Design a Government

[FoxtrotZero]

This thread has a purpose, but that is currently masked.

Design, in detail, your own government. Feel free to criticize other people's governments. I reccomend wikipedia as a reliable source.

[FoxtrotZero]

The Phoenix Magistrate is seperate from the Phoenix Federation
The Phoenix Magistrate is a Constitutional Multiparliamentary Technocracy. It is partially socialist in that many affairs are either governmentally-controlled or -overseen.

The People directly vote for the Parliaments of each Magistrate, with each magistrate being comprised of a parliament of fourteen ministers and one prime minister. The exception is the Judicial Parliament, which is comprised of fifteen ministers, but has no prime minister, instead having a speaker.

>> Judiciary Magistrate
The Judiciary Magistrate is, first and foremost, the highest court of the realm. It is tasked with overseeing the other magistrates. Prime Ministers must be approved by both their respective magistrate as well as the Judiciary Magistrate. Candidates for a Magistrate's Parliament are subject to the review of the Judiciary Magistrate before they can be accepted into public elections. The Judiciary Magistrate does not have a Prime Minister, but instead has a speaker; This is because, unlike the other Magistrates, no one minister leads the Magistrate, but a single minister must be present at councils to voice and oversee. The Speaker of the Judiciary Magistrate is often seen as the head of government.
>> Military Magistrate
The Military Magistrate is solely responsible for defence and military capacity of the government. The Magistrate has the right to act autonomously in the name of defence. To elaborate, if being attacked, the Military is expected to react. The Military can attack in the name of defence, but this is subject to review by the Judiciary Magistrate. An act that cannot be justified in the name of defence (for example, without reason to suspect an impending threat or the proposed movement of a large enough force) is considered an act of war, and must be authorized by direct vote of the people.
>> Industrial Magistrate
The Industrial Magistrate is tasked with the oversight of production and research, both government-sponsored and private-sector. It is also tasked with the regulation of the acquisition of raw materials (mining ores, foresting, harvesting deuterium, etc.), which is rather strictly controlled, and the operation of utilities (power, water, etc.) which are solely government-operated.
>> Social Magistrate
The Social Magistrate is responsible for the administration and operation of emergency services (police, fire, medical, etc.) as well as the administration and operation of medical facilities. Additionally, the Social Magistrate is responsible for clearing various drugs for public consumption, with strict standards. The Social Magistrate is also responsible for maintaining the court system, which is capable of enforcing and administering the law, but not interpreting or passing modifications to the law, which is reserved expressly for the judiciary magistrate.
>> Economic Magistrate
The Economic Magistrate is, first and foremost, responsible for the management of government funds; acquisition (i.e., via taxes and tariffs) and distribution (a highly complex, balanced, and overseen system). It is also responsible for the administration and oversight of banks; the government is expressly forbidden to operate banks, but is tasked with the strict administration of banks in the interest of fairness.
>> Agricultural Magistrate
The Agricultural Magistrate is responsible for the administration and oversight of the production and distribution of foodstuffs; the administration of government farms, and the oversight of privately-owned farms, as well as quality control over any goods, ensuring only safe products make it to public consumption.

[Qwerty]

Totalitarian rule with me at the head.

In all seriousness, though, probably something somewhat similar to the US government, but with less pointless bureaucracy, direct voting on more issues. and a few other tweaks and changes.

[GGoodie]

Jun 14, 2011 13:37:34 GMT Qwerty said:

direct voting on more issues

Direct voting in a country the size of the U.S.? Keep dreaming

[ganondorfchampin]

This post deleted due to being off topic. This is the Serious Debate Board.
--FoxtrotZero

[Qwerty]

If we can have a DMV system that accommodates so many people, then with the proper infrastructure we can have the ability to vote directly without it taking months.

[Rock]

This post deleted due to being off topic. This is the Serious Debate Board.
--FoxtrotZero

[ganondorfchampin]

This post deleted due to being off topic. This is the Serious Debate Board.
--FoxtrotZero

[Rock]

Okay, for real now. When I reviewed it, it was disturbingly similar to communism, however.

