If you had to write the constitution of a country, what would you include???
Answers
☆So, here are a few ideas to minimize the possible damage if a constitution was going to legitimize a ruling class with the power to initiate violence against otherwise peaceful citizens:☆
●Every citizen may vote on any law.
●(Most of the time you would assign it to a representative whom you trusted to most represent your views, but in those cases where you disagree, you could vote the issue yourself.)
Two legislative bodies, with representatives voted as above, write bills:
Answer:
Here are some of the choices to consider:
Presidential, parliamentary, or a hybrid that combines features of the other two? The modern trend is toward hybrids.
Executive structure: Who is head of state? Who is head of government? Are they the same (as in the United States). What are the powers of each? How are both chosen?
Legislative structure: Do you want unicameral (one house) or bicameral (two houses)? If bicameral, what are the powers of each house? Is there any kind of veto? How are legislators elected? Do people have any direct legislative rights (initiatives or referendums)?
Judicial structure: Is the highest appeals court also a constitutional court, or is there a separate constitutional court? How do cases reach the constitutional court? Can other branches initiate a constitutional case?
Federal structure: Do you want a unitary government in which a one government handles all issues down to the county level (usually only for small countries) or a federal government in which states or provinces have independent powers? Should federal divisions be ethnic, geographic, or both? How independent are the federal divisions?
Electoral structure: How are candidates elected? How often? Which officials are elected and which appointed?
Party structure: One party? Two parties? Or multiple parties? Some countries (like the United States) allow multiple parties, but have an electoral structure that encourages two dominant parties.
What rights are guaranteed? Negative rights (the government may not)? Positive rights (the government must)? How are rights enforced?
Method of revising the constitution: Difficult (like United States) or easy? How are changes proposed? How are they ratified? Is there a referendum to ratify changes?
A good way to think about these issues would be to go to Constitute and look up several countries comparable to your new country. You might want to include some of the countries with new constitutions created after the fall of the Soviet Union when Soviet republics became countries and Eastern European countries reorganized. Many of these countries consciously studied constitutional features before creating their own constitutions. While it maybe unrealistic to study all 194 national constitutions listed on Constitute, it would be worthwhile to pick a few and see how they handle the issues listed above.
- nhtg