Europeian Question Time no. 2

(5...4...3...2...1!)

Hello, and welcome to the second edition of Europeian Question Time!

It's been an interesting period of time here in Europeia since the last edition. Now that the balloons have fallen, the votes been cast, and the electoral euphoria has passed, reality has slapped Europeia in the face.

But, first, let's introduce the panelists:

One of the only two current members of the Standing Committee on Statutory Review (*ahem, cough cough*), as well as Deputy Mayor of the City Council and the current Consul of the Imperium, please welcome phdre.

Our next panelists was, when I had first approached him to come on, was the then-Minister of the Interior, and a holdover from the Lexus Administration. He has since been nominated and confirmed as the newest Grand Admiral of the Europeian Republican Navy. Welcome to EQT Eklypso.

And, finally, but never least, our third panelists was, until her recent resignation, a Captain in the Europeian Republican Navy. A citizen of Europeia, and a person who I run into everywhere :)P), and who is the current Lady Chancellor of Imperial Britain, please say hello to Earth22.

Our panelists' statuses and positions brings me to my first topic for discussion. During the period of time since the last edition of EQT, Europeia has seen some pretty significant events occur. Two Senators resigned, one of whom was also the then-Grand Admiral, prompting two by-elections. Then we had the first Cabinet reshuffle of the Administration, and, before that, news broke that we would no longer be able to utilize The Imperium's recruiting system. All of this and more prompted Speaker of the Senate Asianatic to give a speech asking "Where are we?"

So, for the panelists, my first question is: Where do you think we are? How would you rate the Falconias Administration's first few weeks in office? And what do you think of the by-elections and the loss of a recruiting system?

*pauses, drinks water*
 
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The Falconias Administration has had three weeks in which to settle itself and work towards the goals and expectations laid out by Falconias during his campaign. The first three weeks of the Falconias Administration have fallen short of expectations through what I believe are mainly a combination of unfortunate events. It is impossible to view Falconias's actions, or the action of his immediate assistants, in a vacuum. These first weeks will be most remembered for the huge turnover on the Senate and Ministry level - Cambover and Rouiger's RL complications have certainly prevented the region from truly entering a period of normalcy.

In particular, Rougier's departure from the GA has renewed criticism of Falconias's judgement and leadership abilities, though perhaps unfairly. Falconias spent precious political capital pushing Rougier, an untrained rookie without raiding experience, through the Senate Confirmation for the Grand Admiral position. I would like to applause Falconias's judgement in this regard, as it appears that Rougier's short time as GA was successful, though I'm sure someone with experience in the Navy would be better suited to comment on Rougier's tenure.

Battling Ministrial challenges, Falconias has also been confronted with the dropping population of Europeia, due in no small part to The Imperium's recruitment software. As Consul of the Imperium (A position similar to that of President), I understand the strengths of a recruitment software and enjoyed being able to share that technology with Europeia. Unfortunately, due to real life commitments and NationStates intrigue, The Imperium is no longer able to offer recruitment access to any foreign region. The loss of the recruitment software has been a blow to the Falconias Administration's goal of recruiting 100 nations a week and increasing Europeia's population by the end of the term to 750 nations. Falconias cannot be blamed for his handling of this incident, but he will be held accountable for his insistence that his goal continues to be 750 nations and his repeated statement that manual recruitment is more effective than automatic recruiting.

Overall, I strongly feel that barring a disaster or regional incident, it is in the coming few weeks that the legacy of the Falconias Presidency will begin to be written. Falconias has the potential to clearly present himself to the people in an upcoming Press Conference - failure to effectively communicate his vision for the future of Europeia could cost him independent votes if, as he stated today, he seeks re-election. At the same time, many of the incidents that have limited Europeia's short term potential have been out of President Falconias's control. Falconias's willingness to move forward, mend relationships, and leadership in the coming weeks will ultimately define his First Term as President of Europeia.
 
Where are we? Europeia hopefully. I mean if the name changed or we're somewhere in The East Pacific let me know.

Right now we are in a good slump. What I mean is that we could be in a much worse situation then we are right now. The Senate is doing just fine. The judicial branch is sitting around the pool drinking, talking about the new hottie intern :)P) and the executive is rebounding from the recent resignation of Rougiers as Grand Admiral. The recent switch in the executive has only affected two areas of the government, not all of it, so the backbone hasn't been compromised too heavily.