---

Okay, so the map of the country is this:



Navy Blue is the mainland, Blue is area conquered and added to the country, and the Light Blue are the colonies.

In this government, there is no money. Actually, there is a little, but very, very little, and it's use is frowned upon. If you are granted citizenship, you are granted apartment or 2 bed/1.5 bath house, depending on how well you did on your test. You never have to worry about your home again, it's free with citizenship. If you have a job, you are given a W#ID CARD, which grants you "free" food, the quality depending on your job and performance, and it's all linked to your genetic information, so stealing an identity is impossible. You only get a certain amount of food per day, which is determined again by your job, performance, but also your physical health. This will prevent starvation in the country. But wait-what if you have no job? This is where your money comes into play. Along with the W#ID CARD, you will be paid a small amount of money per year at your job. Something small, like 1/15 of what the pay would be here in America. This would be able to be used, along with the small amount of food you will be granted with the card, to provide for yourself and your family. This is how the citizens in our country would be taken care of.

We would take top priority in peacekeeping in the manor of preserving human life. We would develop robotic soldiers to battle for us and protect us, each of which would be able to be de-activated with the push of a button, should the enemy decide to try an use them against us. In that case, we would have a reserve human army as well, that would be treated as well as the higher-up rulers of the country. They would be trained using only the best equipment and supplies, and carry only the best weaponry.

Our judicial system would be similar to that of the United States, everyone, unless it's so obvious that the answer is about to rip your face off, is innocent until proven guilty. There would be no discrimination, as the convict would be masked and cloaked during the trial,And there would be a fixed punishment for each crime/offense, also to prevent discrimination.

So basically, the government plays a much larger role. There is some democracy, as you can vote for state officials and such, but the supreme position is basically set in stone unless about 90% of the country is against him/her. The leader would chose his successor, and if the public approved, he would follow the leader after his death or resignation. The government would control all essential services such as power and utilities, but free enterprise would still exist. The government would just be in control of how much the workers earned.

Since the nation stretches over many different biospheres, suiting the nation would have no problem supplying itself with all the food and raw materials it needs, so there would be no trade with other countries, as the country requires and wants no money. But, in the event a shortage should occur, we would be willing to trade with any other country.

And as for the rest, it would mainly replicate a modified version of the United States government, mainly the part where the government branches keep each other in check and stuff like that.

[priok]

This post deleted due to being off topic. This is the Serious Debate Board.
--FoxtrotZero

[GloveParty]

I'd have a republic like th eone we have now, except that taxation is a small flat percent for everyone, and the government is VERY small- i. e. it doesn't really do much except decide national issues, defend the country, and provide essential services etc.
Furthermore, the economy wouldn't be affected by the government- If a company is goign to fail, we don't spend billions bailing it out. We don't overtax busniesses, and they're pretty much just unaffected- the ecnonomy is basically freely going. There is no public insurance that takes billions and billions of dollars to uphold. instead, there ar e private insurance companies that don't have straitjcketing mold to it. like other companies, they have to compete for customers. However, the government still provides emergency servies, and healthcare. Also, on unions: They aren't banned, but there aren't a bunch of laws to force people to obey them. Unions have to do their own work.

[Qwerty]

My goodness, Rock, that DOES sound like communism. It solves problems, but only in as much as communism solved them. People would hate that system, especially after being used to this one. There's no way it would work.

So, if a company is going to fail we don't spend billions bailing it out, sure... but what if it's doing well? Too well? Getting a monopoly? Overpricing items after they have one? Mistreating workers? Unfairly hiring based on race/whatnot? Laissez faire is fine to a point but at some point the government has to intervene.

[ganondorfchampin]

Okay, a serious one now.

