Governance Rulebook (2008, Version 1.0)

This is the second book in the Rainbow Ruleset. A sport has to have rules, otherwise it's just an anarchic free-for-all with no winners. To guide and develop F1, wise and reasonable governance is necessary. A rulebook that promotes good governance is required for this reason. Remember that the Constitutional Principles rulebook has a higher priority than these rules, to prevent the governance from losing sight of what Formula 1 is for. Interested Parties 2a(1).....All interested parties must be allowed to help shape the future direction of Formula 1. 2a(2).....Should any new interested parties occur, a method must be found to give them meaningful input into Formula 1. 2a(3).....No priority may be given to one interested party over another, or between a portion of an interested party over another portion, if it is at all avoidable. 2a(4).....The interested parties in Formula 1 are team members, drivers, suppliers, spectators, supporters, marshalls, track officials, track owners, race organisers, sponsors, media and members of the governance. 2a(5).....All prospective members of governance must reveal any other interested party groups they belong to, and again any time the candidate puts themselves forward for another position in the governance. 2a(6).....All members of governance must abstain from influencing any decision that would affect an interested party group they belong to (with the exception of the spectator interest group), including any joined since becoming part of the governance. These rules exist so that the governance knows who is part of Formula 1, treat those groups and treat members of those groups equally. There are also measures to restrict inadvertent bias. Anyone not respecting these rules should be barred from Formula 1 for a period of one year for the first offence, three for the second offence and permananently for the third offence. Appeals to go straight to court. Structure of Governance 2b(1).....Formula 1 shall fundamentally be a democracy, on a "One person, one vote" system, and the leader getting the casting vote where necessary. 2b(2).....There shall be a three-person lead group, responsible for overseeing Constitutional Principles and Governance, and one sub-committee of five people for each additional rulebook. 2b(3).....No group or individual other than those mentioned in 2b(2) may have any role in governance other than to make recommendations. 2b(4).....Any member of group within the governance is permitted to commission groups to look at any issue they/it feel(s) should be investigated, as long as the formation of the group is mentioned to the governance. 2b(5).....All members of the governance as described in Rule 2b(2) must be elected after a regular interval of no more than five years by the general public using means accessible to the majority of the general public. 2b(6).....Nobody is permitted to serve consecutive terms in the governance, and at least 24 calender months must seperate any two periods a member of the governance serves in the governance structure. 2b(7).....No sub-committee as given in rule 2b(2) may contain more than one person from each interested group as defined in rule 2a(4). 2b(8 ).....All sub-committees are equal to each other, but subordinate to the three-person lead group. 2b(9).....The lead group must submit any changes it wishes to make to Constitutional Principles or Governance Rulebooks to the entire governance structure, with a 2/3 majority necessary to effect change. It is forbidden from becoming involved with the decision-making of any of its sub-committees. 2b(10).....Each sub-committee is authorised to make changes to the rulebook it is responsible for, and only that rulebook. A majority vote is needed to effect change. The structure of the governance is designed to spread out power among the interested groups, to ensure a spread of skills in the governance and to delineate the powers each part of the governance has. The restrictions on terms is to avoid power-grabbing and to allow lessons from each term in governance to sink in. Any decisions made by a structure not in compliance with this structure is automatically invalid. Any individual involved in a breach of this Rule may be summarily dismissed from the post, triggering an immediate by-election. Attempts to enforce said rules, or a governance remaining in breach of this rule for more than 2 months, should be referred to the court of the juristiction cited in the Constitutional Principles. The Lead Group 2c(1).....The three positions in the lead group are the President, the Deputy President and the Trainee. 2c(2).....The President's main role is to provide the long-range vision for F1 in accordance with the Constitutional Principles. 2c(3).....The Vice-President's main role is to oversee the sub-committees and ensure that the day-to-day governance structure is working. 