You have you own country, and can make all the rules, how would you govern?

Question

the economy, the justice system, social justice, state vs federal separations, and any other issues you care to comment on would help in better understanding the kind of country you would want to have.

Personally, the American system is a good model as a base but there are some obvious changes and clarifications that I would make.  The President would have less power, but mostly be an administrator.  The Supreme Court appointments would be automatic, where every President at beginning of each new term gets one appointment, no Senate approval hearing need take place, though they can have one if they want to expose a problem they see or examine it.  The second Amendment matter would be clarified to make sure gun lunacy does not take over as it has now in the US.  The economy would be capitalistic but with strong checks and balances in various ways to control ridiculous wealth growth while most people become poorer and poorer. Some of that extreme wealth would be steered towards helping the entire country more, better education system, colleges, health care etc...  Police would not be able to operate like a bunch of judge dredd executioners and be accountable for their actions. They would get paid more for the risk they take but they would have to have more courage and better training and judgment and ethics.

The American system is a good base to start with and from that base something truly great has the potential of developing. That would be my goal, to make us better.

Anonymous · Answer

My FIRST move while in office would be to cut the size of the government by 50% across the board then introduce a 10% flat tax for all incomes.
Then i would start eliminating all un needed departments like "homeland security" "FEMA" the department of education,  etc.
And i would send the trillions per year in surplus directly back to the taxpayers in the form of a check
I would then  repeal every law that infringed in any way on the Constitution going back 200 years.
And i would make it treason requiring the death penalty to violate your oath of office or the Constitution.

? · Answer

I'm with Elaine in advocating the parliamentary system. But it's worth knowing that the "American system" has been distorted over the years and that under the Constitution as written the Executive Branch wasn't meant to have the kind of power it started amassing under Reagan and has continued to amass more with every passing administration. The Framers also didn't have to consider some of the obvious fixes like term limits for Congress and SCOTUS, because back then people just didn't live that long. The idea of a 78 year-old President would have horrified Jefferson and Madison.

Elaine · Answer

I would go with a parliamentary system where the government (Prime Minister and Cabinet) remains in power as long as it has the support of the House of Commons.(H of C) Assuming the government continues to have the support of the House of Commons (people) the maximum time it could remain in power would be 5 years.  There would be term limits for each member of the H of C. 
The Upper House also known as the Senate would read all bills passed in the House of Commons and  make necessary changes and then send the revised bill back to the H of C where further discussions would take place. 3 readings of each bill would required before the bill becomes law. There would be a minimum age for senators and there would be term limits.  
As for the Supreme Court.  Justices would be appointed and the criteria for such appointments would be based on their history of judicial rulings, not their political views. Both the government and Opposition can recommend people for the position of Supreme Court Justice but the individual must undergo a thorough vetting process by a parliamentary committee which has sitting H of C members from all political parties.  The mandatory age for retirement of the Justices would be 75. 
In terms of laws there would be a universal Criminal Code.  
The underpinnings of the parliamentary system begin with the Golden Age of Athens to the Magna Carta leading to a Bill of Rights and the UN Declaration of Human Rights. 
If the country is large and has very different regions then I would go with a confederation with the federal government holding most of the power.

You have you own country, and can make all the rules, how would you govern?

3 Answers