davidvoegtle.net

Too many cooks in the political kitchen spoil the broth: A persuasive argument could be made for moving California toward a parliamentary democracy rather than the federal system that the state adopted from the national government 150-plus years ago.

The federal system, rooted in the post-Revolutionary War fear of concentrated power, institutionalizes the concept of “checks and balances.” We Californians have enhanced the diffusion inherent in the federal system by making more of the executive branch offices separately elected, installing a system of direct democracy that bypasses elected government altogether, maintaining a long state constitution that decrees how government is to be conducted, requiring supermajority votes on many issues, and vesting authority in many quasi-independent agencies.

(Via Positive Liberty.)

There’s a bit more. You should read it.

It’s an interesting idea. I’m no expert on parliamentary systems, but I don’t believe we’ve ever tried one in the US. Could we do it? I don’t know of anything prohibiting the establishment at the state level of a parliamentary system. Are there inherent advantages to maintaining a level of similarity between the states’ and the federal governments? Are there theoretical advantages to encouraging dissimilarity?

I’m going to ponder. Give me some ideas!