Science-fictional Future Earth United Earth Constitution

[Raphael]

…or, “Raphael has really strange ideas of what constitutes ‘fun’, chapter 4825”.

Did you ever want to read a really long, really dry, completely fictional legal document? No? Anyway, as an SF future earth conworlding exercise, here is a possible future constitution of a United Earth.

I am not actually proposing this. I used to be a bit into one-worldism back in my teens, but these days, I think that a world state would only practically possible if certain political conditions would be met that, if they would be met, would make the world state itself superfluous. And it would be too much of a risk, anyway.

So this is simply a “What if…” exercise. And it’s pretty incomplete, too. For one thing, I left out the entire basic rights & related legal principles chapter, partly because I’m not entirely sure about this stuff myself, and partly because I think there’ll probably be future developments in cultural and social terms on that front that are basically impossible to predict from our time.

I also left out everything dealing with how territorial matters would be resolved – too much of a can of worms – and most of the stuff related to the administration of elections – I’m too unsure about that matter myself.

Anyway, here we go:

[Edited August 11th 2023 to make minor corrections, and to add "Nation" to the list of possible names of basic subdivisions.]




The following is hereby enacted as the Constitution of the United Earth:

CHAPTER 1 --- THE UNITED EARTH, ITS FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES, AND ITS SYMBOLS

ARTICLE 1

All of the Planet Earth, and all places in Outer Space under the effective control of human beings from the Planet Earth, shall be under the supreme authority of one system of interconnected constitutional, political, legal, and administrative structures, which shall be collectively known as the Institutions of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 2

The supreme constitutional principle of the United Earth, with which all constitutional and legal norms, court decisions, and administrative acts of both the United Earth and its various subdivisions must comply, shall be that all human beings make mistakes, and therefore, all human beings, and all institutions and organizations comprised of human beings, shall be subject to effective oversight and criticism.

ARTICLE 3

This Constitution shall be the supreme law and authority of the United Earth, and all officeholders and institutions of both the United Earth and its various subdivisions shall be bound by it in all their official acts. They shall also be bound by the properly enacted laws of the United Earth. There shall be no principle of sovereign immunity under the Constitution or laws of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 4

The principal equality of all human beings in terms of rights and obligations shall be protected and respected by law, especially with respect to the provisions of Chapter 3 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 5

Every officeholder of the United Earth or any of its States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, or Territories shall, when taking office, make the following affirmation and promise:

“I confirm that I consider all human beings, independent of their gender, religion, gender identity, ancestry, physical appearance, language, ethnicity, cultural group, sexuality, income level, amount of wealth, or possible disabilities, to be my equal in terms of rights and obligations, and I promise that I will exercise my office with justice and charity, put all my best efforts into my work, serve the public to the best of my ability, and respect, uphold, and protect the Constitution of the United Earth.”

Any officeholder of the United Earth or any of its States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, or Territories who refuses to make the above affirmation and promise shall be considered to have resigned at the moment of taking office.

ARTICLE 6

All languages spoken or used for communication by a significant number of human beings, or held in high esteem for religious or cultural reasons by a significant number of human beings, shall, wherever this is practically possible, be put on an equal footing and treated as having equal standing, and discrimination based on language abilities or preferences shall, wherever possible, be avoided. However, whenever there is a contradiction between versions of this Constitution or a law, court decision, administrative regulation, or administrative act of the United Earth in different languages, the English text shall take precedence.

ARTICLE 7

The capital of the United Earth shall be the City of Nairobi, as a city at a safe elevation above sea level in the part of Earth that most scientists in the relevant fields consider to be the ancestral homeland of Humankind.

ARTICLE 8

The main calendar of the United Earth shall be a modified version of the calendar traditionally known as the Gregorian Calendar, in which the length of the year and its division into months are provided by the said Gregorian Calendar, but the counting of years is provided by the calendar known as the Holocene Era, so that the Year 0 is the year known as Year 10,001 before the Christian Era under the said Gregorian Calendar, the Year 1 is the year known as Year 10,000 before the Christian Era under the said Gregorian Calendar, the Year 10,000 is the year known as Year 1 before the Christian Era under the said Gregorian Calendar, and the Year 10,001 is the year known as Year 1 of the Christian Era under the said Gregorian Calendar.

ARTICLE 9

The flag of the United Earth shall consist of [SNIP].

ARTICLE 10

The anthem of the United Earth shall be [SNIP].


CHAPTER 2 --- THE UNITED EARTH, ITS SUBDIVISIONS, THEIR RESPECTIVE RIGHTS, POWERS, AND RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER

ARTICLE 11

The United Earth shall be subdivided into States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, Religious Special Districts, and Territories. Its principal and regular subdivisions shall be States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces.

ARTICLE 12

States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces shall have the same status, rights, powers, and obligations, and the distinction between a State, a Nation, a Region, and a Province shall be only one of terminology.

ARTICLE 13

Whether a subdivision of the United Earth is called a State, a Nation, a Region, or a Province shall be decided based on which of these terms is likely to have the most support among its inhabitants, and which of these terms is likely to cause the least offense among its inhabitants.

ARTICLE 14

Which geographic areas shall form States, Nations, Regions, or Provinces of the United Earth shall, in general, be decided based on the principles laid down in Articles 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 15

If an independent nation-state that existed immediately before this Constitution took effect saw itself, under its own constitution or laws, as a federation or a federated or federal state, then as a general rule, each principal subdivision of that former nation-state shall become a State, a Nation, a Region, or a Province of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 16

If a geographic area, immediately before this Constitution took effect, had a set of laws, or legal structures, or administrative structures, that were so different from the laws, or legal structures, or administrative structures, of neighboring geographic areas, that forcing it under a unified system of laws, legal structures, or administrative structures with these neighboring geographic areas would be highly impractical, then as a general rule, that geographic area shall become a State, a Nation, a Region, or a Province of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 17

If a geographic area, immediately before this Constitution took effect, formed a partly or fully autonomous or self-governing political or administrative entity governed by a group of indigenous people, then as a general rule, that geographic area shall become a State, a Nation, a Region, or a Province of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 18

If a geographic area, immediately before this Constitution took effect, formed a partly or fully autonomous or self-governing overseas territory of a colonial or former colonial power, then as a general rule, that geographic area shall become a State, a Nation, a Region, or a Province of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 19

Geographic areas that are not covered by Articles 15, 16, 17, or 18 of this Constitution shall be subdivided into States, Regions, or Provinces of the United Earth based on the previous borders between independent nation-states, the previous major administrative subdivisions of independent nation-states, the general rule that States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces shall, where possible, be geographically contiguous, and the general rule that each State, Nation, Region, or Province shall, where possible, have fewer than 100 million inhabitants.

ARTICLE 20

Consequently, the States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces of the United Earth at the moment this Constitution first takes effect shall be [SNIP VERY, VERY LONG LIST].

ARTICLE 21

The Parliament of the United Earth shall have legislative authority over all fields of legislation that are not put under the legislative authority of the States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces by Articles 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 of this Constitution, and even in those fields of legislation that are put under the legislative authority of the States, Regions, and Provinces under those articles, the Parliament of the United Earth shall have the legislative authority to provide for minimum standards that the laws of the States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces must meet in order to be legally valid.

