said, I would argue that a recall can achieve the same result. If you move a recall and it achieves a substantial vote (say majority, but not 2/3rds required) that would still clearly show the RA's displeasure with an official.

The idea would be that sometimes people take actions, stances, etc that may not warrant a recall. Voting for a recall and it failing isn't the same as voting to say something is not good. I think there may be rare circumstances where the RA stating something someone did was not representative of the region or what have you, but not something strong enough to warrant a recall. A censure could also be used on other members of the RA who are not recallable.

 

[Dreadton]

I think Censure will be no more than it is in real life, it sounds great and like we are doing something but it will have no impact on anything in any significant sense.

 

[Great Bights Mum]

Recall has a clear benefit to the region. Someone who is performing poorly can be replaced with someone who can improve the region. Please explain or give us an example of how a censure would benefit the community.

 

[St George]

Recall has a clear benefit to the region. Someone who is performing poorly can be replaced with someone who can improve the region. Please explain or give us an example of how a censure would benefit the community.

It would indicate the RA's disapproval over a course of action or actions undertaken by a person or persons. Some actions the government or other officials takes aren't worthy of recall but are themselves wrong headed or not beneficial to the community. I could see a censure being incredibly useful in that instance.

 

[Wonderess]

Something does not have to have a practical effect to be important. If something is worth condemning then we as a region as one voice doing so is a worthy thing in itself regardless of outcomes. It helps people to know what we are about.

 

[Robespierre]

This seems to be a lot like window-dressing and arguing semantics to me. Yes, a censure would have meaning beyond a practical outcome, but the question then becomes rather that meaning is A.) Worth the Regional Assembly’s time, B.) How would a censure help/hurt anyone involved?, and C.) Is there an appropriate use for this as an alternative to recalls?

It’s nice to say that the Regional Assembly could condemn someone’s actions or say that what they’re doing isn’t representative of our region, but in doing so what are we really trying to prove? If the goal is to save face for our Assembly and feel as though taking a stance against something we’re displeased with then I suppose that can be taken as a valid intent. Albeit not a very good one, as there’s a fine line between when a full recall is warranted and when it isn’t.

I’m seeing a lot of gray area here and that’s not a very convincing case.

 

[Wonderess]

If Im being real, the RA sits relatively inactive anyhow. I dont think considering a censure would be taking its time away from something else.