Comments

  • dlatimer . # .
    Copernican Model is a framework for all issues: It is incorrect to say the Copernican Model does not address a Bill of Rights, unless the objective is to adopt forms of liberty found in other nations.

    One year ago, I would have said the issues are separate. After all, Canada has a Bill of Rights. One cannot establish a republic in which there is no mechanism for replacing the Queen. And wholesale rewriting of the constitution is unrealistic and change will only occur in steps.

    However, the contribution of Prof John Power has been very influential. A Bill of Rights on paper is only as useful as the integrity of the governmental structure protecting those rights. Witness the current struggle in the US.

    In http://www.7gs.com/copernican/?p=32, Prof Power has said that historically, the monarchy served as a potent symbol of the public interest, and that as the monarchy wanes, other institutions to enforce integrity have proliferated eg ombudsmen, ICAC ect...

    The relationship between the actual government decision makers (eg the PM) and the state is critical in maintaining those rights we currently have, yet alone creating a society in which our rights could be expanded and/or further respected.

    Professor Power has used the Copernican paradigm to recast the very apex of government in order to protect our existing rights and promote good government. This is an Australian innovation. Most importantly, it\'s a practicable, achievable reform, with quite specific provisions and objectives.

    In conclusion there is far more to the paradigm, than you may be aware. If the ideas of an expanded liberty are ever to take root in reality, it shall take place in a Copernican framework where executive power is held separately from those who exercise it and separate again from those who direct its use.

    (Read John Power\'s article here: http://www.7gs.com/copernican/?p=32 )