ARTICLE 22

The properly authorized legislative authorities of each State, Nation, Region, or Province shall have the authority to enact laws governing the structures and functioning the State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s own constitutional, political, governmental, and administrative institutions, subject to the State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s own constitution, and to the provisions of Article 21 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 23

The properly authorized legislative authorities of each State, Nation, Region, or Province shall have the authority to enact laws governing the structures and functioning the State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s own courts and legal system, subject to the State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s own constitution, and to the provisions of Article 21 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 24

The properly authorized legislative authorities of each State, Nation, Region, or Province shall have the authority to enact laws governing the structures and functioning of local government in the State, Nation, Region, or Province, subject to the State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s own constitution, and to the provisions of Article 21 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 25

The properly authorized legislative authorities of each State, Nation, Region, or Province shall have the authority to enact laws governing the structures and functioning the State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s own educational system, public cultural institutions, and cultural and language policies, subject to the State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s own constitution, and to the provisions of Articles 6 and 21 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 26

The properly authorized legislative authorities of each State, Nation, Region, or Province shall have the authority to enact laws on any matter of legislation that is normally under the legislative power of the Parliament of the United Earth, except for the structures and functioning of the Institutions of the United Earth itself, if the Parliament of the United Earth has not enacted a law about that matter yet, subject to the State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s own constitution, and to the provisions of Article 21 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 27

The properly authorized legislative authorities of each State, Nation, Region, or Province shall have the authority to enact laws on any matter of legislation if a law enacted by the Parliament of the United Earth has explicitly authorized the properly authorized legislative authorities of each State, Nation, Region, or Province to enact laws on that matter, subject to the State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s own constitution, and to the provisions of Article 21 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 28

Any authorization to enact legislation in terms of Article 27 of this Constitution must apply to the properly authorized legislative authorities of all States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces equally, unless it deals specifically with a specific physical location.

ARTICLE 29

This Constitution and the laws of the United Earth shall always take legal precedence over the constitutions and laws of all States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces.

ARTICLE 30

The constitutional and political structures of all States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces, including local government, must be based on the principles of representative government, in which legislative authority, subject to the State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s own constitution, is either vested in the people themselves, or in institutions elected by the people, or partly in one and partly in the other, and public officeholders are either elected by the people, or elected by institutions elected by the people, or directly or indirectly appointed by other officeholders who are themselves either elected by the people, or elected by institutions elected by the people.

ARTICLE 31

Elections and referendums in each State, Nation, Region, or Province shall usually be held based on the principle of universal adult suffrage, so that the only legal requirements for voting or being a candidate in an election or voting in a referendum shall be age requirements, residency requirements, and requirements related to the ability to conduct one’s own legal affairs. However, in a State, Nation, Region, or Province that was formed under the provisions of Article 17 of this Constitution, or a State, Nation, Region, or Province that was formed by a direct or indirect merger of two or more States, Nations, Regions, or Provinces which had all been formed under the provisions of Article 17 of this Constitution, accepted membership in a particular indigenous group or in one of several particular indigenous groups may also be a legal requirement for voting or being a candidate in an election or voting in a referendum.

ARTICLE 32

Two or more States, Nations, Regions, or Provinces may merge with each other, forming a new State, Nation, Region, or Province, if all of the following conditions are met:

1. the constitution of each of the States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces involved explicitly authorizes the merger,

2. each of the States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces involved has duly enacted a law providing for the merger,

3. the laws enacted to meet Condition 2 provide for the name, constitution, basic legal and administrative structure, and courts of the new State, Nation, Region, or Province,

4. the laws enacted to meet Condition 2 in each of the States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces involved do not contradict each other,

5. the laws enacted to meet Condition 2 were approved by referendums in each of the States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces involved,

6. the States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces involved are either geographically adjacent or reasonably close to each other,

7. the merger would not result in a State, Nation, Province, or Region with more than 200 million inhabitants, and

8. the Assembly of Groups has passed and enacted a law authorizing the merger, which must explicitly authorize the text of each of the laws enacted to meet Condition 2.

ARTICLE 33

Two or more States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, or Religious Special Districts may, by duly enacting laws to that effect, set up joint legal or administrative institutions, if a law passed and enacted by the Assembly of Groups has authorized those joint institutions.

ARTICLE 34

Religious Special Districts shall be formed in geographic areas of high religious significance if they were traditionally governed by laws, rules, or political, legal, or administrative structures which would normally be unconstitutional under this Constitution, if the preservation of public peace, general goodwill, and good intercommunal relations makes the continuance of some or all of those laws, rules, or political, legal, or administrative structures advisable.

ARTICLE 35

Under no circumstances shall more than 3 percent of the total land area of the Planet Earth be included in all Religious Special Districts combined.

ARTICLE 36

The constitution or laws of a Religious Special District may violate the provisions of Articles [SNIP LONG LIST OF ARTICLES]. They may also ban activities that are explicitly legal under the laws of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 37

If a law or constitutional provision of a Religious Special District which would be unconstitutional under this Constitution if it wasn’t for Article 36 of this Constitution bans a specific activity, then the only punishment for a person found guilty of engaging in that activity may be a temporary or permanent ban from living in or visiting the Religious Special District in question.

ARTICLE 38

The Religious Special Districts of the United Earth at the moment this Constitution first takes effect shall be [SNIP LONG LIST].

ARTICLE 39

A Territory of the United Earth shall be a geographic area that is under the direct authority and control of the Institutions of the United Earth, and under the exclusive legislative authority of the Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 40

The only Territories of the United Earth shall be the three Territories set up by Articles 41, 42, and 44 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 41

The Territory of Antarctica shall consist of all lands and seas south of 60 degrees southern latitude. Additionally, it shall include all islands south of the Equator that meet all of the following conditions:

1. they’re surrounded by the bodies of water traditionally known as the Atlantic Ocean or the Indian Ocean,

2. they had, at the moment this Constitution took effect, either no human inhabitants at all, or no human inhabitants except for the personnel of scientific institutions or military bases, and

3. they were traditionally claimed by either the French Republic, or the United Kingdom, or the Kingdom of Norway,

and of the territorial waters of those islands. The laws and governmental policies of the Territory of Antarctica shall be first and foremost based on the obligation to preserve and protect the natural environment in that Territory.

ARTICLE 42

The Territory of the High Seas shall consist of all oceans and seas outside the territorial waters of the States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, Religious Special Districts, or other Territories of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 43

The laws of the Territory of the High Seas shall authorize all coastal States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, and Religious Special Districts to exercise the same amount of economic control over their exclusive economic zones inside that Territory as independent nation-states have traditionally exercised over their exclusive economic zones.

ARTICLE 44

The Territory of Outer Space shall initially consist of all of Outer Space.

ARTICLE 45

If, at some point in the future, Humankind should make credibly confirmed contact with intelligent extraterrestrial beings, the Territory of Outer Space shall, afterwards, consist only of those parts of Outer Space over which the Institutions of the United Earth, in their relations with said intelligent extraterrestrial beings, shall claim sovereignty.

ARTICLE 46

If, at some point in the future, Humankind should make credibly confirmed contact with intelligent extraterrestrial beings, the Institutions of the United Earth shall be obliged to be guided by principles of mutual respect, peaceful intentions, and absence of malice in their relations with said intelligent extraterrestrial beings.

ARTICLE 47

If, at some point in the future, a sufficient number of human beings shall live permanently in a specific place in Outer Space to justify a certain amount of self-government, the Assembly of Groups shall have the authority to enact a law exempting that place from the Territory of Outer Space, and giving it a new status.

ARTICLE 48

Generally, the relations between the different States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, Religious Special Districts, and Territories of the United Earth shall be governed by laws enacted for that purpose by the Assembly of Groups. But if an aspect of the relations between two or more States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, Religious Special Districts, or Territories has not yet been legislated for, it shall be governed by the international agreements and norms of customary international law that governed relations between independent nation-states before this Constitution took effect.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST...

[Raphael]

...CONTINUED FROM THE PREVIOUS POST

[Edited August 11th 2023 to add "Nation" to the list of possible names of main subdivisions.]


CHAPTER 3 --- BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES

[SNIP ARTICLES 49 TO 89]


CHAPTER 4 --- PARLIAMENT AND LEGISLATION

ARTICLE 90

The legislative authority of the Institutions of the United Earth shall be vested in a Parliament of the United Earth, which shall consist of an Assembly of Groups, which shall have principal legislative authority, and an Assembly of Places, which shall mainly act in an advisory capacity.

