ICONSnet User Guide: Proposal Center

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Proposal Center

The ICONSnet Proposal Center is a new forum for country-teams to share drafts, sponsor, and ultimately, vote on proposals. Participants can then view vote tallies to see which countries support particular proposals.

By "proposal," ICONS means any proposed international agreement (such as a treaty, protocol, or covenant) between or among countries. See the UN Treaty Collection Reference Guide for a discussion of the different kinds of international agreements that countries enter into, along with a glossary of related terms.

There are four general functions available within the Proposal Center:

1. Submit Proposal
2. View Proposals
3. Vote on Proposals
4. View Vote Tallies

Submit Proposal

A country can submit a proposal for consideration by other countries using this function. You must provide the following information:

• The title
• The applicable simulation issue
• An introduction (optional)
• The text of the proposal

In addition, you can choose which countries will have access to view the proposal. (Note: Once a country has access, it cannot be taken away.)

The country that submits the proposal will be able to edit it and to give access to more countries at a later time by using functions available under View Proposals.

View Proposals

Use this function to see all proposals submitted to which you have been given access.

If you are the submitting country, you will be able to edit the proposal. Each version of the proposal is saved in the database, so you and the other countries with access will still be able to look at earlier versions. You can also give more countries access to view your proposal. Once you have decided that the proposal is in its final form and ready for a vote, you can submit it to Simcon for review. If Simcon approves (according to guidelines communicated at the beginning of the simulation), he/she will make the proposal available for a vote. Finally, you can choose to withdraw your proposal. A withdrawn proposal is available for viewing, but cannot be edited, sponsored, or voted upon. You might choose to do this if you decide to work collaboratively with another country on a proposal that someone else has submitted.

If you are a country with access, you can decide to sponsor the proposal, thereby making public your support. If you change your mind, you can also decide to drop your sponsorship. Note that your sponsorship will not carry over to new versions of the proposal. If the submitting country edits it, you will need to review it and decide whether you wish to become a sponsor of the newest version.

Vote on Proposals

Use this function to vote on any final proposals. Each country may cast only one vote per proposal, and that vote cannot be changed. When you cast your vote, you may make an optional comment to explain why you voted as you did.

View Vote Tallies

Use this function to see "up-to-the-minute" results of any on-going or completed votes. The first screen displays a summary table showing all the proposals available for voting. From there, you can link to a tally for a particular proposal, which allows you to see the comments made about the proposal.

http://www.icons.umd.edu/help/net7.html
Last modified: July 18, 2001