Current parliamentary systems provide legislative and executive capability but do not strike a perfect balance of representing the will of the people, while providing effective and efficient government.

Introduction

There has been an ebb and flow for generations in opinion about the forms and benefits of legislative bicameralism and the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches of government.

A parliamentary system should:

• Represent the will of the people by providing a forum in which the various views of the electorate can be presented with appropriate weight;
• Provide reasonable legislative review that resists arbitrary change and limits any tyranny;
• Deliver an effective Executive.

A solution has never been implemented that appropriately balances these interlocking requirements, here is a suggestion.

Legislative Review

A bicameral parliament is the only demonstrated mechanism that provides sufficient legislative review within a democracy. The composition, size and responsibilities of the two houses needs to be determined.

The Will of the People

The will of the people should be manifested through a legislative assembly that best represents the different and complex viewpoints of the electorate. To achieve this representation, the legislative assembly should be constructed utilising proportional representation and preferential balloting.

It is clear from Senate elections in Australia that 12 representatives in an electoral district is too few to overcome the inertia of the major parties, and from Knesset elections in Israel that 120 is far too many. A balance needs to be struck that permits minority viewpoints to be heard without paralysing the legislative process.

The Role of Women in the Political Process

Although universal suffrage swept most of the democratic world early last century, essentially every aspect of political process from pre-selection through election to the operation of parliament has been designed and developed by men competing with other men. When women run for public office they do not share a level playing field in this mans game, and the female public by and large only have the opportunity to vote for which male should represent them.

To fully enfranchise women I propose (a) that the legislative assembly consist of equal numbers of men and women; and (b) that election should be gender-specific - men should vote for men and women for women.

Executive Power

There is a valid line of logic that a government needs a mandate, and pretty much any mandate is better than no mandate at all. To achieve this, systems for electing executive positions typically disavow proportional representation and electorates have one member and may not provide preferential balloting.

If the legislative assembly inherently represents the will of the people through proportional representation, then executive power - the role of government (including opposition) - should be vested in the Senate, with an electoral system that ensures that at any given time it should be dominated by one of the major parties.

The Composition of the Legislative Assembly

The total electorate should be divided into five regions of equal population, divided as much as possible between dissimilar interests, such as urban versus rural and regional Australia; and haves versus have nots. The regions need not be physically contiguous.

Each electoral region should elect 30 representatives, 15 men and 15 women, for a total of 150. Voting should be by preferential balloting, providing the opportunity for minority viewpoints to be heard where they represent more than 6% of generally held opinion.

A Legislative Bill should obviously require a majority of votes to pass, however a discussion would be worthwhile to analyse if an absolute majority or a 60%-or-so super-majority would be an improvement over the more usual relative majority.

The Composition of the Senate

Each state and territory should divide their total electorate by the number of allocated Senate seats to elect one representative in each region. Preferential balloting should be utilised to allow for gradual change in the balance of power between several major parties.

To maximise effectiveness a Senate Bill would require a relative majority of 50% to pass.

Conclusion

This proposed political structure incorporates only a small number of subtle changes to the current Australian system, with significant potential benefits. Attempting to implement them at a federal level would require a constitutional amendment to be proposed by a Government and then accepted by the people through a referendum. With no established precedent that is virtually impossible.

State and territory legislatures offer a more suitable proving ground since, within some limits, changes can be instituted through legislation alone and have far less reaching effects.

More Reading on Government design patterns

• Government Design Patterns
• Separation of Powers
• Constitution
• Government Design Patterns - Election
• Government Design Patterns - Paymaster
• Liberal Groupers
• Government Design Patterns - Federation
• Balancing Legislative and Executive Representation