ARTICLE 91

The Assembly of Groups shall have the task and obligation of representing all human beings under the authority of the Institutions of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 92

The Assembly of Groups shall consist of 1001 members who shall be elected directly, using, wherever possible, secret ballots, by all human beings aged 16 or older, who have not declared themselves or legally been declared unable to conduct their own legal affairs, who live in any State, Nation, Region, Province, Religious Special District, or Territory of the United Earth, under the principle of one person – one vote.

ARTICLE 93

The members of the Assembly of Groups shall be elected under the principle of proportional representation, using lists of candidates, using the method of allocating seats commonly known as the D'Hondt method, with all places under the authority of the Institutions of the United Earth forming one singly electoral area, with no divisions into electoral districts or constituencies.

ARTICLE 94

The laws and administrative regulations governing elections shall make it as easy as possible for all persons entitles to vote to cast their votes.

ARTICLE 95

In order to be allocated seats in the Assembly of Groups, a list of candidates must both

1. gain at least one thousandth of all votes cast in the entire election, and

2. gain at least one tenth of all votes cast in at least one State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District.

ARTICLE 96

In order to be allowed to compete in an election for the Assembly of Groups, a list of candidates must be formally endorsed by either

1. two sitting or former members of the Assembly of Groups, or

2. five sitting or former members of the Assembly of Places, or

3. ten sitting or former members of the national legislature of an independent nation-state that existed before this Constitution took effect, or

4. a number of persons entitled to vote in the upcoming election equal to at least one thousandth of all votes cast in the previous election for the Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 97

On all lists of candidates for the Assembly of Groups, men and women shall alternate, but persons who are neither exclusively men nor exclusively women shall be allowed to fill either spots normally reserved for men and spots normally reserved for women.

ARTICLE 98

Vacancies in the Assembly of Groups shall be filled from the list of candidates to which the member whose death, resignation, or expulsion caused the vacancy belonged.

ARTICLE 99

The regular term of office of the Assembly of Groups shall be four years.

ARTICLE 100

The Assembly of Groups shall have the authority to dissolve itself, with the votes of more than half of all its members, leading to a new election for the Assembly of Groups. In that case, the first sitting of the newly elected Assembly of Groups shall start a new regular term of four years.

ARTICLE 101

The first order of business of a newly elected Assembly of Groups shall be the election of a Speaker of the Assembly of Groups. The second order of business of a newly elected Assembly of Groups shall be the election of a President of the United Earth. The third order of business of a newly elected Assembly of Groups shall be the adoption of Standing Orders for the conduct of its proceedings and affairs. During the first two of these three orders of business, the Assembly shall be presided over by the Chief Justice of the United Earth or another judge designated by the Chief Justice of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 102

The Speaker of the Assembly of Groups shall be a member of the Assembly of Groups who, if at all possible, shall have spent a combined total of at least eight years as either

1. a member of the Assembly of Groups, or

2. a member of the Assembly of Places, or

3. a member of the main legislative institution of a State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District, or

4. a member of the national legislature of an independent nation-state that existed before this Constitution took effect.

ARTICLE 103

The Speaker of the Assembly of Groups shall not hold any public office other than that of a member and Speaker of the Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 104

In the election for Speaker of the Assembly of Groups, a candidate shall need the votes of a majority of all members of the Assembly of Groups to be elected,‭ ‬and if,‭ ‬in a round of voting,‭ ‬no candidate achieved such a majority,‭ ‬another round of voting shall take place in which the candidate with the lowest number of votes in the previous round of voting shall no longer be a candidate,‭ ‬and if, in the first round of voting, more than six candidates received votes, but no candidate received the votes of a majority of all members of the Assembly of Groups, only the six candidates who received the most votes shall be candidates in the second round of voting, but if only two candidates remain in a round of voting,‭ ‬the candidate who receives more votes shall be the winner of the election,‭ ‬and the Assembly of Groups may,‭ ‬by law,‭ ‬provide for the case that two or more candidates received the same number of votes.‭

ARTICLE 105

A law enacted by the Assembly of Groups shall prescribe how a newly elected Assembly of Groups shall conduct its business until it has adopted Standing Orders.

ARTICLE 106

The Assembly of Groups shall at any time ‬have the power to recall its Speaker,‭ ‬but only by electing one specific other person in place of the recalled Speaker,‭ ‬with the votes of a majority of all its members. When a motion for such a recall is introduced, at least 24 hours must pass before the final vote on the motion.

ARTICLE 107

The Assembly of Groups shall elect committees from among its members to assist in performing its constitutional duties and in controlling its own affairs. Each committee shall have an odd number of members, at least 11 and at most 25, and shall be elected by all members of the Assembly of Groups using the principle of the single transferable vote. The Chairperson of each committee shall be elected from among the members of the committee by all members of the Assembly of Groups using the principle of the single transferable vote.

ARTICLE 108

For each committee of the Assembly of Groups, except for committees mainly concerned with the conduct of the Assembly of Groups’ own internal affairs, the Assembly of Places shall elect a number of advisers equal to two thirds of the number of members of the committee, rounded to the next whole number. These advisers may, but are not required to be, members of the Assembly of Places. They shall be elected by all members of the Assembly of Places using the principle of the single transferable vote. And they shall have the right to attend meetings of their committees on the same terms as committee members, and speak during meetings of their committees on the same terms as committee members.

ARTICLE 109

During times when it may be practically inadvisable to have all or most members of the Assembly of Groups physically assembled in one place, measures shall be taken to allow the Assembly of Groups to conduct its business, debate, and vote on motions or bills, without physically assembling in one place.

ARTICLE 110

The Assembly of Places shall have the task and obligation of representing the various States, Nations, Regions, and Provinces in the legislative process.

ARTICLE 111

The Assembly of Places shall consist of three members appointed by each State, Nation, Region, and Province, in a way prescribed by the constitution or laws of that State, Nation, Region, or Province, for a fixed term of office or for as long as their State, Nation, Region, or Province may wish to be represented by them, as prescribed by the constitution or laws of their State, Nation, Region, or Province.

ARTICLE 112

It shall never be required for the Assembly of Places to physically assemble in one place in order to conduct its business, debate, or vote on motions or bills.

ARTICLE 113

The Assembly of Places as a whole shall have no fixed term of office, and shall not be dissolved or reconstituted, but its Speaker shall be elected for a term of office of six months.

ARTICLE 114

The Speaker of the Assembly of Places shall be a member of the Assembly of Places who shall, if at all possible, meet the same requirements as prescribed for the Speaker of the Assembly of Groups by Article 102 of this Constitution; who shall not hold any other public office than that of a member and Speaker of the Assembly of Places; who shall be elected, with the Chief Justice of the United Earth or another judge designated by the Chief Justice of the United Earth presiding, in the same manner as that prescribed for the Speaker of the Assembly of Groups by Article 104 of this Constitution; and who shall be subject to recall under the same conditions as those prescribed for the recall of the Speaker of the Assembly of Groups by Article 106 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 115

The Assembly of Places shall adopt Standing Orders for the conduct of its proceedings and affairs.

ARTICLE 116

The Assembly of Places shall have the authority to introduce bills into the Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 117

Up to 15 times in each calendar year, the Assembly of Places shall have the authority to introduce a bill into the Assembly of Groups and designate it as urgent. In those cases, there shall be a debate on the bill, and a vote on final passage of the unamended text of the bill, within 10 business days of the Assembly of Groups, and within at most four calendar months.

ARTICLE 118

If a bill has passed the Assembly of Groups, except if it is a constitutional amendment, or a bill for a law concerning the functions or workings of the Assembly of Places itself, it shall become a law as soon as it has been properly published in the appropriate way.

