Meta/Glossary

This is a glossary of terms used in ModelUSGov.

A

Agenda

See Campaign agenda.

B

Base state

Refers to the real-life U.S. state whose laws are inherited by each of the simulation's model states. These laws remain in force in the state until they are amended or repealed by the simulation. The current base states are:

Atlantic → New York

Dixie → Texas

Fremont → California

Greater Appalachia → North Carolina

Superior → Illinois

Board of Appeals (BOA)

A panel of three members that handles appeals from decisions of the Head Moderator and Triumvirate which violate the Meta Constitution.

Bulletin board

A prominent channel in Main that Nitro boosters, Patreon supporters and certain moderators have access to.

Bylaw

Rule created by the Triumvirate to clarify certain aspects of the Meta Constitution and to run aspects of the simulation. A list of all bylaws can be found at this link.

C

Campaign agenda

A spreadsheet that all candidates during simulated elections must fill at regular intervals, determining their campaign strategy. Candidates can gain modifiers from submitting the campaign agenda.

Canon

Information which is part of the in-universe history of the simulation and which can be referred to in character. Generally speaking, all events from the perspective of in-universe characters that have occurred in the simulation since the divergence are canon, along with all real-life occurrences before January 20, 2021.

Clerks

Members of major moderation teams under the supervision of a member of the Triumvirate or the Head Moderator. The clerk teams are Discord Clerks, Election Clerks, Federal Clerks and State Clerks.

Coalition

An agreement between two or more political parties to coordinate during and after an election on the placement of candidates and the selection of legislative leadership. A coalition typically involves endorsements between parties.

D

Date of divergence

The date on which the simulation broke away from the timeline of real life and started its own independent canon. Currently, this date is January 20, 2021.

Decanonization

A decision by the Events Board or Head Elections Clerk to remove an event or reference from the official canon of ModelUSGov.

Deputy Censors

The main assistants to the Head Moderator (formerly the Head Censor) on Discord moderation. Deputy Censors are senior Discord Clerks and handle appeals from Discord moderation decisions.

Deputy Federal Clerks

The main assistants to the Head Federal Clerk in the running of the federal level of the simulation. Deputy Federal Clerks are senior Federal Clerks.

Deputy State Clerks

The main assistant to the Head State Clerk in the running of the state level of the simulation. The Deputy State Clerk is a senior State Clerk.

D'Hondt

See Party list.

Discord

See Main.

Discord Clerks

Moderators of the official Discord server, under the direct management of the Deputy Censors and the overall supervision of the Head Moderator.

District seat

Seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that is directly elected using the first past the post voting system and represents a geographic constituency in a specific state. District seats belong to the player and are retained by the player in the event of defection from a party. Around half of seats in the House are district seats, the other half being list seats.

Divergence

See Date of divergence.

Dual mandate

Rule that states that a player may not hold two executive or legislative positions at the same time. For instance, a player cannot both be a federal Cabinet secretary and a state Assemblyperson, or a federal Representative and a state Governor. Dual mandate also prevents a player from being a judge in the same state where they hold political office. Dual mandate automatically removes any person elected in violation of the rule from their earlier office (i.e., a Representative who is elected as Governor is automatically removed as Representative upon election).

E

Elections

See Simulated elections.

Election Clerks

Clerks who work under the Head Elections Clerk to manage aspects of the simulated elections, including grading and modifiers.

Endorsement

Deal where a party agrees to support a candidate of another party for a particular office during simulated elections, which grants the candidate additional modifiers. Endorsements are a component of coalition deals.

Event

A simulated development created by the Events Board involving non-player characters that demands action from the players in order to resolve or advance. Participation in events can net modifiers.

Events Board

A team underneath the Head Elections Clerk that creates events for the simulation. The Events Board comprises four separate subteams, focused on federal, state, foreign and legal events.

F

Faceclaim, facesteal

The likeness of a real-life person that a player uses photos of to help identify their persona in-canon, often a politician or celebrity.

