This weekend I found out something astonishing - Switzerland is run by a modified direct democracy. Four times a year, a national vote is held on issues pertaining to the governance of the country. Other decisions can be made by the 7 person council who are elected for four years who make their decisions by consensus. They trade the role of president among themselves. (Here is an article to start a deep dive.)
Maybe you already knew this. I certainly didn't and I was struck by how closely the Swiss government model resembles that of Towny McTown Face. The eight person council has so far made all of their decisions unanimously - they don't have a consensus provision perse but the desire to be unanimous in their decisions has led to several proposals being amended until everyone is satisfied. T.M.T.F. also has many provisions in law that mandate a return to direct democracy to decide certain issues. For example, if the town's bank account drops below half of its initial level, the town will meet as a whole again to decide if they want to continue to subsidize health care and if a tax should levied to help defray the cost. Similarly, if someone requests that the town pay for customs to bring in an item, a whole town meeting is called to determine if the proposal should be funded. If at any time half the town signs a petition that they want to repeal a law, a whole town meeting is called in which a repeal is considered. And finally, if the number of council members drops to five or fewer, the council is disbanded and the town returns to direct democracy.
So basically, T.M.T.F. is Switzerland without the chocolates and the Alps (although a gopher has made a mound perilously close by!)
Village is not designed to replicate our system of making decisions (although students invariably learn more about our system over the course of the game). Instead, it's designed to help students explore different ways that decisions can be made. Should you leave it up to who ever cares enough to go to meetings? Should one person make the decisions and then have a group review those decisions? Could ideas be judged against a set of ideals that the town agrees to? Should the people with the most money in the bank at the end of one day make the decisions the next? Could a town postpone voting until a move to vote is unanimous to ensure that every peep has had their say?
Each of these ideas has been used to make decisions in Villages past. Most have also been tried in the real world. There is no one way to run a country - but there are certainly bad ways to run a country. Hopefully T.M.T.F. and the newly named G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Towns) will find a way that works for them. -mmm
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