[BEYOND THE BORDERS] Q&A with the Prime Minister of Thaecia





Q&A with the Prime Minister of Thaecia
Written by PhDre


PhDre: I'd like to get into your background in NationStates first, then let's dive into your work in Thaecia! What were you doing in NS before Thaecia?

Brototh
: Nothing, actually! I am a proper 'native': Thaecia is my first ever region. I joined here the first day I was founded. There are some res[idency] stat [the statistic that shows how long a nation has resided in its current region] changes here & there when I wanted to try some other stuff out but pretty consistently since joining NS I have been an active member of the region. Some random trivia though I do remember Europeia was one of the regions that I almost joined on my first day XD Funny how things end up

PhDre: How long have you been in Thaecia?

Brototh
: About 3 years and 2 months- I joined just two weeks after Thaecia was founded (which itself was Jan 22 2019). There have been some small gaps inbetween, altogether adding up not more than 50 days, although even in that time I've been a member of the region's community

PhDre: What drew you to this region?

Brototh
: Something I think we say here a lot in Thaecia- the really easy process for getting citizenship: either join the WA or send a telegram from your WA nation and you're a citizen- that's it. As a new player I was super drawn in by that compared to basically every other region which had an applications process offsite, whereas I saw Thaecia was real easy to join up. That's what made me join but what kept me here is our really great RP and once I started getting into the region's politics I got even further in XD

PhDre: Most Democratic regions go through periods of reform and partisanship. Europeia has a number of very tense and partisan years - looking through your dispatches, Thaecia did as well. How has that impacted how Thaecians view the democratic process?

Brototh
: Thaecia's partisanship eras have often been a source of controversy in the region. A lot of people say they're good for the political game and activity, and a lot of people say that they're toxic and ends up in Congress being puppets to their party chairs. Most Thaecians don't have an issue with parties although there is definitely a loud minority that voice their opposition to partisanship. The region's third largest party itself condemns partisanship. Something that most Thaecians agree upon though is the impact of parties issuing voter lists: telling each member who specifically to vote for in order to maximize seats. They've proven very effective although people condemn them for controlling the vote. It makes the region as a whole feel less democratic: the idea that it is parties voting in reps, not people. Even my own election was largely decided by the popular support of the region's two largest parties despite my status as an independent politician, a rarity these days. Our partisan eras often end with people declaring parties toxic and start a few months later with people declaring parties fun again. It seems to me like we're edging near to the end of this partisan cycle: with the region's opposition pledging to end the use of voter lists, it looks like the political game from parties may not persist very long. Overall though I think the average Thaecian sees parties as beneficial to the democratic system though.

PhDre: How does the WA / waiver requirement impact your regional identity and recruitment? Some Thaecians I spoke to highlighted the easy citizenship process as a major selling point of the region. What role does WA or waiver play in your cultural identity? How do you think this impacts your relationship to the wider NS world?

Brototh
:The citizenships process is a major selling point as I said myself- it's what drew me to this region. The requirement that you only need to have a WA nation works great with us, with NS Mods doing the heavy lifting to stop people from having multiple citizenships. We've had our fair share of WA multiing in the past and all [offenders]have been caught and dealt with, so the system is tried and tested with proof of effectiveness. I think that overall our region has benefited greatly from the process. As I repeat, our commitment to everyone being able to participate is a major part of our cultural identity and a quick and easy process to citizenship- which is why we oft get stunning election turnouts of 70+ voters- definitely is part of that. We have a lot of cosmopolitan citizens as well- definitely owing to this easy process I'd say. It is certainly easier I think to get citizenship in this region than any other that I've seen myself: pretty much just turn up. It's what makes us so appealing I believe to foreigners to come and join up with.

PhDre: Thaecia doesn't have a forum from what I can tell! You do all your government work on NS RMB, Dispatch, and Discord! How has that played a role in your development as a region?

