On 3/21/07, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
On 3/21/07, Sam Blacketer sam.blacketer@googlemail.com wrote:
Maybe my English way but I like the idea of keeping Jimbo's power unspecified.
The queen's power pretty much is specified. She gets to veto a bill exactly once. After that I assume that the commons would take the steps required to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Not quite true: the queen gets to veto a *popular* or *controversial* bill exactly once. If she vetoed a bill declaring nuclear war against Norway, and then dissolved Parliament, it's likely that the people would back Her Majesty over Parliament, at least until the first opportunity to vote in a new Parliament.
I'd suggest that, instead of the rock-solid monarchy of the United Kingdom, a closer model to consider might be Spain, circa 1980. We're still trying to figure out this whole system of governance, and we may have to just wing it a few times, but we're learning, and we have a leader we can trust to not be crazy if and when things get bad.