Soviet-Empire.com - U.S.S.R. Online: New Citizen's Guide

Welcome as a citizen of the Soviet Union comrade! This document assumes you have completed all the steps on the "Become a Citizen" webpage and seeks to explain in as much detail as possible how the U.S.S.R. Online operates. You do not have to read this document but we ask that you please do so before you ask someone else any questions, as you may just be directed back here if this is where the answer lies.

General Stuff

We are a communist organization that aims to achieve real life results and credibility in motivating the global communist movement. As a citizen of the USSR you are entitled to participate in all levels of government whether it be the Central Executive Committee (CEC) The Congress of Soviets (COS) or in a particular commissariat. Let me also add that citizenship is automatic for all communists once you announce your arrival here in the U.S.S.R. in the �citizenship and immigration� forum.

The most important thing to note about the U.S.S.R. community is that there is not a great all-powerful central authority or person organising absolutely everything. The website and main forums are maintained by a small group of people who do not get paid for their troubles, instead the website provides a forum for the people to meet and organise things themselves. We strongly encourage a spirit of taking the initiative, where if someone else has not done something people are not afraid to organise it themselves rather than hoping someone else will. Participation and not being afraid to engage in conversation and co-operation with your comrades is vitally important if we are too succeed in building the world's greatest communist community.

To these ends it is important that you make the effort to visit our web discussion forum at least once a week and preferably more often. There are many comrades who visit the forums every day. Once you have visited our forum do not be afraid to speak your mind and join in and start new discussions. Everyone has something to contribute, and without your participation nothing much is going to happen.

News

Most weekdays news will be published in the Sovet-Empire.com's official newspaper "For The Motherland!" (FTM). You should keep track of the news updates as a quick way to catch up on anything you might have missed as well as announcements regarding our website; if you have initiated anything interesting on the forums you might even find yourself mentioned there. If you don't agree with the style of reporting you can always submit news to FTM yourself or make your own news announcements in the Propaganda and Free Press forum, which is provided for this purpose. If you really want to take things to their logical extreme anyone is free to set up their own full news service to compete with FTM.

Everyday Life

Fairly self-explanatory; there are a selection of forums dedicated to general discussion such as "The Red Square" and "Gorkiy Park" where people are free to talk about pretty much anything that interests them. Other forums are more specific or have certain rules associated with them, for example, no one is interested in what you had for breakfast in the �Serious Debate� forum.

Politics

So you are feeling political? As a citizen of the U.S.S.R. you are entitled to take part in the people�s government. The U.S.S.R. is a direct democracy, so you can make and vote upon proposals in the government forums and have just as much say as anybody else. There is only one legal political party in the U.S.S.R. and that is the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (C.P.S.U.). If you do not wish to be a member of the C.P.S.U. you will not be at any disadvantage to those who are, since there are strict laws, which prevent the C.P.S.U. from dominating the government at the expense of �independents�. Though the majority of your compatriots are left wing in nature there is no reason than one cannot be a conservative/republican - just be prepared for some heated debates! You are free to use the "Propaganda and Free Press" forum to advertise and publish your views.

The Congress of Soviets

Twice per year the Congress of Soviets convenes to examine constitutional issues that have arisen and pass landmark legislation. The Congress of Soviets also elects a chairman for the Central Executive Committee. As a citizen you are entitled to be part of this congress and run for election as chairman of the CEC. There are no limits to what you can propose as legislation though you will have to convince your fellow comrades to vote with you. As a Congress of Soviets lasts only a short time you should prepare any bills in advance, as there will not be much time for long debates.

If you have just joined the U.S.S.R. and find that the next session of the Congress of Soviets is five months away you can still debate any constitutional issues that are concerning you in the �Lobby� forum, so that bills may be prepared in advance of the next Congress and rally support for your bill.

Central Executive Committee

For the majority of the time the Central Executive Committee will be the body governing the Soviet Union. Here you will be able to put forward legislation and vote upon new laws for the U.S.S.R. as well as vote upon any general issues concerning our community. As a member of the Central Executive Committee you are also able to nominate and vote for who the People's Commissar's may be. You are allowed to nominate anyone for these positions regardless of whether take part in the Central Executive Committee or not, including yourself.

Council of People's Commissars

The Council of People's Commissars is selected by the CEC (as mentioned above) with one Commissar for each Commissariat. Commissars have a limited degree of absolute authority in that they can issue decrees concerning their own department's day-to-day running, though they can be over-ruled by a vote of the council. These powers are very useful in order to react quickly to an emergency but you should keep an eye on your comrades to make sure that they do not try and abuse this power.

Samokritika

"Self-criticism". In the Samokritika forum you may ask any of your fellow Congress of Soviet's members, Central Executive Committee members and Commissars any questions in order to hold them to account. If a CEC member or a Commissar fails to answer a question within a week they automatically lose their position. This is a harsh way of ensuring that people answer criticism rather than ignoring it but there are certain restrictions. For example one cannot bombard a person with more questions than they can possibly hope to answer that are not even relevant, such as "What did you have for breakfast on January 5th 2001?" such questions may be safely ignored. The final say on what is acceptable and what isn't will be in the hands of the forum moderators until such time as the government decides upon some other form of regulation for the Samokritika forum. By-elections will be held to replace commissars who are removed from office. Note: this is a good way to remove people who have gone AWOL with people who are active.

If someone gives notice that they are going away for a while such as a holiday they do not have to answer questions within a week.

For more information on the operations of the government please check the government webpage.

Medals and Awards

The U.S.S.R. was big on medals - in fact there were civilian and military medals for just about everything and the U.S.S.R. Online is no exception to rewarding the deserving. The awarding of medals is done by special session of the Congress of Soviets during a week after all regular business if finished. Anyone may nominate someone for an award but it will be your fellow comrades who vote to decide if you deserve it. Please note that asking for a medal for yourself is a brilliant way of ensuring that you do not get one as it is considered bad form.

Final Notes

This document will be amended and updated as people ask questions and we add in things that we forgot to mention.

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