Simulation: Township
Fictional Scenario
The Presidential Election of 2016 and the following decade proved to be a huge turning point in the history of the United States. A hurried Constitutional Amendment allowing non-native-born citizens to run for the Presidency passed allowing Arnold Schwarzenegger to enter the race against Hillary Clinton. Schwarzenegger won the popular vote by less than 1,000 but lost to Clinton in the Electoral College. Recounts were ordered, foul play was called, and the Courts stalled the inauguration process until March 15, 2017. Bloggers published proof of election fraud and the economy still hadn’t recovered. Debased by prolonged low interest rates and an excess of fiat minting, the dollar devalued to just over half its March value by the middle of April. Unemployment rose to 27% by May and the Dow Jones plummeted to 3,000.
When the U.S. Government under Clinton’s leadership promised to keep all government services going, it suggested declaring bankruptcy and agreeing to austerity measures imposed by the IMF and World Bank conglomerate (IMFWB). The national mood became both somber and desperate. Within the next two years, an amendment was passed which effectively nullified the workings of the Constitution to the administrative plan of the IMFWB. Midterm congressional elections were canceled and Presidential elections were suspended until 2024. By 2025, new elections still hadn’t taken place, and, especially in Rocky Mountain and Plains States, almost all of the security and overall workings of government fell to the communities. Finally, in July of 2024 “whether terrorist initiated or not is unknown” a plague spread throughout all of North America killing half of the population (170 million by 2028).
You are a citizen-leader of a self-contained, virtually autonomous Rocky Mountain or Plains State community. You will participate in creating a community constitution for a population of between five and fifteen thousand. You do not have permission from the IMFWB to do this, but it has been agreed by all interested parties that this must be done. There are even speculations that the IMFWB actually wants to relinquish control to smaller entities, and that your community and confederation constitutions may be used as a model for something new and forthcoming. Regardless of the consequences, you are determined to take action to protect your families, to promote a better peace and way of life, and as a matter of civic and moral duty.
Delegates should take into consideration such things as proper sovereignty, human nature, the history of government failures and successes, liberty, unity, foreign aggression, internal faction, and how to balance freedom with order. These conventions must either fail or provide a written constitution by (enter deadline here).
Democracy In America, Volume I, Chapter 5, and Colonial Origins of the American Constitution (D. Lutz, ed.), are recommended for this simulation.
Schedule of Events:
Day 1: 9:00-10:00 AM Orientation
Day 2: 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM General Session I
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM General Session II
Day 3: 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM General Session III
11:00 AM Submission of Final Constitution
11:00 AM to 12:00 PM Debriefing
Coaches:
(enter names here)
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