Meunier 4 Mayor

The Mt. Augusta Lord Mayoral campaign of meunier_ (widely known and stylised as "meunier 4 Mayor") was the week-long election campaign for the first term Judge and dual MtA-Gensokyo citizen. The campaign began with meunier's formal announcement on the Mt. Augusta subreddit on June 24, 2015. Running on a platform of international and internal cooperation, public works projects, and her experience as a judge, meunier was seen as the status quo candidate and an extension of the popular outgoing ProgrammerDan mayoralty, of whom she received the endorsement. This was in contrast to her closest opponent, fellow Judge and Nox affiliate Prof_TANSTAAFL, who ran on limited government and a strengthened security state.

While meunier's base of support was solid, critics argued that it was too narrow and focused on those who already liked her and the status quo, while Prof's campaign was more popular with newer residents looking to get involved politically and with the expanding Meme Team faction, also a Nox affiliate. Proponents of meunier's campaign rebutted by extolling the successes of meunier's involvement in ProgrammerDan's administration, and also by admonishing Prof's ties with Nox, arguing that he was on opportunist and would use his power to expand the wealth and influence of his own factions. In the end, meunier would come second place with 33% of the vote, losing to Prof's 58%.

Background
Mt. Augusta in 2.0 was originally founded on minarchist philosophy, limiting the power of the state in favor of the individual and corporations. As such, the city had only two government positions: Judge and Mayor. The judicial system of Mt. Augusta in 2.0 was one of the most comprehensive expressions of rule of law in all of Civcraft, applying the law not only to Mt. Augustan citizens but to all those found within her borders at any given time. The Mayor, however, was a much more limited role. Though the Mayor had the informal power of being the "face" of MtA and directing foreign relations, it was largely dedicated to the bureaucratic duties of keeping track of voter rolls and updating the MtA constitution with newly passed or repealed laws. This changed, however, with the passage Fuhrer King Bradley Act on October 17, 2014. After a turbulent summer marked by regional conflicts and increasing territorial claustrophobia caused by the expansion of the neighboring nations of ISIS and Gensokyo, Mt. Augustans somewhat facetiously gave the Mayor unlimited legislative power to deal with these and future crises. Though most Augustans felt that sentiment genuinely, they adopted a more rational approach to liberal autocracy with the subsequent passage of the Liberalization of Autocracy Act on October 22. The law ensured that the Mayor could not carry out any actions that conflicted with the newly created Bill of Rights or criminal code of Mt. Augusta, could not overturn court decisions, and could be recalled by a 75% popular vote. Though in the wake of this there were attempts to repeal the acts and even secede from Mt. Augusta, they ultimately failed, and the Mayor was transformed into the Lord Mayor, a position that would last until the end of MtA in 2.0.

The incumbent Mayor at the time, ProgrammerDan, was initially ambivalent toward becoming Lord Mayor. Though he abstained from the initial vote, when it ultimately passed, he accepted the responsibilities and reiterated his commitment to upholding the law and civil rights of all Augustans. He also began his term by committing to regional cooperation and recognising the territories of newly founded nations in the area. Originally running on a simple platform of consolidating the criminal code and streamlining the judicial process, Dan became a popular Lord Mayor by continuing the status quo and keeping MtA at peace while the city expanded its borders and grew to have the biggest population on the server. Perhaps his most well known act as Lord Mayor was the Augusta-Gensokyo Treaty of Friendship, recognising the previously hostile city of New Detroit that bordered MtA to the east, ending tensions between the two and ensuring open borders across the entire region. To strengthen the sovereignty of the new liberal autocracy, Dan was also the first to appoint both a cartographer and diplomat simultaneously.

Despite the popularity of Dan's peacetime status quo, factionalism brewed in the city, fueled by those with expansionist ambitions and those who wanted to continue the current peace. The former, referred to as the Meme Team or Meme Brigade, was headed by Prof_TANSTAAFL and GTAIVIsBest, with the latter being lead by meunier_, AMBeaudy, and ProgrammerDan himself. Previously, both these factions worked together at their joint XP farm named Atolia, but personal disagreements led to their split and the creation of the factions in the first place. The Meme Team founded their own XP farm, Pemberly, in Grundeswegian territory, while meunier and her friends largely stayed in MtA and neighboring New Danzilona. The Meme Team also aligned closely with the controversial group Nox, which would go on to start the last serverwide war and mass imprisonment of civilians, on the basis of their mutual ambition of XP production. Many Noxians would become citizens of MtA during this time, increasing tensions between the two factions. The city as a whole was largely unaffected by this factional conflict until Dan announced his resignation as Lord Mayor on June 22, 2015, triggering the election to be held on June 30.

Political Positions
meunier campaigned on the continuation of liberal autocratic internationalism, proposing increased cooperation among both the factions of MtA and her neighboring countries through public works projects. meunier ensured she would be a fair arbiter of the law as she had done so during her 5-month tenure as judge, which she was popular for.

Debate
A since-deleted debate was held between meunier and the other two front-runners, Prof and jeffthebaker on June 26, 2015. Though the debate was dominated by jeff's facetious proposals of war with regional neighbors, it was generally decided that while Prof was better spoken, meunier had better positions on the issues presented.

Base of Support
Along with her own faction of friends, meunier remained popular with mid-to-long term residents of the city who favored the policies of a peacetime liberal autocracy, including ProgrammerDan himself. Her focus on international cooperation also made her popular with citizens of MtA who held dual citizenship elsewhere, most notably Gensokyo, the U3P, and Goodsprings. In contrast, her closest opponent Prof was more popular among newer residents of MtA, as well as the original founding minarchists of the city due to his commitment to limited government, receiving the votes of zaphod, ShadedJon, and Ladezkik.

Results
The first and only Lord Mayoral election of Mt. Augusta was held on June 30, 2015 with the winner announced the following day. Though initially seen as the natural successor to Dan, meunier ultimately lost to Prof, 33% to his 58%.

Endorsements

 * ProgrammerDan, first Lord Mayor of MtA
 * Screenname, autocrat of Gensokyo and New Detroit
 * St_Leibowitz, Khan of Goodsprings
 * AMBeaudry, MtA resident and former president of the Danzilonan Federation
 * Siriann, cartographer of MtA
 * peakman2, founder of New Danzilona

Aftermath
meunier remained a popular Judge of MtA, tying for first place in her reelection on November 30, 2015. Disappointed with the direction of the city, she limited her involvement in it and ultimately retired from Civcraft after the announcement of 3.0 in January 2016. ProgrammerDan, along with fellow Augustan ShadedJon, would become a head admin for Devoted, regarded a "civcraft clone" server. Newly elected Lord Mayor Prof_TANSTAAFL would fulfill his election promises of strengthening national security, leading MtA through the Rumble in Augusta and the Goten Secession Conflict, souring relations with Gensokyo. Initially remaining an ally of Nox, his administration would turn on them in the midst of the Nox War. Prof also fulfilled his promise of a limited government by twice getting banned for XP duping, leaving him physically unable to intervene in any city functions.