ARTICLE 119

If a bill has passed both the Assembly of Groups and the Assembly of Places, except if it is a constitutional amendment, it shall become a law as soon as it has been properly published in the appropriate way.

ARTICLE 120

Neither the Standing Orders of the Assembly of Groups nor the Standing Orders for the Assembly of Places shall enable a minority of members to block a motion or bill that appears to have the support of a majority of members from being voted on; nor shall there be any requirement of unanimous consent to conduct any business; nor shall there be votes on whether to hold a vote. And the Standing Orders of both the Assembly of Groups and the Assembly of Places shall authorize the person presiding over each sitting to take minor decisions on the conduct of business on their own.

ARTICLE 121

Each Assembly of Parliament shall have the authority to expel members for gross misconduct or inability to perform their duties with the votes of three quarters of all members, subject to appeal to the Supreme Court, if the appeal is made within seven days. A person expelled in that way, unless their expulsion is overturned by the Supreme Court, shall not be a candidate for the Assembly of Groups, or appointed to the Assembly of Places, for a period of five years.

ARTICLE 122

No person shall be forced against their own will to be a candidate for the Assembly of Groups, and no person shall be appointed to the Assembly of Places against their own will.

ARTICLE 123

Each member of either Assembly of Parliament may voluntarily resign at any time.

ARTICLE 124

No person older than 80 years shall be a member of either Assembly of Parliament, and if a member of either Assembly of Parliament turns 80 years old while being in office, they shall be presumed to have resigned at midnight, local time in the capital, at the start of their 80th birthday.


CHAPTER 5 --- THE PRESIDENT, THE CABINET, AND THE EXECUTIVE POWER

ARTICLE 125

The executive authority of the Institutions of the United Earth shall be vested in a President of the United Earth, subject to the laws of the United Earth, and shall be exercised by the President, the President’s staff, a Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the President, the Cabinet’s staff, the Departments headed by the Cabinet Ministers, and the offices, agencies, authorities, and other institutions headed under those Departments.

ARTICLE 126

The President shall be elected by the Assembly of Groups from among its members, and shall remain a member of the Assembly of Groups while in office.

ARTICLE 127

The Assembly of Groups shall elect the President, with the Chief Justice of the United Earth or another judge designated by the Chief Justice of the United Earth presiding, in the same manner as that prescribed for the Speaker of the Assembly of Groups by Article 104 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 128

The President shall be at least 35 years old when taking office. If the birth or early life of a person are so poorly documented that it can not be determined with certainty when they were born, they shall be presumed to be at least 35 years old for the purpose of this article when either

1. at least 21 years have passed since they became apparently physically fully grown adults, or

2. at least 35 years have passed since the earliest known documented events in their life.

ARTICLE 129

No person shall be forced against their own will to be a candidate for President.

ARTICLE 130

The regular term of office for the President shall be one year. But if a newly elected Assembly of Groups is constituted before the incumbent President’s term has ended, the incumbent President’s term shall end as soon as the new President elected by the newly constituted Assembly of Groups takes office.

ARTICLE 131

No person shall be President more than once, or for longer than one term.

ARTICLE 132

The Assembly of Groups shall at any time ‬have the power to recall the President,‭ ‬but only by electing one specific other person in place of the recalled President,‭ ‬with the votes of a majority of all its members. When a motion for such a recall is introduced, at least 48 hours must pass before the final vote on the motion.

ARTICLE 133

The President may voluntarily resign at any time. The President may resign with immediate effect, or pending the election and taking of office of a successor.

ARTICLE 134

The President shall remain a member of the Assembly of Groups while in office, but shall not hold any public office other than that of President and a member of the Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 135

The President shall appoint Ministers from among the members of the Assembly of Groups to head the principal executive departments, and these Ministers, together with the President, shall form the Cabinet of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 136

The President shall designate a Minister in the Cabinet, who shall meet all the constitutional conditions for being President, as Vice President of the United Earth. The Vice President shall perform the duties of the President whenever the President is temporarily unable to perform these duties, and shall be Acting President of the United Earth until a new President has been elected if there is a vacancy in the office of President.

ARTICLE 137

A law enacted by the Assembly of Groups shall regulate who shall be Acting President until a new President has been elected if there is a vacancy in the office of President and, at the same time, a vacancy in the office of Vice President.

ARTICLE 138

No person shall be appointed a Minister in the Cabinet, or designated as Vice President, against their own will.

ARTICLE 139

The Vice President and each Minister in the Cabinet may voluntarily resign at any time.

ARTICLE 140

The Vice President and each Minister in the Cabinet shall remain members of the Assembly of Groups while in office, but shall not hold any public office other than that of Vice President, Minister in the Cabinet, and a member of the Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 141

Neither the President nor any Minister in the Cabinet shall be a member of the management, or any other internal institution, of any commercial enterprise.

ARTICLE 142

The fact that, under Article 125 of this Constitution, the executive authority of the Institutions of the United Earth is be vested in the President and exercised by the President, the President’s staff, a Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the President, the Cabinet’s staff, the Departments headed by the Cabinet Ministers, and the offices, agencies, authorities, and other institutions headed under those Departments, shall not be interpreted as in any way preventing the Assembly of Groups from enacting binding laws regulating the functioning of the executive institutions.

ARTICLE 143

There shall be no legal or constitutional bans on the voluntary formation of coalitions or alliances among members of the Assembly of Groups for the purpose of forming Cabinets or working to support or sustain Cabinets.

ARTICLE 144

The Standing Orders of the Assembly of Groups shall provide opportunities for members of the Assembly of to ask the President and the Ministers in the Cabinet questions during specified times while the Assembly of Groups is sitting.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST...

[Raphael]

...CONTINUED FROM THE PREVIOUS POST

[Edited August 11th 2023 to add "Nation" to the list of possible titles of main subdivisions, and to increase the possible number of articles in Chapter 10.]


CHAPTER 6 --- THE SUPREME COURT AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

ARTICLE 145

The judicial authority of the Institutions of the United Earth shall be vested in a Supreme Court of the United Earth and subordinate courts of the United Earth that the Assembly of Groups may establish by law. Additionally, a law of the United Earth may authorize the courts of the States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, Religious Special Districts, and Territories of the United Earth to make decisions based on that law.

ARTICLE 146

The Supreme Court of the United Earth shall consist of a Chief Justice of the United Earth and 14 Judges of the Supreme Court. In the internal matters and votes of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice shall have the same standing as each Judge of the Supreme Court.

ARTICLE 147

The Chief Justice and each of the Judges of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President of the United Earth, with the advice and consent of the Assembly of Groups, for terms of office of 12 years. But when the Supreme Court is first formed after this Constitution first takes effect, the biologically youngest member of the first group of appointees shall be appointed for a term of office of 26 years; the biologically second youngest member of the first group of appointees shall be appointed for a term of office of 25 years; the biologically third youngest member of the first group of appointees shall be appointed for a term of office of 24 years; and so on, until the biologically oldest member of the first group of appointees, who shall be appointed for a term of office of 12 years.

ARTICLE 148

The minimum age for the Chief Justice or a Judge of the Supreme Court shall be 40 years. If the birth or early life of a person are so poorly documented that it can not be determined with certainty when they were born, they shall be presumed to be at least 40 years old for the purpose of this article when either

1. at least 26 years have passed since they became apparently physically fully grown adults, or

2. at least 40 years have passed since the earliest known documented events in their life.

ARTICLE 149

No person shall be appointed as Chief Justice or as a Judge of the Supreme Court if, assuming they do not die, do not resign, and are not removed from office, they would be 80 years old or older on the last day of their term of office.

ARTICLE 150

A member of the Supreme Court may be removed from office for gross misconduct or inability to perform their duties, but only by either

1. a vote of the Supreme Court itself, with three quarters of all other members voting in favor of removal, or

2. a vote of both Assemblies of Parliament, with two thirds of all members of each Assembly voting in favor of removal.

