ASSEMBLY OF HOUSES (Concilium Domorum)
Radical Idea, but it has some merits.
Purpose:
1. Add some fun
2. Increase patronage
3. Increase the importance of the houses. (see #1)
There are two ideas, one or both may be adopted.
- Any decision or amendment that passes the Curia goes to the Houses Assembly. If passes, then Decision become official and amendment adopted.
- In citizenship application, all members of the house in which the patron is members must vote in favor or abstain, as well as, meet the current requirement. Essentially, house members can "blackball" applicants.
There are 7 "Great Houses;" Wild Bill Kelso, Siblesz, wilpuri, the Black Prince, GodEmperor Nicholas, Manji, and Rububula. The smallest have under 60 while the larges have just over 250. Most are not active members. There are a few very small houses numbering one or two generations. Smoke actually has 6 generations with at least three currently active members. I would group these together. However, out of the 6, 4 are clearly "extinct." The other two have possible 4 members still active on the forum. You can see them here. Most independent members or members with no known affiliation are not active or post very occasionally. You can view the list using the link for the for the smaller houses. Just scroll down.
In the case of Decisions and Amendments;
Basically, each house would have one vote. A propositional system can be developed to encourage participation. The more members of the house that vote then the greater the number of votes.
Advantages
Encouraging members to vote in the Houses' Assembly could bring members back to vote.
This could encourage pride in houses and the voting may increase patronization has houses try to get more active members.
Disadvantages
In the case of Decisions and Amendments, it will slow down passing another 5 days to allow for a second vote. However, it could be done simultaneously.
It could not work; but hey, it just might liven up the place.
Some Essential Questions
If not in a political capacity how can the House system be best used? Competition seems only useful if there is already broad base appeal. So how do we do that?
More importantly, can the house system be used to appeal to more citizens to participate more? The corollary issue is site activity? Is it better to first concentrate there first and then increase the appeal of citizenship?