(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . My idea for an "ideal," ultra-rational national governmental organization [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-12-12 This is quite possibly the nerdiest story you’ll ever read, but events unfolding since the summer really made me start thinking about this kind of thing, so I started writing it all out. It began with the Trump-Biden debate, which made me wonder if some sort of maximum age for a president was in order, and maybe for other offices too, and how to incorporate that into our system of government. As I began writing, however, it really started to make me think we might need to get rid of the presidency altogether and replace it with a system where the fate of the nation’s governance isn’t dependent upon one person who may become too old, or too ill, or is too … anything. I did a bit of research on the Swiss system and decided I liked it, if there were some modifications. So I wrote more of my ideas out. The election of Trump — both the first time and, now, especially, the second time — makes it clear to me there are risks of having a singular head-of-state presidency, and why a system like the Swiss have with an executive committee instead would probably be better. Basically what I’ve described here is a combination of the US and Swiss systems, with some of my own ideas mixed in. When writing this out I kind-of had in mind the US, but it’s basically a thought experiment that could be applied to any nation. You just might want to adjust the numbers of Assembly members and some other numbers if it were a smaller nation. It’s a bit long, and mostly just describes the organizational structure of the federal government, as opposed to a list of rights and such (which I probably won’t bother with, at least for now). It basically would be part of a constitution. If you’re in a really nerdy mood and want to critique my ideas, let me know what you think in the comments. I should add that the intent of this system is to distribute power as much as possible (even moreso than the current US system), and to allow change, but slowly. Everything would rely on consensus decision making … which is why change would occur slowly. But that also means, once change does occur, it would also be difficult to undo that change. I’m calling it “ultra-rational” because I find that the highly disbursed distribution of power and aversion to rapid change is “rational.” It would force the system and voters to spend more time thinking about, and incorporating into the system, any incremental changes that are either proposed, or that have recently been enacted. And that would, in turn, be because they have more time to mull such changes, because the changes would be slow. It also bears passing resemblance to aspects of the government of The Confederacy of Vulcan, so that also makes it rational! :-) Also, I suppose there probably isn’t really such a thing as an “ideal” system, since every system is bound to have some flaws, but I think something like this is about as close to “ideal” as I can think of. Three Branches of Government My Idea for an Ultra-Rational National Governmental System/Organization The Ultra-Rational National System would contain 3 equal branches of government: The Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch and the Judicial Branch. Executive Branch: The Executive Branch would be headed not by an individual Head of State (such as a president or prime minister), but by an Executive Committee . The purpose of having a committee instead of a singular head of state is to: Distribute power and decision-making away from an individual. Individuals have personal flaws which often distort decision-making. If individuals have to work with a small number of other individuals to gain consensus on policy decisions rather than making decisions on their own, the personal flaws of any individual would be diluted. Discourage individuals who are mostly interested in personal power from seeking office in the Executive Branch. A person who is power-happy is less likely to want to serve as head of the Executive Branch if they know they have to work with several other people instead of having all the power to themselves. Discourage the voting populace from being tempted by the idea that a singular head of state is some sort of regal monarch or emperor. If the head of state consists of several people instead of one, the populace is unlikely to regard any one of these several people as anyone particularly special. Executive Committee - The Executive Committee would consist of 5 people. This is large-enough to dilute individual power, but small enough to encourage committee members to work closely with one another on policy decisions. - One of the Committee members is up for election every 2 years, in a national, popular vote. That is, each Committee member serves a 10-year term. Any person can only serve 1 term on the Committee, then must leave the Committee and cannot serve any other terms. So, the Committee will have been completely renewed every 10 years, but piecemeal over those 10 years. - Example: Member #1 would be elected 2024 and serve until 2034 