ARTICLE 151

No person shall be appointed as Chief Justice, or as a Judge of the Supreme Court, against their own will.

ARTICLE 152

The Chief Justice and each Judge of the Supreme Court may voluntarily resign at any time. They may resign with immediate effect, or pending the appointment and taking of office of a successor.

ARTICLE 153

Neither the Chief Justice nor any Judge of the Supreme Court shall be a member of the management, or any other internal institution, of any commercial enterprise.

ARTICLE 154

Neither the Chief Justice nor any Judge of the Supreme Court shall hold any other public office under the United Earth or any of its States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, Religious Special Districts, or Territories.

ARTICLE 155

Neither the Chief Justice nor any Judge of the Supreme Court shall exercise any profession, except that of an unpaid professor of law at an institution of higher learning.

ARTICLE 156

Whenever a vacancy occurs on the Supreme Court, no matter whether by a term of office ending, by resignation, by death, or by removal from office, the person appointed to fill the vacancy shall be appointed for a new term of office of twelve years.

ARTICLE 157

The Chief Justice and the three most senior Judges of the Supreme Court shall have a right to be consulted by the President of the United Earth before all decisions about who shall be appointed to a position on the Supreme Court.

ARTICLE 158

There shall be a United Earth Judicial Services Commission. It shall consist of 17 members appointed by the President of the United Earth, with the advice and consent of the Assembly of Groups, for terms of five years each, and 8 members, including a chairperson, appointed by the Chief Justice, with the advice and consent of the Supreme Court, for terms of seven years each. The provisions of Articles 148, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, and 155 of this Constitution shall equally apply to members of the Judicial Services Commission.

ARTICLE 159

A member of the Judicial Services Commission may be removed from office for gross misconduct or inability to perform their duties, but only by either

1. a vote of the Supreme Court, with two thirds of all members voting in favor of removal, or

2. a vote of both Assemblies of Parliament, with two thirds of all members of each Assembly voting in favor of removal.

ARTICLE 160

Judges on all subordinate courts of the United Earth shall be elected by the Judicial Services Commission. Additionally, the appropriate constitutional or legal institutions of a State, Nation, Region, Province, or Territory of the United Earth may choose to consult the Judicial Services Commission when deciding on judicial appointments.

ARTICLE 161

When filling a vacancy on a court, the Judicial Services Commission shall at first, for up to three ballots, try to elect a judge with the votes of a majority of all its members. If it fails to do so for three ballots, it shall use the procedure prescribed by Article 104 of this Constitution for the election of the Speaker of the Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 162

Any person who is or was a Chief Justice, a Judge of the Supreme Court, or a member of the Judicial Services Commission may not be appointed to another term in their previous position listed here, or to a term in another one of these positions; and neither may such a person be elected as President of the United Earth; or as a Speaker of either Assembly of Parliament; and such a person may not be appointed as a Minister in the Cabinet of the United Earth, either.

ARTICLE 163

A law enacted by the Assembly of Groups shall regulate which other forms of employment former Chief Justices, Judges of the Supreme Court, members of the Judicial Services Commission, or judges of subordinate courts of the United Earth may seek or accept, and in which ways conflicts of interest involving such persons shall be prevented.

ARTICLE 164

Judges of subordinate courts of the United Earth shall held their offices until their 70th birthday, or their voluntary resignation, or until they accept a different public office, or until either the Supreme Court or the Judicial Services Commission decides, with the approval of at least two thirds of its members, to remove them from office for gross misconduct or inability to perform their duties.

ARTICLE 165

The Supreme Court shall be the court of final appeal for decisions by subordinate courts of the United Earth, and for decisions by courts of the States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, Religious Special Districts, and Territories of the United Earth, if those decisions were made by authority of a law enacted under the second sentence of Article 145 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 166

The Supreme Court shall have the authority of judicial review to decide whether the laws, court decisions, or administrative acts or regulations of the United Earth and its States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, Religious Special Districts, and Territories comply with this Constitution, and to strike them down if they don’t. Subordinate courts of the United Earth shall only have the authority of judicial review if they are explicitly equipped with it by the laws establishing them.

ARTICLE 167

The President of the United Earth, the Speaker of the Assembly of Groups, the Speaker of the Assembly of Places, a group of members of the Assembly of Groups comprising at least one quarter of its total membership, or a group of members of the Assembly of Places comprising at least one quarter of its total membership, may at any time refer a legal provision of the United Earth or any State, Nation, Region, Province, Religious Special District, or Territory to the Supreme Court for Judicial Review; provided that no individual norm, if it hasn’t been amended, may be referred in this way more than once in five years. But when such a referral has been made, it may not be withdrawn until the Supreme Court had made its decision on the matter.


CHAPTER 7 --- THE ADMINISTRATION OF GLOBAL ELECTIONS

[SNIP ARTICLES 168 TO 198]


CHAPTER 8 --- THE OMBUDSPERSONS

ARTICLE 199

The President of the United Earth, the Speaker of the Assembly of Groups, and the Speaker of the Assembly of Places shall each appoint one Ombudsperson, who shall be known, respectively, as the Senior, Middle, and Junior Ombudsperson. Each Ombudsperson shall be appointed for a term of six years, and shall head their own office.

ARTICLE 200

The provisions of Articles 148, 151, 152, 153, 154, and 155 of this Constitution shall equally apply to each Ombudsperson.

ARTICLE 201

No person shall be appointed as an Ombudsperson if, assuming they do not die, do not resign, and are not removed from office, they would be 65 years old or older on the last day of their term of office.

ARTICLE 202

An Ombudsperson may be removed from office for gross misconduct or inability to perform their duties, but only by a vote of both Assemblies of Parliament, with two thirds of all members of each Assembly voting in favor of removal. Against such a decision, they shall, for a period of seven days, have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court.

ARTICLE 203

Whenever a vacancy occurs among the Ombudspersons, no matter whether by a term of office ending, by resignation, by death, or by removal from office, the person appointed to fill the vacancy shall be appointed for a new term of office of six years.

ARTICLE 204

Each Ombudsperson shall act and work independently of the other two Ombudspersons, and each Ombudsperson’s office shall act and work independently of the other two Ombudspersons’ offices. They shall, however, be allowed to coordinate their activities and their work if they choose to do so.

ARTICLE 205

Each Ombudsperson shall have the authority to investigate, with the assistance of their office, reports or complaints about, or allegations of, corruption, embezzlement, abuses of power, gross negligence, discrimination, or other serious wrongdoing, by any Institutions of the United Earth, or institutions of any State, Nation, Region, Province, or Territory. In the conduct of their investigations, they shall have the authority to subpoena and depose witnesses, subpoena and audit documents, hold hearings, and examine physical evidence, including locations.

ARTICLE 206

The Ombudspersons shall, with the assistance of their offices, act as controllers of all public disbursements and auditors of all accounts of moneys administered under the authority of the Institutions of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 207

The Senior Ombudsperson shall report to the President of the United Earth at stated periods as determined by law. The Middle Ombudsperson shall report to the Assembly of Groups at stated periods as determined by law. The Junior Ombudsperson shall report to the Assembly of Places at stated periods as determined by law. Each Ombudsperson shall also have the authority to report directly to the public, if they believe that the officeholder or institution to whom they should normally report is not treating their reports with the appropriate urgency.

ARTICLE 208

No Ombudsperson or member of the staff of an Ombudsperson’s office may be compelled to disclose sources.


CHAPTER 9 --- AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION AND FUTURE TRANSLATIONS

ARTICLE 209

This Constitution may only be amended by an explicit Act of Amendment.