Neo-Socialism: First things first, money still exists, but all money is comes from the government and ultimately returns to the government. Everyone is given the necessary things in order to live from the government, but if they want extra they have to buy from the gov't. People get money by selling goods or services to the government, or to other people once a sufficient amount of money enters the economy. The government is government by a council made of 3 sub-councils: people who have taken a governmental career path, people elected by the people, and the Neo-royalty. The 3 councils work together to create committees, and reorganizing committees as needed. The committees are the people who actually do stuff, such as setting up lesser committees, setting the prices for stuff, deciding how much of something should be bought by the government, deciding what should be distributed to what people based on their needs, and setting up education systems, police forces, and other necessary services.

[Qwerty]

I'm surprised to say that of these, MP's appeals to me the most.

[Rock]

Jun 15, 2011 13:47:29 GMT Qwerty said:

My goodness, Rock, that DOES sound like communism. It solves problems, but only in as much as communism solved them. People would hate that system, especially after being used to this one. There's no way it would work.

So, if a company is going to fail we don't spend billions bailing it out, sure... but what if it's doing well? Too well? Getting a monopoly? Overpricing items after they have one? Mistreating workers? Unfairly hiring based on race/whatnot? Laissez faire is fine to a point but at some point the government has to intervene.

Why wouldn't it work? There's still democracy, the leader can still technically be impeached, there's no death from war, no taxes, no foreign dependence, and everything is basically free if you have a job. As to the problems we faced during the late 1800's - early 1900's, of course the government would control that.

[Qwerty]

No death from war? What about all the other countries attacking it? What about people that want more freedom, that don't want to be stuck in one position their whole lives? What about those that like to choose their own jobs, to be able to shift around, to be able to move? Those whose skills can't be measured by a single test? What about changes? What if someone becomes more hardworking over time? Would they be stuck in the same old situation thanks to some random test?

[anon]

Robots would not allow us to have a war without death. You just need one in good-enough condition to reverse-engineer and build for yourself.

To your question yes the government is democratic but you're basically throwing capitalism into the trash.

But more seriously, that government sounds like it was taken right out of a utopian society novel. If you take away money and give everyone hand-outs, you're taking away people's motivation to succeed. For the most part, nobody wants to be in a hard profession if the only incentive over being a gas station manager is that you get higher quality food. You'll have way too many people being gas station managers or jobless, happy where they are as a result of the concept of failure being so toned down, and way too little people trying to be engineers and/or inventors because there simply isn't enough to try for. That'll lead to a lack of innovation/invention/creativity which would lead to the nation falling behind others technologically which would be one of the many problems created by that system of rewards. It would all feel gray...

[Rock]

Except it's not just food, it's basically everything. Such as technology, furniture, housing, transportation, etc. And working at a gas station will not get you very good food. I guess the government is mainly motivated by greed and jealousy of the better things.

I actually am writing a novel about it, but it turns into a dystopian society because the Canadian Prime Minister's an ass.

[Qwerty]

See? Even you acknowledge that it can turn into a dystopian society with the wrong person at the head.

[priok]

Just some quick ideas I think would be to, make an addition of some health care system, and also work towards not being after other countries for their resources, not racing against other countries, but trying to work together globally, or something. I am not sure how I would explain some stuff, but most things would just be to stop the competition, and work together as a people.

[V.I.R.O.S.]

There are three Constituents, or groups of people which form the country.
(For future reference, an Internal Vote is a vote exclusive to people in that Constituent. A Total Vote is the majority of a Constituent's internal vote. A Final vote is the gathering of the Total Votes of all Constituents. )

• The People- This is every citizen of the country. Only citizens of age are allowed to vote.
  
• The Administration- This is all government officials. The Administration is broken down into several sub-groups. This will be elaborated upon later.
  
• The Sovereigns- This is the Royal Family and anybody with a peerage title given to them by the Royal Family. Power here is weighted, which will be elaborated upon later.
  

The People are composed of all citizens of the country. Only citizens of age can vote in internal votes by The People. All citizens of age have exactly 1 vote, no more, no less.