Member #2 would be elected 2026 and serve until 2036 Member #3 would be elected 2028 and serve until 2038 Member #4 would be elected 2030 and serve until 2040 Member #5 would be elected 2032 and serve until 2042 Member #1 (new person) would be elected 2034 and serve until 2044 Member #2 (new person) would be elected 2036 and serve until 2046 Etc. - Initially, there would have to be some sort of interim system where Executive Committee members would either serve just partial terms, or would be temporary, placeholder Committee members until the first official election for that seat arrives. After 10 years the interim system would go away. - Committee is headed by a Chair chosen from one of the five Executive Committee members. The Chair has no special powers except to serve as a parliamentarian, organize agendas, attempt to broker disagreements among Committee members, and other administrative duties. - Chair must be elected by at least 3 of 5 members every 2 years, after newest member is sworn in after each election. Newly elected Committee members cannot be a Chair for 2 years after first election, and no person can be Chair for more than 4 consecutive years (non-consecutive Chair positions are OK). - No legislation can become law unless 3 of the 5 Committee members agree to sign it. Declarations of war must also be approved by at least 3 of 5 members (note: I’m open to making the latter 4 of 5). - Committee members must be a minimum of 40 years old at time of swearing in, and can be no older than 70 years old at time of swearing in (which means they can serve until 80 years of age). - Each Committee member provides policy guidance for precisely 3 Executive Branch departments (this is somewhat similar to the Vulcan Council where each of 7 ministers has control over one of the 7 ministries). After each election, the Committee decides among themselves which 3 departments each Committee member will have policy oversight over (at some point I imagine they might have to write some rules governing how they will decide this among themselves). Executive Branch Departments - There will be no more, and no less, than 15 Executive Branch departments. Initially they would be as follows (including official acronyms!): Defense Transportation Science, Energy and Environment ("SEE") Commerce, Trade and Statistics ("CTS") Education Housing Labor Social Services and Veteran Affairs (“SSVA”) Culture (Note: I’m thinking this would be something similar to the Vulcan Ministry of Thought) International Affairs Treasury Health Migration and Internal Security ("MIS") Federal Lands and Indigenous Affairs ("FLIA") Justice - Each department would be headed by a Director whose responsibility would be to provide administrative oversight of his or her department. The Director must get approval from the Executive Committee member who provides policy oversight for that department before implementing or enacting any new policies. In other words, the directing Executive Committee member tells the department Director what to do, but the department Director decides how to do it and organizes its implementation. The details specifying how the Executive Committee member and the Department Directors are to communicate policy and implementation between each other shall be specified in detail in an act of Congress, which must be renewed every 20 years. - The Executive Committee member who provides oversight of the International Affairs department would be the principal liaison to heads of state of other countries, likely in concert with the Director of the International Affairs department. - Each department Director must be at least 35 years of age, and no older than 75 years of age, at the beginning of their term. They will be appointed to 6-year terms, and can serve no more than 2 terms (which means that a Director appointed to a term at the age of 69 can only serve 1 term). - Initially, the terms of the department Directors shall be staggered every two years so that terms do not all turn over at the same time. The terms of #1 through #5 above shall all start on the same year. Two years later the terms of #6 through #10 shall start. And the terms of #11 through #15 shall start two years after that. Interim directors - who cannot be appointed to full terms - shall fill the Directors' positions for #6 through #15 until the formal terms start. So, similar to the Executive Committee, there would be an interim 6 year period at the start of this system. - Selection and appointment of a new department Director must be decided by at least 3 of 5 Committee members, and receive majority approval by the Assembly. - Executive Branch departments can be reorganized and renamed as desired, but should total 15 to ensure that each Executive Committee member has policy oversight of precisely 3 departments. Number of departments can be contracted to 10, or expanded to 20, or restored to 15, only by a 2/3 vote of each house of the Legislative Branch, and by 4 of 5 Committee members. - To reduce confusion and create a systematic hierarchy of divisions, each of the 15 departments listed above — and only the departments at that level — shall be called a “Department.” Every