ARTICLE 210

An Act of Amendment in terms of Article 209 of this Constitution must directly modify the text of this Constitution by inserting a passage or passages, rewriting a passage or passages, removing a passage or passages, or some combination of such changes. It may not simply attach additional text to the end of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 211

In order to be valid, an Act of Amendment in terms of Article 209 of this Constitution must be passed by both Assemblies of Parliament, with the votes of two thirds of all members of the Assembly of Groups and a majority of all members of the Assembly of Places, except if it affects the structure, functioning, authority, or powers of the Assembly of Places, in which case it must by passed by both Assemblies of Parliament with the votes of two thirds of all members of the Assembly of Groups and two thirds of all members of the Assembly of Places.

ARTICLE 212

No Amendment to this Constitution may modify, remove, or contradict any part of the original text of Articles [SNIP LONG LIST OF ARTICLES], or of this Article.

ARTICLE 213

Every 200 years, the whole text of this Constitution shall be translated into the vernacular language of the time, under the oversight of Parliament, and the translated version shall, after being affirmed by both Assemblies of Parliament, replace the previous version.

ARTICLE 214

The translations mandated by Article 213 of this Constitution shall be based, in the case of any passage that was never modified by an Act of Amendment, on the version of the passage in the Constitution as originally enacted, and, in the case of any passage that was modified or inserted by an Act of Amendment, on the version of the passage enacted by the most recent Act of Amendment affecting it. Official translations of this Constitution shall not be simply based on the most recent official translation of this Constitution.


CHAPTER 10 --- PROVISIONS ABOUT SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHIC AREAS

[SNIP ARTICLES 215 TO 999]


CHAPTER 11 --- TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

ARTICLE 1000

This Constitution shall take effect on [SNIP DATE].

ARTICLE 1001

The first election to the Assembly of Groups shall take place on a date or dates no less than four months and no more than six months after this Constitution has taken effect, and no less than three months and no more than five months after the date or dates of the election have been publicly announced.

ARTICLE 1002

The first sitting of the first Assembly of Groups shall take place no less than three weeks and no more than six weeks after the last day of the first election to the Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 1003

Each State, Nation, Region, and Province of the United Earth shall, within three months of this Constitution taking effect, enact and publish laws or constitutional provisions prescribing how, exactly, that State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s members of the Assembly of Places shall be appointed.

ARTICLE 1004

The initial members of the Assembly of Places shall be appointed before the last day of the first election to the Assembly of Groups, and the first sitting of the Assembly of Places shall take place on the same day as the first sitting of the first Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 1005

There shall be a Transitional Council of the United Earth, which shall, from the day this Constitution takes effect to the moment the first President of the United Earth elected under Article 127 of this Constitution takes office, exercise the legislative authority of the United Earth in place of both Assemblies of Parliament.

ARTICLE 1006

The Transitional Council shall initially consist of the following persons:

[SNIP LIST OF NAMES]

Each member may voluntarily resign at any time. Each member may resign with immediate effect, or pending the election and taking of office of a successor. Vacancies on the Transitional Council shall be filled by a vote among all remaining members.

ARTICLE 1007

Neither the Transitional Council as a whole nor any of its members shall have the authority to appoint an Ombudsperson or Ombudspersons.

ARTICLE 1008

The Transitional Council shall elect its Chairperson and a Provisional President of the United Earth, who shall exercise the authority of the President of the United Earth until the moment when the first regularly elected President of the United Earth takes office.

ARTICLE 1009

The Provisional President of the United Earth shall not have the authority to appoint members of the Supreme Court or the Judicial Services Commission, or to appoint an Ombudsperson.

ARTICLE 1010

There shall be a Provisional Supreme Court of the United Earth, which shall, from the day this Constitution takes effect to the moment the initial members of the regular Supreme Court take office, exercise the judicial authority of the Supreme Court of the United Earth.

ARTICLE 1011

The Provisional Supreme Court shall initially consist of the following persons:

[SNIP LIST OF NAMES]

Each member may voluntarily resign at any time. Each member may resign with immediate effect, or pending the election and taking of office of a successor. Vacancies on the Provisional Supreme Court shall be filled by a vote among all remaining members.

ARTICLE 1012

The Chief Justice of the Provisional Supreme Court shall not have the authority to appoint members of the Judicial Services Commission.

ARTICLE 1013

There shall be a Commission for the First Elections of the United Earth, which shall have the authority to exercise ultimate control and oversight over the planning and administration of the first election to the Assembly of Groups, and over the initial formation of the Assembly of Places.

ARTICLE 1014

The Commission for the First Elections of the United Earth shall initially consist of the following persons:

[SNIP LIST OF NAMES]

Each member may voluntarily resign at any time. Each member may resign with immediate effect, or pending the election and taking of office of a successor. Vacancies on the Commission for the First Elections of the United Earth shall be filled by a vote among all remaining members.

ARTICLE 1015

If a State, Nation, Region, or Province does not, within three months of this Constitution taking effect, enact and publish laws or constitutional provisions prescribing how, exactly, that State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s members of the Assembly of Places shall be appointed, as required by Article 1003 of this Constitution, then the Transitional Council shall, within ten days, enact and publish a law prescribing how, exactly, that State’s, Nation's, Region’s, or Province’s members of the Assembly of Places shall be appointed, which shall stay in force until a duly enacted law or constitutional provision serving the same purpose takes effect.

ARTICLE 1016

The nationwide political, legal, and administrative institutions of any nation-state that was independent immediately before this Constitution took effect, and that was divided into two or more States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, or Religious Special Districts under Articles 20 or 38 or both of this Constitution, shall continue to operate until one year after the moment this Constitution took effect. After that, they may be turned into joint legal or administrative institutions of the States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, or Religious Special Districts concerned, under the terms of Article 33 of this Constitution, if the States, Nations, Regions, Provinces, or Religious Special Districts concerned duly enact laws to that effect, and a law passed and enacted by the Assembly of Groups has authorized those joint institutions. But such institutions may also be merged into Institutions of the United Earth by a law passed and enacted by the Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 1017

Wherever a State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District was formed from the geographic area of exactly one formerly independent nation-state, the State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District in question shall be the legal successor of the nation-state in question as regards all property, assets, rights, and liabilities. The laws and administrative regulations of the former nation-state in question shall become the laws and administrative regulations of the State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District in question, staying in force until they are repealed, amended, or held unconstitutional under this Constitution or the constitution of the State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District in question by a competent authority. The constitutional, governmental, political, legal, and administrative institutions of the former nation-state shall become the constitutional, governmental, political, legal, and administrative institutions of the newly established State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District. But some of those institutions may also be merged into Institutions of the United Earth by a law passed and enacted by the Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 1018

Wherever a State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District was formed from the geographic area of exactly one primary constitutional, legal, political, or administrative subdivision of a formerly independent nation-state, the State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District in question shall be the legal successor of the constitutional, legal, political, or administrative subdivision in question as regards all property, assets, rights, and liabilities. The laws and administrative regulations of the former constitutional, legal, political, or administrative subdivision in question shall become the laws and administrative regulations of the State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District in question, staying in force until they are repealed, amended, or held unconstitutional under this Constitution or the constitution of the State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District in question by a competent authority. The constitutional, governmental, political, legal, and administrative institutions of the former constitutional, legal, political, or administrative subdivision shall become the constitutional, governmental, political, legal, and administrative institutions of the newly established State, Nation, Region, Province, or Religious Special District. But some of those institutions may also be merged into Institutions of the United Earth by a law passed and enacted by the Assembly of Groups.

ARTICLE 1019

Wherever a court that existed immediately before this Constitution took effect continues to exist under one of the provisions of this chapter, it shall continue to handle, try, and decide on those cases that were pending before it immediately before this Constitution took effect.

ARTICLE 1020

The following international and regional organizations that existed immediately before this Constitution took effect shall continue to operate until one year after the moment this Constitution took effect:

[SNIP LIST]

Afterwards, the Institutions of the United Earth shall be their legal successor as regards all property, assets, rights, and liabilities.

ARTICLE 1021

As long as sufficient well-documented copies of this Constitution exist, any physical damage to or destruction of the physical original of this Constitution shall not affect the validity of this Constitution.




