To police the other three, at the federal, state and local levels. I would call it the Tribunate, after the Tribunes of the Plebs in ancient Rome. Unlike those, these tribunes would have no veto power, but they would have much else. Here's how it works:
1. The mission of the Tribunate is to investigate, and then to publicize and/or prosecute, any and all public corruption, misconduct, or abuse of power at its level.
2. The Tribunate would be headed by a board of ten tribunes, elected by straight party-list proportional representation. That would open the possibility of one or two Libertarians, Socialists, etc., getting in. After all, what a Libertarian or Socialist considers an abuse might not appear so to anyone else, but still warrants investigation at the very least.
3. Each tribune would have absolutely unlimited authority to investigate government business, including access to top-secret materials, dark budgets, and ongoing police investigations. Any attempt to conceal anything from a tribune would be a felony.
4. However, a tribune would not have unlimited authority to publish his findings. That would require a majority vote of the board, in which event all tribunes would be immune from prosecution or suit. An individual tribune who unilaterally decided to publish could in no circumstances whatsoever be restrained from doing so, but neither would he enjoy immunity from legal consequences; he would just have to decide whether the matter is important enough to be worth the risk.
5. The Tribunate -- again, collectively, by majority vote -- would have the authority to indict and prosecute, concurrent with the authority of public prosecutors, except that the Tribunate's authority would be limited to public officials and employees. The Tribunate would have its own staff of lawyers for the purpose.
6. To assure independence from political pressure, the Tribunate would have a certain guaranteed level of funding that the legislature could not reduce without a supermajority vote of 2/3.
7. All agencies currently tasked with similar missions, such as inspectors general and internal affairs bureaus, would be hived off from their present departments and placed under the Tribunate; that way it has its eyes everywhere from the start.
8. The Tribunate would also be in charge of all functions that might be called "metagovernmental," such as running elections and redrawing electoral districts after the census. All elections offices would also be placed under the Tribunate. There would be no more locally elected supervisors of elections.
1. The mission of the Tribunate is to investigate, and then to publicize and/or prosecute, any and all public corruption, misconduct, or abuse of power at its level.
2. The Tribunate would be headed by a board of ten tribunes, elected by straight party-list proportional representation. That would open the possibility of one or two Libertarians, Socialists, etc., getting in. After all, what a Libertarian or Socialist considers an abuse might not appear so to anyone else, but still warrants investigation at the very least.
3. Each tribune would have absolutely unlimited authority to investigate government business, including access to top-secret materials, dark budgets, and ongoing police investigations. Any attempt to conceal anything from a tribune would be a felony.
4. However, a tribune would not have unlimited authority to publish his findings. That would require a majority vote of the board, in which event all tribunes would be immune from prosecution or suit. An individual tribune who unilaterally decided to publish could in no circumstances whatsoever be restrained from doing so, but neither would he enjoy immunity from legal consequences; he would just have to decide whether the matter is important enough to be worth the risk.
5. The Tribunate -- again, collectively, by majority vote -- would have the authority to indict and prosecute, concurrent with the authority of public prosecutors, except that the Tribunate's authority would be limited to public officials and employees. The Tribunate would have its own staff of lawyers for the purpose.
6. To assure independence from political pressure, the Tribunate would have a certain guaranteed level of funding that the legislature could not reduce without a supermajority vote of 2/3.
7. All agencies currently tasked with similar missions, such as inspectors general and internal affairs bureaus, would be hived off from their present departments and placed under the Tribunate; that way it has its eyes everywhere from the start.
8. The Tribunate would also be in charge of all functions that might be called "metagovernmental," such as running elections and redrawing electoral districts after the census. All elections offices would also be placed under the Tribunate. There would be no more locally elected supervisors of elections.
Last edited:
