Blue3
Starwatcher
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« on: July 05, 2018, 12:59:44 AM » |
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« edited: July 05, 2018, 02:16:59 AM by Blue3 »
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The countries of the world, after some big event, decide to form a global government (and would extend to any future space colonies). It wouldn't be like the UN, it would be a strong government, truly a single country.
And let's just say the international power balance and internal politics of these countries heading into this constitutional convention are the same or very similar to the present... it's just that something happened to change most people's minds on this one subject.
(Ex: discovery of an advanced alien civilization in the Alpha Centauri star system next-door, even if it doesn't seem to pose a threat to us in the meantime, nor will it trade with us or give us any tech, we just know they exist and we can talk with them even if they don't won't to say much).
The task falls to you (and some 200-300 other delegates from all the various countries, demographics, organizations) to write a World Constitution.
It has the following requirements:
1. it must be at least somewhat democratic... democratic enough to be acceptable by most of the people (this is just a minimum, just using this as one of the guidelines for your ideas). There also must be some kind of Bill of Rights or Declaration of Human Rights included in the constitution.
2. it must keep the peace, establish justice, and prevent civil-wars/revolutions/coups/separatism/crime/anarchy/ethnic-violence/religious-fundamentalist-violence/ideological-violence/terrorism
3. while all countries really want a strong democratic world government to come out of this convention, it can't be too weird, or too radical, or too unfairly de-powering to the people of a country (especially a powerful country), because they'll still need to sign onto it.
4. it's meant to truly be a single country... immigration and tariffs and customs are no longer going to be a concept since there will be freedom of movement... there's going to be one set of laws (one national tax code, one healthcare system, one social security/retirement system, one minimum wage for the whole country/world, one set of national environmental standards, one set of national labor standards, one set of national consumer protection standards, etc.), there's going to be one set of national education curriculum standards (whether it's strict or loose), there's going to be just a few official languages for the entire globe (probably a max of 3-5) for all official government things from documents to ballots to street signs to be printed in... etc. Get the entire world onto the same level playing field. Lifting up the undeveloped areas is meant to be a temporary endeavor, it's thought we can get every area in the world as developed as, say, current suburban USA, within 50 years max if not sooner.
So, how would you design a constitution that meets these requirements and leads to a functioning single country that stays unified, stable, and at least somewhat democratic enough to be acceptable by the people?
Some questions to perhaps ponder before designing...
1. Would something like an Electoral College or Senate be required, to appease the people in the US/EU/etc. who are afraid that China+India+Indonesia would have too much sway if the country was just perfectly democratic with one-person=one-vote ? Or do you think that wouldn't be a concern after the world has transitioned to this government?
2. While it will probably need sub-units for governance (governors, mayors, etc.), though that's not required... should those sub-units have rights (like states' rights in the USA under a federal system, especially before the Civil War), or should they just have the power that the national government decides to delegate to them (like the UK, under a unitary system?)
3. Would the people demand that they be able to elect the chief executive of the government directly (like a simple-majority-vote presidential system), or would they all be able to accept a more parliamentary system? Or would there be more than one chief executive (for example: a triumvirate... or an elected cabinet where each minister or department secretary has a specific unique function with no constitutional leader among them, and they just form an Executive Council for issues that cross multiple departments'/ministries' domains?).
4. What would the 3-5 official languages be? Would it become mandatory in the national education curriculum that everyone learn at least 1 of these languages in addition, or all 3 or all 4 or all 5? Which languages would you pick (Spanish, English, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese, Indonesian, Italian, Dutch, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, German, Malay, Tagalog/Filipino, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu, Farsi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Turkish, Berber, Hausa, Yoruba, Swahili, Latin, Esperanto)? How strict would you make the national education system? Would you make the metric system the global system of weights and measurements, or have it dual?
5. What type of economic system would be written into the constitution? More libertarian, or more social-democratic, or more like Russian/Chinese-style capitalism, or just silent on the subject so the legislature has flexibility over time?
6. What would be the criteria for amending the constitution? Would it be high enough to prevent a single demographic or two from potentially controlling everything and becoming dominant to game the system? Would it be low enough for amendments to be possible if desperately needed?
7. Would your legislature be unicameral, bicameral, tricameral, quadcameral? And how are they different? Or is there just an elected constitutional monarch who legislates as well as executes? Is there a direct democracy, or referendum, component? Besides based on population or based on land, perhaps one or more houses of the legislature are based on DNA haplogroups/ancestry groups of about equal population (so you have the same rep. wherever you move)... Or based on major demographics such as a Senator for all disabled people and a senator for all jewish people and a senator for all serbian people and a senator for all atheists and a senator for all gay people and a senator for all black people, etc.
8. How would you prevent ethnic conflict and separatism and religious fundamentalists and ideological radicals from seizing control of an area or all government, but keeping the military subservient to prevent any military coups or the military as an unchecked power? Also, what would be the rules for the military, in a world where everyone is a citizen?
9. What does the judiciary look like? If there's a Supreme Court, what's its role, and how are its members chosen? What does a civil trial look like? What does a criminal trial look like? Are there juries and judges or something "better"? More like common law or civil law?
10. What's the legal status of parties, are they written into the constitution, or are they allowed but the rules are left to the legislature and the parties since they aren't explicitly mentioned or constitutionally required (like in the US). Do citizens in this country vote for the party, or for the individual? Also, what about campaign funding regulations?
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