Help design a constitution.

[JAFARR]

You are invited to help write the constitution for a world that was previously owned by a megacorp.
(1) Will it be a democracy, a republic, or maybe something else entirely? Why did you choose that type of government?
(2) What do you think should be included and maybe a brief explanation why

Please make each point an individual entry. If we can come up with several of these, I plan to use them in my Kieth Brothers tribute.

Thanks for your input.

If this belongs in a different forum, will a mod kindly re-assign it. Thanks

 

[shadowlord]

writing a constitution

the government should be a parlimentary one as this would closely resemble the structure of the megacorp which they are used to. that is prime minister = CEO and the Parliment = Board of Directors. IMO trying to foster a government on a population different than what they are used to is risky. Of course this can/should be monified based on UPP of said planet and the whic particular megacorp controlled the planer

 

[rancke]

You are invited to help write the constitution for a world that was previously owned by a megacorp.
(1) Will it be a democracy, a republic, or maybe something else entirely? Why did you choose that type of government?
(2) What do you think should be included and maybe a brief explanation why

If this is supposed to be a generic constitution then why specify that it was previously owned by a megacorporation? If it's supposed to apply to some specific world, more details are necessary. History of the world up until now (What ills have the population suffered recently that they never want to suffer again), demographics (how big is the population and how heterogenous is it), power groups, religious and philosophical underpinnings of society, etc.

Constitutions don't arise in isolation.


Hans

 

[Gray Lensman]

wonder how long....

it will take this thread to get locked

I have many possible answers to your ?s, but it would be very helpful to know the UWP for this world, yes?

 

[Icosahedron]

the government should be a parlimentary one as this would closely resemble the structure of the megacorp which they are used to. that is prime minister = CEO and the Parliment = Board of Directors. IMO trying to foster a government on a population different than what they are used to is risky. Of course this can/should be monified based on UPP of said planet and the whic particular megacorp controlled the planer

I agree that for stability you need a system of government similar to the outgoing one, but I'd say the CEO/Board model is more of a Self-Perpetuating Oligarchy or an Impersonal Bureaucracy than a Parliament/Democracy.
Maybe it's just a case of 'Companies I Have Known'... (Who said Totalitarian Oligarchy??)

 

[Captain Midnight]

I'm not clear on what's being sought here. Are you looking for documents on the order of 20-30K words defining the nature of the government adopted by this world, with various and sundry articles and sections on the rights of individuals and on the makeup of a government, with provisions for amendments and ratifications, and what areas of public life that document is intended to cover. We might also include assorted work on why particular decisions get made the way they do, and on what concerns might be anticipated.

That project would take weeks of effort (at least), and I don't have time for it, let alone the interest.

If you'd like a brief overview, laying out various branches and how they might be handled, and how some common issues might be addressed, that's an entirely different kettle of fish. Lots of this will depend on the initial conditions chosen (world characteristics, nature of the interstellar government, personal interests, etc.), but could be very interesting if given some thought. I personally like to throw in some non-typical situations, but if players aren't going to interact with the local environment beside going to have a beer at Brubek's while their ship is refueled, it's pretty pointless to spend much effort on coming up with background.

You then have to deal with the "I saw this NPC before, therefore he must be out to kill me -- I shoot him before he shoots me" problem, but that's a different post.

 

[JAFARR]

clearification - I hope

By Captain Midnight
If you'd like a brief overview, laying out various branches and how they might be handled, and how some common issues might be addressed, that's an entirely different kettle of fish. Lots of this will depend on the initial conditions chosen (world characteristics, nature of the interstellar government, personal interests, etc.), but could be very interesting if given some thought. I personally like to throw in some non-typical situations, but if players aren't going to interact with the local environment beside going to have a beer at Brubek's while their ship is refueled, it's pretty pointless to spend much effort on coming up with background.

This is more what I had in mind, but maybe I should retract the reason for creating a constitution and replace it with the following:

I intend to have some specific nuggets in the adventure that lead the PCs to explore the sector. The worlds involved will be detailed out to some extent. There will also be some detailed worlds associated with some side adventures that are there just for window dressing and lots of worlds with nothing but the UWP generated. I want to use some of the possible constitutions that I expected might be put together from this post (with credit of course) to build the a few of the side adventures around.

In other words "This is an interesting idea for a constitution, now what or how can I do to exploit the concept?"

Hope that helps

 

[JAFARR]

Here is an idea I have toyed with for several years:

The government is headed by an appointed monarch and an elected legislature. The monarch is appointed from a school of candidates and is the highest ranking candidate at the time a new monarch is needed. He has the authority to set aside any law except the ones that deal with his removal from office for 1 year during which time the courts must review the law and re-instate it or send it to the legislature for updating or removal from the legal code.

The school is made up of the of all persons who wish to apply. Most are washed out of the program in the application battery of tests (takes several weekes and covers mental, physical, and moral testing). Those who make the grade now enter the school where a rigid and vigorous training and training program lasts for as long as they remain in school. There is a legal requirement that no one may be enrolled in the school if they are any closer related to the current or any past monarch than 5th cousin to prevent the establishment of a dynasty.

 

[Peter Schutze]

>There is a legal requirement that no one may be enrolled in the school if they are any closer related to the current or any past monarch than 5th cousin to prevent the establishment of a dynasty.

that could be a big problem if the population is only in the millions, especially if growing rapidly and how strictly a "5th cousin" is defined

In the immediate neighbourhood of my wifes family nearly everyone I met could explain how they were related by marraige if not blood in only 3 generations (their great grand parents) by finding the links to a few key figures like the well known or current mayor.

 

[JAFARR]

In this case I was thinking of a larger population. Anyway, that idea needs be fine tuned some more. It was just a rough draft. Basic idea being the monarch is limited by the constitution, not having absolute power.

