Let me preface this entire post by stating that I am looking into how a potential realm policy interacts with the inalienable right to be inactive. I want to make this explicit because there are several other things that tie into the policy, but they should all (obviously) be secondary to the IR. I am also going to use very specific names because this is a very specific situation.
Background: Coria is a Republic and uses a message group called the Corian Senate to vote on all important matters for Coria. This includes things like diplomatic status changes, new laws, and the general direction of the realm. Currently, all lords are members of the Senate, as well as the government positions and the dukes (honestly, the ruler is currently the only one who isn't a lord).
Now, in Coria's recent debacle, several members of the realm cited that they believed it to be a problem when a referendum would fail despite no opposition during discussion. In response to this, I proposed a plan:
The Silent Senator proposal: As promised, I seek to implement a way to manage the Senate such that only members who willingly put their time into the functioning of this realm are allowed within the Senate. The goal of this, of course, is to facilitate actual discussion to help guide Coria as a whole to where its lords want it to go. To do this, it is important that we know why a referendum failed as well as why it is being passed at all. To account for times when Senators need a reprieve, a simple "Strike" system shall be used: Each month, a Senator is allowed three strikes. If a Senator fails to provide any indication of interest in a referendum, that Senator receives a strike. An indication of interest can be as simple as a publicly stated abstention (preferably with an explanation), seconding another Senator's thoughts, or express support or disagreement with the referendum. This can be as little as a single sentence. As indicated, failure to do anything counts as a strike. These strikes reset each month, regardless of the number of referendums actually put forth that month. Strikes do not roll over (that is, you can never have an allowance of more than three strikes). Strikes will be presented no more than a day after the referendum results and will be tallied by the Consul. Appeals may be made directly to the Senate, to avoid suspicion of modifying the tally.
Related to this is a separate proposal that essentially states how our Senate's membership already works and how we would add to it if the plan succeeded:
Senate Membership proposal: Formally state within the realm laws that the Senate is open only to lords and council members. All lords are immediately inducted when they gain a lordship, excluding lords previously removed. Any lord removed from the Senate may petition to re-enter. The petitioner will rejoin the Senate with one strike, but will not be able to vote in his first referendum. Should the lord fail to indicate interest, the lord will be removed again. All current council members are granted irrevocable access to the Senate and do not suffer the Strike System. It is assumed that council members already have a vested interest in politics of Coria. Should they lose their position for any reason, they return to the lord system. (If they do not hold a lordship, they are removed from the Senate.)
I don't want to dilute initial reactions with my reasoning on whether or not I'd say this acceptable, so I'll wait to respond.
