User:MayebhYT/sandbox

The 2100 Martian General Election was held on 1st November, 2100, as per the Constitution of Mars. It was the first time since the founding of the country where the President, National Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate held their elections at the same time. The governing Social Democratic President John James won a fifth term in office after serving 20 years. The Social Democrats expanded their majority in the National Assembly, turned their Minority Coalition into a Majority Coalition in the Senate, and reduced the Conservative Majority in the House of Representatives.

The results are generally attributed to the stability of the politicial system and strength of the economy. The leading Opposition party, the Conservatives, were unable to find a message that resonated with voters, whereas the Social Democratic pitch of 'Stable, Good Governance,' was able to sway voters that left them in previous elections.

The Liberal Party was able to reverse course and stop their decade-and-a-half of decline that was happening since the 2086 election. There are many reasons for this, but the largest being that the Liberals were able to get endorsememts from high-profile media outlets like the Capital Times, Jea Post, Jamestown Sentinel, Olympia Island Advisor, Curiosity City Advertiser, as well as Mars Today. They also ran what has been decribed by Nicholas O'Brian as a "...masterful campaign... turning their early projected losses into gains in every election."

Populist parties, such as the Socialist Party, Labour Movement, Green-Left, and the Right Party, made minor net gains in the National Assembly and House of Representatives but lost slightly in the Senate. John Martin, a leading anti-populism activist, said that the election was a "win for sanity... we were able to stop the Populists from making gains." Right Party spokesman Jeremy Mueller said "We made gains everywhere... this is a victory for our brand of populism."

Background
On December 8th, 2098, a story was published in the Mars Daily Times detailing alleged political bias towards the left in the Electoral Commission. After that story was published, a structure of left-wing political bias was revealed in the Independent Agencies Council, reaching all the way to the Governor. Investors pulled money out of Mars out of fear that the Statistics Agency was publishing false statistics try make the Government look good. This result in a 5% contraction in the BIG500.

President John James vowed "swift action" to root out political bias in the Independent Agencies Council. An investigation was created to examine political bias across all independent parts of the government. This resulted in the impeachment of the Governor, the Directors of the Elections & Boundries, Intellegence, Justice, and Postal agencies, as well as many lower-level people. This was a contensious issue, with some believing that the Government went too far, others that the Government didn't go far enough, others that say the Government created the scandal by appointing a bad Governor, and others still that don't view the alleged biased actions as a big deal at all. The scandal caused John James' approval rating to drop from 71% to 63%.

The exoneration of the Statistics Agency as well as the assurance by the Government that political bias has been rooted out resulted in a market rally of 7% in one week. The Quarterly Report that was released shortly after the end of the scandal showed explosive economic growth. This resulted in John James' approval rating rebounded to 70%.

Social Democratic Party
The Social Democratic Party is a center-left to left-wing Political Party characterized by a belief in Social Democracy. The Social Democratic Party controls the Presidency and National Assembly, heads a Minority Coalition in the Senate, and is the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives. They have been the dominant party since the founding of the country.

Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a center-right to right-wing Political Party characterized by a belief in Conservatism. They control the House of Representatives, and are the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and Senate. They have been the dominant Opposition party since the founding of the country.

Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is a center to center-left Political Party characterized by a belief in Liberalism, both Social and to a lesser extent Economic. They are in a Coalition with the Social Democrats in the National Assembly and Senate and some members of their caucus support the Conservatives in the House of Representatives, however the Liberals have not officially joined the Opposition or Government, and thus are technically on the crossbench.

Right Party
The Right Party is a right-wing to far-right Political Party characterized by Nationalism and Populism. They are in Coalition wiht the Conservatives in the House of Representatives, and they a junior partners in the Opposition in the Senate and National Assembly.

Labour Movement
The Labour Movement is a left-wing to far-left Political Party characterized by a divide between Socialists and Social Democrats. They are technically part of the crossbench in the Senate, National Assembly, and House of Representatives, however many in the Labour caucus support the Social Democrats, either in Opposition of Government.

National Front
The National Front is a far-right Political Party characterized by Populism, Nationalism, Nativism, and vocal minorities of racism, sexism, anti-semitism, islamaphobia, and various other bigotries. They set in the crossbench in the National Assembly, House of Representatives, and Senate, although a few of the more Moderate members of their caucus support the Conservatives either in Government or Opposition.

Center Party
The Center Party is a centrist Political Party characterized by Moderate Liberalism, Incrementalism, and Pragmatism. Their caucus is divided between the Government and Opposition in all 3 Houses of the Legislature.

Libertarian Party
The Libertarian Party is a Libertarian Political Party characterized by Social Liberalism and Laissez-Faire Capitalism. They are in Coalition with the Conservatives both in Opposition and Government.

Socialist Party
The Socialist Party is a Socialist Political Party characterized by Populism and Socialism. They are in the crossbench in all 3 Houses of the Legislature.

Green-Left Party
The Green-Left Party is a left-wing Environmentalist political party characterized by Environmentalism, and a divide between Socialism and Social Democracy. The Green-Left caucus is divided between supporting the Social Democrats or sitting in the crossbench.

Liberal-Conservative Party
The Liberal-Conservative Party is a center-right political party characterized by Classical Liberalism and Moderate Conservatism. They support the Conservative Party in Opposition and Government.

Youth & Minority Coalition
The Youth & Minority coalition is a merger between the Youth Coalition and Minority Coalition. Due to missing deadlines and low support, they were only able to register to run in the National Assembly. They have 6 seats in the National Assembly and have a divided caucus between the Social Democrats and crossbench.

