I'd be open to a making a lot of adjustments and restructuring things if given good advice, but...
What type of government would you establish?
I would establish a constitutional republic with a cautious, Madisonian tendency to install rigorous checks and balances between five, limited branches of government in a semi-presidential system: legislative, executive, judicial, investigative, and popular. The Constitution would obviously have a number of stipulations – including a provision of entitlements for the people that would mostly be in line with (though probably reworded a bit from) the International Bill of Human Rights.
The legislative branch would be bicameral. The first chamber, a Covenant of Wisards, would consist of a hundred representatives elected by AV with a quarter of the seats apiece reserved for natural scientists, social scientists, engineers, and a jumbled mix of artists, historians, theologians, and philosophers. Being a technocratic body, suffrage would be extended only for citizens who have received a Bachelor’s Degree or greater relevant to the section or sections of academic focus to which they want to elect candidates. Whizzes would get titles as honorifics and an indication of their exceptional abilities to lead and provide for the people in accordance to the rights and duties outlined in the Constitution. Meanwhile, The People’s Assembly will be an aristocratic institution consisting of 400 representatives selected via PR and AV since there would be a 2.5% threshold. Suffrage is universal, i.e. all who are of at least fourteen years of age and six months of residence.
The executive branch would be headed by a Presidium of five figures. Among them: a Vice President in reserve in case one of the others die or are otherwise incapacitated in office would be appointed by a simple majority vote by the Supreme Court; three more Presidents who must share the powers of head of government would be elected via PR, the AV, and the same standards of suffrage used in elections for the People’s Assembly; and a Sovereign (ceremonial head of state with limited powers that overlap somewhat with the heads of government) would be selected by the highest labour council via a process of their choosing. During procedural deadlocks there would be provisions for the Veep to step in and side with one faction or another to get things moving again. The Presidium would have control over several departments responsible for fleshing out the fine details of enacted legislation and then both implementing and enforcing it, and also command the all-volunteer armed forces – consisting of the distinct Land Corps, Sea Corps, and Sky Corps.
The judicial branch would embrace a system of civil law and consist of a Constitutional Court capable of proactively striking down legislation and nullifying executive actions and whose five judges are appointed by the highest labour council via a process of its choosing and approved by the People’s Congress, a Supreme Court consisting of seven justices appointed by the Presidium and approved by the Covenant of Wisards for settling appeals, and however many lesser courts are needed to handle the island’s caseload. The judges to serve in the lesser courts shall be selected by those labour councils that operate within the courts’ respective territorial jurisdictions without national-level interference. I'm not savvy with this sort of stuff so I'd want a lot of input.
The investigative branch is responsible for coordinating government-authorized research and managing all three tiers of public education. It also coordinates with think tanks, runs polls, and carries out independent studies so as to provide other branches of government with whatever information (including foreign intelligence) is needed for leaders to make well-informed decisions. This also is applicable to the masses themselves, for whom the investigative branch is to provide public news broadcasts, educational programming, and election coverage that is as objective, balanced, honest, and transparent as reasonably possible. It also is responsible for running libraries and museums, preserving monuments and cultural heritage sites, and making openly available for public viewing government documents that are not currently (yet still only temporarily) classified to protect personnel from short-term security threats. This branch must adhere to the stipulations of legislation and the Constitution but is to be largely independent from other branches of government – being run by academians from within the public education system.
Finally, the popular branch exists as a grassroots, democratic institution for conveying the people’s concerns to officials, regulating political parties and levying a slush fund to allot equitably to candidates running for office depending on the public office being contested, and helping various organizations negotiate and/or voluntarily coordinate their efforts on a multitude of private concerns (e.g. churches, non-profit groups, chambers of commerce, labour unions, and so forth). It is loosely organized as an intertwined multitude of labour councils (aka “soviets”). Some might have members elected by the workers who serve in cooperatives, whereas others could be voluntarily organized groups of people with a wide variety of different agendas. Above all else, the purpose of these councils is to encourage fluidity of information, facilitate social networking, and better hold governing institutions accountable. Regulations would have to exist for who can vote in which instances, settle on procedural matters, and arrange councils into tiers of representatives depending on how active or passive people want to become in getting involved with social affairs.
Since the country is too small for a proper federalist system, the councils would probably be afforded a lot of leeway to satisfy legislative and executive functions for sub-administrative districts and townships on the island (though they’d still be restrained by the Constitution).
My first act would be to relinquish ownership of the island in exchange for being one of the principal architects in creating the new system of government. After a single term serving in office I would either seek election if my approval rating was over 60% or otherwise abdicate and turn my attention to trying to secure a much humbler post in one of the labour councils.
What policies would you like to see instituted?
- Nationalize the oil industry and pass protectionist measures to shield weak, fledgling industries.
- Strategically invest in basic infrastructure, health services, education, and anti-poverty programs.
- Do not seek a universal, social democratic welfare regime until more developed, economically.
- Promote conservation, eco-tourism, and economic diversification to stave off long-term problems.
- Fiscal restraint now causes less misery than being an indebted prison [Inks] for the IMF later on.
- Prioritize process quality and anti-corruption measures over achieving decisive political results.
- Minimize the armed forces and have them work with labour council volunteers on security issues.
- Adjust constitutional provisions to keep the threat of any one body consolidating power minimal.
- Work with the councils to request volunteers if the state is struggling to fully finance programs.
- Strive to keep the political culture secular, non-violent, and pluralistic – even if it means I lose big.
- Establish a system of market socialism or settle for a more mixed economy if that gets unpopular.
- Tax with the dual intent to raise revenue and reduce disparities of opportunity among the people.
Personal titles of "Mr.," Mrs.," and "Ms." would also be replaced with "Com." as a symbolic gesture.
What relations would you have with other nations?
Relations in all instances would be cordial but rhetorical pressure would be put on other countries when they do not live up to the high standards set in our own Constitution for our government to abide by. Trade would be sought with any regime willing to negotiate mutually-beneficial terms (i.e. trade that is fair but not necessarily "free"). Steps would be taken to join a variety of organizations (e.g., the Association of Caribbean States), and I would attempt to direct diplomatic efforts toward a strategy of dealing mainly with North American, South American, and European countries without becoming dependent on the goodwill of any of them in particular in areas of trade or national security. I would avoid war but, for conflicts abroad, I’d choose sides to voice opposition to without making material contributions because of the island’s priorities and very limited means. I would also want my party to develop strong ties with Socialist International and the FSP. I would also move to provide some public funding for labour councils that plan to organize humanitarian aid for other nations. Otherwise, however, I'd need to build up my own nation first before helping others.
