I initiate a CFJ on the following statement: "A referendum on Proposal
9232 exists, and the class of Proposal 9232 is democratic."
Arguments:
{
The purported distribution of Proposals 9230-9232 failed to state the
classes of the proposals. Per Rule 1607, the class of the proposal is an
essential parameter of the referendum.
Under Rule 107, the purported notice of initiation (the distribution) is
a "self-ratifying attestation that the notice was valid, that the person
(if any) publishing the notice was authorized to initiate the decision,
and that such a decision was initiated". Seven days have since elapsed,
so self-ratification should have occurred.
I expect that the judgement on this should be TRUE, but I'd like to
raise a few issues for the judge to consider that I don't believe have
been explicitly litigated during my time here:
* Would ratifying the statement that the public notice is "valid" while
not specifying an essential parameter (required for the notice to be
"valid" under Rule 107) "introduce inconsistencies between the gamestate
and the rules" for the purposes of Rule 1551 (thus causing ratification
to fail)? (I *hope* not, but this has been bugging me.)
* If not, does the omission of class imply that it is at its default
value or does it simply cause no statement about its class to be
ratified? (I believe this to be the latter, but I could at least see a
colorable argument for the former.)
}
Evidence:
{
>From [0]:
{
I temporarily deputize as Promotor to publish the following:
========================================================================
PROMOTOR'S REPORT
========================================================================
I hereby distribute each listed proposal, initiating a referendum on it,
and removing it from the proposal pool. For each decision, the vote
collector is the Assessor, the quorum is 4, the voting method is
AI-majority, the adoption index is the adoption index of the associated
proposal, and the valid options are FOR and AGAINST (PRESENT is also a
valid vote, as are conditional votes).
PROPOSAL SUMMARY
========================================================================
---- ------------------------------------------- ---- ---------------
ID Title AI Author(s)
---- ------------------------------------------- ---- ---------------
9230 Agoriculture 1.0 Murphy, et al
9231 Rose-colored classes 1.0 Murphy
9232 ++ 3.0 Mischief
FULL PROPOSAL TEXT
========================================================================
Proposal 9230
Title: Agoriculture
AI: 1.0
Author: Murphy
Coauthors: Mischief, ais523
Create a rule titled "Crop Seasons" with this text:
The Crop Season is determined by the current Agoran month:
* Spring - March, July, November
* Summer - April, August, December
* Autumn - January, May, September
* Winter - February, June, October
Create a rule titled "The Land Managor" with this text:
The Land Managor is an office.
The Land Manager's report includes a list of types of Crops and
their attributes, and a list of Crops planted and harvested during
the current Crop Season.
Create a rule titled "Pyrite" with this text:
Pyrite is a type of fixed asset, tracked by the Land Managor.
A player CAN pay a fee of 1 Spendie to gain 100 Pyrite.
A player CAN pay a fee of 200 Pyrite to gain 1 Spendie.
Create a rule titled "Crops" with this text:
Creating and destroying types of Crop is secured.
Each type of Crop has an associated Crop Season, Seed Cost, Growth
Duration, and Sell Price. Actions involving any of these
attributes use the attribute values for the type of Crop involved
in that action.
An in-season Crop is one whose Crop Season is in progress. All
others are out-of-season.
Create a rule titled "The Growth Cycle" with this text:
A player CAN plant an in-season Crop by paying a fee in Pyrite
equal to its Seed Cost.
Once per Crop that a player planted earlier in the current Crop
Season and at least <Growth Duration> days ago, e CAN harvest it
by announcement, gaining Pyrite equal to its Sell Price.
At the end of each Crop Season, all unharvested Crops are lost.
Create a rule titled "Genetic Modification" with this text:
Once per Crop Season, a player CAN pay a fee of 500 Pyrite to
create a new type of Crop, specifying its name. The Land Managor
SHALL, in a timely fashion after this occurs, randomly select its
Crop Season, Seed Cost (50 to 200), Growth Duration (3 to 24), and
Sell Price (100 to 400). Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, it
CANNOT be planted until e performs these selections.
