History of the Union - 2018
By Kade W Vasentius
State of the Union
The Union, and Nationstates, underwent significant changes in 2018! Many remember the introduction of the Trading Card System[1] as the highlight of NS 2018. Yet 2018 was a period of innovation and exploration for the Union.The Executive
The Union Government started to get more on-brand in 2018. This included the notable introduction of the UDS Coat of Arms[2] into the regional brand. This replaced the 2017 seal that the Union had been using alongside the individual branch seals[3]. The Union also switched to ProBoards as our forum host in June, moving away from Zetaboards when Tapatalk[4] acquired them. The Union’s military, Union of Democratic States Armed Forces, participated in numerous gameside events under the leadership of myself, Khevo, & Comlogical (all graciously mentored at one point by Starfyre). We even placed at the 2018 defender olympics! I’m pretty sure we had a custom flag designed by our very own Khevo too. 2018 included yet another South Pacific liberation attempt. As a still relatively new defender at the time, I honestly thought liberations would be rare. Here we are two years later and still actively intervening in South Pacific .The UDS World Assembly also got a boost in 2018. North Plegia, taking over from Thatcher, was our World Assembly Delegate for the second half of 2018 and launched our first ever endo-tarting program! Endo-tarting helps the delegate to build influence and votes and strengthen our region’s voice in the World Assembly. Plegia’s election was controversial following the 2017 del-gate scandal when Plegia rose above the endorsement cap and unseated the current delegate.
The Legislature
In the Legislature, Citizenship was a hot topic! Citizenship was initially codified in 2017[5] in an act proposed by Thatcher that included both primary and secondary citizenship classes. A nation could obtain secondary citizenship at 15 days in the region, and primary at 30 days. It was intended to be a retention tool, but ultimately fell short of it’s goal of retaining citizens. Heaveria started the process of maintaining the citizenship records under this dual system, and I (Kade) continued it as Census Minister in 2018. The dual-citizenship level program had been around since I joined the UDS in 2016, so at the time it felt like a large part of our past being left in the dust, but looking back now it was sorely needed. Khevo would ultimately propose the repeal of the citizenship classes, and the Union has remained with one citizenship ever since[6]. However, the waiting period was kept (but reduced) at five days in the region for 2018. The Union Legislature was bicameral at the time as well, but the chairperson position did not exist.The Courts
The Union Judiciary had a calm break after the 2017 craziness (Justice Relfa presiding)[7]. The Judiciary had one case to deal with: The WA Delegate recruiting for their own party using the office[8] and facing repercussions after a stint of “illegally taking the delegacy” in the past. Plegia would go on to serve as the last deputy prime minister of the region until 2 Feb 2020.The Union was a vibrant place in 2018 and continues the spirit of innovating on our past to today.
[1] https://www.nationstates.net/page=news/2018/04/19/index.html
[2] https://i.theuds.org/image/coat-arms-uds.mvnY
[3] [4] https://support.zathyus.com/zetaboards-tapatalk-t28550.html
[5] https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=832710
[6] https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=965481
[7] https://i.theuds.org/image/2020-12-12-20-11-12-supreme-court-reports-union-democratic-s.m8XT
[8] https://i.theuds.org/image/2020-12-12-20-05-59-north-plegia-vs-britallia-investigation.mdr1
