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Hashemite
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Atlas Superstar
Posts: 32,409
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« on: July 25, 2009, 12:29:17 PM » |
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My wet dream:
A federal republic based on federalism in Spain, Canada, US or even Germany (or, also Scotland/Wales devolution). Redraw regions to make real regions: get rid of regions which are entirely artificial Parisian bureaucrat's creation (aka, get rid of Pays-de-la-Loire among others) and create new regions which mean something (a Region Savoie, a unified Bretagne, a unified Normandie, Poitou including historically Poitevin Vendee).
Each region would have a directly elected (PR or MMP, maybe the Scottish system) unicameral legislature with tax-raising powers, healthcare, education, transport, internal policing and security (like Canadian provinces or the states). Each region would have a Premier from the largest coalition or party, whatever the case may be. Region Bretagne, Alsace, Corse, Aquitaine should have powers over regional languages, as should regions where the Occitan language is important.
Abolish departments and general councils, they'd be useless redundancies. Keep them if you want as purely administrative and statistical entities, like the current arrondissements in France and the city of Marseille. Transfer their competences (departmental roads, RSA) to the regions.
Local government should be organized clearly and elections to local government should be done under a MMP system to give local neighborhoods a representative but keep a proportional (a real one, no 50% majority bonus crap) system somewhere in it. Encourage all communities to organize into agglomerations (communautes de communes). The Greater Paris agglomeration could double up as a full-scale region like Normandie, Corse, Savoie etc.
The Senate should be a chamber of regions, similar to the Mexican/American Senate. That is, equal representation between the regions. Something like 10 Senators by region, but all equal. Elect them via full PR.
The National Assembly should be based on populations and elected via the German system. Non-gerrymandered districts and the rest of the seats being via PR, either 3% or 5% threshold.
Senate and National Assembly should have equal powers. They would meet in Congress as they currently do. They would have powers over foreign affairs, national finances, some aspects of transportation, agriculture and fisheries, defense, environment, immigration, public security. The Prime Minister would be head of government.
The President should be a relatively powerless head of state. This would be a federal parliamentary republic.
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