Donations and Spending
The total amount of money raised and spent over the course of the campagin by party are as follows ($):

Social Democratic: 101,673,991 | 96,724,113

Conservative: 96,732,873 | 100,002,321

Liberals: 71,735,961 | 64,113,473

Right Party: 65,933,612 | 47,891,222

Center Party: 65,731,988 | 63,871,931

National Front: 50,133,674 | 44,312,012

Labour Movement: 49,871,235 | 48,870,931

Libertarian Party: 48,837,412 | 51,662,823

Liberal-Conservative Party: 45,546,098 | 46,012,524

Socialist Party: 38,247,190 | 36,985,152

Youth & Minority Intrest Party: 29,831,112 | 41,873,256

As outlined above, the party that raised the most money was the Social Democratic Party, but the Conservative Party spent the most. The Conservative Party, Libertarian Party, Liberal-Conservative Party, and Youth & Minority Intrest Party all ran a deficit.

First Presidential Debate
The First Presidential Debate was a debate held on 2nd September 2100 between the 6 Presidential candidates: John James, James Smith, Martin McLaughlin, Gary Davis, John Brown, and William Jonathan. It was broadcasted on MTVN and moderated by journalists from the Jea Times. After the debate, James Smith and William Johnathan got a boost in the polls, John James and Gary Davis dropped (briefly putting James Smith in the lead in both 1st preferance and two-party-preferred vote), with Martin McLaughlin and John Brown staying roughly the same.

Second Presidential Debate
The Second Presidential Debate was a debate held on 28th September 2100 between the top 3 Presidential candidates: John James Smith, and Martin McLaughlin. It was broadcasted on MPMNC and was moderated by journalists from MPMNC. Martin McLaughlin was the clear winner, with both John James and especially James Smith dropping in the polls. Briefly, McLaughlin took second place and was only 2 points off of first.

Thrid Presidential Debate
The Third Presidential Debate was a debate held on October 30th, 2100 between the top 2 Presidential candidates: John James and James Smith. It was broadcasted on MNN and was moderated by journalists from the Public Martian Times. Both candidates recieved a boost in the polls, but the gap between the two did not widen or shrink as a result of the debate.

First National Assembly Debates
The First National Assembly Debate was held on 10th September 2100 between all the party leaders of all 11 political parties on MPMNC by Capital Post Journalists. It resulted in the boost for the Conservatives, Liberals, National Front, Labour Movement, and Green-Left and a drop for the Social Democrats, Centrists, Right, Libertarians, and Youth & Minority Intrest.

Second National Assembly Debates
The Second National Assembly was held on 18th October 2100 between the leaders of the Social Democrats, Conservatives, Liberals, Right, Labour, and Centrists on MNC by MPMNC Journalists. It resulted in an increase for the Social Democrats, Right, and the Centrists and a drop for the Conservatives, Liberals, and Labour.

First House of Representatives Debate
The First House of Representatives Debate was held on 17th September 2100 between the party leaders of all 7 political parties and alliances on NBM by NBM journalists. It resulted in a boost for the Social Democrats, Conservatives, Right, and Centritsts and a drop for the Libertarians, and Labour.

Second House of Representatives Debate
The Second House of Representatives Debate was held on 11th October 2100 between the party leaders of the Socal Dempcrats, Conservatives, Centrists, Right, and Labour on MPMNC by MPMNC journalists. It resulted in a boost for the Conservatives, Centrists,and Right and a drop for the Social Democrats and Labour.

Prime Ministerial Debate
The Prime Ministerial Debate was held on 23rd October 2100 between the Social Democratic and Conservative Prime Ministerial candidates on MNN by Russica Times journalists. It resulted in a boost for the Social Democrats and a drop for the Conservatives.

Development
The Social Democratic government under John James is undertaking an amitious project to develop the Southern Wastelands into great cities and farmland. There is much controversy, however, about the Government's policy about land sale, land use, percieved disregard for native residents in this development plan, the means by which the Government is developing the land, and the type of development the Government is doing.

Land Sale
The Government's policy has been to lease urban land, sell agricultural land, and own so called 'evnironmental land,' that is, land that the Government has set aside as protected land for environmental reasons. This has sparked controversy, with people on the political Left generally wanting the Government to lease all of the land and retain public ownership. That is the position taken by the Socialist Party and Labour Movement, however there is some dissent in the latter party. The political Right, however, believes that the Government should not lease land but turn it all into private property and create a large property market. This is the position taken by the Centrists, Liberal-Conservatives, Conservatives, the Libertarians, and the Right as well as many Economists, although there is some dissent among the latter group.

Land Use
There is also significant debate about how the Government plans to use the land. Currently, about 40% is set aside for 'environmental protection,' about 25% is set aside for 'agriculture', and about 25% for 'urban development,' and 10% for 'other.' Within the category of 'environmental protection,' 70% is set aside to protect Mars' "distint red look" and 30% to protect "Earth-Like biomes" including mountains, deserts, rivers, beaches, forests, etc. Within the category of 'agriculture,' 33% is set aside for large farms, 33% for medium sized farms, and 34% for small farms. Within the category of 'urban development,' 33% is set aside for "high density" areas, 33% set aside for "medium density" areas, and 34% for "low density" areas, with the average desnity being 640 ppl/mi^2. Within the 'Other' category, the land is set aside for things like infrastrucutre, mining, military, federal buildings, etc. Generally, people on the political Left want more cities and more environmental protection, and people on the right want more agriculture. The Libertarians are unique in their view that there should be some land set aside for environmental protection, and the rest be left to the market to decide.

Native Residents
There is significant contoversy about the government developing small towns in to much larger cities. The most egregious example of this was when the Government developed Kikeria into a city of 1 million from a town of 150 using eminent domain. The more left-wing or small government parties view this as an immoral action, whereas the Government views this as a neccessary way to develop Mars.