Charter of Shangri-La

The Charter of Shangri-La is the founding document and constitutional basis for Shangri-La.

I - Preamble
Article I. To safeguard the collective knowledge inside the technological halls within our walls, we do what has to be done. The knowledge of the universe at our fingertips, yet only mastering knowledge relevant to our situation, we gain an edge over those who threaten us and our paradise. Alone we accomplish nothing, it is only when we stand united in both mind and soul that we are indomitable. Strength of Character and Will are the core of our essence, gathering power as we unleash the mysteries and knowledge of the universe on the unworthy, whose minds cannot comprehend the majesty. It is thus that Shangri-La comes into being, from the bond of two alliances joining into one Utopia.

II - Admission and Establishment of Rights
Section A. Application
 * Article I. Shangri-La is a white sphere alliance, and as such, any nation rulers who wish to apply for membership of Shangri-La are required to be on the White Sphere. Exceptions to this can be made by a case-by-case basis such as for a nation with a complete trade circle. The potential nation will submit a simple form within Shangri-La’s boards, the specifics of the application are at the discretion of the Steward of Recruitment. Any potential applicant involved in war or in financial conflicts with another alliance will not be considered for membership until said conflicts are resolved.

Section B. Member Rights
 * Article I. Every member of Shangri-La holds the right of free speech within our hallowed halls, along with a sub-forum that may be used to air grievances, suggest improvements and propose pieces of legislation that can be modified after a discussion takes place which will be voted on by the Council of Stewards.


 * Article II. Shangri-La members have the right to post a Vote of No Confidence (VoNC) on any governmentofficial as long as the reasons stated within the VoNC are logical, concise and rational.


 * Article III. All members of Shangri-La hold the right to run in government elections, specifically for the position of Steward in whichever specific department the member may choose to run in.


 * Article IV. Members have the right to leave Shangri-La, but must first send a letter of resignation to the Steward of Interior Affairs. For re-admittance, the former member must follow the same guidelines as first-time applicants. In times of war, the Harbinger and the Keeper maintain the right to restrict the flow of potential membership and hand out due punishment to those who desert Shangri-La.


 * Article V. Members have the right to maintain growth and security within Shangri-La’s halls, but are required to fight for Shangri-La’s safety and wellbeing during war. Members absolutely cannot leave Shangri-La during wartime.


 * Article VI. To be considered a member of Shangri-La, the nation ruler must: 1. Possess a nation flying the ‘Shangri-La’ Alliance Affiliation. 2. Should not be allied to any alliance prior to one’s submission of their application. 3. Have no active wars. These are the minimum requirements by which a nation may apply to or be considered a member of Shangri-La. No exceptions are made to this rule.

III - Structure and Voting of the Government
Section A. The Harbinger
 * Article I. The Harbinger is the appointed leader of Shangri-La. Ultimate authority is vested in the Harbinger’s hands in order to facilitate the guidance and direction of Shangri-La, supreme in both internal and foreign affairs and only limited where explicitly stated in this charter. The position is perpetual, only ending at the Harbinger’s wish or being voted out by a Vote of No Confidence.


 * Article II. On the occasion that the Harbinger is voted out of office or steps down by his or her own volition, a new Harbinger will be elected following standard government election procedures. The Keeper will act as a temporary figurehead for Shangri-La until the new Harbinger is elected.


 * Article III. Offices may be created or destroyed at the Harbinger’s command, with the exception of the basic governmental structure outlined in the charter.


 * Article IV. The Harbinger may oust the Keeper or a Steward of their position at any point after elections have finished. A designated person will message the entirety of Shangri-La of such an occurrence which begins a period of 24 hours allowing the nomination of individuals for the position freed by the Harbinger. After this period ends, a new period of 48 hours commences to elect the replacement (Or ousted individual back) into the freed position.

Section B. The Keeper
 * Article I. The Keeper is the second-in-command of Shangri-La, under the Harbinger’s command.


 * Article II. The Keeper will act as the temporary leader of Shangri-La in the event that the Harbinger is absent or has abdicated, and rule on any and all decisions that may come up during the Harbinger’s absence.


 * Article III. The Keeper advises the Harbinger on a variety of alliance issues, including overseeing a specific department that the Keeper may be well versed in.

Section C. The Council of Stewards
 * Article I. The Council of Stewards is comprised of six members chosen by due process and elections. They are given the authorities, responsibilities and jurisdiction inscribed below.


 * Article II. The Steward of Defense’s duties are to supervise the combined military forces of the alliance, manage squadrons in defense against individual rogue nations, manage combat assignments during wartime, and authorize raid targets.


 * Article III. The Steward of Internal Affairs’ duties are to adopt, maintain, and hold members accountable to the Shangri-La’s Charter, promoting activity, communicating with the membership at large, handling votes on charter amendments, managing the forums, and providing interpretations of the charter should discrepancies arise with them.


