I submit to AWTeen's community a simple proposal for managing the world that addresses all of these major concerns. Its simplicity is the key point in returning AWTeen to prosperity.



The proposal involves the following six, and only six, points. I will address each in turn.





1. Elect the Caretaker through direct vote



2. Almost any citizen can vote



3. Anyone who can vote can run



4. Hold elections every six months



5. Appoint an elections manager to oversee each election



6. If the Caretaker resigns, AW appoints a temporary replacement





Here is the reasoning behind each of the above points:





1. There is only one person who pulls it together in AWTeen, and that's the Caretaker. In this proposal, after election the Caretaker can then form a government any way he or she chooses. The Caretaker can hire people, fire people, organize committees, run events, appoint people to run events, and so on. (S)he may choose to follow the same path as his or her predecessors, or may choose a different method of leadership. Most likely, precedent will evolve as an important factor when Caretakers decide how to stand on certain issues.



2. Any citizen who visits the world at least one month prior to an election should be able to vote. All opinions are important. People who only visit occasionally may limit their visits because something isn't quite right for them to encourage frequent visits. It is not the community's decision to decide who is important enough to be granted a vote. Everyone receives one vote, to be counted equally.



3. There should be no limitation on who can run to become Caretaker, except for having been in the world at least one month prior to the election, and being a citizen. There are many talented people from elsewhere in Activeworlds who would excel at being given the opportunity to perform this role, but are currently excluded by the oligarchical nature of the world's Council. Allowing new ideas to be introduced by new people and avoids stagnation. Age should not be a requirement as many of AWTeen's current leadership are not teenagers anyway.



4. Six months is a good length of time for the Caretaker to prove his mettle. If the Caretaker burns out, (s)he can gracefully decide not to run in the next election. If the Caretaker wants to continue, the community can decide whether his or her leadership remains superb. Meanwhile, Activeworlds holds all AWTeen assets such as bot code and website documents so that no Caretaker can decide to "take the world with him" if not reelected.



5. As the Caretaker's term approaches its end, Activeworlds, Inc.'s representative appoints an elections manager to oversee the next election. The elections manager cannot run in the election, and does not report to the Caretaker. His or her job is to develop, with the input of the community, the method of registering candidates, of voting, and of tallying the votes. The votes must be posted publicly with vote totals for all candidates - refusing to display the votes for fear of "hurting people's feelings" is not an option. Of course, (s)he can hire people to assist. When the new Caretaker takes office, or the current Caretaker's term rolls over, the elections manager's term expires.



6. This issue is pretty self-explanatory. in the case of resignation, AW will simply appoint a replacement to serve the remainder of the Caretaker's term until the next election can occur. Six months will pass soon enough.





That's it. Six rules. That's all there are.