Setting
Fade in:
Spring 1830. After nearly seven years of fighting, a bitter winter, and crop failures the past two harvests, the rebels of Trapalanda have achieved a settlement securing independence from their colonial masters Summus. While men were the principal combatants in the independence efforts, women directly contributed too, acting as spies, messengers, and snipers, tending to the wounded, and provisioning the soldiers. This was true for the three primary zones of confrontation - Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, and the Great Plains.
In a context of social dislocation and economic malaise, these leaders and their adherents confront a daunting challenge of unifying this newly liberated territory, forming a government, and imposing its rule and order on its new dominions. In addition, these leaders need to answer a simple question: What does it mean to be a citizen of Trapalanda?
Trapalanda is a territory of 250,000 square miles (the rough equivalent of France or Texas), and three of its seven borders are rivers. With 10 climatic regions, 14 soil regions and 11 distinct ecological regions, regional classification becomes problematic with differences in soils, topography, geology, rainfall, and plant and animal communities. Broadly speaking, however, Trapalanda, in order from northeast to southwest, can be divided into the following: Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and the Mountain Province.
The population is concentrated in the east with roughly 35% living along the Coastal Plains and another 23% in the Interior Lowlands. As you move further away from the coastline and into the Great Plains and the Mountain (which together make up about 65% of the newly liberated territory), one comes across two distinct ethnic groups speaking particular languages different from the language of the majority of the population and that of the former colonial ruler. The homelands of these two ethnic groups – the Novis and the Mutus – are also home to the richest mineral deposits in the newly liberated territory, including copper, iron ore, lithium, and important deposits of nickel, silver and platinum. A decade ago, Summus had begun sponsoring survey projects to explore for other mineral wealth before the rebellion broke, but had sputtered because of unrest among the Novis and the Mutus.
Of the seven largest cities, three are located along the coast, are connected to trade with overseas markets, and have a light industry sector that benefits from the minerals found in the mines of the Great Plains and the Mountain Province. The largest city Alderaan has served as the principal port of imports and exports and was the seat of the colonial government. Two cities are in the Interior Lowlands and are connected to the merchants in Summus via the export of cotton and soy. The largest city in the Great Plains is the hub for exporting the area’s primary product wheat to the neighboring territories. The largest mountain city is poor and a central hub for the border area’s robust contraband trade.
There is an important political rivalry between Alderaan and Mustafar. These cities have approximately the same population, wealth, and social indicators. While many institutions of state are already in Alderaan due to the colonial experience, leaders of Mustafar are a proud people, deeply suspicious of coastal elites, and think that for the security of the nation that capital should be inland. Now that the common enemy, Summus, has been defeated, the elites from the four provinces have to decide on how to create new state institutions and begin to encourage and fashion a coherent identity from a disparate and loosely connected set of provinces.
If nation-states are the primary form of organizing societies and the phenomenon of so-called failed states exist, it begs the question how do a group of people build a nation? You have wrestled with Ernest Renan’s and Ernst Moritz Arndt's competing ideas of a nation and whether it is an ‘imagined political community that is inherently limited and sovereign.” Yet, a series of perhaps easy questions facing nation-builders and the political and economic elites provoke complex perhaps impossible answers. This is your task today.
You are to address 3 types of questions and then successfully draft a constitution to guide Trapalanda to naturally deserved glory among the free nations of the world. You will likely want to break into discrete groups to tackle the various issues.
Set 1 - Political
Set 2 - Economy
Land. Land. Land.
Set 3 - Cultural Identity
Your Constitution will need to have the following components:
Spring 1830. After nearly seven years of fighting, a bitter winter, and crop failures the past two harvests, the rebels of Trapalanda have achieved a settlement securing independence from their colonial masters Summus. While men were the principal combatants in the independence efforts, women directly contributed too, acting as spies, messengers, and snipers, tending to the wounded, and provisioning the soldiers. This was true for the three primary zones of confrontation - Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, and the Great Plains.
In a context of social dislocation and economic malaise, these leaders and their adherents confront a daunting challenge of unifying this newly liberated territory, forming a government, and imposing its rule and order on its new dominions. In addition, these leaders need to answer a simple question: What does it mean to be a citizen of Trapalanda?
