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MoOving In: A Detailed Preview of Master of Orion III
PART 4: SOMETHING TO BE SAID FOR TALK (Page 3)
By Daniel Quick | Apolyton CS Co-Owner/Administrator

TAB TO THE `FOREIGN OFFICE` SCREEN: ORION SENATE
This is the Master of Orion III equivalent to the real-world United Nations. Interaction here is more limited than on the “Diplomacy” screen but has the greater potential for mass as opposed to isolated impact. As I now describe it, I am taking it as a given that you are a member of the Senate from the outset either by design or random chance (see Part 2 for more on this). If you are accepted later on in the game, the following still applies but some connecting language may be slightly out of sync.

Senate Presidential Elections
You will be ushered in as part of the convention to elect a new Senate President most likely within the first dozen turns or so. There will be no question as to when this occurs: see the related screenshot. When convening for this event, it may be your first exposure to this political arena. Don't forget your gameface.

You are given two choices and you can vote for either or abstain if you critically object to both of them. As will become clear why in a moment, the first candidate in my game was from the New Orion and the other the Senauilatrom empire. I voted for the latter not because I disfavoured the former as much as I wanted to gain the esteem of the latter through diplomatic and militaristic agreements. For the Orion sector as a whole, the New Orion candidate probably had the most going for him but as is often the case in politics decision-making is not often as one-dimensional a consideration as this.

The ABCs of 'Bills' and 'Laws'
Beyond the above, what you need to know in-and-out is the core of the Senate's function. To obtain this awareness, you need to recognize the 'Laws' and 'Bills' columns and understand what the difference between the two of them is. Let us accomplish the first task now. You can see the status of each 'Bill' via the icon next to each respective entry and the text colour of the bill's title. Green text indicates that the bill has just been proposed or seconded. Yellow text denotes your having already voted on the issue and are awaiting the completion of the voting process. Finally, red text tells you that the voting cycle has finished with a majority of members either accepting or rejecting its details. If the former, it becomes a 'Law'.

To achieve a greater appreciation of what is going on here, some background discussion somewhat removed from MoO3's game mechanics is called for. If you have been previously exposed to the basic foundations of judicial systems within a democratic government, the distinction between a 'Bill' and a 'Law' is most likely already clear in your mind. If not, or you are in the mood for a brief refresher, the immediate discussion below should suffice for our purposes.

A 'Bill' is a proposed law that has yet to be voted upon by representatives of Senate member races. It therefore carries no legal or binding force. In the twenty-second turn of my game the Kaianmoior proposes an enactment to praise the Apolytonian empire – yes, that's the name of the civilization I led – for our great deeds. Humble feelings aside, this is a prime example of a 'Bill'. Once proposed, it is up to the Senate membership to pass judgment upon it. As with Presidential votes, you can abstain if you desire. Otherwise you must answer either 'Yay' or 'Nay'.

A 'Law' is a bill that has been approved by a majority of Senate votes, but not necessarily members. This is a critical differentiation not to be confused at any time. In my game, the New Orions were exponentially more powerful than even with the will of all other races combined and united taken into consideration (not that this ever happened, of course).