If the active player decides to take no action in any (or all for that matter) of his phases, does this then mean that the opponent is disallowed from taking any actions as well. The rule book states,simply, that the active player ALWAYS takes the first action in every phase. So, if the active player does not take an action he therefor has not taken the FIRST action and yada-yada-yada. Keeping in mind that committing characters to stories, drawing, resourcing, unexhausting, etc. are not actions, a game could progress forward with one player significantly cutting down on what the other could do/play/utilize by simply not taking any actions during his/her turn. Is this correct.

Dr. Jeffrey Wills said:

I think what is missing from the Rulebook, but implied in the FAQ is the Pass action. I know it is not written this way, but my interpretation is something like: The Active Player takes the first action. The Active Player may Pass as their action.

This probably should be spelled out, but you'll see things in the FAQ like "If all players pass..." which suggest that passing is an option to take during the Action window.

The active player may take the first action, but if they choose not to that does not end the phase because each player may take an action, the active player just gets dibs.

If he passes the inactive player gets to take an action. A phase does not end until both players have passed consecutively, with the "sort of" exception of the story phase which ends when the active player chooses not to commit any characters to any stories.

Yup. If, as the active player you don't want to take an action in a phase, the polite thing is to ask the defending player if she'd like to take an action.