Federal Clerks

Clerks who work under the Head Federal Clerk to manage the executive and legislative aspects of the federal level of the simulation.

First past the post (FPTP)

The election system to elect executive positions (President, Governor, Lieutenant Governor), U.S. Senators and district seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Under first-past-the-post voting, the candidate who wins a plurality of the vote wins the election.

FPTP seat

See District seat.

G

Game Moderation Council (GMC)

(Historical) A now-defunct body grouping senior moderators from all Model World simulations in order to cooperate on moderation matters, especially for sharing or requesting bans of players.

H

Head Censor (HC)

(Historically) The member of the Quadrumvirate responsible for the moderation of the official Discord server. Clerks under the Head Censor are known as Discord Clerks. The Head Censor was assisted by Deputy Censors. Since its abolition, Discord moderation has been the responsibility of the Head Moderator.

Head Elections Clerk (HEC)

Not to be confused with Head Elections Clerks.

The member of the Triumvirate responsible for maintaining the canon of the simulation, running the Events Board and managing simulated elections, including the calculator and modifiers. Clerks under the Head Elections Clerk are known as Election Clerks. The Head Elections Clerk is assisted by Head Elections Clerks. The current Head Elections Clerk is APG_Revival.

Head Elections Clerks

Not to be confused with the Head Elections Clerk.

The main assistants to the Head Elections Clerk who aid them in the management of simulated elections.

Head Federal Clerk (HFC)

The member of the Triumvirate responsible for the operation and organization of the simulation's federal level, including the White House, Congress and Supreme Court. Clerks under the Head Federal Clerk are known as Federal Clerks. The Head Federal Clerk is assisted by Deputy Federal Clerks and the Legal Clerk. The current Head Federal Clerk is Srajar4084.

Head Moderator, Head Mod

The highest moderator in the simulation, with authority over the Triumvirate. The current head moderator is GuiltyAir.

Head State Clerk (HSC)

The member of the Triumvirate responsible for the operation and organization of the simulation's states, including the posting of legislation, the counting of votes and the smooth functioning of state legislatures. Clerks under the Head State Clerk are known as State Clerks. The Head State Clerk is assisted by the Deputy State Clerk and the Legal Clerk. The current Head State Clerk is BoristheRabid.

High decorum

Refers to the special rules that apply to certain channels in the official Discord server that punish spam, memes and other content that inhibits discussion. High decorum applies to the political discussion, sim discussion, idea suggestions, and help channels.

JK

Join-A-Party thread (JP, JAP)

The thread, located at the top of the ModelUSGov main subreddit, where new players sign up and contact a party leader to apply for membership.

L

Legal, legal simulation, legal side

The simulation of the judicial branch of the federal and state governments, including the U.S. Supreme Court and the state courts. The moderator responsible for the management of the legal side is the Legal Clerk.

Legal Clerk

The moderator who, working beneath the Head Moderator, Head Federal Clerk and Head State Clerk, is responsible for the management of the legal side. The current Legal Clerk is SHOCKULAR.

List

See Party list.

List seat

A seat in the U.S. House of Representatives or a state legislature that was won by a political party from the party list during the most recent simulated election. List seats belong to the party, who can freely appoint or remove players from the seats as they wish. Around half of seats in the House are list seats, the other half being district seats.

M

Main

The official Discord server for the ModelUSGov community, which can be found at this link.

Main subreddit, main sub

The r/ModelUSGov subreddit.

Manual elections, manual voting

(Historical) Refers to the election system used in the simulation before 2018, where each Reddit user was allowed to cast a vote in elections to determine the winner. This system was replaced with simulated elections.

Meta

Not to be confused with the Meta.

General term that refers to everything that is not canon to the simulation. Often denoted on canon subreddits by the abbreviation "M:", which indicates that the message following the note should not be considered canon.

