12-07-2014, 11:14 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Niagara, Canada
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Designing a Constitution?
Mad Queen Bunny has been getting involved in war and politics. As the result of one short war's surrender terms, a post-American city-state is about to get a new constitution.
With all the lessons that have been learned through the Enlightenment to the present day... what items would it be worth nudging the constitutional committee towards adopting? President, cabinet, executive committee? Unification or separation of powers? First-past-the-post, preferential voting, liquid democracy, transferable proxy vote? Unicameral, bicameral, x-cameral legislature? Constitutionally separate branch of government to avoid partisan gerrymandering of electoral districts? Which rights should be explicitly mentioned in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms? Appointed or elected judiciary, and either way, by who? (Mad Queen Bunny has her own long-term projects to deal with, and isn't particularly interested in taking over administrating the city; especially without, at the very least, a believable referendum/plebiscite. She mostly wants the city to have sufficiently developed political institutions for the city's governance to leave her alone, such as by having particular people who can be blamed for acts of war; though she'd be happy if the city's economy and society developed to the point where its people could work on similar anti-extinction-risk projects as her own.)
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Thank you for your time, -- DataPacRat "Then again, maybe I'm wrong." |
12-07-2014, 11:28 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Designing a Constitution?
One of the aims of the Constitution of the United States was to avoid factionalism; Madison warned against it, and especially against the dangers of "a faction which is a majority." His goal was to have the federal government serve the general welfare—which he did not identify with "the welfare of whichever faction has put together a 50%+1 majority"; his discussion makes it clear that he meant "the welfare of everyone in society." But the Constitution has not been all that successful—special interest politics dominates American government and has done so for quite a while.
Hayek suggested that one problem was that two different sorts of legislative decision were being conflated: Decisions about the operations of government, and decisions about the rights of citizens vis-à-vis government and each other. (For example, he thought that taxes fell into the second category, as they impacted the rights of citizens, but expenditures fell into the first.) Perhaps this could be formally recognized, with a simple majority being sufficient for procedural or operational decisions, but a 60% or two-thirds majority being required to pass any law that affected citizens' rights—for example, criminal law, civil law, or tax law. If you can't get two-thirds of the legislators to agree that something should be done, it's probably favored by a partisan group rather than by the whole society, and therefore doesn't truly serve the "general welfare." Bill Stoddard |
12-07-2014, 11:36 AM | #3 | |
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Jeffersonville, Ind.
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Re: Designing a Constitution?
Personally I find proportional representation, as opposed to "first to post" to be a worthwhile addition.
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The user formerly known as ciaran_skye. __________________ Quirks: Doesn't proofread forum posts before clicking "Submit". [-1] Quote:
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12-07-2014, 11:37 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Designing a Constitution?
Quote:
The one thing a Constitution probably does need to stand up for the long term is a mechanism that will allow newly rising power bases to obtain power, and cohesive minorities to air opinions in a way that lets them feel they are being taken seriously, in some way other than overthrowing the system entirely. A legislature that doesn't easily lend itself to being totally stacked by the currently dominant party and an amendment process that isn't totally under ruling party control are good ways to do that, but again the details probably don't matter that much.
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12-07-2014, 12:53 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Niagara, Canada
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Re: Designing a Constitution?
In the peace treaty Bunny arranged to have the city's more prominent political figures sign (with armed people standing over them as they signed, admittedly, but the fact that it was Bunny's armed people simply pointed out which side had lost), she set certain standards she expected the new constitution to have - universal suffrage, banning slavery, a written bill of rights - but the constitutional committee itself is made up of local people. Bunny has, however, reserved the right to call the committee's efforts inadequate if what they produce is obviously flawed, and for the state of war to resume; so she has a certain amount of leverage over the committee's work, should she choose to explain her preferences to them.
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Thank you for your time, -- DataPacRat "Then again, maybe I'm wrong." |
12-07-2014, 12:57 PM | #6 |
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
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Re: Designing a Constitution?
Who is Mad Queen Bunny? Is she a PC or an NPC? What is the nature of her rule and how is it justified in the opinions of her subjects? Is this city-state the whole of her realm or a subject territory that she wants to set and forget? Does she want to allow for expansion? What's the setting for this? What is your dramatic agenda for it? Do you want it to turn into an adventuring location or into an island of order and good government?
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Decay is inherent in all composite things. Nod head. Get treat. Last edited by Agemegos; 12-07-2014 at 01:04 PM. |
12-07-2014, 12:59 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Re: Designing a Constitution?
Quote:
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12-07-2014, 01:05 PM | #8 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Niagara, Canada
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Re: Designing a Constitution?
Quote:
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Thank you for your time, -- DataPacRat "Then again, maybe I'm wrong." |
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12-07-2014, 01:26 PM | #9 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Designing a Constitution?
A Constitution should in fact reasonably reflect the social structure or you are wasting time. For instance a constitution that says only nobles get to vote doesn't matter if merchants can out bribe them and yeomen can outshoot them and the king can afford cannon and the nobles can't.
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
12-07-2014, 01:44 PM | #10 | |
Dog of Lysdexics
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Melbourne FL, Formerly Wellington NZ
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Re: Designing a Constitution?
Quote:
leave the Senate as state based representatives. |
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