Political Parties?

The Cat is of the opinion that with many young players, political parties tend to be too divisive. The players behind the nations tend to become too vested in their positions, and forget that this is a political simulation game and community. Little of what goes on here matters at all, but far too many forget that.

That said, if we were to assume that each of us is playing as a sovereign nation, it makes far more sense to introduce community norms as treaties. Each would then be able to sign up for those treaties they happen to agree with, and decline for others. For instance, if an international organization espoused scientific and technology exchanges, and required signatories to accredit universities with that body, the Cat might well sign to the treaty organizing it. Whereas if another treaty promulgated a regional religion, the Cat would decline to sign and would face nothing more than the approbation of its signatories. Each nation would sign to any and all treaties it desires, and decline the others.

Of course, that means that each treaty would have to formulate its own punitive measures for any signatories that violate its terms. (An alternative is to refer such infractions to one or more courts or arbitration councils, themselves international organizations established by various treaties.)

Political parties are somewhat similar to such an international organization, except that our system of government is a majority rule type that compels sovereign nations to accept norms they may strongly oppose. It is also a winner-takes-all formulation, which means that parties and players are implicitly encouraged to compete for power. Both of these aspects are strongly adversarial to dissidents. In my own experience, a Bill of Rights or a Constitution means little in dissuading the majority from dismissing the inherent rights of the minority. It usually devolves to "Our Way or The Highway." (The Cat travels easily.)

The Cat is well aware that most players are taught civics with a view towards constitutional liberal democracies, with a separation of powers. If one were organizing a nation, or a club, that is a satisfactory model. Civics classes give short shrift to international relations, with the exception of a nod to a mock United Nations. That is regrettable, because if we are indeed simulating sovereign nations, we should consider each of us, as sovereigns, free to make (and break) associations and compacts amongst ourselves at will, and not by majority rule.

That said, the Cat will work within whatever system is devised, for as long as it suits her needs. It is, after all, just a game.

I feel that it would be better to not have political parties - but rather unions, not unlike the UN, NATO, etc.
However these unions would much better be if a group of countries came together under the same ideals, but didn't have to be part of every union.
I don't quite know how to explain my idea exactly, but I will use an example with numbers as countries:

SO
Economic Unions:
A - 1,2
B - 3,5
C - 1,4,5
Political Unions:
+ - 2,3
= - 4,5,7
_ - 1,6
Idealogical Unions:
@- 3,1
$ - 6,7
£ - 2,4,5
Space Program Unions:
{ - 1,4,5
} - 2
( - 6,7

My conclusions from this table:

• A country may be part of any union
  
• A country may be part of more than one union
• A country doesn't have to be part of a union
• Any type of union is allowed
• Each union has to have more than one member
• The union may be run however it wishes (if your keen, you could make a union constitution or similar)

Thanks

I Must State My Opinion Here. Political Parties Are A Way For Nations To Express Themselves. If Someone Doesn't Like An Idea that The Government Has, But Feels Like The Government Won't Listen, They Can Consult a group of People Who Have Similar Ideas, Which Allows People To Share Ideas More Freely. If Tensions Between Parties Harden, Then So Be It. If Parties Clash, It Is The Party Members Fault For Any Outbursts. Therefore, Political Parties Alone Can Not Harm Us; Only Radicals That Are Affiliated With Them Can Tear Us Down. In Other Words, Parties only have as much power as the Government Gives Them. If The Government Feels That An Edge Between To Parties Could Cause Regional Issues, Then The Government Can Stop Any Acts That The Parties Preform,Or Even Ban The Party All Together. Whatever The People Want, The People Get. So if The People Want Political Parties, Then Give it To Them,I Say!

Note: This Page took half an hour to load, so I didn't want to click on "Register", out of fear that it may take more time, So I am Using a Guest account instead.

The problem with our parties at the moment is that one does not know where the parties stand :/