Voluntary Punishment Program
The Voluntary Punishment Program (VPP) is a government program maintained and managed for the Bureau of Punishment and Castigation (BPC) by the Office of Voluntary Punishment (OVP) for the purpose of providing an alternative humane method for managing potentially illegal, illicit, or otherwise unjust behavior among the general populace. The program allows citizens to exchange some of their personal liberties in return for money and assurance.
The VPP is exceedingly successful at keeping crime to a minimum. A large percentage of the adult Illuminatian population chooses to enroll in the program. Upon reaching an individual's appropriate age of majority, all Illuminatian adults in good standing with the government may choose to participate in the VPP.
The Voluntary Punishment Program involves an agreement between an individual and the Bureau of Punishment and Castigation. The agreement is renewed annually. In exchange for a significant stipend from the BPC and other considerations, an individual agrees to abide by and accept any verdicts instituted upon them by the BPC, to relinquish their access to the usual procedure of highly-structured trials and appeals in exchange for a much more streamlined process, and to consent to more pervasive surveillance by the Illuminatian government.
In return for participating in the VPP, the individual, in addition to the stipend, gains access to lighter punishment, admittance into a system that allows a consenting surrogate to be called upon to receive punishment on behalf of the original offender, and access to a system of government-funded compensation and reimbursement for victims of offenses committed by others.
The VPP's premise is related to that of the Department of Karma Adjustment, in which a person freely consents to a scheme that may involve punishment or the receipt of consequences that are different from those afforded to non-participants while receiving some sort of benefit and level of assurance in exchange for participation.
Many see the VPP as an insurance against potentially unwanted punishment as well as insurance against potential losses incurred as a result of offenses committed against them that are not otherwise insured or protected against by the DKA.
The overall result of the VPP is an extremely low rate of illicit activity, criminality, and corruption. VPP participants exhibit a much lower rate of illegal activity than Illuminatia's already microscopic crime rate. Participants in the program are motivated not to become offenders, as they do not wish to receive more-certain punishment thanks to the high level of surveillance to which they are subject. The government, society in general, and the individual participant receive mutual benefits.
While the VPP agreement for each individual taking part renews once per AU, the re-adoption rate is extremely high. Persons who drop out of the program are generally perceived to have a compelling reason for discontinuing their participation. As a result, participants who drop out at the end of their agreement period might be singled-out to enjoy an extremely elevated level of scrutiny into their potential actions for later referral to the BPC. However, individuals who choose to renew and maintain continuous participation don't need to worry about this scrutiny.