Trapalanda is a territory of 250,000 square miles (the rough equivalent of France or Texas), and three of its seven borders are rivers. With 10 climatic regions, 14 soil regions and 11 distinct ecological regions, regional classification becomes problematic with differences in soils, topography, geology, rainfall, and plant and animal communities. Broadly speaking, however, Trapalanda, in order from northeast to southwest, can be divided into the following: Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and the Mountain Province.
The population is concentrated in the east with roughly 35% living along the Coastal Plains and another 23% in the Interior Lowlands. As you move further away from the coastline and into the Great Plains and the Mountain (which together make up about 65% of the newly liberated territory), one comes across two distinct ethnic groups speaking particular languages different from the language of the majority of the population and that of the former colonial ruler. The homelands of these two ethnic groups – the Novis and the Mutus – are also home to the richest mineral deposits in the newly liberated territory, including copper, iron ore, lithium, and important deposits of nickel, silver and platinum. A decade ago, Summus had begun sponsoring survey projects to explore for other mineral wealth before the rebellion broke, but had sputtered because of unrest among the Novis and the Mutus.
Of the seven largest cities, three are located along the coast, are connected to trade with overseas markets, and have a light industry sector that benefits from the minerals found in the mines of the Great Plains and the Mountain Province. The largest city Alderaan has served as the principal port of imports and exports and was the seat of the colonial government. Two cities are in the Interior Lowlands and are connected to the merchants in Summus via the export of cotton and soy. The largest city in the Great Plains is the hub for exporting the area’s primary product wheat to the neighboring territories. The largest mountain city is poor and a central hub for the border area’s robust contraband trade.
There is an important political rivalry between Alderaan and Mustafar. These cities have approximately the same population, wealth, and social indicators. While many institutions of state are already in Alderaan due to the colonial experience, leaders of Mustafar are a proud people, deeply suspicious of coastal elites, and think that for the security of the nation that capital should be inland. Now that the common enemy, Summus, has been defeated, the elites from the four provinces have to decide on how to create new state institutions and begin to encourage and fashion a coherent identity from a disparate and loosely connected set of provinces.
If nation-states are the primary form of organizing societies and the phenomenon of so-called failed states exist, it begs the question how do a group of people build a nation? You have wrestled with Ernest Renan’s and Ernst Moritz Arndt's competing ideas of a nation and whether it is an ‘imagined political community that is inherently limited and sovereign.” Yet, a series of perhaps easy questions facing nation-builders and the political and economic elites provoke complex perhaps impossible answers. This is your task today.
You are to address 3 types of questions and then successfully draft a constitution to guide Trapalanda to naturally deserved glory among the free nations of the world. You will likely want to break into discrete groups to tackle the various issues.
Set 1 - Political
- What form of government will you have? (Remember your Locke, Jefferson and Rousseau!)… (or not)…
- Who gets to participate? Why or why not?
- What determines citizenship?
- What are the benefits of your choice?
- Minorities
- Do you protect minorities? If yes, how?
- Language issues?
- Cultural issues?
- Control of land?
- Educational system?
- Officers in the military?
- Potential threats?
- Do you protect minorities? If yes, how?
Set 2 - Economy
Land. Land. Land.
- Majority of land held by a light-skinned elite known as creoles
- Will you redistribute land to those who actually work it?
- Do you create a system of private property? (remember your Marx!!!!)… (or not…)
- Do you allow for corporate (aka communal or group) control?
- How will you promote economic development?
- Do you protect workers? If so, how?
- To whom do reach out for trade relations?
- Will they want to trade with you? Why?
Set 3 - Cultural Identity
- How do you go about creating a national identity?
- What do you create or invest in?
Your Constitution will need to have the following components:
- Section 1 - Preamble
- Section 2 - Governing Body (organization, authority, positions, qualifications)
- Section 3 - Justice System (structure of courts; are judges elected or appointed; if the latter, by whom?)
- Section 4 - Social Rights
- Section 5 - Civil Rights
- Section 6 - Economic Rights
- Section 7 - Miscellanea (money, military, security forces)