I agree with Phdre when he said that the administration has had bad luck in the last two weeks. Cambover's departure was taken hard but has been managed very well without him. Rougiers departure came as a large surprise and I think has been a major part of the worry happening now. In my opinion, he was seen as the "golden child" in Falc's campaign even after the strong dislike towards him as pick to lead the navy. However, he had done a fantastic job and proved everyone wrong under the right direction. Now that Rougiers is gone from the spotlight, the people are left wondering "why the hell did you pick him if this was going to happen and what are you going to do now?" Considering he gave LoA 3, now 4 days ago, the people wanted a quick response and they haven't gotten that.

Recruitment couldn't have been a bigger pain in my side since "the incident". It was like a mini-apocalypse minus the fire and brimstone. The issue with Imperium freaked out much of the population. Also, many of the younger Europeians had no idea how to recruit manually which caused a deer in the headlights type of response. So now the issue is whether the big goal of 750 can be met by the end of the term. It's not an unachievable goal but the bar was set pretty high and with the new circumstances, it can be seen as a dud. He will have that number hanging above his head for the rest of the term, along with the 100 active nations on the forum. It can be done. Action needs to happen soon and quickly.

I hate rating administrations, especially after we just did one. I would say it's good, not great, but good. Just the fact that the older Europeians aren't throwing rotten fruit at Falc yet is a good sign he is doing okay. The by-election is... a by-election. Nothing major has happened. It seems Phdre is receiving a large response from the people. Aramor's recent pop up out of thin air has the citizens excited. However, he has no platform as of yet and newer members have no idea who is is or what had happened during his moment of fame.

To sum it all up, Falc made his bed, the bed didn't like him, and now he can succumb to the bed or give it a good beatdown.
 
Is part of the problem, would any/all of the panelists say, the concept of, and I'm sure the President would be upset about this comparison, "Hopeback" or "Hopelash"? It sounded like perceptions of the President and his plans/goals were built up, and a lot was expected. However, contrariwise, I recall people like Pope Lexus X saying that the plans weren't anything groundbreaking or revolutionary.

Is it the oratory that got people excited and not really focusing on the nuts 'n' bolts, or is it something else?
 
I would not say that expectations were high for Falconias, because each one of us has his own bar to which Falconias must perform. Even at this time when the citizens feel that Falconias has not held the reigns of Presidency to his potential, there are those who continue to view his work as "Perfect," according to a recent poll. It is impossible to speak for all of Europeia, but in my mind, Falconias was not elected for his oratory skills or for the vision he presented to Europeia in his campaign.

You bring up a valid point regarding the disillusionment with the Falconias Administration after a few weeks in office. As you mentioned, citizens such as Pope Lexus X described Falconias's goals and expectations that he outlined in his campaign as "meh." The central issue for most voters was his maturity under pressure and the possibility that Europeia could move past the damage to his credibility that his alter-ego, Champagne Jam, causeI certainly don't think that Falconias was elected based on the promises he outlined in his campaign. I contend that Falconias was not elected based on a policy of "Hope" or general optimism regarding his goals and vision. Rather, Falconias was elected by independents and NCP members as the ultimate statement - an acknowledgement of sorts that Europeia may have a long memory, but that it also can forgive in certain instances. It was this statement made by the voters that led to Falconias assuming office, not a general optimism. As a result, it will be difficult for Falconias to satisfy those who were not ready to make that statement and vote for him, especially with the current level of communication between the Administration and citizens. Falconias may also continue to lose support among what I call "true independents" - those independents who felt confident enough in his trustworthiness to cast a vote for him - if he does not meet their expectations for himself and his Ministries.
 
Never heard those terms used before :p

Falc's goals weren't built up. He announced them in his campaign and the general response was a *Kanye shrug*. Let's dissect what he has accomplished so far.

Recruit 100 nations weekly - No
Train Rougiers - Yes, but now he's gone, so kind of a waste in a sense.
Organize the Cabinet - Duh, you're supposed to. It's part of the job description.
Maintain strong relations - Meh. After that messed up raid, who knows.
Meet expectations of citizens - Can I get a hell no? Hence, Asianatic's speech.
Maintain FA and Interior - Yes, although mostly behind the scenes with FA, it has been accomplished. Interior is back and running.
Supervise CSO Well... yeah

I won't get into the goals but most of them haven't been met yet as there are five weeks left in the term. Things have been accomplished, not all. There is still time left.

Oratory is all well and fine but action is more important than words when it comes to running a region. I always say a politicians mouth is just another place s*** comes out of. Don't listen to it all the time. In response to Lex, he does have a point. Europeia itself is lacking something and it mostly likely is that enjoyment factor. The citizens shouldn't have to worry about the government because it is supposed to be stable. Falc needs to realize that things can get worse if he does not do A or B. He also needs to let the people know that he needs their help to have A and B completed. It's a group effort
 
Could either of you explain to me exactly how manual recruiting differs from what was done with the Imperium system? And do either of you agree with the President's assertion that manual is better?
 
