While blazed I began to think of how our government is set up, which then led to me thinking about the perfect form of government. The premise I came up with is you are shipwrecked and end up on a small island with no laws. You then decide to create laws and a central government. And also what arguments would there be against your proposed idea and how would you refute them... At this time I would go with a democracy in which everyone can vote for laws. There would be no senate, president, or any other office, just voters. But i'm curious as to what the members of gc would choose as the perfect government to set up in such a situation.
The problem with a Democracy is the majority of people will always be stupid. What will eventually happen is the smart people who succeed in life will fall victim to mob rule, and they will be robbed by the have-nots. By ignoring the Constitution we have become a defacto democracy. Psychopaths like GW Bush are elected by a targeted majority demographic, and then he enacts any law he wants. Then Obama comes in and appeals to a different majority, and now he can violate the Constitutional law however he wants. Every election cycle we "throw the rascals out" and choose whoever panders to the majority next. This is why Republic is the best form of government, we have laws set in place that protect the individual from mob rule. There is a lengthy democratic-esque process involved in changing the laws, but the system itself is not a Democracy. The best form of government for the US would be a Confederate Republic. Each state is bound by the basic laws of the Constitution, and everything not listed in the Constitution is up to the individual states to decide.
Are we arguing for a system of government for a large group? Small group? Isolated island like said or a part of a larger land mass?
I think if a democracy system has to be used, then only Significant, Educated members of the community should be allowed to participate in the Voting process. I also don't think Media should be allowed to Comment or report on the Voting process at all. Its quite obvious that different media manipulate less educated people, taking advatage of their ignorance. IMHO Socretes had it right, Screw a democracy and Find an Elightened leader that can run things as a Dictorship.
I would want a situation like the native Americans. Everyone does what they can and support each other. The wisest oldest village man would be chief.
I'm talking in the context of the United States. For a small group any form of government works, because they are mostly consenting. It is when you get a large group, like the US, that you have to make sure the power is decentralized. There is a central government that protects the union states and ensures free trade among all the states, and any people that don't want to be a part have the right to leave; self determination. Under this system, on a local level, you can have total democracy. Already most Western states have initiatives and referendum process, more open democracies. The problem today is most of the duties reserved for the states have been assumed by DC, and these are mostly heated issues that we don't all agree on, like socialism.
If the number of people is small, less than 100, I would think democratic communism would work most efficiently and effectively towards the prosperity of the society. For large populations, I believe the government set up by the founding fathers, a constitutional republic, is the best.
I believe that I never have a right to tell someone else how to live their life, so I would not create a government. The absence of government is my personal favorite, but again I'm not going to force anyone into or out of any system.
I wouldn't bother. If history has any lessons to teach us, it's that you could bring Paradise down to Earth with your system of government, life would be as good as it could be for the most people, and general contentment would be at an all-time high, and in two generations some goose-stepping dickface on a power-trip would coup the shit out of your government and make everything shitty again. Probably the best system of government I've ever heard of is from I, Robot, where we build these special robotic brains (bound by the Three Laws, mind you) to consult with the governing powers of Earth, and over time they get sick of just consulting because they know so much better than we limited humans, and they just gradually, slowly, gently take on all the actual governance that's happening, and nobody on Earth is the wiser, except for the governors, who are secretly relieved because now they just have to smile and wave and everybody still loves them. We think we're running things because that's the only way we'd accept such a government.
I don't know that Native American tribes fall under any of the current political umbrellas. They're form of society is as close to that of another species, wolves for instance, as it is to current politics.
wow i didn't expect this many responses. Alot of great ideas and new forms of governments i've never even heard of! So far i'm liking the democratic communism. And to answer some previous questions, yes i was thinking more of a small island with under 300 people.
Well, the Iroquois confederation did, but there are a ton of different Native American societies that developed their own systems of governance. The Aztecs had a militaristic empire.
I'd create a socialist-commie style government to control a small state (otherwise it gets out of control). I'd use a cult of personality and propaganda in replace of religion (which works as a surprisingly good substitute), and I'll see where I can go from there.
Your assuming though that the govrnment cannot be used to work toward a common good. A confederate republic would be the best, let the states decide what goes on within their borders.