---

The Administration is formed of three Rings. Members of a Ring have exactly one vote within their Ring.

• Senate- Each province is represented by 3 Senators, who are elected by The People. Ties are broken by the Head Senator, who is elected by the Senate on a regular basis.
  
• House of Representatives- Each province has an amount of Reps. based on their population. Population and number of Reps. are regularly reassessed. Reps. are elected by The People. Ties are broken by the Head Represenative, who is elected by the House of Reps. on a regular basis.
  
• Council- 100 people, elected by the whole nation instead of on a regional or provincial basis. Terms are staggered so 1/4 of the Council is elected every 2 years. Ties are broken by the Monarch.
  

---

The Sovereigns are the entirety of the royal family, and all people that have a a peerage title. Power here is weighted as such.

• The King/Queen- Holds 25% voting power in internal votes for the Sovereigns.
  
• The King/Queen's Spouse- Holds 10% of voting power in internal votes for the Sovereigns.
  
• The Princes/Princesses- Holds 15% of voting power in internal votes for the Sovereigns, divided amongst themselves equally.
  
• The Dukes/Duchesses- Holds 25% of voting power in internal votes for the Sovereigns, divided amongst themselves equally.
  
• The Barons/Baronesses- Holds 15% of voting power in internal votes for the Sovereigns, divided amongst themselves equally.
  
• The Counts/Countesses- Holds 10% of voting power in internal votes for the Sovereigns, divided amongst themselves equally.
  

In a case where there are no members of a group (Such as the Royal Spouse or Royal Children) available or able to utilize voting power, it is divided equally amongst the Sovereigns.

The Sovereigns can be divided into two groups for the sake of distinguishing one from the other, but the two groups always vote as a whole. The Monarch, The Monarch's Spouse, and the Monarch's Children are referred to as the Royals. The Dukes and Duchesses, the Barons and Baronesses, and the Counts and Countesses are referred to as the Peerage.

Peerage titles are granted by the Administration. A proposal can be brought before any Ring of the Administration to grant a person a peerage title, and a vote is held within that Ring to determine if they will be granted the title suggested in the proposal. If a majority of the Ring chooses to grant the title, it will be granted. The other Rings need not be consulted. The same process can be used to strip someone of their peerage title.

Peerage titles are Duke, Baron, and Count. These titles are hereditary, but step down one with age. So, the child of a Duke would be a Baron, the child of a Baron would be a Count, and the child of a Count would not be part of the Sovereigns at all. This ensures that no one lives the rest of their life riding on the accomplishments of their parents. The spouse of someone with a peerage title receives the appropriate title as a courtesy (titles acquired by marriage are referred to as Courtesy Titles), but has no voting power within the Sovereigns unless they possess their own (earned or inherited) title. If they have children that were not fathered/mothered by a parent that has an Earned/Inherited Title, these children do not receive the titles of that parent. People who divorce their titled spouse lose the title if it was a courtesy title, but suffer no other penalty. Children born before the divorce still receive the customary step-down title of their titled parent.

---

---

Decision-making for the country is made like so:

• Each of the three Constituents holds an Internal Vote. The majority of said Internal Vote is called the Total Vote of that Constituent.
  
• The three Total Votes of the Constituents are gathered, and that forms the Final Vote.
  
• The majority of the Final Vote is the decision.
  

Note: You can be a part of any combination of Constituents. You can even be all three at once, if you happen to be a Sovereign who has been elected to a position in The Administration.

---

This is a work in progress.

[FoxtrotZero]

Interesting, VIROS. Very interesting. I find it strange, however, that the Princes and Princesses have more voting power than the Spouse of the Royal, but I guess thats mitigated if you have at least two children. I find it VERY strange that the Dukes and Duchesses have more power than the Royal Spouse OR the Princes/Princesses, and equal power of the two combined, and the cascading effect therefrom.

My point being, i almost feel like the power is unequally balanced such that the amount that is in the royal family itself isn't much (even though it is, numerically, the majority). I don't know why you would extend additional voting positions to more or less friends of the royal family.

