10th August 2018

Consensual Presidential Democracy

Consensual Presidential Democracy is a system of democracy aimed at governing with maximum consensus, where the voice of the ‘losing’ minority is always taken into account. It gives the President exceptionally strong powers against the strongest accountability and recall procedures, to enable him to play a crucial role as conciliator and moderator between two opposing parties, each represented by one Vice President. This system deepens the separation of legislative and executive powers by having a technocratic government. It also has the widest representation of the electorate, where the representatives to the Parliament are elected using a combined First Past the Post and the Two Rounds System of weighted voting and where a half of the second chamber of the parliament is elected based on a Sortition system.

The overall assumption underlying the Consensual Presidential Democracy is that we can only survive the extremely dangerous transition to post-Superintelligence period, if we work more closely together, which means a gradual federalization of the whole world. We must be acting as one whole, as Humanity. That is why Consensual Presidential Democracy is built on the following principles:

  1. The political representatives are elected in the way, where they represent most closely the will of the majority but do not at the same time ignore the needs of the minority. The ‘losing’ minority is not being trampled down but always heard and all decisions are taken by consensus rather than being enforced
  2. Politicians are mainly elected to pass the law and oversee the execution of the law of the land but do not play any part in the execution of these laws
  3. That leads to a much clearer separation of the legislative and executive powers when the government is run almost entirely by technocrats and specialists
  4. Deeper separation of legislative and executive powers will also insulate law makers from short-term political pressures and deliver better quality law
  5. Any long-term decision, e.g. lasting a generation like in education, health or infrastructure projects, would be decided by Sortition Assemblies and then approved by both Houses of the Parliament
  6. The key role of this new style of democracy is first of all to assist Humanity in passing through the most dangerous period in its existence with minimum harm. It will also prepare Humanity to be governed like a Planetary Civilization, which at some stage will be ready for an eventual coexistence and a possible merger with Superintelligence, irrespective of the form it may take – mind uploading, transhumanism or any other way.
  7. The role of the President is crucial in Consensual Presidential Democracy for two reasons:
    1. The President has exceptionally strong powers in order to make very quickly, the most important decisions at the time of crisis, such as the emergence of an existential risk
    2. The President plays a crucial role as a moderator and a conciliatory force when the majority and the minority parties cannot come to a consensus on their own
  8. Although there is a centralisation of key powers, the range of those powers is kept to an absolute minimum
  9. Therefore, most governing powers rest with the lowest level of decision making
  10. The consensual style of government also covers the redistribution of wealth on a global scale, mainly financed by the future rapid growth in productivity, provided by immense number of intelligent robots delivering to humans the world of affluence never experienced by humanity
  11. The governmental powers are far stronger than in any western democracy right now, to make the government more effective in fighting existential risks that can materialize within hours
  12. The voice of the governed is heard and acted on by the governing on an on-going basis rather than just during the elections
  13. Strong powers of the president and the government are counterbalanced by an unprecedented level of scrutiny, transparency and accountability

Such a new style of democracy will, in my view, have a better chance of supporting the new European Federation and indeed any other organization, or a state, that would take on the role of the World Government and withstand even more severe challenges than those to which the EU may be exposed in the near future.

All those principles of Consensual Presidential Democracy are put forward for consideration to be embedded in the Constitution of the European Federation, which could become a legal framework for all laws, based on the values accepted by a significant majority of the society, and which establishes a new democratic order.

Next: European Federation Constitution 

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