Using a system like on Imperium, a list of nations is already given to you. One does not have to go to each of the feeders and find nations. Then it's a matter of pasting in the recruitment message and clicking send. On that system, it is estimated that it takes 15 to 20 minutes to send 50 telegrams. The nations at the top of the list are newer and then older nations are closer to the bottom.

Manual recruiting requires visiting the feeders and watching the regional happenings for newly founded nations. On average, there are maybe 5 nations newly founded in each of the feeders and that will give you 25 nations. For that reason, some have to recruit another time instead of in one sitting. Then you continue with the same method of sending the message. Also, you can go to regions recent additions and send TGs that way and focus on one or two feeders instead of all five, however, most of those nations are older and most likely puppets. Sending TGs to nations multiple times is also against the rules so mods can get upset at this, which means that it needs some regulation.

In terms of recruiting just to recruit, the automated system is the better option. It's faster, you can send more messages in a smaller amount of time, and counts the tally for you. However, the system doesn't tell you that said person even sent the message. All you have to do is click and the nation gets counted. So there can be some fraud going on. Also, regions like Imperium have owners who do not like to share and thus forcing regions to go back to manual recruiting.

Manually, it takes longer but the advantage is that one could send TGs to TRR or Lazarus as well adding the possibility of recruiting older, possibly experienced NS member nations to Europeia. There are less bugs to work out as well manually. The only thing stopping manual recruitment is NS itself.

I like manual recruiting. That is my preference. Others prefer to use the automated system because it is less hassle and easier to adapt to. Is it better? On paper, no. Technology almost outweighs the old-school in terms of functional use. Attitude towards manual recruiting is an entire different story. Just because you don't like it, does not mean it's harder and less effective.
 
I apologize for being late, my show was tonight and some idiot left without giving us their lapel mic. >.<

I have to honestly say that I generally agree with Aurora on what she said addressing President Falconias. I feel the senate by-elections, while showing that we do have a great amount of political competition here, weakened the government as it slowed it down. I feel that one of the things that Senators running for re-election next time, or Citizens wanting to run next term, or even the candidates in the current by-election would be their stability and dedication--to avoid all the by-elections again.

To the cabinet reshuffle: I can honestly say that I had -great- amounts of doubt with Rougiers as the Grand Admiral at the beginning of the term. I had doubts even before then with the EuroNavy as a whole, more because of prejudice that I've heard in my travels working mostly in foreign affairs (around NS as a whole, not focusing here..heh). I feel that he did a good job as the GA and do expect to see him back; he brought creativity, humor, and a general funness to the Navy, though his inexperience in the raiding world bothered me. Personally, I consider about 20% of raiding to be connections; a group of three hitting 5 small regions compared to a group of 18 (without multiing or using dirty pups or anything that would require me to smack you if I had planned the raid) hitting one big region is a major difference, and a big 'holy moly', at least in my book. As for Eklypso taking over, I don't really remember raiding with him ever and have doubts again with his experience. I hope that he can prove himself in my book with the EuroNavy, though I will no longer be enjoying that part of the region here. As for Karth, I hope that he can do as best as he can without the recruiter and get this administration to actually meet their goals set at the beginning of the term. I have my doubts there too but do hope that the goal can be met.

To the loss of the recruitment system, I disagree majorly with Falconias about how it is a plus. I personally hate manual recruitment and find that Vince handing the technology out of most raiders (besides the Imperium) and to the defenders a stab in the back that he'll have to lick the bottom of my high-heel boots to be forgiven for. That's another story, though. Karth and the Interior Ministry, I feel, are going to have to work pretty hard to get us back over 600..and then go and try and get Falc's goal of 750, which I find quite unrealistic. On a side note, I'd really enjoy reading Falc going over his goals and expectations set at the beginning of the term now and what he's going to do from here. Having the recruitment technology doesn't stop you from recruiting in TRR or Lazarus. You can do that as well, obviously. It just helps a lot with the Feeders. In general, I've found that nations recruited as soon as they're made join faster than ones that have been sitting there for over three days (the recruiter goes back 3 days of nations that were unrecruited). I like the system better then manual, more cause I recruit for a lot of different regions and it made it easier for me to keep track of. AKA: I disagree with Falconias about the fact that manual is better.

