Five Pillars of New Constitutional Design
Welcome subscribers curious about entering the $25,000 Constitution Contest
Welcome to Underthrow. Some of you are here for the hints and reminders about the Constitution of Consent Contest. The deadline is October 15.
If you apply the following set of principles, you will increase your chances of winning.
Principle of Consent. The constitution should be considered an explicit social contract, which means one should be a signatory to be a citizen. Once one signs, both the benefits and responsibilities of the agreement accrue to her. Those who do not sign are treated as non-participants, yet are still entitled to basic dignity and rights under the common law.
Principle of Judicial and Common Law Supremacy. Judicial decisions, especially those rooted in established common law precedents, should hold authority over legislative and executive actions within a legal system.
Principle of Subsidiarity. All decision-making authority should reside at the most local level feasible; disputes about feasibility should be resolved in court. Such a principle usually covers issues relevant to geography.
Principle of Self-determination. Any group living under this constitution can spawn, secede from, or join another jurisdiction through a reasonable consensus process.
Principle of Panarchy. Individuals should have the autonomy to select, where possible, from various governance systems or associations that align with their personal values and conceptions of the good, regardless of their geographic location.
I agree with all 5 of these, except that #5 should drop "regardless of their geographic location". Having a neighborhood where everyone agrees not to murder is important, and I would take issue with a neighbor who decides to act on their recent switch to a "murder is fine" government model... I do NOT support their freedom to murder... so I really don't support their switch while remaining my neighbor. They would need to go away first.