Leader

The **Leader** takes little direct part in government. The powers the Leader would normally hold in a clan are delegated to the Council of Co-Leaders (COCL) by The Constitution. The Leader himself holds no constitutional powers, and must always respect laws written in the constitution. The Leader's loyalty is to the constitution, even over the clan itself.

## History

### Creation

In the earliest talks of creating The Republic between the founding fathers, all four were in agreement that the Leader position held too much power within any given clan. They agreed that the Leader should be stripped of all power other than the ability to uphold a written constitution . The powers that any normal Clash of Clans Leader would hold would be given to a council of elected officials to safeguard against tyranny. The Leader’s job would be to uphold the constitution. This led to the Leader also acting as an interpreter of The Constitution. The Leader’s job is one of great importance, yet it’s basically boiled down to doing nothing. Captain Magma has often compared the Leader position to that of a constitutional monarch.

### Joseph's Reign

Upon The Republic's creation on January 1, 2020, the founding fathers made a unanimous decision that Joseph  would serve as the first Leader. Joseph was chosen because of his long-term commitment to the game, as it is believed he has been playing clash since 2012 or 2013. The founding father’s believed he would be best suited for bringing stability through the clan’s early history. Early in the clan’s history Joseph let the clan be run by the COCL as The Constitution indented. Joseph became possibly The Republic’s most active member, never failing to lead the clan in donations for the season. So far Joseph has voted in every one of the clan’s elections, but this is as far as he goes into political dealings of the clan, rarely speaking in clan debates. Setting the precedent for Leaders of the future.

As the midterm elections of 2020 approached, Joseph, working with the COCL, agreed to act as Election Chairman for the elections as he wouldn’t be running in any of them as Leader. This could set a precedent for future midterm elections. As the COCL’s activity increased in July, Joseph allowed them to make changes necessary for the betterment of the clan without getting involved. In August, Nate began disagreeing with certain Co-Leaders about whether or not he should remain in the war lineup directly after upgrading his Town Hall. He would end up leaving the clan, but not before he began directing his argument towards The Constitution saying that the Co-Leaders had no explicit right to decide the members added to the war. This lead to the first unofficial interpretation of The Constitution by Joseph. He argued that it was within the COCL’s power to declare war and to declare war one had to pick the members. It seemed like this would be an implied power of the COCL. No official ruling would be made though, as Nate first asked to be demoted and then left the clan soon after.

Joseph ran for reelection in the Leader Election on December 27, 2020. He ran unopposed and was elected to a second term unanimously with a voter turnout of 22.7%. Joseph did no campaigning himself, but most of the Council of Co-Leaders campaigned on his behalf. Captain Magma going as far as to say it was imperative that Joseph be reelected. Joseph began his second term on January 1, 2021. Joseph remained active over the period of mass inactivity that plagued The Republic in the early months of 2021.

Joseph ran for reelection to a third term in the Leader Election on December 26, 2021. He ran unopposed and was elected to a third term unanimously with a voter turnout of 26.3%, much like the previous year. The year 2022, would see a sharp increase in the activity of the clan. Nate would return and run for Co-Leader once more on a platform of change. Nate would be elected and pass the Committee Establishment Act of 2022, which would form four committees which elected officials would sit on. It was deemed Joseph's responsibility to decide who would sit on each committee. This was one of the first times that Joseph was asked to take part in clan governance outside of acting as Election Chairman. Committee's would later be repealed the following year.

The fourth Leader Election would take place in December of 2022. Joseph would be running for a fourth consecutive term and this time would not be running unopposed. Chris would run against Joseph, claiming that it was time for a new Leader. The election would be the first to incorporate all three days of voting and while Joseph won each day, it was the first time anyone had ever voted for someone else besides him. He began his fourth term as Leader on January 1st of 2023 and is currently still serving as Leader with mass approval. He’s reigned over incredible growth from just four members to where the clan is today. His term ends on January 1, 2024.

## Elections & Tenure

### Election

The election to the Leader position happens the last week of the year and is held over the course of three days. To be eligible for Leader, a player must be a member of the clan for half a year or longer (leaving the clan for over a week resets a player's time). The first day of the election everyone who is eligible for the position can be voted for. At the end of the first day anyone who has less than 10% of the leading candidate is eliminated from contention. The second day of the election is between the remaining candidates and only these candidates. At the end of the second day everyone but the top two candidates are eliminated from contention. The third day of voting is between the final two candidates, and at the end of this day a new Leader is named. It is possible for a leader to be elected on the first day with a large enough majority of the vote. The new elected leader must be given the position on January 1st of the year.

In the case where an Elder is demoted, or there is more than five members per Elder, a special election must occur. Since only one position is getting voted on, the process is carried out with just one winner. It's important to note that the candidate is only running for the remainder of the demoted Elder's term.

* First Leader Election – Jan. 1, 2020
* Leader Election - Dec. 27, 2020
* Leader Election - Dec. 26, 2021
* Leader Election - Dec. 22, 2022

### Tenure

The Constitution states that the Leader serves a term of 1 full year and there is no limit to how often a player can run for or hold the position of Leader. The position of Leader is interesting as it has been theorized by multiple that once the clan has a good Leader who respects The Constitution that it wouldn’t be worth changing as doing so would only increase the chance of instability.

## Leaders

* Timeline of Leaders
* (\*) = as of March 1, 2023

**Clan**
**Won**
(100%)
present
 Dec. 27, 2020
 Dec. 26, 2021
 Dec. 22, 2022
(53.8% / 66.7% / 61.5%)