[EM] Another PR method based on ranked ballots

[Alex Small]

> One "intelligent and fair" chamber should be able
> to pass only good laws without any strategical
> additional component. The goal of a chamber is to
> identify and respond to new problems by adapted new
> laws. Not to maintain statu quo when some minority
> (geographical or other) wants to preserve its advantage
> at the expense of the new needs for the majority.


And in principle a single ruler elected by a majority of the people should
possess the wisdom and intelligence to make good decisions.  In principle
the legislature should know better than to enact laws that violate the
Constitutional liberties of the people, so judicial review should be
unnecessary.

In practice, this isn't the way it works out.  Checks and balances are
necessary.

On the positive side, if a problem is identified, usually both chambers
agree that it needs to be solved.  In the US, both houses of Congress
routinely put forward bill relating to health care, pollution, social
security, national defense, privacy, etc.  Everybody agrees on what the
problems are.  They often have different visions of how to solve it, and
the fact that there are so many competing opinions on the major issues of
the day means that we should take time before making laws.

As for whether there should be a minority veto, I have to argue in favor
of that for certain things.  While I don't like the notion of geographic
minority vetos (it makes no sense that a person in California gets no
minority veto while a person in Wyoming does), a supermajority requirement
in a democratically apportioned legislature enables a minority veto where
any person (or a representative thereof) can be part of that minority.  If
everything required only a simple majority, including Constitutions, then
the Constitution would lose all meaning.  Amending the Constitution would
be as simple as making any other law, so there would be no meaningful
limits on lawmakers.

We might disagree over which particular matters should be subject to
minority vetos, and what the supermajority threshold should be, but the
notion that a simple majority should not suffice in all cases is a sound
one.



Alex