Establishing a new government

Establishing a New Government

In order to construct from zero a country with a functioning government based on democratic principles several steps are necessary in order to identify the most suitable opportunities available.

The first steps are to make an external non-biased analysis of the new country taking into account the most important elements: geography, demography, social and economic conditions of inhabitants and especially recent history. The latter would allow an understanding of the political and people's psychological situation as the new country of Kramer might have been born out of a conflict with another state or states, or from an interior conflict. This, alongside identifying the main leaders of the society, is very important in the construction of any new state as it lowers political pressures on the future governments. Therefore, a serious analysis should be made on the solidity of the people that have requested assistance in organizing a new government, of their background and most of all influence and trust of the Kramerian population.

A government can be organized by either an external party or an internal number of actors. As no institution appears to exist in Kramer, it appears logic that the first steps in creating fundamental laws and institutions could be made by representatives of the people in conjunction with the external party which should be a recognized international authority like the United Nations. A temporary working group of representative leaders from the Kramerian society and international advisors should be formed to put into motion the first steps towards a free and democratic society.

As the most important act in the political formation of the country is the Constitution, the temporary working group should identify national and international experts and community actors that would engage in a closed doors debate on drafting the Constitution. After the final draft is ready, this should be opened for a public debate that would also involve citizens, creating therefore a sense of responsibility and unity. As such a process takes time and a country needs to also develop its basic skeleton, the temporary working group should either request international logistics support or use the existing one (if the case) to offer citizens some of the basic needs: security, shelter, basic nutrition and health resources and communication methods.

After the finalization of the Constitution, that would lay in theory all the necessary institutions and relations of the state with citizens and other states, a significant number of the population should give its agreement on the document either in a massive public gathering or, if in place, by voting. More technical issues that are also very important relate to the creation of a flag, an anthem, a capital city and to identify or build state buildings.

The next steps would be related to the final actions of the temporary working group that would organize, with the support of international or regional actors, the first elections of the country. Following a Western model of democracy, the most important issue that has to be established and recognized by all is the separation of powers into the legislative, executive and judicial. Therefore, the Constitution, besides guaranteeing all universal rights, obligations and freedoms, should set clearly the nature of relations between the three institutions. Kramer would have a bicameral National Assembly with a House of Representatives and a Senate, an executive branch led by a President (if following the American model) and a judicial branch, the Supreme Court.

In order to form a representative government that would put in place in relation with the National Assembly the necessary laws and rules, the elections should be free and just. This can be attained by the use of external observers and monitors that would make sure all established rules by the Constitution are applied.

There are a number of models on how to structure the Assembly, what name to give and role, how the government would be formed and if it would need a vote, etc. For this particular case, the chosen option is to have a mix between the American and the continental European models. Therefore, the temporary working group, after validating the election results for the National Assembly would step down only when a government is formed and voted with a majority by the elected members. As the newly elected President would also be the head of the government, the responsibility to propose the new government would be his, with a vote of the Assembly.