How would you structure the government if it were your choice?

[Horse with no Name]

Mine would be a mirror system.
There would be two identical sets of government.
A Republican President and a Democratic President.
Two Congresses--each comprised of equal representation.
Each would meet separately but would have to come together on an equal footing to change and enact laws. They would have to learn how to compromise and truly learn to serve both.
On the bright side--the pugs could cheat each other out of elections all day long on their voting machines, and the Dems could just sit back and watch them and not have to be concerned.
This "Majority of ONE" rule does NOT work as we are seeing now.
Besides, when the Dems control the majority of the country by their representation yet have the minority voice, HOW can that be consistent with being fair?
It isn't. We need changes.

[BattyDem]

1. The system works pretty well when the elections aren't rigged.

Had there been an honest vote count during the 2000, 2002 and 2004 elections, the majority of this country would be represented by a majority in congress. :-(

[mmonk]

2. Get rid of the influence peddling

[brainshrub]

3. A British-style Parliament where MPs are elected w/ instant run-off voting

I would keep the Bill of Rights and add the following:

1) No law will be passed that bans personal behavior that harms no one but the individual partaking in the activity.

2) Health-care is a right.

Also, corporations would be stripped of their legal status as persons.

[BattyDem]

6. I would love it if we had the House of Commons like the Brits have

Could you imagine the Bushies being able to handle a Galloway-type grilling on a daily basis? :rofl:

[brainshrub]

7. That grilling is precisely what this country needs.

A parliament isn't perfect, but the house and Senate are no longer debating bodies. In this country, politicians make flowery speeches on CSPAN, with no real debate.

Love him or hate him, Blair knows how to hold his own with hecklers and tough questions. (Same with Thacher.)

[gratuitous]

4. Me as dictator for life

And I'd wing it from there.

[eallen]

5. I'd make the House of Representatives truly representative.

There are a couple of ways to do that. We could use some form of proportional representation to elect the reps from larger states. Alternatively, we could select reps by lot, with no exclusions, except for true incapacity. The nice thing about the latter mechanism is that it eliminates electioneering.

:evilgrin:

[bemildred]

8. Distributed hierarchical network. (Like the internet). nt

[Sgent]

9. I would keep it like it is

But mandate open primaries -- meaning that all candidates are placed on a ballot, and the top two vote getters have a runoff. This could easily mean 2 democrats, 2 repubs, or one of each.

The advantage of this is it tends to select more centrist candidates who don't have to pander to the extremes of their party to win the primary.

[bemildred]

10. Open primaries is good.

Getting rid of primaries altogether is better.
Getting rid of the electoral college is good.
Then there is election reform in all it's many facets.

[Selatius]

11. Quadruple the size of the House of Representatives

OK, I'll play this game.

DITCHING THE CONGRESSIONAL CAP

There is a 535 member limit on Congress that has been in effect for sometime. Unfortunately, newer states did not join the US until after the rule took effect, so some states lost representation, and the US population has grown much larger since then.

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION FOR CONGRESS

The individual states will elect representatives to their respective seats allotted them the House of Representatives using PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION. This will replace congressional districts and the problem of GERRYMANDERING.

Each party will be free to divide respective states into administrative districts as they see fit. This will maintain the constituent aspect from the previous system. Who runs in those party districts will be decided by party primaries in each of those districts. This will ensure that you are still voting for the CANDIDATE, not the PARTY, for the region of the state that you live in. IRV (instant run-off voting) shall be utilized for ALL party primaries in ALL parties deciding to run. All party primaries will be open, but you can only vote once out of all primaries for that election cycle.

If you live in State A, and that state has 10 seats in the House, then the Democratic Party, for instance, can divide the state into 10 districts in a way it sees fit, and citizens in those districts who are Democrats can vote on the candidates who choose to run in that particular party district.

As a result, your address could, for instance, be in the 4th Democratic District but also could be in the 3rd Republican District or the 5th Green District as well. You take the district of the party of which you are are a member.

THE SENATE

Abolish the Senate entirely. Small states like Mississippi should not have the power to cancel out the will of a larger state like, say, Massachusetts. We will have a unicameral congress.

ELECTION REFORM AND REFERENDUMS

The president will be elected by DIRECT POPULAR VOTE. This requires the abolition of the antiquated Electoral College. IRV (instant run-off voting) will be instituted for the seat of president. If no one wins an outright majority, then there must be run-offs.

The president can be recalled half-way through his (or her) term if a regulation petition can garner enough signatures equal to or greater than TWO-THIRDS of the number of votes that went to the president in the last election. Valid signatures must come from ELIGIBLE voters only and those who were 18 on the day the petition was started.

The people themselves will be empowered to pass laws through resolutions. This will be done with regulation petitions. To trigger a referendum vote on a resolution, the number of signatures on the petition must equal to or greater than TWO-FIFTHS of the total number of ELIGIBLE voters according to the latest Census taken.

-------------------------

If I truly had my way, I wouldn't care about republican forms of government at all.

I'd agitate for libertarian socialism governed in a direct democratic manner. I'd push for a confederation of independent communities.

Libertarian Socialism:

http://flag.blackened.net/liberty/libsoc.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_socialism#Libertarian_socialist_tendencies

[dcfirefighter]

12. I'm down with most of your suggestions

especially the party primaries by district. Another choice would be mixed member proportional voting. I also feel that there are better choices than IRV. I like Ranked-Pairs voting.

I'm not as much a fan of libertarian socialism, though I consider myself a left libertarian.

[slackmaster]

13. I'd make myself Benign Dictator for Life

No problem.

[Solly Mack]

14. I want to be hegemon

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

15. Replace the US Senate with federal nationwide elections

Local interests of the States are already represented through Congressional districts. I would propose a national assembly of representatives elected by the entire nation, in proportion to the votes received by the competing parties. This way, smaller parties would have some voice and coalitions might be necessary, thereby having a moderating effect upon extremism. The winner-take-all system doesn't fully represent the people.