Constitution 2.0: Part II

Part II addresses the legislative branch.  Believe it or not, I tried to err on the side of brevity.  If you think I missed an important detail, comment about it and I’ll probably have an answer for you.

2.     Replace the House and Senate with two brand-new chambers.

Though the framers got a lot of stuff wrong, they got a lot of stuff right too.  One of those is a bicameral legislature.  Two sufficiently separate chambers can balance each other and keep each other in check.  However, those chambers must be restructured to make Congress function effectively.

The House of Representatives

(Same name, completely different chamber) 

 

Composition

·         200 members

·         Each representative is elected from a separate geographic district.

·         Members will be elected to 5 year terms with no term limits.

·         Elections will be offset, so that 40 of the 200 seats are up for reelection any given year.

·         Representatives must be at least 30 years old, have lived in their district for 5 years, and have been citizens for 10 years to qualify for office.

Powers:

·         Initiate legislation to increase tax revenue.  

·         Confirm appointments of domestic cabinet officials and federal judges.  Confirmation requires 120 votes (60%).

·         Try impeachment of federal officials.  Removal requires 160 votes (80%).

Like the current House, this chamber is designed to directly represent the people.  Age and residency requirements ensure that members share regional interests with their constituents, and represent them maturely.  Since taxation can be a sore spot for citizenry, only legislators who are directly elected can write tax laws (another idea the founders got right).  Long terms make this chamber stable, and allow Representatives to spend less time campaigning and more time legislating.  This House is still quite responsive to voters, however, since one-fifth of them are up for reelection each year.  Since the House of Representatives is more likely to think long-term than the other chamber, it has the final say in whether an impeached official will be removed from office.  The high number of votes required to remove an official helps deter partisan-motivated impeachment.

 

The House of Councilors

Composition

·         200 members

·         Councilors are elected through proportional representation.

·         Elections are held each year.  No term limits

·         Councilors must be at least 25 years old, and have been citizens for 10 years to qualify for office.

Powers

·         Confirm appointments of ambassadors, all cabinet officials, and federal judges.  Confirmation requires 120 votes (60%)

·         Ratify treaties.  Requires 120 votes (60%)

·         Impeach federal officials.  Impeachment requires 120 votes (60%).

Voters don’t elect councilors directly.  During the yearly Council election, voters select a political party.  The Council seats are allotted to the parties according to the election’s results.  For instance, if the electorate voted 45% GOP, 40% Democrat, 10% Libertarian, and 5% Green, then 90 Council seats would be given to Republicans, 80 seats to Democrats, 20 to Libertarians, and 10 to the Green party.  The Parties then choose who specifically will fill each seat.  This chamber will probably be less personality-driven than the House of Representatives, since constituents don’t vote on specific candidates.  Instead, it will be driven more by the ideas espoused by the various parties.  The idea-driven politics of this chamber make it better suited for foreign policy, so they get to ratify treaties and confirm appointments to offices dealing directly with foreign relations.  The yearly election cycle makes this chamber highly responsive to voters, but since campaigning duties fall onto party organizations, Councilors can put most of their focus on legislating.  Councilors initiate impeachment, splitting the impeachment power between the chambers.

Powers shared by both Houses

·         Raise revenue (while only the House of Representatives can initiate tax increases, tax bills must still pass the House of Councilors to become law)

·         Pay national debts

·         Provide for general welfare

·         Naturalization policy

·         Coin money, and protect and enforce its value

·         Develop infrastructure

·         Foster scientific and artistic development (including patent and copyright laws)

·         Criminal law

·         Raise and regulate a military

·         Declare War (requires 120 votes in each House.  That’s 60% per house)

·         Override Presidential Vetoes (requires 180 votes in each house.  That’s 90% per house)

200 is a good number for both chambers since it allows for a wide variety of perspectives without becoming administratively unwieldy.  All legislation requires a majority vote in each house in order to pass, except where noted.  Some actions require a higher level of support, based on the potential risks of the action.  The high number of votes required to override a veto makes partisan-motivated overrides much less likely, and gives the executive branch greater power.