User:Average/World Constitution

With the critique of bourgeois society, the failure of existing institutions to enforce their basic values, and the breakage of the United States during the 2000 election, a New Constitution is the best hope for setting the world's use of power in line with it`s human members. See the page on leadership to understand why the continuance of the State may superior than dissolution of it. It also fulfills secular and religious prophesies for fulfilling the law. This was an important omission during the revolution(s) of the 60s and why it failed to bring real change. Subsuming and transcending both the conservative and liberal agendas, let's make a New World Order!!! Yay! ;^>

Foundations

The Foundation is the common core that every human can agree on and the edifice on which everything else is built. Within the civic sphere, two pillars have stood the test of time:

• Liberty
• Justice

These are two ideals exist in tension with each other. Without the latter you have anarchy and without the former, oppression. They form the perfect foundation for a virtuous world government.

Note that capitalism is not mentioned, nor science, nor church. The Constitution stands apart from both economic systems and belief systems and is a system of order, not beliefs. If there is an implicit set of beliefs, it is encoded completely in the two pillars.

Separation of Power

The foundations are secured by separating power into three domains which check and balance each other.

• Executive: elected office which enforces the Law.
• Legislative: civil domain with writes Law.
• Judicial: filled by the elected office and fulfills the spirit or intentions of the Law, not the letter of it.
• the Press: an unoffical, but necessary component for a working government.

Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the above. Click on each link and you'll find a complete plan to scale to the world. In a distrustful, pathological system, a clerk can also serve as a mediating force with no actual powers, but the power of sharing knowledge between all three branches and acting as a go-between. The Press plus the engagement of the People should do this.

The People are the final say, but the foregoing represents the best of any Political Science, any where. For example, see the new voting model. That plus shorter terms (see info under Executive) can be started at your next election and solve 80% of your political problems within about 5 years. The constitution proposed above is for a society that will foster and elevate wisdom and general prosperity rather than compete for Least Competent and consume resources. Perhaps you're into that.

Just like the original constitution was designed, these scale to every level (called "districts"): city, county (where domains of property and land use preside), state (domain of commerce), and nation (higher visions). It can even be adapted to govern intergalactic federations. This, by the way, was one of the tidbits of wisdom in the U.S. Constitution that Mexico and others southwards of the US needed to prevent the chaos that rules there presently: it`s ability to scale.

If one wants to form a town, theoretically one can call oneself the Mayor, institute Constitutional Rules as described here, sending or preparing your city's Notice of Incorporation to the next level up (executive or judicial), appointing your Judge, and start the election cycle from there. This is called a "municipality". For those who reside in rural areas, their district is the county.

Miscellanea

Some of this is just a STUB. These are rules that assist all three branches OR are listed as a proto-law for remediation of pre-existing inadequacies:

• Picture ID Cards should be issued at the city level by the Executive. It should be designed by the Legislative. Each change must pass the Judicial for approval that they meet requirements of legal instruments and be good for education, voting, public library and be good for driving a car (a checkbox that says you have been cleared for use of vehicle). If they're participating in the Legislature, a sticker with the year can be placed upon it. Executives can have their title ("Mayor", etc.) typed onto the card. This solves transient and immigration problems as each municipality can set policy for issuing IDs (giving power of citizenship). Cards should have 4 or 5-year expiration.
• District colors/insignia: Two colors should be chosen for each city, to be printed on their ID card. Higher levels can add a color or choose some combination of all lower colors. But aim for colors that are different and distinguishable between districts, such that there is a unique set among every branch and district. Keep in mind a ordered trend towards the pre-existing national flag, if it is acceptible.
• Elections. Legislature performs elections, Judicial oversee process and give deciding vote, if necessary, and of course Executive gets elected. Any registered citizen (has ID card from municipality) can vote. Each citizen gets only one residence where they can receive an ID to get voting rights. This promotes commitment to one's community and does not give more power to propertied others. Can vote from age 16, but should be decided by municipality. Voting occurs through fractional voting method. Tokens are pushed through two slots "FOR" and ""AGAINST" for each candidate. Cardboard boxes can be used. Higher levels can fund the acquisitions of better voting equipment. Incumbent should always be asked if they wish to be on the next ballot. If you find your district having multiple ballots and multiple elections too much, your Executive is inadequate. Perfect form is one ballot for Executive leader and that is all, but not everyone is lucky enough to have good leaders. Learn how to make them.
• Filing for election: Persons interested in an Executive position should file at the city/county/etc. office, giving notice of interest. Individuals interested in being on the Bench do not have this option, but should be findable through their participation in the community.
• Election cycle: (Executive can resign earlier, upon approval of the Legislative to make sure that any loose ends are handled.) Municipality can decide start of election cycle, perhaps starting term on the date of the city/county/state/etc. founding. Voting should happen no more than one month prior, but aim for same-day and allow time-off from work.
• Courts can push cases back to the Executive if case load is excessive. Such a situation indicates poor districting (too much population in one incorporated city) or inadequate leadership.
• Districting should follow city/county/state/nation and world boundaries. If your city is too big for a single elected leader to handle things , break it up. Focus on city/cultural centers with public buildings that can be used for the purpose. Issues like public transportation which cross city lines should be handled by county governments or whatever level incorporates all stakeholders. City police can enforce higher-level laws and higher-level police can enforce a lower-level law, but must be willing to defend it in the lower court. Such legal boundaries can be decided by the Judge of the next level up or failing unanimity there, the Legislature of that level can decide on a simple majority, documented and recorded for the Judge.
• Cities can lose their incorporation (and benefits from higher-level government) if they don't keep separation of power and three branches of government. Until new voting methods are installed, it is wisest to keep a four-year term for judges which the Executive can appoint permanently upon establishing new voting method. Remember, judges must work out the payments of their own branch and legislators are volunteers. Executives work out payment of employees from their own sales tax revenues. Funding should not be an issue.
• Offices of each Branch should open to residents. Consider a community center located in the center of the district for legislative issues to facilitate equal participation (like member cities in a county). For executive, something near the commercial or classic (not geographic) city-center, and the Judicial, something located elsewhere (University district?).
• Official Currency, made of precious metal, and with common denominations shall be freely trade-able across all borders. Each country can decide what image they wish to feature on their coinage. Executive prints, Legislative designs, and Judicial decides fraudulent use of monies.
• Holding facilities (Prisons): A sign of a dysfunctional society. Executive uses, Legislative designs, and Judicial oversees such facilities. It is suggested that incarceration is not a sufficient response, except in the case of temporary volatility, due to alcohol or drugs, at the request of another citizen who is willing to be held responsible for it. In the case of heated arguments or altercation where drugs are not a significant factor, a Judge (from any municipality) can and should step in to avoid damage to the community and assert himself/herself to the face of the community.
• Fair Trial: It's up to the Executive to ensure that a notice is sent to the Judicial upon receipt or incarceration of any person to a holding facility that has broken a law set by the Legislative. Without a trespass of the law (an official charge), there is no legitimacy of holding another citizen (it violates the two pillars). If there is no Executive in office, citizens should not be detained in any official manner and keys given to the Judge. In the case of an outside (or rogue) state, there is no statute. Officials will have to be held accountable in time.