Brototh
:We've debated having a forum many times and tried it out a couple. However the idea is very unpopular with the people of Thaecia because we're very committed to the idea of everyone being able to participate and vote. Some Thaecians, including some of our most popular and active government members, are generally uncomfortable with the idea of going on a forum citing privacy reasons- some people would rather not let Thaecian admins know their emails and such. Our founders (not just Andy & Xernon, the original members) came from a region where all the work was done on the RMB, and so when they moved over here, it came with them. It was very beneficial in our earlier days- people have been quite appealed with being able to do all the work on the site itself without having to go off-site, which I personally agree is good: a NationStates game should be on NationStates. It was in my opinion key in the early stages of this region. While we recognise the benefits of a forum system that we can moderate ourselves and tailor to our likings, thus far we've never had any problems arising from working onsite, and with the added benefits of increasing the amount of people that are willing to get involved, we probably will continue to work on NS for the foreseeable future- there's even been some talk of moving some executive work there although nothing is confirmed and still in the conceptual stage.

PhDre: Europeia is currently back under a unified executive - but Thaecia has a President and a Prime Minister. Can you briefly describe the Prime Minister role, and how it works in the context of Thaecia?

Brototh
: The Prime Minister is the head of government in Thaecia and runs the executive government. I appoint ministers, deal with FA, all that sort of stuff. The basic day to day administration of the region falls to me- recruitment, providing defence in court, giving Thaecians opportunities to get involved, all of that stuff. Any bill that Congress passes gets signed into law by me as well. There is also a veto option, but it's never been used. The President on the other hand is the symbolic head of state and runs the region's WA Office, writing IFVs [information for voters, being the delegate etc. Powers like handing out awards such as the Order of Thaecia go to them. We have been considering debating removing the President recently. A constitutional amendment to do so passed our congress last week and will go up for vote to the citizens next week, so keep your eyes peeled for a regional update soon where we might announce a change in the system.

PhDre: Let’s talk about you! What roles have you had in Thaecia before being PM?

Brototh
: Before being Prime Minister, I have been: President: the region's World Assembly Delegate, Speaker of the House: leader of the House of Commons, deciding chamber business and running votes and debates, Chairperson of the Senate: leader of the Senate, same as above, I am also the only Thaecian to be Pres, PM, Speaker & Chair as well :p Very dedicated to this region MP and Senator: members of the House & Senate respectively, Deputy Secretary of Roleplay: a position I've held ever since joining, doing most of the administration of the region's RP, Secretary of Defence: I wrote the bill establishing the Thaempirial Army and I was the inaugural leader of it as well! The only government office things I've not done is be on the Court (which I'm not all too interested in regardless) and be a Minister (I seem to have skipped that one and been the PM instead). Anything available really is what I do XD

PhDre: What are you most excited about completing, campaign promise wise, this term?

Brototh:
The reformation of the civil service, which shows Thaecians job opportunities. It has fallen quite unused over the last few months and I'm excited to get it back up and running. We often complain about low levels of executive employment so I'm super excited for us to get back to it and show everyone what's available in our region's executive. Also hyped to start up the advertisements channel in the region's discord which will allow us to help out with the recruitment of people to the executive as well. We plan to do recruitment drives every two weeks so I'm super excited to get that moving.

PhDre: Currently Thaecia and Europeia are embarked on a massive pile of England. What does this say about the cooperation between Europeia and Thaecia? What are the next steps in this relationship?

Brototh
: I think that the pile cooperation shows the friendship between our regions. To some people it might not seem so massive or anything but I think it really does just show that we're close friends. I think that the operation together is indicative of the fact that both regions are willing to help the other out and I can assure Euro we won't forget the well appreciated support in England any time soon. Somebody had to depose the tyranny of Westminster and I'm glad that it was done with Europeia!
 
This is a lovely interview! It's incredibly interesting to see Brototh talk about the way the unique aspects of Thaecia's set-up are tied into the region's culture.
 
Love Thaecia and Brototh! Very insightful interview, thank you both PhDre and Brototh!
 
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