Issue #2 - Structure of Government
Let's move on to the first substantive issue. Under this issue there are three sub-issues:
a. Atlantic Federation Design vs. Other Ideas
b. Electoral Rules (who can vote, candidate tests/restrictions, voting process)
c. Names of Things (Chancellor vs. President, Council vs. Senate etc.)
For the first, there are currently two main proposals on the table for a federal structure - the Atlantic design and the Directorial system.
The Atlantic Design
In the Atlantic design there are two chambers of the legislature - Congress and the Federal Council.
Congress is a body of elected representatives where one half of the seats are population-based voting districts and the other half are allotted equally between states, elected via a separate, state-wide ballot. All elections are handled using single transferable vote, with states serving as multi-member districts.
Each state also has one seat on the
Federal Council, with the seat filled (nominally) by the heads of government of member states in the union - (though designated representatives may carry out their functions). The Federal Council must approve Congressional legislation by simple majority, super-majority, or unanimity, depending on subject matter.
The leader of the federal government is whichever party leader in Congress can command a majority of seats - this leader (Chancellor, President, whatever) possesses a mandate to create a federal cabinet of ministers, to run the government.
The Directorial System
In the Directorial system, there would be a House of Representatives and a Council of States - collectively referred to as Congress. These would be functionally equivalent to their respective variants in the Atlantic design.
Following each congressional election
Congress would sit in a joint session to elect the members of an executive committee - which would be called the
Federal Council (not be confused with the upper chamber of the Atlantic design), who would serve together as a multi-person head of state and head of government with equal powers. Only members of the House of Representatives are eligible Councillor candidates.
Each Councillor would also be the head of a federal department if we have those (such as the Department of Justice or the State Department). The Federal Council would therefore be a cabinet as well as the executive of the state. This would look quite like what is used in Switzerland.
One of the Councillors would be selected as the Chair of the Council (either by the joint session of Congress or the Federal Council members internally) - they would not have any special powers, however they would be first point of contact as diplomatic representative, and would chair meetings of the Federal Council. The position of Chair would have a one-year term, with no individual Councillor allowed to remain Chair for more than 2 years.
Electoral Rules
So far there have been a few proposals regarding the electoral rules of the new union. Both of the above proposals presume an STV voting method (ranked ballots with multi-member districts) - though that can be opened to debate as well.
The most contentious proposal is to have
literacy tests for candidates to the highest offices - such a test would be required for party leaders (in the Atlantic design) or presumably Councillors (in the Directorial system).
We should also determine term lengths for the offices in whichever structure we go with, whether there are term limits, and any rules regarding the creation of voting districts (e.g. should there be a national independent body or state-level bodies).
-
NYC suggests a
discussion period without a time-limit until a consensus or clear voting blocs arise, at which point we can hold a vote or move forward with a consensus proposal.