Executive Interest: Europeia is set for a Boring Election
Only one person is interested in running
Written by JayDee
Over the course of 48 hours, 26 Europeians took our Executive Interest Poll to have their opinion heard on the health and well-being of the region. Questions ranged from personal interest in the presidency to the perception of upward mobility, two questions we are constantly contending with in every cycle.
When looking at the background for respondents, the overwhelming majority joined Europeia between 0-5 years ago with 19 respondents in those year groups, skewing more towards 2-5 years with 10 respondents.
What this group of respondents lacks in age they more than make up for in experience. Over a third have served as either President, First Minister, or Chief of State with another five answering Vice President, Second Minister, or Vice Chief of State as their highest office. Nine more answered Minister/Councillor as their highest office with two answering Deputy Minister/Councillor and only one answering Assistant Minister.
With all this youth and experience, this election seems poised for some big turnout. Last election was a thrill for the ages, setting history with record turnout and a historic RoE victory. Now, the elections are thrown wide open as the incumbent, President JayDee, has declared his non-intent. After nearly 200 days in office, Europeia is ready for a new President (and clearly wants one), so who is chomping at the bit for their shot at Gold?
Well.
Out of the 26 respondents, only one responded that they intended to run for President in this election with a further three responding that they’re still thinking about it. With elections set to open in a matter of days the window is closing for any potential competitors to put together a platform. After such an exciting election last term, the lack of interest in the upcoming election is almost jarring. However, it’s not from a lack of desire.
On the contrary, 17 responded that they want to run for President one day. This includes respondents who stated they had already served as President, so the demands of the job aren’t what’s stopping people from seeking their ticket to the Goldenblock. Unfortunately, it seems that this election comes at a particularly rough time for many Europeians. With semesters getting back into full swing, our studious salutatorians are getting back into the grind. When asked why they do or do not want to run for President, several cited some combination or workload or RL priorities.
One said they would “do good” not sure who that is but I like the confidence.
DO: improve the region, see some projects through DONT: lack of time to commit
Not experienced enough
Mental health reasons
too much work and not enough time
I want to try it at least once
The amount of time needed to run Europeia well.
DO: Direct foreign affairs, Make the executive more efficient DO NOT: I have to do actual real life stuff too
aspirations abroad
Lot of work, not much pay
i think i'd do good
wanna prove to myself I could hold any goddamn position in NS.
IRL.
Not experienced enough
Mental health reasons
too much work and not enough time
I want to try it at least once
The amount of time needed to run Europeia well.
DO: Direct foreign affairs, Make the executive more efficient DO NOT: I have to do actual real life stuff too
aspirations abroad
Lot of work, not much pay
i think i'd do good
wanna prove to myself I could hold any goddamn position in NS.
IRL.
As we move closer to the election, respondents were asked if they believe the region is going in the right direction to which an abysmal 53.% or 14 said yes. However, only 1 respondent said no with the rest answering that they were unsure. It is likely that some of the unsures simply didn’t understand the question as some expressed confusion to me, but it is just as likely that some Europeians are generally unsure of whether this region is going in the right direction. With so many changes over the past few terms and the past year, some Europeians are still taking stock of our current status and may be uncertain of our current situation.
Looking to the upcoming election, Europeians were asked to list their priorities for the election with the possibility of multiple options. “Foreign Affairs” easily emerged as the most important topic for Europeians with 20 respondents selecting it as one of their priorities. Any hopeful candidates can expect to receive a thorough analysis of the foreign policies throughout the course of the election, especially as Europeia’s policies continue to carry greater consequence.
However, just as important were Regional Growth and Integration, which received 14 and 16 votes respectively. It is likely that many Europeians still believe that there is progress to be made in particular with integration, which has been an area of struggle acknowledged by the JayDee administration.
When given one choice, the same pattern emerges as with the multiple choice. FA takes a plurality of the votes with 8, but Regional Growth and Integration receive 6 and 5 respectively; effectively flipping order of priority compared to when Europeians had multiple choices. Europeians will primarily be looking for a ticket that can sell a strong foreign policy, but a good domestic policy will be just as important for any presidential hopefuls.
Don’t count out any domestically focused tickets though, but be on the lookout for how a new administration will be looking to shape Europeia’s foreign policy for the next 70 days. The next Administration will have to contend with the ever-evolving landscape of Frontier regions while also being able to provide solid structure for an integration strategy that supports upward mobility.
Speaking of upward mobility, is Europeia any good at it? Signs would point to yes with every Europeian responding with some form of “yes.” However, some of the comments would agree that there is a cap on how far a Europeian can get without essentially being “chosen” for greater responsibility by more experienced Europeians. Not all comments agreed though, with some stating that hard work is always rewarded even if it takes time.
In general, newer members who joined between 0-5 years ago and haven’t served as President stated that a person needed help while older members and former Presidents generally agreed that hard work will eventually be rewarded. This difference in perception can largely be attributed to the difference in perspective between those who have already achieved higher office and those still working for it.
Generally requires mentorship/a veteran taking a chance with someone.
The region is quite conservative
There seems to be a clear line to achieving president but it takes time. It's mainly by showing interest, gaining executive (or overall) experience, and running a well put together campaign.
I feel that there's just a certain line between relatively new, ambitious people and experienced ones who just have more inside knowledge. Like, I'm still new and I have no idea what people are talking about when they saying "Oversight" or reference something from previous terms.