Once per Crop Season, a player CAN pay a fee of 750 Pyrite to
alter a type of out-of-season Crop's Seed Cost, Growth Duration,
or Sell Price by up to 25% in either direction, provided that they
remain within the random ranges for new types of Crop.
Once per Crop Season, a player CAN pay a fee of 1000 Pyrite to
remove a type of out-of-season Crop.
Create the following types of Crop:
* Pea (CS Spring, SC 100, GD 14, SP 184)
* Shallot (CS Spring, SC 94, GD 9, SP 169)
* Bell Pepper (CS Summer, SC 112, GD 12, SP 217)
* Cabbage (CS Summer, SC 146, GD 13, SP 273)
* Chard (CS Autumn, SC 200, GD 10, SP 349)
* Spinach (CS Autumn, SC 165, GD 7, SP 335)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposal 9231
Title: Rose-colored glasses
AI: 1.0
Author: Murphy
If RadicalRose is not a player, then the rest of this proposal has no
effect.
Create 10 spendies in RadicalRose's possession.
For each of the following assets:
* 1 nix stamp
* 1 RadicalRose stamp
* 1 RadicalRose stamp
if the Lost and Found Department owns an instance of it, then transfer
one instance of it from the Lost and Found Department to RadicalRose;
otherwise, create an instance in RadicalRose's possession.
[Restore RR's assets prior to improper deregistration, after deducting
the contents of a Welcome Package.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposal 9232
Title: ++
AI: 3.0
Author: Mischief
Amend rule 2201 (Self-Ratification) by replacing the text:
When a public document published less than 180 days ago is first
continuously undoubted for one week after publication:
with:
When a public document published less than 180 days ago is first
continuously undoubted for two weeks after publication:
--
Trigon
Popular Polygon and Treasuror Extraordinaire
}
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 107/26 (Power=3)
Initiating Agoran Decisions
An Agoran decision is initiated when a person authorized to
initiate it publishes a valid notice which sets forth the intent
to initiate the decision. To be valid, the notice must clearly
specify the following information:
1. The matter to be decided (for example, "the adoption of
proposal 4781");
2. The voting method;
3. A clear description of the valid options;
4. The identity of the vote collector; and
5. Any additional information defined by the rules as essential
parameters.
The publication of such a valid notice initiates the voting period
for the decision. The default length of the voting period is 7
days. Changing the length of a decision's voting period is secured
at power 2, and it CANNOT be set or changed to more than 14 days,
or less than 5 days for a decision with at least two options.
The vote collector for a decision with less than two options CAN
end the voting period by announcement, if it has not ended
already, and provided that e resolves the decision in the same
message.
A public notice purporting to initiate an Agoran decision is a
self-ratifying attestation that the notice was valid, that the
person (if any) publishing the notice was authorized to initiate
the decision, and that such a decision was initiated.
The destruction of an Agoran decision and the causing of an Agoran
decision to cease being an Agoran decision are secured at the
power of the Rule authorizing the initiation of such a decision.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2606/4 (Power=2.0)
Proposal Classes
Proposals created since the enactment of this rule have a secured
untracked Class switch with possible values ordinary (the default)
and democratic.
When a proposal with an adoption index greater than or equal to
3.0 is created, its class becomes democratic.
Any player CAN, with 2 Agoran consent, flip an ordinary proposal's
class to democratic, provided that it is in the Proposal Pool or
that there is a referendum on it whose voting period has not yet
ended.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1607/59 (Power=3)
Distribution
The Promotor is an office; its holder is responsible for receiving
and distributing proposals.
A referendum is the Agoran decision to determine whether to adopt
a proposal (its associated proposal). For this decision, the vote
collector is the Assessor, the adoption index is initially the
adoption index of the proposal, and the text, author, coauthors,
and class of the proposal are essential parameters. Initiating a
referendum is known as distribution, and removes the proposal from
the Proposal Pool.