Meta blocking, meta striking, meta veto

A decision by the Meta to stop players from pursuing an action in canon that violates the rules of the simulation or principles of fair play, such as a baseless impeachment or an amendment to the election system.

Meta Constitution

The basic rules that govern ModelUSGov and bind the authority of the Head Moderator and Triumvirate, found at this link. The Board of Appeals enforces and interprets the Meta Constitution.

Model World

1. A term that refers to the universe of Reddit model government simulations. The simulations of the Model World as recognized by ModelUSGov are CMHOC (Canada), MHOC (Great Britain), Iksdagen (Sweden), MhOir (Ireland), MBundestag (Germany), RMTK (Netherlands), ModelNZParliament (New Zealand), and AustraliaSim (Australia).
2. (Historically) The Reddit model government simulations that agreed to share a common canon universe. This shared canon ceased to exist in May 2020.

Modifiers, mods

Points that reflect the amount of activity in the simulation from players and parties, used to calculate simulated election results with the help of the calculator. Includes personal modifiers for players and party modifiers for parties. Modifiers can be earned by writing bills and executive orders, posting statements, press articles and campaign events on ModelUSPress, participating in lawsuits and responding to events. Modifiers can also be lost by a poor voting record and for egregious behavior.

Morgsie ban, Morgsie

A non-punitive ban from the simulation imposed by the Triumvirate against a player in order to protect their mental health or prevent troubling and unsafe behavior.

P

Parallel voting

The electoral system used to elect the U.S. House of Representatives, with roughly half the seats elected through first past the post voting and the other half elected through party-list proportional representation. Unlike a true proportional voting system, the results of the party list are not affected by the results of the first past the post races.

Party list

A list of candidates submitted by each party to contest elections under the party-list proportional representation system. Party lists are calculated using the D'Hondt method and account for around half the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and all seats in state legislatures.

Party modifiers, party mods

See Modifiers.

Permanent ban, perma

A permanent ban of a player from the simulation.

Persona

The canonical character portrayed by a player. A player may have several separate personas who canonically have no relation to each other, including a political persona, one or more press personas, and a judicial persona. Personas are closely related to facesteals.

Personal modifiers, personal mods

See Modifiers.

Press

Content posted to the ModelUSPress subreddit, including news articles, official statements and campaign events.

Q

Quadrumvirate, Quad

See Triumvirate.

R

Reset

An event where the canon of the simulation is wiped clean and the date of divergence is changed to the date of the reset. The last reset occurred on January 20, 2021, coinciding with the inauguration of Joe Biden.

S

State Clerks

Clerks who work under the Head State Clerk to manage the executive and legislative aspects of the states. State clerks are assigned to specific states, with each state possessing one senior state clerk and at least one deputy.

Simulated elections

Refers to the process by which elections are conducted in ModelUSGov, where the activity and campaign strategy of players are assessed through modifiers to determine the winner of elections with the help of a calculator. The Head Elections Clerk runs simulated elections with the help of their Head Elections Clerks.

See also: Manual elections.

T

Triumvirate, Tri

The highest moderation team that is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the simulation, second only in authority to the head moderator. Each member of the triumvirate has responsibility over a different aspect of the simulation. They are as follows:

Head State Clerk (HSC)

Head Elections Clerk (HEC)

Head Federal Clerk (HFC)

Known as the Quadrumvirate until the abolition of the position of Head Censor.

The Meta

Not to be confused with Meta.

The moderation of ModelUSGov, including the Head Moderator, Triumvirate and clerks.

U

Universal State Bylaws (USB)

See Bylaw.

V

Vote of confidence (VOC)

Regularly-scheduled vote under the Meta Constitution where the community decides whether to retain the Head Moderator and members of the Triumvirate for another term.

Vote of no confidence (VONC)

An extraordinary vote under the Meta Constitution called by a player petition to trigger an unscheduled vote to remove the Head Moderator or members of the Triumvirate.