2c(4).....The Trainee's main role is to assist the President and Vice-President in the execution of their finctions, with a view to learning how the politics of F1 work. 2c(5).....The Lead Group will meet at least every three months. By defining the roles of the Lead Group, the members of that group will be prevented from taking too much power from the sub-committes to which they delegate many powers. If this rule is broken, any edicts deemed to fall outside the scope of the Lead Group may be ignored. Attempts to enforce said rules, or a governance remaining in breach of this rule for more than 2 months, should be referred to the court of the juristiction cited in the Constitutional Principles. The Sub-Committees' duties 2d(1).....The duties of any Sub-Committee must be outlined in this Rule. 2d(2).....Any duty not defined by this rule or by the preceding rules must be done by the Lead Group, or delegated to somebody by the Lead Group in accordance with the rules. 2d(2).....The Sporting Sub-Committee is to discuss and regulate matters concerning the conduct of race weekends and testing. 2d(3).....The Licensing Sub-Committee is to discuss and regulate matters concerning the conditions for obtaining and retaining the licenses needed to participate in F1. 2d(4).....The Technical Sub-Committee is to discuss and regulate matters concerning the safety and performance of the cars. 2d(5).....The Venue Sub-Committee is to discuss and regulate matters concerning the conditions for obtaining and retaining circuits on the calender. 2d(6).....The Commercial Sub-Committee is to discuss and regulate the funding of the above, as well as the media and sponsor presence at circuits. If the Sub-Committees are to avoid treading on each other's toes, they must know what their jobs are. If this rule is broken, the rule(s) generated is/are invalid. Attempts to enforce said rules, or a governance remaining in breach of this rule for more than 2 months, should be referred to the court of the juristiction cited in the Constitutional Principles. Term Lengths 2e(1).....Anyone is allowed to (irreversibly) abort a term early without giving a reason by announcing that term abortion at any meeting of the governance, though it should be noted that rule 2b(6) still applies in this case. 2e(1).....The President's term is for five years. 2e(2).....The Vice-President's term is for three years. 2e(3).....The Trainee's term is for one year. 2e(4).....The two people in each sub-committee with the highest number of votes will have a term of four years. 2e(5).....The three people in each sub-committee with the fewest number of votes will have a term of two years. Limiting term lengths reduces people's complacency in power, especially since they cannot be immediately re-elected. Also, staggering term lengths will ensure that the number of posts in each election is reasonably manageable. Anyone attempting to serve a longer term than stipulated in this rule can be permanently excluded from the governance. Elections 2f(1).....Standard elections will occur in December of every year where at least one post is open, opening on December 1 and ending on December 31. 2f(2).....By-elections begin one week after the post becomes vacant, and will close 31 days after they open. 2f(2).....Anyone may be nominated for any position without nomination. 2f(3).....Whoever gets the most votes for each position will be approached to see if they will accept the position (and to choose which position to take if elected to more than one role). 2f(4).....If the winner of an election refuses the post, the person with the next most votes to have not accepted another post in the governance will be asked, until such time as all the posts are filled. 2f(5).....All votes must have a name, a return contact for that form of communication, and a check for uniqueness. 2f(6).....If there are any queries about the vote (for instance, it is believed that one person is casting multiple votes), then the return form of contact will be used to resolve the query. 2f(6).....Nominations must be accepted by post, phone or Internet (with the restriction that only one vote can be cast per person). 2f(7).....Full election results must be announced and made available two working days after the election closes, with a list of who is taking which post given as soon as it is known who that will be. 2f(8 ).....All terms begin as soon as the post is accepted. Opening the elections out to the general public will get people thinking of places in government to think about the public more. Removing the nomination requirement would allow a broader range of people to be considered. One vote per person is needed to stop people from sending in thousands of votes for one person, and thus getting unequal amounts of power. Prompt election results make it easier to understand what's going on. Any election not run to this system is invalid, as are any decisions made by people elected this way. An immediate re-run will be necessary. Attempts to enforce rules set by improperly-elected people, or a governance remaining in breach of this rule for more than 2 months, should be referred to the court of the juristiction cited in the Constitutional Principles.