Organizational Democracy

So let’s say you get together with friends and strangers. You make things such as interpersonal games and art projects. And you want to make things that’ll have a bigger impact on your life. How do ya’ll decide what to do next?

I wrote some game rules, with two levels of play, Beginner (Team Play) and Advanced (Representative Play). Please post your comments below. This is a form of participatory (team play) representative democracy:

“Make Your Own” is a game where people make things in teams. The purpose of “Make Your Own” is for people to actively involve each other in what makes them go wow in life (passions, dreams, projects, work, play, adventures) and what’s important about that to them. This is a community organizing/building/involving game.

Teams start off on their own (Team Play). Teams may elect representatives to make decisions benefiting all teams (Representative/Advanced Play). Until then, all teams are on their own, guided by a Dictator who does his best to represent all players and continue the game.

I. TEAM PLAY (BASIC PLAY)
1. TEAMS. The game starts when players form teams with between 3 and 64 players per team.

2. RULES. All teams keep an attendance record of their players and roles, with dates of participation. All rules and records are easily available to all players in a rulebook. No rule may be applied retroactively. Any main rule may be amended by referendum majority vote, which is two-thirds of any represented players who vote in an election. Referendums require reasonable notice so all affected players may easily make an informed vote.

3. VOTING. Every individual on a participatory team has one vote. No vote may be bought. Ownership of team resources such as currency does not own any vote.

4. ROLES.
a. PLAYERS. Everyone who plays the game on a team is a player/participant/citizen. Players may have multiple roles, and may be on multiple teams. All roles are elected by the players they represent. All players on participatory teams have legislative and judicial powers.
b. CAPTAINS. Every team elects a captain. On behalf of her team, the captain takes care that the rules are executed, is a cheerleader/spokesperson/mentor for the team, chooses time and space for play unless chosen by the team, may call a meeting of the team, and other responsibilities delegated by the players.
c. LEGISLATORS. All players on the team are legislators. The legislature has the power to make rules, decide on and collect taxes to pay the bills and provide for the general welfare of the team, establish avenues of communication, enter into contracts or delegate any to the executive, and any other responsibilities confirmed by referendum majority vote. All new rules and amended rules will be written or otherwise recorded before a vote and recorded after the vote in a rulebook. No money shall be drawn except by the rules, and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.
d. JUDGES. All players on the team are judges. No decision shall be the judgment of the court except on agreement of at least three players or by jury. All challenges between players on the same participatory team shall be judged by that team.
e. CHAIRS. Legislatures and courts may elect chairs to keep order.
f. DELEGATES. All players are personally responsible for their financial and other commitments and actions which are non-binding to the team unless voted as delegate for such responsibilities by the team.
g. TERM LIMITS. Terms are a maximum of one year. The term limit is two. When every player represented by a role shall have been in that position for at least one full term, term limits for that role start over.

5. CURRENCY. Any team may create its own local currency. Such currency is created by the legislature, which spends and may purchase back the money/points, and may take them out of circulation. Currency may be bought and sold by and between any person or team including non-players.

Representative Play is where teams decide to share some general rules so they all can do more together to benefit. All the rules of Team Play still apply to all players on participatory teams. These are additional, advanced rules for representative teams.

II. REPRESENTATIVE PLAY (ADVANCED PLAY)
1. TEAMS. Teams may elect representatives who make decisions on representative teams. 32 teams maximum may be represented on a representative team. Any participatory team may split into between 3 and 32 constituent/sub-teams united by a representative team. Teams may choose to form partnerships.  Any team may be represented by multiple representative teams.

2. RULES. All teams keep an attendance record of their representative teams, their players, their roles, and constituent teams if any, with dates of joining and separating. There are “main rules” and “other rules.”

3. VOTING. Votes in the legislature and judiciary of representative teams are simple majority vote over 50% unless otherwise noted below. When players gather signatures of 10% of players represented by a vote, such vote shall become rule upon a referendum majority vote, not to be overruled by the legislature without calling another referendum majority vote, however it may be overruled by the court when in violation of a main rule. Popular recall is by direct referendum majority vote where three-fourths majority vote is required to remove a representative from a role.

4. ROLES.
a. CAPTAINS. A captain is elected to each representative team by popular vote. On behalf of her constituents, the captain takes care the rules are executed, is a cheerleader/spokesperson/mentor for the team, chooses time and space for play unless chosen by the legislature, may on the first occasion and on extraordinary occasions call a meeting of the legislature, and other responsibilities delegated by the legislature.
b. LEGISLATORS. Legislators are elected to representative teams from constituent teams or partnerships in rough proportion to the constituent team or partnership population. Representative teams have a legislature of between 7 and 64 legislators. Limits on the Legislature:
i. Limits. Any rules affecting the relationship between legislators and other players, including any representatives’ financial compensation, shall be confirmed by referendum majority vote, except for the time and place for referendum voting and elections.
ii. Checks and Balances. Before it becomes a rule, every bill which passes the legislature shall be presented to the captain. If she approves, she signs it, returns it and it is a rule. If not, she returns it with her objections to the legislature. If after reconsideration, two-thirds majority agree to pass the bill, it becomes a rule. If any bill is not returned by the captain within a reasonable time after being presented to her, it becomes a rule, unless the legislature by adjournment prevents the bill’s return, in which case it is not a rule.
iii. Amendments. Amendments may be made to the main rules with two-thirds majority vote of the legislature and referendum majority vote. Amendments may be made to other rules with 50% simple majority vote of the legislature.
iv. Loans. No loans from or obligations to anyone shall be made by the legislature without referendum majority vote.
c. JUDGES. Judges are elected to representative teams by a popular vote. The top vote-getters become judges. Representative teams have a court of between 5 and 12 members, as decided by the legislature. No decision shall be the judgment of the court except on agreement of at least three members or by jury, and no rule shall be declared in violation of the main rules except on agreement of a majority of the court. Proceedings are:
i. Local Jurisdiction. All challenges between players on the same participatory team shall be judged by that team.
ii. Appeals. Challenges may be appealed, both as to rule and fact, with any exceptions or regulations ruled by the legislature.
iii. Public Record. When a judgment or rule is reversed, modified or affirmed, the reasons for the court’s action shall be stated in writing and recorded with the challenge in a court journal.
d. CHAIRS. Legislatures and courts may elect chairs to keep order.
e. DELEGATES. Any team is responsible for commitments which are non-binding to other teams unless voted as a delegate by those teams, or unless such team is a representative team.
f. TERM LIMITS. No player may be the captain on more than one representative team at the same time. No player may be a representative team’s captain or legislator or judge at the same time. The term limit is two. When every player represented by a role shall have been in that position for at least one full term, term limits for that role start over. Term limits also apply to any delegate teams. When every team represented by that role shall have been a delegate for at least one full term, term limits start over.  Terms are a maximum of one year.

5. CURRENCY. Any representative team may create its own local currency.