Knesset take 2...(up and coming)
As of late i have been pondering Government (why a biomedical engineer would ever do this i do not know). And I decided that my PhD/thesis in International Relations or Polisci is going to be reconstructing the Israeli government to something more stable, representative and oh yes, sensical.
Saying this may raise some eyebrows, and cause people to think, "wow pretencious" and yes, it is, but instead of mocking me, let me know what you think I should take into account while reconstructing this government.
As a die hard fan of separation of church and state, I am POSITIVE my opinions and ideas will cause many to disagree with me on the end results of this project, however I welcome constructive criticism and ideas.
posted by Valentine @ 15:45
1 comments
1 Comments:
'pretencious', eh? Perhaps you mean pretentious. :p PhD, eh?
Some brief thoughts:
- Israel has done a lot to try to keep the voices of its myriad groups heard. Though this leads to the rise of any number of special interest parties that each take their chunk out of the coalition platform, it is also fairly unique in the democratic world with having a semi-stable government composed of any number of special interest parties. Aside from Labor/Likud/Kadima, pretty much everyone has just a few points on their agenda: the Arab parties, Shas, Yahadut Hatorah, Mafdal, Ichud Haleumi, Meretz, Shinui, Yisrael Beiteinu. All have fairly narrow platforms that they try to insert into the coalition in exchange for votes.
Any redesign of the Israeli government should try to provide a way for the voice of its extraordinarily diverse groups to be heard.
- Israel is a Jewish state. If you want a classic democracy, you can go to pretty much anywhere else in the Western world. You can find a Christian state in Vatican City (and to a lesser extent, in various other Western/Christian countries), you can find any number of Islamic states... and this is a Jewish one. Any government *must* preserve the Jewish character of the state. We don't need a copy of a republican or a socialist or a parliamentary government... plenty of other places to find those.
- At the same time, the religious and civil rights of non-Jews must be protected. The current system of various religious courts for non-Jews is a start, but the usual furor about religious vs. secular Jews in Israel makes setting a common religious legal system for Jews exceedingly difficult. Should marriages be a religious/state matter, or purely civil? Conversions? Etc, etc.
- Israel needs a strong executive branch. The power of the PM waxes and wanes with the personal abilities of the man in the office. Perhaps an executive should not be given all of the power that the President of the US has today, but it might be useful to give it some more ability to control the legislative process, etc. Now, the PM has to work through his cabinet, all of whom are *also* legislators. This makes the power of the Knesset (and its rival parties) over the abilities of an executive to make fast decisions too much.
Just a few thoughts... I'm sure I'll have criticisms in the future. ;)
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