The Promotor CAN distribute a proposal which is in the Proposal
Pool at any time.
In a given Agoran week, the Promotor SHALL distribute each
proposal that was in the Proposal Pool at the beginning of that
week, except for those excepted from automatic distribution by
other rules, or those that are otherwise removed from the Pool. If
there are ten or more undistributed proposals in the proposal
pool, the Promotor MAY refrain from distributing the most recently
added 5 proposals if e distributes each other proposal in that
Agoran week.
Distributed proposals have ID numbers, to be assigned by the
Promotor.
If there is a Proposal in the Pool that it would otherwise be
IMPOSSIBLE for any player to distribute, then any player CAN
distribute that Proposal without 3 objections.
The Promotor's report includes a list of all proposals in the
Proposal Pool, along with their text and attributes. This portion
of a public document purporting to be a Promotor's report is
self-ratifying.
The destruction of a referendum is secured. Causing a referendum
to cease being a referendum is secured.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1551/23 (Power=3.2)
Ratification
A retroactive change is one that changes the game's record of past
events. Retroactive changes are secured with power threshold 3.
When a document or statement (hereafter "document") is to be
ratified, the following definitions apply:
* The publication time can be specified by the instrument allowing
the ratification, defaulting to the instant at which the
document to be ratified was published.
* The truth time is the instant at which the document specifies
that it was true, or the publication time if such an instant is
not specified.
* The application time is the instant at which the document to be
ratified is ratified.
Ratification CANNOT occur if the truth time would be after the
application time, or if the publication time would be after the
application time.
Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, when a document is
ratified, the gamestate is modified to what it would be if, at the
truth time, the gamestate had been minimally modified to make the
ratified document as true and accurate as possible.
Ratification CANNOT occur if it would add inconsistencies between
the gamestate and the rules.
Ratification CANNOT occur if the required modification to the
gamestate is not possible or if multiple substantially distinct
possible modifications would be equally appropriate.
If the minimal modification would include past or present rule
changes, they are instead excluded unless the ratified document
explicitly and unambiguously recites either the changes or the
resulting properties of the rule(s).
An internally inconsistent document generally CANNOT be ratified;
however, if such a document can be divided into a summary section
and a main section, where the only purpose of the summary section
is to summarize information in the main section, and the main
section is internally consistent, ratification of the document
proceeds as if it contained only the main section.
Text purportedly about previous instances of ratification (e.g. a
report's date of last ratification) is excluded from ratification.
The rules may define additional information that is considered to
be part of the document for the purposes of ratification; such
definitions are secured with power threshold 3.
Ratification is secured with power threshold 3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2201/13 (Power=3)
Self-Ratification
When a public document published less than 180 days ago is first
continuously undoubted for one week after publication:
- If the rules define it as self-ratifying, it is ratified.
- If the rules define it as a self-ratifying attestation to a
given statement, the statement is ratified, with the publication
time being the instant at which the document was published.
This clause is inapplicable if the statement to be ratified
cannot be reasonably ascertained from the ruleset and the
contents of the message.
Any person CAN by announcement issue a doubt (syn. claim of
error), identifying a public document published less than 180 days
ago and explaining the scope and nature of a perceived error in it
(or in a statement it attests to).
The definition of documents as self-ratifying and the definition
of documents as self-ratifying attestations are secured at power
3.
When this happens, the publisher of the original document SHALL
(if e was required to publish that document) or SHOULD (otherwise)
do one of the following in a timely fashion, in an announcement
that clearly cites the claim of error:
1. Deny the claim (causing it to cease to be a doubt).
2. Publish a revision.
3. Initiate an inquiry case regarding the truth of the claim
(if the subject is actually a matter of law), or cite a
relevant existing inquiry case.
The issuance of a doubt on a documents, the denial of a claim of
error, and the ceasing of a doubt on a document to be a doubt are
secured at power 3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]:
https://mailman.agoranomic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/private/agora-official/2025-June/018528.html
}
--
Janet Cobb
Assessor, Rulekeepor