• Emergency Elections can be held at the order of the Judicial Branch and don't have to fall on the decided election date. KEEP Emergency elections terms last to the next election date and incumbents are re-electable. At such time, all positions lower down the chain should also be considered for being filled. If this is the city level, the Legislative should approve with a quorum of 2.
• News Press: a citizen (non-governmental: private or held publicly) Press should exist at each governmental level: city/county/state/nation and can compete for viewership and business revenue. The world government continues the Press and its Freedom, where it is essential for the fully functioning Republic. They should aim for monthly reports on district revenue and expenses on sales taxes, yearly for income receipts and expenses, as well as report on legislative participation rewards (ID endorsements), and notices or birth, and "What's new in the Executive Branch?". Perhaps a weekly column if they want to write it themselves.
• Libraries: Public libraries equalize access to knowledge and assist skill-development for the economy. They should be funded by legislative revenues and led by the executive branches.
• Public facilities: An oversight committee composed of interested legislative members and the executive can decide management of ongoing functions, such as the library, physical assets like building maintenance, utilities. Power and authority remains as described in the World Constitution. If there is an impasse between Executive and Legislative, the district loses it elected representative. In the case of Legislative and Judicial, the final say is decided by Judicial. Remember it's already been touched by the Executive also. Between Judicial and Executive, one can ask for guidance from higher-levels of government to resolve, but generally, there should be no true impasse, only a temporary disgruntlement (temporary because it's due to ignorance or lack of resources, both correctable in time).
• This plan is designed to be coupled economic reform to create a dynamic of greater citizen participation.
• Local businesses can give discounts for endorsements of their choosing for civil service.
• Jurisdiction: In the event of a citation or dispute of citizens in two different municipalities, the issuer making the citation must take the case and pay the defendant for travel and time if found innocent. This ensures that Executives are on top of their police force (and not being trigger-happy). This also
• Correspondence: Each Executive Office should have a .gov Internet domain, and receive mail and email as well as be a source for official correspondence. Mail items addressed only to City, should arrive to Mayor`s office (although possibly suspicious). Server should be maintained by local business or students. Executive should have staff member ("clerk") dedicated to announcing events to press, community mailing lists, and filing records for all activities in the Branch and paid with by sales tax revenue.
• If weapons are allowed, Executives must deputize each enforcement officer carrying a firearm and take responsibility for their use.
• MOVE: XXXJudicial Appointments: The Executive can only appoint up to 1 judge per contiguous term. Otherwise, it can be appointed by an Executive up the chain or stay vacant.
• If income taxes are collected, it should be done at a flat rate to make it easy for constituents, minus some reasonable (neither punitive nor promotional) allocation for dependencies. TRANSITIONAL. Should not be a permanent allowance.
• Regarding estate taxes, possessions can be passed down to family members without tax, but upon sale, regular sales taxes should apply. Because of failures of the US, this may be inadequate for resolution of history. But keep in mind, people have no right to something they didn't create or trade honorably with those who did.
• CHECK AND INTEGRATE: Sales tax selected by Legislative and collected by Executive. All goods that are not bartered are subject to sales tax, including physical goods bought on the Internet. Taxes should probably not apply on precious metals and should not belong to individuals. Sales taxes should help pay for roads since physical goods generally depend on them.
• Separation of Power. The Executive and Judicial branches generally should not consult each other directly (see Clerk role below, however) regarding any case or policy within their domain of governance, unless mediated by the public. This is not law, only an obligation to the public: you deprive your citizens participation and learning. This is more important, the higher up you go, so it may be prudent, for example, to set your Court on a different part of town (under review), than your executive offices and legislative towards the center so everyone can participate equally (is the idea). Activities occurring higher-up the chain are fine.
• There is one special role between the three branches: the district (city/county/etc) clerk. This role acts as a liaison between branches when their is a need to resolve official duties, like payment of fines. The clerk has no power (nor, ultimately, responsibility for resolution), but acts solely as go-between. For example, the court may decide that the fines set by the executive and legislative are excessive or inadequate. The Court can contact the Clerk for resolution between Executive and Legislative Branches.
• If spending on a project is going to extend past an election term, the Legislature can call for a ballot with simple majority.
• Badges. Executives should have a badge, and Judges should have a (ruby) ring as signifier of their position. Badges should start as a three-pointed star (3 branches of government) and deputized Police should have smaller versions of the Executive badge showing their affiliation with same. Higher-level Executive Branches get more points on their star, up to 7 at World Government. Executives can keep their title on their card until next expiration. Judges can keep their rings after serving on the Bench, but cannot wear them except if elected as Executive or unless asked by someone in the Judicial Branch for an official function. This is a preliminary sketch, and should be fleshed out more. Those participating in the Legislative get endorsements on their ID card. After 5 years of service a permanent signifier on their card. The Executive office should get a record of each participant for each year, to get a sense of who's participating in their government. Judges should be named in the public hallway of the courtroom.
• Civil Service tax exemption. Public officials do not have to pay taxes for income earned for being a civil servant (in service to the functions of government), as long as their wages are available on the public record.