 

[saundby]

When the megacorp pulls out, they leave the local branch of the corp credit union in place as the de facto government. That's where most of the locals' money is, anyway, in the form of local scrip or possibly Imp. credits if the workers are lucky.

The Constitution is the governance rules of the institution, now interpreted to include civil governance.

Some resources:
http://www.woccu.org/bestpractices/governance
http://www.credituniongovernance.coop/page/index.cfm
http://escan.cuna.org/articles/story.php?doc_id=1747

Placing the Corp owned credit union in control also gives the megacorp a way back in if the colony suddenly has value again, as well as a route for remote manipulation. But without the costs of actually running the place, or accountability for how it is run. It also makes it look like an equitable distribution of power to the locals (and it may actually turn out to be in some instances, depending on the individuals involved--or a nightmare.)

 

[jatay3]

What is the culture of the world minus the megacorp? One cannot write a constitution without taking this into account otherwise one might as well say,"We the Exalted Lawgivers hereby decree that every sophant shall be absolutely perfect in every possible way." So the constitution we write will differ according to local conditions.

Suppose, for instance, that life on this planet is dominated by a collection of tribes and clans. The constitution might therefore say, that each tribe shall govern itself according to it's own customs, and each tribe shall have representation in the legislature. There will need to be ways to avoid undo favoritism, and several interesting methods have been experimented with which one can research. For instance in Venetian elections there was an elaborate system of elections of electors and elections of another layer of electors and so on according to rituals designed to randomize things as much as possible thus weeding out nepotism.

If the chief element of power is centered on city-states similar to Greece or Italy, the same dynamic applies.

If it is a caste society, then perhaps each caste shall have representation at the highest level. This brings to mind the Minbari system in B5, but it also had a real life counterpart in Europe where parliaments would traditionally have three estates-the lords spiritual, the lords secular, and the commons-in other words the religious, warrior, and worker castes.

If it is a farming society where land is roughly equally distributed, or a commercial society with a strong middle class there the constitution will be more like the democratic one we are familiar with simply because the natural sources of military and economic power are widely distributed. While individuals might give up power as a noble sacrifice, if you are going to persuade groups to do so you need to offer something in return. Thus if a society is hierarchial, you have to either make concessions, or stomp everyone who gets in the way and likewise with an egalitarian society.

An example of how constitutions adapt to circumstances is Kuwait. Kuwait was founded by a confederation of arab tribes. When the city was founded it was agreed in council that the Al-sabahs would take the Emirate for themselves while the other tribes would divide control over the trade routes, making a fairly amiable arrangement that worked for several hundred years. Of late there has been pressure for revising that system from the other tribes which shows how things can change. Change is something else that has to be accounted for the US Constitution was wise in providing for a formal means of changing with out the danger of recklessness.

Other examples in real life are available. There is no reason why sci-fi people wouldn't borrow from them, so they are perfectly realistic. Also, of course, several writers of speculative fiction went to a great deal of work with such things. These are worth looking into. However the point remains, that if you wish to be an Great Lawgiver, you must know the people for whom the constitution is given.

 

[McPerth]

I think to find the goverment class and the fundaments of this constitution we have to take on consideation some factors (this is only my oppinion, I cannot tell you about serious studies about the subject):

- How did the megacorp leave the planet?

If the megacorp just left the planet, either whith some time of planning or without it (more probable, but not exclusive, on the rebellion millieu, with the vilani megacorps pull out), I think the most probable goverment to emerge is a tecnocracy, as the worst problem the planet whould have is the shortage of technicians and administrators (probably most of them were corporate men who leaved wih the megacorp).

If the megacorp just vanished or lost contact (reasons to anyone's guess), I think the most probable goverment to emerge is an oligarchy, mostly formed by the former corporate men, who are probably the best administrators or technicians and in a power position to begin with. This can take the form of a tecnocracy, a charismathic oligarchy or a self perpetuating one, or even a boureaucracy.

If the people fought their freedom from a too controlling megacorp, the situation is more open. A democracy is a good possibility, as people whold be hungry of freedom, and it's nearly sure a quind of anti-trust law, to avoid falling again in economic slavery. There can also emerge a leader who proclamates himself 'dictator' (either king, president for live, consul or whatever he likes to be called), that whould probably be charismathic, but may turn into a uncharismathic dictatorship sooner or later. In any case, it's probable (IMO) that the technicians and administrators left on planet whould have a starting advantage. Also one cannot dicard the fighting degenerated onto an anaarchy, but in this case we have not to worry about a constitution.

In this last scenario (independece won by fighting), it's probable the megacorp tries to enforce some kind of embargo or blockade to the planet, further aggravating its post war situation. This may lead to less freedom on the planet, based on the crisis situation. They may even want it to degenerate on anarchy so that the people whould ask to be absorbed again by the megacorp.

- The cultural background and lobbies present on the planet

Surely once the megacorp leaves it leaves behind a culture, and various groups whould take positions to deffend their interests. This may lead to one (or several allied) lobby outmaneovering the rest (or having a good lead start) and making a tailored constitution, a situation where the consitution doesn't really please anyone but at least everybody sees no one else to have won or to a consensus one, depending probably on the animosity among those groups and the relative power.

- The resources this planet has

A planet that is a trade hub or who rellies on trade is more likely to become an open society than an authathic one.

- The situation in the space zone the planet is on

In a millieu as the Hard Times, it's more probable some powerful person/group to take absolut power 'for the duration of the crisis'. This may be the military, some lobby ot a very powerful individual, or even outsiders (vikings wanting to settle and promising deffense in exchange, some mercenary group seeing an oportunity, etc)

- And probably a miriad of more things I don't think about by now