Idea: Generational Government

[Tee Kay]

Idea: reform the separation of powers so that participation in different branches of governments is restricted to people of certain ages.

Principle: a government dominated by older generations is not sufficiently incentivised to govern and develop the world in a sustainable way for future generations to flourish. However, young people cannot be entrusted with government due to lack of experience.

Rough proposal:
- A junior branch, comprising of democratically-elected representatives aged between 20-40 only, with the power to make, amend and repeal laws.
- A senior branch, comprising of adults aged between 50 and over only, with the power to interpret and apply the law.
- A middle branch, restricted to adults aged over 30, with the authority and responsibility for administration, and advisory to the junior branch.

 

[History_Buff]

Interesting idea.

Do all demographics still vote for the representatives in the junior branch? If they do, it might not have the effect you want. I would think that the better alternative would be a two tiered system, with a lower house elected by a younger demographic, an upper house elected by the older. Elder house has veto power, younger can override by thrice passing an identical bill.

You'd also need fairly strict constitutional guarantees so that the youngin's wouldn't try and revoke the pension/social security/other entitlement rights of the older generations. Presumably they would have paid into such a system with the promise of those programs existing, and you must thusly protect them.

Also, your middle branch would likely need to be people of all ages; civil services tend to require lots of very young people in entry level positions to provide manpower, and a source to promote from within.

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

You know... that doesn't sound like that bad of an idea. I'd like to see it tried out somewhere.

 

[Leonel]

That sounds pretty good, in my opinion. You still have the older generation who have more experience but you have the younger generation that'll at least widen the opportunity to create a government that will take into account the next generation thus better securing a future government.

 

[Angst]

This is interesting. I will watch this thread. I actually think that if the OP had been less "rough", it could've belonged in the Chamber.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Why is age so important?

 

[Tee Kay]

This is interesting. I will watch this thread. I actually think that if the OP had been less "rough", it could've belonged in the Chamber.

Yeah, I'm not good with making OPs.

Why is age so important?

Because the younger people would live to see the long-term consequences of their actions.

 

[Leonel]

Because the younger people would live to see the long-term consequences of their actions.

That's true. The primary concerns of an old person are vastly more different than that of a young person.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Why is age so important?

Various reasons, aside from the obvious biological ones.
Certainly seems more significant then geographic region.

 

[JollyRoger]

Wonder how the oldsters would interpret the death panels legislated by the youngsters.

 

[BvBPL]

So the idea is to limit people's representation by limning the ages in which they can engage in governmental activity? Absurdly anti-democratic. Thank goodness it is a pipe dream.

 

[History_Buff]

Well you wouldn't limit their democratic representation per se, you just change the way they're enfranchised.

 

[Leonel]

So the idea is to limit people's representation by limning the ages in which they can engage in governmental activity? Absurdly anti-democratic. Thank goodness it is a pipe dream.

Well you can have a Junior, Middle and Senior branch for all aspects of government and I imagine if someone in the Junior branch grows to have to go to the Middle branch, he can run for office again. That way, a government official doesn't just ride through his or her career doing the bare minimum but has to occasionally make the case for reelection

 

[Archbob]

Your giving the younger branch way too much power.

 

[History_Buff]

Your giving the younger branch way too much power.

Well, right now the older branch (effectively the US Congress) has far too much power, but that doesn't seem to be working out to anyone's satisfaction. Perhaps some youth could clear it out.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

So basically
Legislative: 20-40
Exekutive: 30+
Judikative: 50+

Plus: The Executive has the role of an legal advisor but no direct influence on laws.

I dislike how the law-making process is directed by the Exekutive nowadays, at least that is the picture in Germany. So the Legislative actually legislating meets my approval.
The Generations thing... Well as others have said, it would have to be tried out. Its actual effects are hard to judge and its obvious trouble is that it is a piss in the face of the democratic principle of equal participation. But if this actually yielded good results, I couldn't care less. Democratic principles are not supposed to be self-serving after all.

 

[Flying Pig]

Didn't ancient Rome (as well as several Greek cities; Sparta immediately springs to mind) have a similar idea? I think the current system of letting any adult who can convince enough people that he's a good candidate for the job run for office is probably the most democratic you can safely get; whether that's entirely a good thing may be debatable.

 

[Traitorfish]

In practice, wouldn't the middle and senior branches be staffed by people at least that old anyway? So it just seems like a way of shifting the age-range of the legislature. Perhaps I'm misinterpreting the function of the two older branches?

 

[BvBPL]

Didn't ancient Rome have a similar idea?

Can we reinstate state orgies as well? I think that'd be a great way to get people interested in a career in public service.

 

[ParkCungHee]

In practice, wouldn't the middle and senior branches be staffed by people at least that old anyway? So it just seems like a way of shifting the age-range of the legislature. Perhaps I'm misinterpreting the function of the two older branches?

I had assumed that the actual legislators could be of any age. Plenty of college students would vote for Ron Paul or Noam Chomsky. They'd just be accountable to a particular demographic rather then a particular geographic region.