division below that shall be called a “Division.” Any division below that shall be called a “Bureau.” And any division below that shall be called a “Unit.” In other words the “Defense Department” would contain a “Division of the Navy” a “Division of the Army,” a “Division of the Air Force” and a “Division of the Marines.” Within each of those 4 divisions, any further divisions would be called a “Bureau,” and within each Bureau any further divisions would be called “Units.” Congress shall pass legislation to ensure that, across the Federal government, each “Department” would all be organized similarly, each “Division” would be organized similarly, each “Bureau” would be organized similarly, and each “Unit” would be organized similarly. This legislation shall be up for renewal every 30 years. Legislative Branch: The Legislative Branch shall contain 2 equal houses with different duties: An Assembly and a Senate. Assembly - Consists of 400 legislators who represent population-proportional districts, each of which shall be entirely contained within a state. - 200 elected in alternate 2-year cycles. That is, each term is 4 years. - Elections are held in the same election as Executive Committee elections. - Minimum age of legislators at swearing in is 30. Maximum age at swearing in is 76. This creates a de-facto term limit without creating explicit term limits. - Headed by a Speaker. - Districts re-drawn every 10 years after decennial census. Senate - Consists of Senators who represent Senate Districts, 2 from each District. Elections of Senators from each District may not occur in the same year. - Senate Districts are either the entirety of a state, sub-districts of a state, or agglomerations of multiple states. A state can be divided into no more than 4 Senate Districts, and a Senate District can contain no more than 4 states. The states contained within Senate Districts that contain multiple states must be adjoining, and each Senate district must be contiguous. - Senate Districts must either be entirely contained in a state, or contain the entirety of a state(s). - In other words, California might be divided into 4 Senate seats, Texas into 3 Senate seats, both the Dakotas and Nebraska together would be 1 Senate seat, Illinois would have 2 Senate seats, northern New England (ME, VT, NH, MA) might be 1 Senate seat, etc. Something like that. - The purpose of Senate Districts is to provide representation of entire states, groups of smaller, adjoining states, or sub-areas of large states, while balancing populations between the Districts at least somewhat. These are intended to be larger and more diverse districts than the Assembly. - The population difference between the largest and smallest Senate Districts can be no more than 200%. They shall be re-drawn every 20 years, at the same time as every other House of Legislators district’s redistricting. - Senate terms are 6 years in length. Minimum age of Senators at swearing in is 30. Maximum age at swearing in is 75. Again, this creates a de-facto term limit without creating explicit term limits. Redistricting of the Assembly shall be approved by 60% majority of the legislature of each state and signed by the governor of that state. Congress shall make a law governing rules for states to re-draw Assembly districts. This law shall be up for renewal every 30 years. Redistricting of the Senate must be approved by a 4/5 vote of the Executive Committee in existence at time the decennial census was completed, using alternate options drawn by the Department of Commerce, Trade and Statistics. In other words, some mapping personnel in CTS would draw several alternatives for each Senate district, then the Executive Committee would choose among the alternatives with a 4/5 vote. Each Senate seat would require a separate vote by the Executive Committee. Should the Senate districts prove impossible to be drawn using the rules above, either the boundaries of states shall be altered to accommodate conforming Senate Districts, or a unanimous vote among the 5 Executive Committee members will be required to allow an exception. Rules for the redrawing of state boundaries shall be specified in a law passed by congress and a 3/5 vote of the Executive Committee. Elections - Elections of federal offices shall occur in even-numbered years. - Elections of state and local offices shall occur in odd-numbered years. Duties of Assembly and Senate Any legislation may originate in either house and must be approved by majority vote of both houses. In the event of a tie in either house, a 4/5 vote of the Executive Committee shall override the tie in that house but still must receive majority vote in the other house. If there is a tie in both houses, a unanimous vote by the Executive Committee overrules the tie. Judicial Branch: The federal Judicial Branch shall consist of 3 layers of courts: District Courts, Appeals Courts and the Supreme Court. District and Appeals Courts shall be organized by geographical districts. The Supreme Court shall be a nationwide court. The Supreme Court shall consist of 11 members. The number of judges in each District and Appeals court district shall be determined by a law