In the executive, I think the staff to deputy minister to minister is pretty solid, but then it's really really hard to get to president. In the legislative and judicial branches, the bar association and the people's assembly are great first steps for people who want to join, but we could definitely do more with them.
Hard work is rewarding, even if it can take a long time to pay off sometimes
The number of new members given chances across all levels of the executive
I think that there are certain gaps in different places (e.g. minister of some ministry to vp/p) that are hard to traverse
Always is, just depends on how often or willing s region is on compromising to change
The region is quite conservative
There seems to be a clear line to achieving president but it takes time. It's mainly by showing interest, gaining executive (or overall) experience, and running a well put together campaign.
I feel that there's just a certain line between relatively new, ambitious people and experienced ones who just have more inside knowledge. Like, I'm still new and I have no idea what people are talking about when they saying "Oversight" or reference something from previous terms.
In the executive, I think the staff to deputy minister to minister is pretty solid, but then it's really really hard to get to president. In the legislative and judicial branches, the bar association and the people's assembly are great first steps for people who want to join, but we could definitely do more with them.
Hard work is rewarding, even if it can take a long time to pay off sometimes
The number of new members given chances across all levels of the executive
I think that there are certain gaps in different places (e.g. minister of some ministry to vp/p) that are hard to traverse
Always is, just depends on how often or willing s region is on compromising to change
However, a solid majority of Europeians agreed that, while Europeia does enough to encourage upward mobility, there is still more that could be done. Two people stated that there was vast room for improvement with another four stating that it’s solid (but still not enough). Three stated that Europeia couldn’t possibly do more to encourage upward mobility with the rest stating that more could be done.
In general, Europeia has a path for upward mobility far wider than most, but a lot of opportunities require self-initiative. Very rarely is a new member going to be singled out for higher potential, far more often it requires a person to go out of their way to gain experience and seek opportunities for mentorship. Speaking from experience, while I was helped by many Europeians, much of what I learned was from gaining and seeking more experience of my own accord. I learned more by running for President than I did in almost my entire time in Europeia. So if you’re waiting to be the next chosen one, well you’re gonna be waiting a while
More people need “preparation” to be president from a former president
We need leaders with grand aspirations. A charismatic and inspiring figure to propel us forward. JayDee did this for us, but had to deal with the war declarations and much turmoil, including our integration in the Defender space. We now need to seize this moment of relative stabilty in our external standing to grow as a region and become more than just a partner.
Always could do more
We need leaders with grand aspirations. A charismatic and inspiring figure to propel us forward. JayDee did this for us, but had to deal with the war declarations and much turmoil, including our integration in the Defender space. We now need to seize this moment of relative stabilty in our external standing to grow as a region and become more than just a partner.
Always could do more
That doesn’t mean Europeia doesn’t prefer someone with experience. When asked, experience was the second most popular answer with 17 respondents claiming they’ll support a candidate with experience in the executive. However, it still falls far behind the first choice, when asked 23 of 26 respondents claimed they’d support a candidate who shares their ideas as a priority over any other option. While experience, energy, and social relationships will certainly play a factor in the individual voters calculus, any fresh candidates should be prioritizing a strong platform.
The perception of the Presidency paints a similar picture. Although no answer receives a majority, 12 of 26 respondents agreed that the presidency is for anyone. That being said, a lot of the “other” responses basically repeated one of the already existing options so I probably shouldn’t have included that because some of y’all are rather…precise.
At least one commenter ascertained that “elite” is out of place amongst the options, which is a vast improvement over the days of the pre-split when the presidency was largely seen as a position reserved to the “Old Guard.” The perception of the Presidency has seen vast improvement in terms of accessibility to all Europeians, with the term Old Guard falling almost completely out of the regular vernacular. Another commenter selected elite and then told us what it means so I’m grateful for the clarification.
Europeia is a democracy and should not let inexperience keep someone from the Goldenblock
I feel like that question is kind of meaningless, like who is going to say that the presidency is only for older citizens? If the presidency is consistently going to older players, then it's certainly not because of a large bloc of public opinion that thinks it should be that way.
Because the ones who are experienced know all out Europeia, and with that knowledge, are able to run the region.
Who are the "elite"? Like, how is that different from "the older citizens" and "the most experienced"?
could've just had the option "anyone" and "kazaman"
"Elite" meaning...high activity levels and work ethic
I think a president has to have atleast some grasp on both foreign and domestic issues
I feel like that question is kind of meaningless, like who is going to say that the presidency is only for older citizens? If the presidency is consistently going to older players, then it's certainly not because of a large bloc of public opinion that thinks it should be that way.
Because the ones who are experienced know all out Europeia, and with that knowledge, are able to run the region.
Who are the "elite"? Like, how is that different from "the older citizens" and "the most experienced"?
could've just had the option "anyone" and "kazaman"
"Elite" meaning...high activity levels and work ethic
I think a president has to have atleast some grasp on both foreign and domestic issues
Alright, but who does Europeia want? Did you just skip everything else to see these results first? You did, didn’t you. Go back up and read the whole article, I spent hours on this thing
Ok, welcome back
Thank you to @SkyGreen for making these info-graphics!!Who does Europeia want to run for President/Vice President
In general, those in Gold-Tier can expect to have a much smoother path to the Goldenblock if they seek it. However, it’s far from set in stone. After all, I beat opponents in both elections who polled far higher than I did, so if you’re disappointed by the region’s interest in you then don’t despair just yet.
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