And that's it.

[Torco]

it's very much the constitution of a liberal, capitalistic, western nation state, formally speaking. and, on the one hand, this is probably by design but I have the feeling that something as big, ambitious and novel the UE would be like a new type of polity? or is this just America conquers the world? it kinda feels like america conquers the world a bit. It's even bicameral in much the same way as the US <or Chile> is.

I love article 37 lmao. it feels like a compromise, which constitutions often are... and probably should be, sometimes.

Art 44 is hilarious. and also terrifying, like the old god Abraxas. it's like "I hereby annex the entirety of reality".

Art 93 is even more terrifying: the entirety of reality governed under D'Hondt? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Art 213 is beautiful, as is the last one. the last one, in particular, sort of promises a story about finding the last "sufficiently well documented copy of this constitution" in order to, legally, render ineffective its de-institution.

[Raphael]

it's very much the constitution of a liberal, capitalistic, western nation state, formally speaking. and, on the one hand, this is probably by design but I have the feeling that something as big, ambitious and novel the UE would be like a new type of polity?

Well, I deliberately left out the Rights section, so in the parts that I did write, there's nothing mandating capitalism, or preventing the Assembly of Groups from passing a law instituting some form of socialism. If I had written the Rights section, I very definitely wouldn't have included a blanket protection of property rights, and I would have included social services-related rights.

or is this just America conquers the world? it kinda feels like america conquers the world a bit. It's even bicameral in much the same way as the US <or Chile> is.

The bicameralism is, to be frank, mostly for show - the Assembly of Places only needs to approve constitutional amendments and those laws that directly affect its own workings; everything else can be passed by the Assembly of Groups alone. The Assembly of Places is basically there to pacify people from smaller countries who might worry about being completely ignored by a 1001-member global legislature.

And, while Chile and the US have presidential systems, this is a parliamentary system. Yes, there's a president who's the head of the executive, but they're basically a parliamentary prime minister in all but name, elected by, and subject to removal by, the Assembly of Groups. Like (and intentionally based on) the post-1994 South African Presidents. And then there's the one year limit, keeping presidents from accumulating too much power.

I love article 37 lmao. it feels like a compromise, which constitutions often are... and probably should be, sometimes.

It is a compromise. The whole part about Religious Special Districts is basically there to avoid the backlash that might happen if someone tried to enforce religious equality in Mecca, or elected government in the Vatican.

Art 93 is even more terrifying: the entirety of reality governed under D'Hondt? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

It beats First Past the Post, IMO. Or, on a really large scale, basically any district/constituency based system.

[Ares Land]

it took some time reading it all -- that's a lot of work and I love fictional constitutions, so congrats! I'm perhaps a little bothered by there being no intermediate levels between United Earth and States/Regions/Provinces... What would become of Chinese provinces, US states -- or for that matter, European nations and their federal subdivisions?

[Raphael]

it took some time reading it all -- that's a lot of work and I love fictional constitutions, so congrats!

Thank you! You love fictional constitutions? I wouldn't have guessed anyone would say that! To be completely honest, there are a few individual lines that I basically copied-and-pasted from the Irish Constitution, but I wrote everything else myself.

I'm perhaps a little bothered by there being no intermediate levels between United Earth and States/Regions/Provinces... What would become of Chinese provinces, US states -- or for that matter, European nations and their federal subdivisions?

In principle, they would all become immediate subdivisions of the United Earth. In practice, there might be some intermediate levels, either as regional agencies of the United Earth or as joint institutions of several states or provinces, but without their own explicit constitutional standing.

There's a reason for Article 112: there would probably be at least a few thousands of subdivisions, so if each one of them gets to send three Members into the Assembly of Places...

[Torco]

Well, I deliberately left out the Rights section, so in the parts that I did write, there's nothing mandating capitalism, or preventing the Assembly of Groups from passing a law instituting some form of socialism. If I had written the Rights section, I very definitely wouldn't have included a blanket protection of property rights, and I would have included social services-related rights.

I mean, fair enough: then again, capitalist constitutions don't go ahead and mandate capitalism either: it just feels like a capitalist-liberal constitution, or inspired by them... also, there's plenty of other possibilities other than capitalism or socialism <especially depending on what we mean by socialism: do we mean like the NHS and relatively high taxes? or do we mean an economy dominated by cooperatives and state owned enterprises where private ownership of means of production is verboten? maybe we just mean city councils control production? either way the dychotomy between capitalism and socialism is very 20th century.

on the assemblies, you're quite right that it's different... we tried to have here a second camera that's less, and not more, powerful than the most representative assembly. alas, the right won and no dice.

The whole part about Religious Special Districts is basically there to avoid the backlash that might happen if someone tried to enforce religious equality in Mecca, or elected government in the Vatican.

vote for me for pope

It beats First Past the Post, IMO. Or, on a really large scale, basically any district/constituency based system.

again, my own biases are at play: here in chile we adopted that system as a replacement for the binominal system and, tbh, it works very much the same: it makes it very hard for independent candidates to get elected, and makes it so there's very many people who get elected with almost no votes: sure, that's by design, but I'm not sure giving political parties more power than voters is so good: then again, this is true in proportion to how much the parties are representative of genuine clusters of opinions amongst voters versus them being interest groups that vie for power and positions. I'm not sure I understand why voting distortion <i.e. some parties getting more seats than their votes, others getting fewer than their share of the vote> is considered good tbh.

But i mean... yeah, even in the future, people adopting ranked voting is probably too much to ask

also, this kinda gave me the itch to flesh out the political system of a half-imagined future polity... imagining the future is so hard, tho, i always feel like a roman imagining the twentieth century and going "they will have such good steel their slaves will *never* be able to break their chains, and their garum comes in exceedingly thin steel bottles"

[Ares Land]

Thank you! You love fictional constitutions? I wouldn't have guessed anyone would say that!

Yeah, fictional politics are always fun

I'm not sure I understand why voting distortion <i.e. some parties getting more seats than their votes, others getting fewer than their share of the vote> is considered good tbh.

The idea is to arrange matters so there's a majority.

In practical terms I get the point of having strong majorities and stable government. Though on philosophical grounds I object to the idea of giving a government a strong mandate when there's clearly no consensus on what should be done.

also, this kinda gave me the itch to flesh out the political system of a half-imagined future polity... imagining the future is so hard, tho, i always feel like a roman imagining the twentieth century and going "they will have such good steel their slaves will *never* be able to break their chains, and their garum comes in exceedingly thin steel bottles"

I'd love to see that as well.

Science-fictional politics is difficult. That said, if a Roman from the Late Republic had assumed politics would be the same as in his day... he wouldn't have been far wrong. The basic issues are still pretty much the same: wealth redistribution and conservatives perceiving moral degeneracy everywhere.

[hwhatting]

I'm not sure I understand why voting distortion <i.e. some parties getting more seats than their votes, others getting fewer than their share of the vote> is considered good tbh.

The idea is to arrange matters so there's a majority.

In practical terms I get the point of having strong majorities and stable government. Though on philosophical grounds I object to the idea of giving a government a strong mandate when there's clearly no consensus on what should be done.

Strong majorities and stable government are an important aspect of the Post-WW II German constitution. It's full of so-called "lessons from Weimar" - remedying structural features of the Weimar constitution that are thought to have destabilized the Weimar Republic and led to the Nazi regime. One of them was lots of small parties leading to unstable governments. Weimar went through 19 cabinets and 12 chancellors in 14 years*. It's debatable how much the the structural elements of the constitution were responsible for the failure of Weimar (as against the conditions of the Versailles Treaty, destabilisation by the radical right and left, the fact that arny and administrative elites never fully accepted the Republic, plus the world economic crisis and mass unemployment), but the creators of the 1949 Grundgesetz acted very much in a spirit of "if that's how Weimar did it, we'll do it differently".