Well, now, as to where we are now. In nationstates' current decline, I feel we're doing pretty dang good. Our population has dropped but we are sustaining a really big government in consideration to other nations around. We have a lot of members that are Europeian natives and are only active here, and many (myself, Dyr, Falcy, Anumia, Aurora) that are active elsewhere as well. It makes us pretty diverse and pretty damn awesome. Parts of me help that a forum clean up and a quick-links guide might help a newbie get more involves, as well as possibly moving the Republic Square higher in the forum area list. That's just me, though. Meh.

*grabs a water* Onto rating the administration: I feel there have been a few major slip ups, some pick ups, and some general hypocracies. Falc's choice with Rougiers was good by the end, I must say. He did a pretty good job, though the promised guides and step by step stuff has been slowed down and I don't like how in the last speech that I read by President Falconias (me thinks it was yesterday..) said how he planned to extend this to make it a multi-term project. Well..what happens if he ain't reelected? Will it just stop like that? It isn't that hard to write up a guide for raiding; there are hundreds floating around dead forums and most people in the military that have been active on the last few raids at least know what they're doing, for the actual raid (not saying they could plan and execute one, or cascade, or surf or anything like that..just they can probably handle the 'click here to move to Pagan'!).

Okay, with Foreign Affairs I like the restructure of it though I feel there's been a closed door shut in a few faces here. (Falc's second post, in response to OO me thinks..and CSP's...[What would be offending?]) And yet, CoS Swak said they were going for a very transparent cabinet. I'm curious what really is that generally secretive about foreign affairs. Secret ninja embassies for the win! Oh, and the update wasn't sent out on the 8th as had been promised in the goals and expectations.

Culture, the miss of the anniversary was a big slip up. St. Patty's could have been generally bigger instead of just a thread started by a drunk President (if I missed the actual party, I apologize--but that in itself would say that there was a lack of 'click here for st. patty's party!). Dem still is doing a great job.

Interior and Naturalisation I don't have much to say about that I haven't already said. It's tiresome, boring, annoying work that has to be done. I want to see the goals met or revised into something more reasonable.
1. A population of 750 by the end of the term (Interior);
2. A citizen count of 90 by the end of the term (Welfare).
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I feel the second is more likely, at the moment--not because of Naturalisation or anything like that. More from the fact that we're getting a helluva lot of dual citizens from Equinox and just other regions around.

I already really ranted about the military. :p Rougier's resignation was a loss. New GA needs to prove himself or do something before I say anything else. (*huggles Eklypso*)

I don't rate the current administration this that highly. I'd rather see them revising new plans and new goals to adapt to the current situation rather then the stubborness to stick to the old goals--which won't work. If we get to 750 nations by the time we get out of Falc's term, I'll..be generally amazed. Just..see above, I guess.

To answer the next question asked, it seems to me that a lot of the same goals are posted for every campaign..everywhere in NS. Creativity's a hard-pressed thing sometimes, I guess. The goals and expectations were posted, that's what we want to achieve and what we expect. The lack of that is crushing, as it is impacting the region in an obvious way. I think, for some reason, we felt these goals could actually be met at that time. A lot has changed in the past three weeks and these goals set at the beginning need to be reevaluated and reworked, rather then stubborn politicians sticking their noses in the air and saying 'we can do it, elect us next term and we'll finish our jobs that we promised to do this term--but we still met our goals! yay us!'. It's getting to the point where I want to see change that will lead to success. Realistic goals for the win.

I think I answered everything. Hope I didn't offend anyone with my words or anything. Heh. 'Pologize for repeating myself a few times, me thinks. I'm exhausted.
 
I agree with Earth22 regarding a new approach for the administration. The saying "The wind does not break a tree that bends" holds true for Falconias - I would rather see a President who is able to adapt to obstacles by providing Europeia with clear, obtainable goals than one who stubbornly refuses to change his goals. That being said, I think that Falconias has handled the recruiting situation with The Imperium remarkably well, and the transition to manual recruitment has been relatively painless. My major concern has been the lack of transparency and communication with the citizens of Europeia - without evidence of progress in any major policy arena, it is difficult to approve of the past actions of the Falconias Administration. However, these concerns can be alleviated through heightened communication and the renewal of a clear vision that all of Europeia can share. It is a tall task for Falconias, but truly great leaders are able to unite a group of people behind a common set of goals. So far this term, the administration has not been able to verbalize its pursuit of clearly defined, motivating, and meaningful goals.
 
