What would your ideal form of government look like?

[TNF]

How would you organize the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government? Would your ideal form of government be unitary, federal, or some other kind of arrangement? Would it be parliamentary, Presidential, or semi-Presidential? How would it be elected, and how often? What else would you include, and how would your ideal form of government look?

[New_Conservative]

In general, I think our federal system is the best way to go. I like the idea of a semi-presidential system, where the President's cabinet is responsible to the legislature. I like the legislative branch consisting of a lower house and a upper house, and I would increase the lower house's term length from 2 years to 4 years.  I would enforce a 3 term limit in the House of Representatives and the Senate. All congressional and local districts should be drawn by an independent commission to prevent gerrymandering. President is elected every 4 years, with the 2 term limit still enforced.

[Blue3]

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=171966.msg3689470#msg3689470










What, to you, is the ideal form and structure of government?





To give you some ideas...


1. Does your ideal form of government have a constitution? If it does, what absolutely must be included in it for you?

2. Is it a representative democracy or a direct democracy, or benevolent monarchy, or an elected and constitutionally-limited liberal monarchy, or a military police state dictatorship?

3.  Is it fascist, corporatist, feudal, capitalist, mercantilist, socialist, or communist?

4.  Is it federal or unitary or confederate?

5. Is it parliamentary, or presidential with checks and balances and a separation of powers?

6.  Is there a unitary executive, or two co-presidents for executives, or perhaps a triumvirate of executives, or some other number? Perhaps a cabinet elected on the national scale?

7. How many lawmakers are there? One? Five? Or does each state/province/district get an equal number? Or does each state/province/district get a number based on their population?
Or perhaps lawmakers are chosen based on recognized demographics instead of a people in a particular territory (ex: a national representative for all blacks, a national representative for all whites, a national representative for all jews, a national representative for all atheists, a national representative for all women, a national representative for all those disabled, etc.)?

8. If there is body of lawmakers, is it unicameral or bicameral or tricameral?

9. Are lawmakers and executives and judges appointed or elected, how are they appointed/elected, who appoints/elects them? If people vote them in, what are the qualifications to be a voter, or is there universal suffrage? Are there term limits?

10. Is there freedom of religion and separation of church and state, or is it some form of theocracy?

11. Is there freedom for an independent media, and for freedom of speech/movement/assembly/petition?

12. Is there civilian control of the military?

13. What is the legal status of political parties, are more than one allowed?

14. If there are democratic elections, are they publically-funded?

15. Is there a respected right to Privacy, and a respected Due Process of law? Protection from torture? Protection from the Death penalty? Protection from Slavery and other involuntary servitude? Protection from Discrimination in the workplace, housing, marriage, adoption, medical treatment, etc.?

16. How much influence does government have in areas like social security, housing/shelter, food, healthcare, education, childcare, infrastructure, resource/environmental management, working conditions and wages, consumer protection, job creation, etc.?

17. What is the tax structure like?

18. Is one component of society valued over another? (examples: Educated over Uneducated, Rich over Poor, Property-owners over non-property-owners, Majority over Minorities, one Gender over the other, Straight over Gay, Old over Young, Able over Disabled, one Race/Ethnicity/Territory over the others, or certain Families/Bloodlines over the others, etc.)



Etc.

These questions are just to get you thinking.




(Or is there no ideal government... and the ideal actually is when government is deemed no longer necessary, and abolished?)

[TNF]

Thank you for cross-posting that here, Starwatcher.

[bedstuy]

I don't think it's really possible to answer in the abstract.  Government depends on the civil society, social relations, economy and the collective will of the people who establish the government.  The perfect government for 18th century Americans is not the perfect government for 21st century Americans and the perfect government for 21st century Americans is not the perfect government for 21st century Swedes. 

And, moreover, I don't really think I know enough to say what the ideal or perfect anything is.  Perfect is the enemy of the good.  It's ultimately a waste of time because we're suffering on account of a government that could be at least better. 