passed by congress and approved by the Executive Committee, and shall be renewed every 20 years. District Courts shall conduct trials of federal cases. Appeals Courts shall be the first avenue of appeal in cases tried in a District Court. The Supreme Court shall be the second and final avenue of appeal after a case has been heard in an Appeals Court. All federal cases involving a decision of guilt or innocence must first be heard by a District Court, then can proceed to an Appeals, then the Supreme, court. All cases involving a decision of constitutionality or interpretation of law must first be heard in an Appeals Court before it can proceed to the Supreme Court. No decisions can go directly to the Supreme Court without being heard by a lower Federal court first. The geographical districts of District Courts shall consist of contiguous groups of 20 House Districts. The geographical districts of Appeals Courts shall consist of contiguous groups of 10 Senate Districts. Court districts shall be re-drawn every 20 years, in opposite 20-year cycles as the re-drawing of Senate districts, under the same process as the re-drawing of Senate districts. Essentially, “re-drawing” here means deciding which 20 House districts each District Court shall represent, and which 10 Senate districts each Appeals Court shall represent. Judges shall be appointed to all federal courts for 20-year terms. Any judge can only serve 1 term at each court layer, though they can be appointed to other layers after their term is completed on a given layer. If a judge is appointed to a judgeship at another layer before their current term has expired at their current layer, they cannot be re-appointed to a judgeship at that current layer at any future date. Judges shall be selected by a 3/5 majority of the Executive Committee, and approved by a majority in the Senate. Any judge appointed to fill a vacancy which occurred prior to a judge's term being completed shall only be eligible to complete the term of the departed judge if they filled the vacancy less than halfway through the term of the departed judge. If they filled the vacancy at a point more than halfway through the term, they are eligible for a full term after the current term is finished. In other words, some judges could potentially serve 30 years for a certain judgeship, though that would probably be uncommon. Other Stuff National Purpose: The purpose of the nation shall be to create conditions optimal for individuals to seek, exercise and maximize personal material well-being, personal happiness, personal health, personal freedom, personal education and personal enlightenment while balancing the broader needs of society. The broader needs of society includes allowing some societal restraints on personal excesses that may impede others from seeking their personal goals, and to ensure the welfare, health and safety of individuals and the nation as a whole. The aim will be to create a nation of happy, educated, prosperous and enlightened individuals. National motto: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, but the one’s happiness, prosperity and freedom is paramount.” Miscellaneous: K-12 education shall be compulsory. (WARNING!!! NERD ALERT!!!!!!!) All units of measurement shall be in metric: Not just length, area, temperature and mass but time as well: A year shall consist of 10 months: Five of 36 days each and five of 37 days each. Leap years shall add one day to the first month that contains 36 days, and that shall be a working day. Weeks shall consist of 6 days in the months with 36 days. Each week shall include 2 weekend days and 4 work days. In the months with 37 days, an extra weekend day shall be added to the last weekend of the month, otherwise, they too shall consist of weeks with 6 days. Every day shall have 10 hours; every hour shall have 100 minutes and every minute shall have 100 seconds. I said this was an ultra-rational system!!!! :-D Due to the short weeks and generous proportion of weekend days, there shall be no more than 5 national holidays. There would be an independent Central Reserve Bank. It would be headed by a Chair appointed to a 8-year term. It would be divided into regional banks, each headed by a President. There would be 6 regional banks, divided up into regions roughly equal in population. The Chair and the 6 Presidents would meet every other month to discuss monetary policy. The Chair and Presidents would be selected by at least 3 of 5 Executive Committee members, and approved by a majority vote of the Assembly. It’s tempting to call this Central Reserve Bank system a 4th branch of government — because, like the current US Federal Reserve, it almost is. As I noted in the outset, I’m not going to describe any rights or anything like that, but I’m imagining it would be the 2nd part of a constitution, and would consist of a list of rights, and a list of privileges, and also describe exactly what is meant by “right” and “privilege.” Let me know what you think! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/12/12/2291319/-My-idea-for-an-ideal-ultra-rational-national-governmental-organization?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/