Constitution
The constitution is a document that defines the political arrangements that govern a country. The constitution must contain a description of the government and how it operates and is elected. The government must have a fixed life which is usually not more than five years. This is to ensure that the government must return to the electorate at regular intervals. The arrangements for promotion of candidates, voting rules and vote counting must be clear, concise and not open to abuse.
The purpose of government is to secure the rights of the individual members of the society and to do this the government is granted an exclusive monopoly on the use of force. The government thereby gains control over the potentially most powerful weapon in the country – force. Its ability to use this force must be strictly controlled by the constitution. The government protects men from each other. The constitution protects men from the government. This is the fundamental balance of power.
The government can do only what is specified within the constitution. It can only make laws to protect men from each other. Each man can do anything he wishes subject to the limitation of the law. The government can do nothing unless it is actively specified in the constitution. The government cannot amend the constitution without a referendum of the whole electorate. No amendment can breach the fundamental concept of the rights of man.
The constitution will set up the arrangement and operation of a parliament, congress or assembly which will consist of elected members who represent the interest of their constituents to parliament. There will be two assemblies which share power by a clearly defined means. The assembly will elect by some means an executive which will bear authority and responsibility and may be dismissed by the assembly.
Departments of state will control all of the functions of government and will take responsibility for their actions so that there is accountability going back to the assembly. No state functions will be sub-contracted. The functions of government are essentially about the control of force and sub-contracting this to private organisations is highly immoral and very dangerous. It is bound to lead to unjust actions on the part of the contractors who become one stage removed from the control of the people.
The bureaucracy will be minimised and will perform only functions specifically authorised within the constitution. No individual requires any function from government, other than protection from force, that he cannot provide for himself. Allowing any individual, or organisation, to exercise force of any type against any other individual is immoral and should be illegal. Force separates a man from his brain – his only means of survival.
The function of government is to protect every citizen equally from force. It does this by making just laws in accordance with a constitution that protects the citizens from the powerful government. The laws are enforced by impartial courts paid for by the people. These may be administered by the government but are not under its control. The criminal law is enforced by an impartial police force that is controlled by the government. The government must answer to parliament and parliament must answer to the electorate on a regular basis. By these means freedom for all men may be obtained but the price of that freedom is eternal vigilance.
Colin Walker
28 Dec 2018