 * Article IV. The Steward of Foreign Affairs’ duties are to open, improve and maintain diplomatic relations with alliances, assigning diplomats to improve relations, open lines of communication with the membership at large in order to receive input about the Steward of Foreign Affairs path. In addition, while ultimately the FA path is decided by the Steward, he or she has to receive input from fellow government members.


 * Article V. The Steward of Recruitment’s duties are to bring in new members, run recruitment contests, review applications and verify them, and finally to approve or deny applications.


 * Article VI. The Steward of Education’s duties are to run and maintain an Academy, making sure new members know the alliance’s charter, and is responsible for training new members.


 * Article VII. The Steward of Finance’s duties are to assist members with understanding the alliance’s trade policy and establish trade circles, certifying tech sellers, organizing large technology trade deals, and organizing mass tech-deals with other alliances.

Section D. Government Terms
 * Article I. The Keeper’s term lasts for six months. After which, the incumbent Keeper has to run for re-election or lose his position in the coming elections for the Keeper position.


 * Article II. A Stewards’ term lasts for three months. After which, the incumbent Steward has to run for re-election or lose his position in the Council of Stewards’ election cycle.


 * Article III. No member will be allowed to hold more than one gov position at a time. If said person is elected into more than one office he will have to choose which office he wishes to take, and the runner up will take the other position.

Section E. Membership Input
 * Article I. With regards to Shangri-La going to war or government signing a new treaty, the government of Shangri-La are obligated to create a sole thread for input only. Poll threads are banned from being used as the designated ‘Input Thread’ as the discretion of voting on those two issues falls only with the government of Shangri-La.


 * Article II. The input only thread for treaties has to be open for three days before the government is allowed to vote. The voting for the treaties needs to be opened for a minimum of three days. The time limit for the war input thread is a minimum of one day, with the Harbinger having the power to extend it if needed. The voting for war is also open for a minimum of one day, with that again being at the discretion of the Harbinger to extend the time if needed.

Section F. Special Clauses

Article I. "Impaired by x"
 * Any decision made by a Steward, the Keeper or Harbinger when made under the effects of obvious external influences (IE: being drunk, high, tweaking, etc, etc) are to be held up for 72 hours before they’re pulled into motion, allowing said government worker to recant the decision.

Article II. “Other-worldly Emergencies”
 * This clause goes into effect with any government member, and only on the occasions where the gov member cannot perform their duties for 1/3 of their term due to other-wordly emergencies.

Article III. "Election Etiquette"
 * An alliance wide ban clause for the purpose of making election threads outside of the designated platform/nomination subforum, designed to accrue votes for any candidate.

IV - Voting Procedures
Section A. Government Elections
 * Article I. Voting for the government lasts a period of a ten days at the end of the month. Four days for the nomination period, three days for the preliminary voting period and three for the final elections.


 * Article II. Elections for government positions will be done in an anonymous poll thread, with the optional capability of posting who the member voted for and the reason why.

Section B. Post Voting
 * Article I. Elections for non-governmental issues must involve posting in the correct threads, where a person also has the option of including their opinions and/or reasoning for voting the way that they did. Input is encouraged, but not necessary.


 * Article II. A time limit of four days be placed on all propositions that involve non-governmental matters.

Section D. Vote of No Confidence
 * Article I. Any member in good standing is capable of issuing a Vote of No Confidence against any current government official, consisting of the Harbringer, Keeper, and Stewards.


 * Article II. In order for the vote to pass, the vote simply requires a majority in favor of the vote.

Section D. Special Election Clauses In order to prevent bias and promote Fairness in all elections within Shangri-La, no one is allowed to PM people and rally support behind the scenes for a specific candidate or against a specific candidate as this undermines the fairness of democracy. Punishments may be altered by the Harbinger and/or Keeper depending on the circumstances.
 * Article I. The "Bias and Fairness" clause
 * The consequences of breaking this clause for the first time leads to the person forfeiting their run for candidacy (If applicable). For second-time breakers result will be the same with the addition of two more election cycles. For those who break it a third time, it results in a complete and permanent ban from every governmental election.

V - Charter Amendments
Section A. Amending the Charter
 * Article I. Any member in good standing has the capability of proposing an amendment to the charter. The amendment is discussed for a period of 48 hours before voting occurs.

Section B. Voting
 * Article I. For a vote to pass, all current government officials MUST vote on the amendment and at least 3/4's has to approve of the amendment. The vote would require a 65%+ vote in order to become ratified into the charter.

Section C. Failed Amendments
 * Article I. If a person proposes an amendment and it does not pass, the person should have to wait 2 weeks from the time the amendment officially was not passed before submitting the proposal again. The person is allowed to make other proposals, but for 2 weeks they are not allowed to be similar to the amendment that just failed.