-blinks-

We haven't raided together??? :huh: We must fix that B-)

Anyway, secret ninja embassies?? Sign me up :)P). Right now, Europeia does not need a multi-term project. At this point, mulit-term isn't even in the picture right now. We're just trying to get through this term, hold the President accountable for his promises and anticipate his future action to fix or revise his goals. It'd be nice if his press conference were held yesterday but it seems to be happening unofficially in the GH.

*drinks water*
 
That's an interesting point you bring up, Eklypso, about the thread that Asianatic started in the Grand Hall. I assume that a lot of you had been following the way that things progressed there. THe way I saw things, it looked like Swakistek, the Chief of Staff, and Falconias were rushing to defend and reassure. And the exchange got particularly intense when Old Ogastein started raising points as well.

What were your impressions of that thread, especially the President's last post where he made it sound like he was ending a press conference?
 
The thread went from a decent question posted to the administration to a train wreck that everyone had to stop and watch unfold and then the cops showed up and said "keep it movin". Very similar the RS if I might say so.

Falconias responded appropriately to give some reassurance. He gave a little blip of every area in the executive and what happened and gave some substance to what he plans to do. OO asked questions and Falc responded. Then random people came in justifying for or against Falconias.

The problem started when OO started quoting the recruiting weeks. The change in system was going to effect the numbers of recruitment. It didn't need to be pointed out blatantly especially after it has been only one week. If it continued over a longer period, then there should be an amount of concern.

I consider it a pre-press conference which could mean something bad :lol:
 
I feel that this is the sort of accountability that has been slightly lacking in the Falconias Administration. It is not so much the subject matter, but the brisk manner in which Falconias dismissed all questions that is troubling to some. At the same time, I hope that the questions addresses in the Press Conference will give Falconias the ability to connect with the citizens of Europeia. I think that the thread you've mentioned is not as significant as one might imagine - I look forward to Monday's Press Conference in order to see Falconias's political wits tested.
 
This first question is directed at phdre, and the second one to all the panelists:

1. Could you expand upon the "brisk manner" a little bit?

2. What topics do you think will be brought up and discussed and, more importantly, which would you like to see brought up and discussed?
 
I have to agree with PhDre for what he said about the first question, though in the end with Falconias locking it, I agree with Aurora that he was not right in doing so. As she said, it wasn't breaking any rules and it wasn't his place to do that.

In the Press Conference, I'd like to see him rework his policies as I've said before as well as try and answer tough questions without seeming like he's being personally attacked. I'd like to see him address his new choice as GA on a closer scale as well as his plans for Culture in the future. In general, Falconias just needs to answer the questions asked in a way that will bring more confidence to him and his administration and hopefully accept those questions that will be tough and questioning of him as reasonable questions--not.personal.attacks. But yes, I'd like to see every aspect of government under him as well as just generally going over things and well..accepting that in some cases (the locked thread with Aurora) he was wrong. Europeia needs a President to head us, not someone that's half the time drunk and half the time just defending himself.
 
I'd like to clarify - I no longer feel the phrase "brisk" would be used by the majority of those who take issue with President Falconias's actions in the "Where are we?" thread. Falconias will certainly have to answer tough questions regarding his decision making, professionalism, and his commitment to Europeia thanks to the Drunkgate (If I may name it that... who gets to decide what to stick before -gate when the President makes a mistake? :p) Furthermore, Falconias will have to answer questions regarding the actual 'content' of his Administration - the implementation of policies so to speak. Especially with Drunkgate on everyone's mind, this Press Conference could be the make or break of President Falconias's term. I certainly look forward to a press conference that can only be described as the clash of Titans.

 
Let's bring up "Drunkgate", then.

What do the panelists feel about this new issue for the Administration?

Also, what do you think about Asianatic and her new role as an unofficial "Leader of the Opposition"?
 
Just to comment on the last question. Falc needs to re-address the FA situation and how CSP can use his new JMs efficiently to get the job done. Also, if he plans to rework his goals for the region and in what areas.

"Drunkgate???"

I'm afraid we might have to send him to TRR to get through a 12 step program before he can be allowed back in office :lol:. On a serious note, it's kind of disheartening to see our president "drunk" during a time when his administration is under high scrutiny. It makes one wonder whether he was "drunk" the entire time he has been in office and possibly while he was in the Senate. This is not a good look for Falc. Don't drink and type at the same time. You end up getting the website "Texts From Last Night." Now we can describe our president as a drunk, ex-FRA member with control issues.

Go Asianatic :p: As a citizen she has the right to question how the administration is doing. It's just a coincidence that she happens to be Senate Speaker with super cool mod powers :p
 
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