Directive Changes

A directive-change is any of the following: (1) the enactment, repeal, or amendment of a mutable directive; (2) the enactment, repeal, or amendment of an amendment of a mutable directive; or (3) the transmutation of an immutable directive into a mutable directive or vice versa.

(Note: This definition implies that, at least initially, all new directives are mutable; immutable directives, as long as they are immutable, may not be amended or repealed; mutable directives, as long as they are mutable, may be amended or repealed; any directive of any status may be transmuted; no directive is absolutely immune to change.)

All directive changes proposed in the proper way shall be voted on. They will be adopted if and only if they receive the required number of votes.

All proposed directive-changes shall be posted before they are voted on. If they are adopted, they shall guide operations in the form in which they were voted on.

No directive-change may take effect earlier than the moment of the completion of the vote that adopted it, even if its wording explicitly states otherwise. No directive-change may have retroactive application. Despite EG's contribution to science, time travel still is not possible.

Each proposed directive-change shall be given a number for reference. The numbers shall begin with 301, and each directive-change proposed in the proper way shall receive the next successive integer, whether or not the proposal is adopted.

If a directive is repealed and reenacted, it receives the number of the proposal to reenact it. If a directive is amended or transmuted, it receives the number of the proposal to amend or transmute it. If an amendment is amended or repealed, the entire directive of which it is a part receives the number of the proposal to amend or repeal the amendment.

Directive-changes that transmute immutable directives into mutable directives may be adopted if and only if the vote is unanimous among the eligible voters. Transmutation shall not be implied, but must be stated explicitly in a proposal to take effect.

If a directive-change as proposed is unclear, ambiguous, paradoxical, or destructive of operations, or if it arguably consists of two or more directive-changes compounded or is an amendment that makes no difference, or if it is otherwise of questionable value, then the other employees may suggest amendments or argue against the proposal before the vote. A reasonable time must be allowed for this debate. The proponent decides the final form in which the proposal is to be voted on and, unless the Arbiter has been asked to do so, also decides the time to end debate and vote.

There must always be at least one mutable directive. The adoption of directive-changes must never become completely impermissible.

Directive-changes that affect directives needed to allow or apply directive-changes are as permissible as other directive-changes. Even directive-changes that amend or repeal their own authority are permissible. No directive-change or type of move is impermissible solely on account of the self-reference or self-application of a directive.

Whatever is not prohibited or regulated by a directive is permitted and unregulated, with the sole exception of changing the directives, which is permitted only when a directive or set of directives explicitly or implicitly permits it.

A directive-change is adopted if and only if the vote is unanimous among the eligible voters. If this directive is not amended by the end of the second complete circuit of turns, it automatically changes to require only a simple majority.

If and when directive-changes can be adopted without unanimity, the employees who vote against winning proposals shall receive 10 points each.

In mail and computer games, instead of throwing a die, employees subtract 291 from the ordinal number of their proposal and multiply the result by the fraction of favorable votes it received, rounded to the nearest integer. (This yields a number between 0 and 10 for the first employee, with the upper limit increasing by one each turn; more points are awarded for more popular proposals.)

An adopted directive-change takes full effect at the moment of the completion of the vote that adopted it.

When a proposed directive-change is defeated, the employee who proposed it loses 10 points.

Employees may not conspire or consult on the making of future directive-changes unless they are departmental team-mates.