Considering making a flow chart for my government. For teh lulz.

[V.I.R.O.S.]

Jun 16, 2011 4:10:05 GMT FoxtrotZero said:

Interesting, VIROS. Very interesting. I find it strange, however, that the Princes and Princesses have more voting power than the Spouse of the Royal, but I guess thats mitigated if you have at least two children. I find it VERY strange that the Dukes and Duchesses have more power than the Royal Spouse OR the Princes/Princesses, and equal power of the two combined, and the cascading effect therefrom.

My point being, i almost feel like the power is unequally balanced such that the amount that is in the royal family itself isn't much (even though it is, numerically, the majority). I don't know why you would extend additional voting positions to more or less friends of the royal family.

Considering making a flow chart for my government. For teh lulz.

Well, there would be multiple Dukes and Duchesses, so their power would be divided, whereas the Royal Spouse's wouldn't (hopefully ). Besides, the Royal Spouse doesn't deserve much power, since all they did was get married. xD In any case, the Royal Family and the Peerage are balanced in their power numerically, but the Royal Family's power is less divided and therefore they are more powerful. For the Dukes and Duchesses to equal the power of the King, they would have to all agree to vote the same way.

[FoxtrotZero]

Jun 16, 2011 4:23:15 GMT V.I.R.O.S. said:

Jun 16, 2011 4:10:05 GMT FoxtrotZero said:

Interesting, VIROS. Very interesting. I find it strange, however, that the Princes and Princesses have more voting power than the Spouse of the Royal, but I guess thats mitigated if you have at least two children. I find it VERY strange that the Dukes and Duchesses have more power than the Royal Spouse OR the Princes/Princesses, and equal power of the two combined, and the cascading effect therefrom.

My point being, i almost feel like the power is unequally balanced such that the amount that is in the royal family itself isn't much (even though it is, numerically, the majority). I don't know why you would extend additional voting positions to more or less friends of the royal family.

Considering making a flow chart for my government. For teh lulz.

Well, there would be multiple Dukes and Duchesses, so their power would be divided, whereas the Royal Spouse's wouldn't (hopefully ). Besides, the Royal Spouse doesn't deserve much power, since all they did was get married. xD In any case, the Royal Family and the Peerage are balanced in their power numerically, but the Royal Family's power is less divided and therefore they are more powerful. For the Dukes and Duchesses to equal the power of the King, they would have to all agree to vote the same way.

Don't think the fact that they're less divided numerically means much. I'm pretty sure my Mother is Democrat, my Stepfather is Republican, I don't know what my grandparents are, but they cancel eachother out, and i'm a leftist independant. The entire family is divided, and I highly doubt that it would be any different with a set of royals. There's also the fact that it poses a bit of an opportunity for corruption; the royals could easily influence the vote of their constituency by giving the peerage only to people who share their opinions. The way you have it set up not only could tie itself in a knot, but poses the possibility of getting real dirty, real fast.

[FoxtrotZero]

Okay, so I made a flow chart outlining the decision structure (less of a process) of my government. Tomorrow i'll make one on elections, as well.

[V.I.R.O.S.]

I've come up with titles for the sovereigns. There are four titles for each rank. The title is decided by whether you are male or female, and whether your title is one that you earned or inherited, or one that you married into. The order is this Male Earned/Female Earned/Male Married/Female Married

King/Queen/King Consort/Queen Consort
Prince/Princess/Princa/Princessa
Duke/Duchess/Duka/Duchessa
Baron/Baroness/Barona/Baronessa
Count/Countess/Counta/Countessa

All of the titles are pronounced normally but the male courtesy titles. To account for the "a" at the end, Princa sounds like "Preen-ka", Duka is "Dook-a", Barona is "Bear-oh-na", and Counta is "Count-a". Also, Duchessa is pronounced Doo-chessa and Princessa is Preen-kessa.