Thursday, March 30, 2006
Reform of the Lords (Part 2)
The model of the US Congress is not ideal but interesting nonetheless – the Senators in the Senate are elected for 6 year term, the Representatives in the House are elected for 2 year terms. There are 100 Senators, 435 Representatives. The number of Senators per State is 2, the number of Representatives depends on the population of the state.
With a bit of adaptation the Lords could be our Senate, the Commons our House of Representatives.
With a bit of adaptation the Lords could be our Senate, the Commons our House of Representatives.
# posted by The Nameless Libertarian @ 11:15 PM 
Comments:
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Problem with elections to the Lords is multi-fold.
First item would be how would the members be chosen, or proposed, or nominated for any such election?
Next would be the bog into which all proposals which include elctions must fall, namely, how to avoid any sniff of politicisation; for once the Lords fall into the two- or three-party system, you're back to where you started; with the strong possibility of political interference!
Then the method of the electoral system would need to be scrutinised, and proportional representation would rear it's head above the parapet!
Following on from that little set of pitfalls would be the largest, namely who would be voting in this election, and how would you ensure a large enough turn-out to make any House acceptable?
My own choice would allow for a set term of say six years, the winners would never be able to serve again once their term was completed, the prospective members to be picked on a lottery basis, voting to be compulsory, and finally each voter would have a single non-transferable vote!
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First item would be how would the members be chosen, or proposed, or nominated for any such election?
Next would be the bog into which all proposals which include elctions must fall, namely, how to avoid any sniff of politicisation; for once the Lords fall into the two- or three-party system, you're back to where you started; with the strong possibility of political interference!
Then the method of the electoral system would need to be scrutinised, and proportional representation would rear it's head above the parapet!
Following on from that little set of pitfalls would be the largest, namely who would be voting in this election, and how would you ensure a large enough turn-out to make any House acceptable?
My own choice would allow for a set term of say six years, the winners would never be able to serve again once their term was completed, the prospective members to be picked on a lottery basis, voting to be compulsory, and finally each voter would have a single non-transferable vote!
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