NationStates Jolt Archive

Rationalist Republic Manifesto
This manifesto shall be expanded with articles of the Rationalist Republic’s Charter (which shall function as this state’s constitution) and explanatory articles.

Rationalist Republic Charter
This Charter recognizes that truths must exist about our morals, or else it does not matter what sort of a society we live in. From a few truths it is possible to, by process of deduction, find others. These truths should lead to our morals, and these morals to our laws. This Charter also recognizes that it is easy to confuse our morals and laws. In democracy the majority may be wrong just as much as, if not more than, a minority. Political systems are archaic ideas. They achieve just laws through a long and painful process. The judicial systems of most governments are a model for achieving these just laws. A constitution outlines how our law should be. Laws which cannot be made in line with the constitution are either redundant or morally wrong. With this understanding the ideal form of government can now be described.

Written by Charles Montgomery Machiavelli, Supreme Prince of Hole Where Evil Lives

OOC: Rationalist Republic is my new region. It is based upon many of the same ideals as the now nonexistent Union of the Prince which died when the old Charter disappeared and Hole Where Evil Lives fell out of use for some time. Questions or whatever are welcome (they'll keep the thread going), and if you find that these are the ideals that are right for you or your nation don't hesitate to join my region.

Explanatory 1

The first thing which should probably be explained is the title of this state, as it may lead to some confusion otherwise.

Rationalism can be interpreted in a few ways. It can refer to the belief that actions and opinions should be based on human reason rather than intuition, faith, or emotions (the sort of things associated with religious beliefs). This is not the intended meaning. Instead it refers to Descartes’s philosophy called continental rationalism. This philosophy asserts that all human knowledge can be obtained through reason. It is opposed to the idea of empiricism, the philosophy which asserts that all knowledge comes from experience. However our state’s ideal is not hard line continental rationalism. It must be recognized that without experience we can have no knowledge. Thus, ultimately, empiricism is the more correct philosophy. However, without deduction we would only have knowledge of what we observe. We would never have made the scientific advances we have. Being rationalist can take us far further than what we observe. That is our philosophy. Government through rationalism, like mathematical proofs through deduction, is a difficult process, but it can lead us to the ultimate just society.

The second part of the title which must be explained is ‘Republican’. There are so many definitions for a republic that it is rather absurd. Many people would associate it with democracy and a president. The association with a president is probably true for most republics. But then there are some who do not elect their presidents and just hand down power. In this sense they are actually a monarchy. Many republics have a group representing the chief of state. The republic which our title refers to is any government bound by a constitution. The rulers of such a republic should not be the majority, as their wishes may not even be in line with their constitution (they should be free to have their own beliefs). Thus democracy is not the answer. Nor is a monarch, as he or she would be incapable of handling the massive administrative duties of a state ruled through rationalist thought. The answer is to have a minority rule. Their decisions should be based along the lines of the constitution and through deduction. A central leader is only necessary to maintain the system described. Power should be passed on to those taught how to govern by those before them. The system should maintain itself if, in its creation, it was based on being just and upholding the constitution.

From here we can now describe the sort of administrative bodies such a system would have.

Ugh... I'll do the administrative bodies later so..
bump

Interesting ideas....might i suggest that the form of Republic to be used may consist of a government made up of a number of parties, and or independant parliment candidates, elevted by the people, using proportional representation. This way everyones voice is heard. The government is made up of a combination of parties and or the independants and headed by a Prime Minister. While a simple majority in the parliment will pass a vote the government may operate in a minority fashion, as long as there are not any 'no confidence' votes. Freedom to allow members of parties to vote against their own party is allowed, but discouraged and independent members may be used to make up numbers required.

Any bill passing through the lower house of parliment must pass through the upper house. The upper house may recommend changes to a bill but can not in itself defeat a bill.

The President is a figure head, with no political power per say. The main role of President is to safe guard the Constitution. To enable this function, any bill must be sign by the President to become law. If the President feels that a bill or part of may be unconstitutional it is then passed to a select committee made up of retired Prime Ministers of all parties, Barristers, and representatives of the major legal universities in the State, to discuss the constitutionality or lack thereof and this in turn may recommend changes. If the President is still unhappy the bill is placed before the highest court in the land, the Judiciary of course is apolitical, and totally independant of the Government, hence no conflict of interest. If the bill is approved by the Court the President must sign the bill into law.

Simple really!...and just a suggestion :)

One thing I have never understood about proportinal representation ins, how do you know who you are voting for?

I mean, in a parliamentary system, you elect an MP put forward by a party, partly on the basis of what he/she will do for your community and partly on the basis of what his/her party will do ona national level.

In proportional representation, one knows nothing of who they are voting for, and what they will do for you.

Vintovian interior Minister

OOC: There is an ideal democracy. There have been many reformist ideas where I live to make our democracy better. Proportional representation is one idea. A method for the people to petition the dissolution of parliament is another (and force an election). Get rid of the senate. This is Canada by the way. Anyway there are problems with proportional representation and the biggest one is also the biggest problem of democracy as a whole (it is simply inflated in this system). The people do not know what is right. Imagine a world where you had no constitution. We may not have had the civil rights movement in America. Policies of racism might rule the day. It is the constitution which makes a country free (as well as ruling according to it) and not the democratic system. Aristotle (I believe it was) put it best when he said that there is tyrany in every government system except those with constitutions (I'm paraphrasing of course). Nowadays people associate democracy with freedom, justice, etc. This the wrong way of thinking. We must value our constitutions rather than our government systems.

Almost forgot, one of the main draws of proportional representation is that you're not voting for a face. Many people in the western systems (not proportional representation) simply vote for a party leader rather than a policy. But then again, democracy sucks anyways.

Rationalist Republic Charter Article Two

Administration and Powers

The Monarch
Responsible for maintaining the system outlined by the Charter and may veto any decision by the Courts which do not follow reason or are contradictory to the Charter.

Court
Responsible for solving disputes between nations within the Republic along the lines of the Charter, and may create precedent (within their jurisdiction, which is domestic matters) which becomes attached to the Charter. May be overruled by the Supreme Philosophical Court.

Foreign Matters Court
Responsible for solving any issues involving nations outside of the Republic along the lines of the Charter, and may create precedent (within their jurisdiction, which is foreign matters) which becomes attached to the Charter. May be overruled by the Supreme Philosophical Court.

Supreme Philosophical Court
The final say on all matters, except when it is within the Monarch’s right to interfere. Issues involving a change in the system set out by the Charter should proceed directly to the Supreme Philosophical Court. If any Judicator of the Supreme Philosophical Court wishes, they may intervene in a matter before either of the lower Courts. If either of the lower Courts request the Supreme Philosophical Court intervene (through democratic decision of the Judicators of that Court) they must do so.



Rationalist Republic Article Three

Appointment of Position
Initially Judicators for all Courts will be appointed by the Monarch (Hole Where Evil Lives). Further appointments will be made by a democratic decision with a two thirds majority of the Judicators of that Court. Impeachment of a Judicator follows the same process. To nominate an individual for the Judicator position a Judicator of that Court must request there be a new opening in that Court from the Monarch. The Monarch will base his decision on the size of the region and that Court at present.



Rationalist Republic Article Four

Decision of a Court
The Court must reach a unilateral decision. If not possible the decision will then move to the Supreme Philosophical Court. If a unilateral decision cannot then be made the decision will be based on the majority vote. If the Court decides, by democratic decision, that the issue does not technically matter or that there is no definite best decision, they may hold a regional referendum to make a decision.



OOC: I might give an explanatory later.

OOC: The link to the Rationalist Republic region: http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=display_region/region=rationalist%20republic