Ruritanian Party Objectives

Winter 2006

Setting the Scene

The country of Ruritania is located between Norway and Sweden in Scandinavia. It has just recently become a democracy (history) and has an electoral system far different from ours. Of most importance are the method of election (the single transferable vote) and the type of representation (proportional). The electoral system thus fosters multiple parties (there are 10) which reflect the many social cleavages in this small but diverse country. There are eleven electoral districts (with varying socio-demographic compositions) each of which gets 9 seats apportioned in relation to percentage of votes received. As a result each of the 10 parties has enough electoral strength somewhere to get seats in the 99 seat National Constituent Assembly (the country’s parliament).

Objective #1: Winning the Election

Sorry, you are not going to win the election! With 10 parties competing how is that possible? If we had a majoritarian/plurality system, maybe, but not with the electoral system we have here in Ruritania!! Your strategy is to maximize your seat total in each electoral district!! Have more seats than any other party and you’ll be asked to form the government!!!!

Elections will eventually yield a table like this:

The seats captured by each party in each election district are presented.

Party/District	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total
CDP
COM
CON
LIB
NSF
OPP
PEA
RLP
SHP
SOC
Total	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	99

Objective #2: Be Part of the Government

As in most parliamentary democracies with multiparty systems, Ruritanian government is generally not “captured” by one political party. In order to control government in Ruritania, a coalition of parties (with a majority of the seats in the National Constituent Assembly, ie. 50) must agree to form a government. They form by:

1) choosing a Prime Minister (usually from the party obtaining the most seats); and

2) allocating ministries to members of the National Constituent Assembly
from various parties.

This differs greatly from the US system where: 1) the president is chosen separately from the legislature; and 2) members of his/her Cabinet are NOT part of the legislature. This is a reflection of the notion of separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government.

The Ruritanian Government-Formation Scenario

The party with the most seats will be asked to form a coalition government by the Head of State, Prince Brian. Every party should either try to be part of the government being formed or do its best to prevent one it is not in from being formed. Every party needs to get the “best deal” that it can for its members. This means getting control of ministries important to its constituents. You have to figure out which ones are important for your party (and if you can’t, I’ll eventually tell you!!!). While America (because of its presidential system) and Britain (because of its modified or two and one-half party system) have Cabinets composed of members from the same political party, in coalition governments, the coalition is formed by a select number of parties agreeing to allocate the position of Prime Minister and Cabinet ministries among themselves.  Parties are thus able to exert influence in areas of interest to their constituents (ie., their voters) by controlling ministries in select important areas.  The ministries to be allocated among a coalition government in Ruritania include the following (with a brief description of their major responsibilities in parentheses):

Ministry	Description of Responsibilities
Agriculture	Increasing agricultural production and overseeing the processing of agricultural products
Commerce and Industry	Implementing business, trade and industrial policies
Culture	Promoting the cultural traditions of Ruritanian society and its various subcultures and promoting their display in Ruritania and throughout the world
Defense	Maintaining national defense forces
Education	Implementing educational policies for all levels of education and developing worker training programs
Environment and Natural Resources	Implementing policies which impact upon natural resources and the environment
Finance	Overall oversight of budget and assisting NCA in the development (and implementation) of tax policy
Foreign Affairs	Assist in the development of (and Implementation of) foreign policies as well as staff embassies and consulates throughout the world
Justice and Police	Concerned with the court system as well as the control of the internal security forces at the national and local level
Labor and Welfare	Promoting good working conditions as well as overseeing health and human services
Public Works and Communication	Control of public works projects and control of (and development of) media policies

Objective #3:

Having Government Policy Reflect Your Party’s Stands on Issues

Along with the distribution of cabinet positions, the coalition government must also establish agreement on 6 basic policies. The policies are:

Educational Policy

Law and Order Policy

Health Care Policy

Energy Policy

Entrepreneurial Policy

and

Tax Policy

(Unlike the US, Ruritania must balance the budget! The coalition government must generate enough income to pay for its programs! For the most part, parties did not talk about taxes. Parties are thus relatively free to negotiate a tax policy. (Please think about what a “real” party in your “family” would do!)

Party Stands on the Issues

During the campaign, the parties will have to commit themselves to the stands on the issues. Eventually a table like the one below will identify each parties’ stand on every issue. Part of government formation will entail having to compromise with your coalition partners on issues.

Party Issue	CDP	COM	CON	LIB	OPP	NSF	PEA	RLP	SHP	SOC
ENTREPRENEUR
LAW & ORDER
HEALTH
EDUCATION
ENERGY
Totals

Objective #4: Winning

Winning parties will be those who best meet all of their objectives given their starting resources while playing role appropriately (ie. doing things your party would do and playing within the rules of the game).