Constitutions Send in the Crowd - Buisness Management - Lecture Slides, Slides of Business Administration

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The Case of Iceland

1) Crash – Serious business, cost 7 times GDP

2) Background – People demanded change

 Most new constitutions arise from crises

3) Process – From national assembly via

constituent assembly to new constitution

 Politicians not involved

4) Substance – Sharp focus on human rights

 One person, one vote; persons v. party lists

 Public ownership of natural resources

5) Method – Similar to US 1787

6) Obstacles – Usual suspects

 Parliament decided to proceed in three steps

 Convene National Assembly

 1,000 persons selected at random through stratified sampling to secure fair representation

 Appoint Constitutional Committee to gather

information, provide analysis, propose ideas  Seven members from different directions (law, literature, science), produced 700-page report

 Hold election of Constitutional Assembly

representatives  25 representatives elected from among 522 candidates by STV (Single Transferable Vote) method to minimize number of ‘dead’ votes Docsity.com

 Civilized campaign – not a campaign, really

 Candidates viewed themselves not as competitors but rather as advocates of a common cause

 The 25 elected were doctors, lawyers,

priests, and professors, yes, …  … but also company board members, a farmer, a fighter for the rights of handicapped persons, mathematicians, media people, erstwhile MPs, a nurse, a philosopher, poets and artists, political scientists, a theatre director, and a union leader  Good cross section of society

 Two key provisions concerning human rights

 Equal voting rights everywhere  Public ownership of natural resources

 Other important provisions concerning

 Transparency and the right to information  Environmental protection  Reciprocal rights of man and nature  Checks and balances, including  Appointment of judges and other public officials  Independence of state agencies

 Equal voting rights everywhere

 In Iceland’s electoral system, the number of votes needed to elect an MP for Reykjavík area where 2/3 of population reside was 2, 3, and up to 4 times as large as the number of votes needed in rural electoral districts  Unequal voting rights constitute a violation of human rights as pointed out by European election supervisors  For over 100 years, representatives of rural areas in parliament have blocked equal voting rights  The bill stipulates that voters vote for persons as well as parties, even across party lists, also guaranteeing minimal representation of regions

 Invitation was well received

 Council received 323 formal proposals  All were discussed and answered by one of three committees  Over 3,600 comments were posted on website by visitors  Council members answered many if not most of them  Direct webcasts, also aired on TV, were regularly watched by about 150-450 viewers  Over 50 interviews with Council members and others concerned were posted on YouTube  They had, by late 2011, been viewed 5,000 times

 At the same time, many experts advised the

Council every step of the way  Lawyers and others  In meetings as well as in writing

 Council could not seek the advice of all

available and eligible experts  However, like everyone else, they were welcome to offer their comments and suggestions

 Council did not invite representatives of

interest organizations to special meetings  These organizations had same access as everyone else to Council (bankers, boat owners, farmers)

 Some MPs have at least two strong reasons

for not wanting to see the bill go through

 Equal voting rights article will spoil re-election

prospects of some MPs who are the products of

an electoral system allowing political parties to

allocate ‘safe seats’ to candidates

 A bit like asking the turkey to vote for Christmas

 Natural resources article will not please some

MPs either because, to quote a former

newspaper editor, “it means political suicide to

rise against the quota holders in rural areas.”

 Bill is available in English

 Bill has been in public domain for 11 months

 No significant, concrete, technical criticisms have been voiced against it, nor have flaws been exposed, only points of political disagreement  Critical voices seem to echo special interests (boat owners, politicians) keen to preserve the status quo for their own benefit  Opponents resorted to filibuster in parliament  Polls suggest that 9% of voters trust parliament  Classic contest between special vs. public interest