That said, there are a few must haves including respect for liberal values, freedom of speech, press and religion, respect for the rule of law, respect for private property and democracy.

[Illuminati Blood Drinker]

Absolute monarchy with me as Immortal God-Emperor

[Goldwater]

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The "ideal" government is one that is stateless, classless and with full equality of outcome; but that's more of an ultimate outcome rather than something that can be imposed at will.

At present? Four "layers" of government - the supranational, the national, the state and local. All elected every three years through STV.

I have no strong feelings about monarchy, beside the fact I don't want a particularly strong executive. An Irish style elected Presidency or, even more fun, go back to the Anglo-Saxon tradition of a Witenagemot-style assembly to "elect" a king.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

I'll do it like this.

1. Does your ideal form of government have a constitution? If it does, what absolutely must be included in it for you? No.

2. Is it a representative democracy or a direct democracy, or benevolent monarchy, or an elected and constitutionally-limited liberal monarchy, or a military police state dictatorship? Direct democracy would be closest. Essentially, it would be similar to a tribal system on extremely small levels.

3.  Is it fascist, corporatist, feudal, capitalist, mercantilist, socialist, or communist? Closest to pure communist.

4.  Is it federal or unitary or confederate? Closest to confederate.

5. Is it parliamentary, or presidential with checks and balances and a separation of powers? Neither.

6.  Is there a unitary executive, or two co-presidents for executives, or perhaps a triumvirate of executives, or some other number? Perhaps a cabinet elected on the national scale? Tribal leaders, again at very local levels.

7. How many lawmakers are there? One? Five? Or does each state/province/district get an equal number? Or does each state/province/district get a number based on their population?
Or perhaps lawmakers are chosen based on recognized demographics instead of a people in a particular territory (ex: a national representative for all blacks, a national representative for all whites, a national representative for all jews, a national representative for all atheists, a national representative for all women, a national representative for all those disabled, etc.)? The individual tribes would decide who their leader or leaders should be.

8. If there is body of lawmakers, is it unicameral or bicameral or tricameral? No.

9. Are lawmakers and executives and judges appointed or elected, how are they appointed/elected, who appoints/elects them? If people vote them in, what are the qualifications to be a voter, or is there universal suffrage? Are there term limits? No.

10. Is there freedom of religion and separation of church and state, or is it some form of theocracy? Complete freedom of religion (or lack thereof) within tribes.

11. Is there freedom for an independent media, and for freedom of speech/movement/assembly/petition? Yes.

12. Is there civilian control of the military? There is no military.

13. What is the legal status of political parties, are more than one allowed? No political parties.

14. If there are democratic elections, are they publically-funded? There aren't, so no.

15. Is there a respected right to Privacy, and a respected Due Process of law? Protection from torture? Protection from the Death penalty? Protection from Slavery and other involuntary servitude? Protection from Discrimination in the workplace, housing, marriage, adoption, medical treatment, etc.? Yes to AOTA

16. How much influence does government have in areas like social security, housing/shelter, food, healthcare, education, childcare, infrastructure, resource/environmental management, working conditions and wages, consumer protection, job creation, etc.? Essentially, programs like social security/medicare/medicaid/etc. wouldn't exist because the system of wealth would be, say, apples instead of a paper currency, rendering those types of programs useless. All healthcare, education and other similar needs would be taken care of by a group effort.

17. What is the tax structure like? No paper currency = no taxes.

18. Is one component of society valued over another? (examples: Educated over Uneducated, Rich over Poor, Property-owners over non-property-owners, Majority over Minorities, one Gender over the other, Straight over Gay, Old over Young, Able over Disabled, one Race/Ethnicity/Territory over the others, or certain Families/Bloodlines over the others, etc.) Absolutely not.

Kudos to Starwatcher for these.

Also, I'd like to echo this:

The "ideal" government is one that is stateless, classless and with full equality of outcome; but that's more of an ultimate outcome rather than something that can be imposed at will.

[Simfan34]

I once had a thread about this. We start with functional constituencies and secret police.