*NB: In that overview you'll find 20 cabinets and 13 chancellors, because they include Hitler; this can be argued for and against - Hitler was elected chancellor under the Weimar constitution, which he never formally abolished, but I exclude him because most historians generally count the date of his assuming the Chancellorship as the end of the Weimar Republic and the begin of the Nazi regime. OTOH, the first three cabinets were in or came into office before the constitution was approved, but that period is usually still counted as part of the Weimar Republic.

[Raphael]

The idea is to arrange matters so there's a majority.

In practical terms I get the point of having strong majorities and stable government. Though on philosophical grounds I object to the idea of giving a government a strong mandate when there's clearly no consensus on what should be done.

Strong majorities and stable government are an important aspect of the Post-WW II German constitution. It's full of so-called "lessons from Weimar" - remedying structural features of the Weimar constitution that are thought to have destabilized the Weimar Republic and led to the Nazi regime. [...] the creators of the 1949 Grundgesetz acted very much in a spirit of "if that's how Weimar did it, we'll do it differently".

German Wikipedia says that the Bundestag only used D'Hondt until 1985, then Hare/Niemeyer until 2008, and afterwards Sainte-Laguë/Schepers:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundestag ... 6_bis_2011

[hwhatting]

German Wikipedia says that the Bundestag only used D'Hondt until 1985, then Hare/Niemeyer until 2008, and afterwards Sainte-Laguë/Schepers:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundestag ... 6_bis_2011

Yep. I was talking about the principles behind the constitution and the choices of the Federal Republic at its foundation; D'Hondt is not in the Grundgesetz, but it was chosen back then for the same reasons. Obviously, after a couple of decades, our political system became a bit more ready to experiment without fearing that every deviation from the principles of 1949 will bring a repeat of the Nazis.

[Torco]

The idea is to arrange matters so there's a majority.

In practical terms I get the point of having strong majorities and stable government. Though on philosophical grounds I object to the idea of giving a government a strong mandate when there's clearly no consensus on what should be done.

But having fake majorities is like... I don't know, if stability's the aim, let's just throw away all the votes and not tell anyone: then they believe they're in a democracy, which keeps them more or less content, but the rulers just keep ruling. stable!

[Ares Land]

Strong majorities and stable government are an important aspect of the Post-WW II German constitution.

An interesting case of the opposite reasoning was France's IVth Republic (the post WWII constitution that was replaced later on.)
It was deliberately designed not to provide strong majorities because everyone was afraid the communists would win.

[Ares Land]

The idea is to arrange matters so there's a majority.

In practical terms I get the point of having strong majorities and stable government. Though on philosophical grounds I object to the idea of giving a government a strong mandate when there's clearly no consensus on what should be done.

But having fake majorities is like... I don't know, if stability's the aim, let's just throw away all the votes and not tell anyone: then they believe they're in a democracy, which keeps them more or less content, but the rulers just keep ruling. stable!

Yep, that's correct. But I don't know if anyone figured out a solution for that problem.

The problem is, what happens when you get a legislature with no majority? Who forms a government? What happens if the four major parties in the legislature are the Socialist Worker's Party, the Conservatives, the Libertarian Party and the Aryan Brotherhood, all within a percentage point of each other? (Though of course an exaggeration, it's not that far removed from the political landscape here in Europe.)
I'm tempted to say, let them work out a compromise. But it has issues as well. Typically the Socialist Workers, the Conservatives and the Libertarians will agree on vague social democracy. Which from a certain point of view is democratic (it's something 75% of voters can sort of agree with) -- and from another isn't democratic at all (essentially the policies are something nobody really voted for except a subset of the Conservatives).
Plus what always ends up happening is that someone strikes a deal with the Aryan Brotherhood and you get fascist ministers. .

Another solution is to let the Socialists and the Conservatives take turns isn't that awful; at least voters get something kinda close to what they believe in about half of the time. Plus you get to kick out incompetents faster I think.
In a political system that values coalition, a smart deal maker can hang around basically forever. The Christian Democrats were masters of coalition building. Check out their history in Italy.


EDIT: Oh, I forgot about the third option, which hasn't really been tested: would it be so terrible to have no majority and no government when there's no clear consensus on what to do?
This happens in Belgium from time to time and honestly it didn't turn out that bad for the Belgians.

[Raphael]

EDIT: Oh, I forgot about the third option, which hasn't really been tested: would it be so terrible to have no majority and no government when there's no clear consensus on what to do?
This happens in Belgium from time to time and honestly it didn't turn out that bad for the Belgians.

Well, in Belgium, they generally keep the previous government sort of in charge in a caretaker function. Which is fine if the previous government was more or less ok, probably less fine if it wasn't.

Anyway, that won't happen under this constitution - in the last ballot of a presidential (or, for that matter, Speaker) election, there are only two candidates left, and whichever one gets more votes wins.

[Ares Land]

Oh, an interesting point is that despite the title of President, this is essentially a parliamentary constitution and the president is what we'd usually call a prime minister/chancellor.
(Interesting also is that you leave out the ceremonial head of state)

So I wonder what would happen in case of a hung Assembly of Groups.

(EDIT: during the IVth French Republic, the president was elected by the legislature. In one case it took eight fourteen rounds! Though the president was a figurehead -- the président du conseil -- a title usually translated as 'premier' I believe - actually ran thing but the process was even more messy.)
(EDIT: oh, I like the constructive motion of no confidence you have)

[Raphael]

Oh, an interesting point is that despite the title of President, this is essentially a parliamentary constitution and the president is what we'd usually call a prime minister/chancellor.

As I said, I got the idea from the post-1994 South African setup.

(Interesting also is that you leave out the ceremonial head of state)

Two points on that: First, I generally prefer parliamentary to presidential systems - I mostly agree with the late Juan Linz on that matter, and I've observed the last 14 years in the USA. But second, I don't really see the point of the ceremonial head of state. Those seem to hang around mainly either because there's a monarchy that people aren't willing to abolish (yet), or, in a parliamentary republic, because people simply didn't get the idea of having a parliamentary system without a ceremonial head of state.

And for those people living under the constitution during its early years who were previously living under system without a head of state/head of government distinction, getting used to such a distinction might be simply very confusing.

So I wonder what would happen in case of a hung Assembly of Groups.

Well, someone will get elected President - even if just with a plurality. And they'll be able to appoint a Cabinet just fine - no need for anyone's approval on that. But they might run into trouble when trying to pass a legislative agenda.

[Ares Land]

Is the presidential election a two round system?

[Raphael]

Is the presidential election a two round system?

It's an up-to-six-rounds system. In each round, the candidate who comes last is thrown out. If there are more than seven candidates in the first round, than in that round, all candidates except the top six get thrown out. To quote:

ARTICLE 104

In the election for Speaker of the Assembly of Groups, a candidate shall need the votes of a majority of all members of the Assembly of Groups to be elected,‭ ‬and if,‭ ‬in a round of voting,‭ ‬no candidate achieved such a majority,‭ ‬another round of voting shall take place in which the candidate with the lowest number of votes in the previous round of voting shall no longer be a candidate,‭ ‬and if, in the first round of voting, more than six candidates received votes, but no candidate received the votes of a majority of all members of the Assembly of Groups, only the six candidates who received the most votes shall be candidates in the second round of voting, but if only two candidates remain in a round of voting,‭ ‬the candidate who receives more votes shall be the winner of the election,‭ ‬and the Assembly of Groups may,‭ ‬by law,‭ ‬provide for the case that two or more candidates received the same number of votes.‭

[...]

ARTICLE 127

The Assembly of Groups shall elect the President, with the Chief Justice of the United Earth or another judge designated by the Chief Justice of the United Earth presiding, in the same manner as that prescribed for the Speaker of the Assembly of Groups by Article 104 of this Constitution.