I'll insist on turning this on its head.

The main problem is that most of the citizens do not own and play Warlords!

That may be true, but I kinda think now that there is just not enough people who are interested or willing to dedicate the time to keep this going.

Your quote from before Scip says it all...

If we go down that track, it will end up the 1BC Mongoose game, No offence to Mongoose. He has done a great job thus far as president, and so far there has not been any real competition. (Tosk did not have Warlords at the time during his bid, and it remains to be seen if people vote for Tora instead of Mongoose this time round). We will end up with 1 member playing the turns, and others just chipping in when they feel like it, with no obligation.

I think that most of us have a life outside of 1BC and that can infringe on dedicating time to the DGame. We need people who can commit for at least a few weeks at a time to serve out their term. Many people's computer time is already taken up with Dynasty games or PBEM games, so it gets harder to find 30mins a day to keep up with the DGame and post threads.

We need to determine the following:

Are there enough members who can commit time to fill the positions in this DGame?

If not, does that mean we need to reduce the number of positions required to keep the game running, or do we need to come up with a new system, where there is still debate and involvement, without it becoming a 1-man show.

Tosk's idea for a Clerk could work, but I would like it run through the system officially, so we get time to discuss and outline exactly how that could work. Again we would need someone dedicated and diligent enough to chase everything up.

Not necessarily. We have something like 25 or 30 citizens. But only a handful are "part of the government," (5 Senators, 5 Deputies, 2 SCs, 1 Pres, is their a Vice Pres?).

The problems we have suffered IMO have to do with guys not being around to deal with their piece of the bureacracy. This despite the fact that, we have more than once had referendums and such that manage to get 10 to 20 votes, a true quorum. Also, we've had plenty of activity among the role-playing crowd.

So, I guess I would actually correct myself a bit. I think the lack of citizens who own Warlords is a factor, but I think too much bureacracy is the main factor. If we had 100 citizens, then yes, having a system to prevent bedlam would be necessary, but with under 40 citizens in the society it is an unnecessary layer of effort and obligation/

Possible solution? Keep the Constitution, but consider all citizens to be "Senators" for all practical purposes. A quorum is all that is needed for the "Senate" (meaning the citizenry) to do anything. The Pres still has to get permission from the populace for whatever he currently has to get permission for, nothing as far as the possible role of the populace to influence events in the game would change, except that the populace would be more structurally engaged with the matters fo state. The 72 hour time frames for voting etc, all sound fine, but just take away the bureacratic layer of having Senatorial elections that nobody runs for, and give power to the PEOPLE!

The SC Judges have done a great job in getting the basic structure of the DGame set up, including the Constitution, and are clearly long-term committed to the game. But like the rest of us, it is a pain to have to log on here EVERY DAY (or even necessarily EVERY week) to make sure you don't have some "chore" to take care of.

Possible solution? Whatever ongoing daily "maintenance" duties the SC Judges are obligated to, allow anyone to do it. At the end of the day, a referendum is the ultimate authority in any democracy, so why not just take away the obligation for anyone to participate more actively, and open the door for everyone to participate more actively?

*The Constitution is dense, lengthy, and obscure - sorry, but it is.

* The Senate has nothing definite to do - yes, they can define things to do, but they haven't because they lack direction and leadership. It is a basic and fundamental fault.

* Using the Warlords expansion has created a sense of uninvolvement - argue as much as you like but using "Warlords" was a mistake. Personally I would have become far more involved if it were vanilla, but I feel marginalised, unable even to download a save.

* There is a curious lack of involvement. I cannot explain this. Mongoose has been a fine President, and yet the only thing I remember about the expansion of the country is that our first ship was called "Doomed". At least I think it was. The rest I don't care about. Why? Is it just me?

* What with the disgraceful abscence of the Supreme Court and the flailing-about of the Senate (with nothing happening except obscure and uninteresting discussion to the uninvolved) anyone looking in would have rightfully thought "what a bloody mess"; is it any wonder that the thing has hit a mudbank and stalled horribly?

* I don't want to be President. Ok, ha ha, but think - a game such as this should invlove people to the extent that they want to participate. In fact, I couldn't care less. Why is that? Is it my fault? (possibly, yes) But why was Mongoose unopposed last term? A healthy game should have lots of candidates.

* Prove me wrong. PLEASE prove me wrong. But something tells me this ain't gonna make it. In fact..... let's be realistic here...... how long will the "Doomed" float"?

*"Screw the constitution" - maybe not such an ill-judged call after all? Just perhaps the only way of rescuing this Dgame? Heck, I'm probably being too pessimistic, but something drastic needs to happen.

I would like to throw my hat in for involvement; however, it is only for the summer and highly volitile (if I spelled that correctly).