We the people living on the Earth, in order to establish justice and peace among nations, provide for the common security, resolve international disputes, regulate international trade, preserve the environment of the Earth, protect human rights, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the Federal Earth Democracy. The powers of the Federal Earth Democracy shall be limited to those designated in this Constitution, and all other powers shall be reserved to the sovereignty of the people and their nations.
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Article I
Section 1
All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in the Congress of the Federal Earth Democracy, which shall consist of a Senate and an Assembly of Representatives.
Section 2
The Representatives in the Assembly shall be elected by the people in each nation and be apportioned in districts by population with each nation electing one Representative per ten million people. Every Representative shall have one vote, except that the vote of each Representative from a nation with less than five million people shall count as one half vote, and nations with less than one million people shall each have one non-voting Representative.
Each Representative must be at least twenty-five years of age, must have been a citizen of the nation represented for at least ten years, and when elected, must be an inhabitant of that nation represented.
The Assembly of Representatives shall have the power to impeach federal officers by a two-thirds vote.
Section 3
The Senate of the Earth shall be composed of one hundred eighty Senators with twenty Senators representing each of nine regions.
Each Senator shall have one vote and must be at least thirty years of age, must have been a citizen of the nation represented for at least fifteen years, and when elected, must be an inhabitant of one of those nations in the region in which one is elected.
Section 4
General elections for all Representatives and for one-third of the Senators shall be held on the first Wednesday of November in odd-numbered years.
Twenty Senators shall be elected from each of the following nine regions: China, India, East Asia, North Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe, South America, and North America.
The China region shall include China.
The India region shall include India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka.
The East Asia region shall include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Myanmar (Burma), Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.
The North Asia region shall include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
The Middle East region shall include Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, and Yemen.
The Africa region shall include Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Réunion, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Sao Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The Europe region shall include Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the Vatican State.
The South America region shall include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Netherlands Antilles, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Luda, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, and the Virgin Islands.
The North America region shall include Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and the United States.
Primary elections shall be held regionally in odd-numbered years on the first Wednesday of May. In the first year of elections after the ratification of this Constitution the Senators from the regions of Africa, East Asia, and Europe shall be elected to terms of two years, the Senators from the regions of India, North America, and North Asia to terms of four years, and the Senators from the regions of China, Middle East, and South America to terms of six years. Thereafter every other year sixty Senators from three regions shall be elected to terms of six years.
The Senators shall be elected proportionally. The primary election shall determine the list of candidates with the most votes within each party. In the general election citizens shall vote for the party of their choice, and twenty seats in each region shall be apportioned with each party getting one seat for each five percent of the vote.
Representatives of the nations shall be elected by district with instant runoff voting using first, second, and third choices in both the primary and general elections. As candidates with the least number of votes are eliminated, the second (and if necessary the third) choices of those voters shall take effect until one candidate has more votes than all the remaining candidates.
The Senate and Assembly of Representatives shall be the judge of their own elections, returns and qualifications of their own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business.
Section 5
The Senators and Representatives shall receive compensation for their services to be ascertained by law and paid out of the Treasury of the Federal Earth Democracy. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective assemblies and in going to and returning from the same.
No Senator or Representative shall during the time for which he or she was elected be appointed to any civil office under the authority of any nation or state; no person holding any office under any national or state government shall be a member of either assembly during his or her continuance in office.
Section 6
All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the Assembly of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the Assembly of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Council of nine Presidents. If two thirds or more approve, they shall sign it; but if not, they shall return it with their objections to that assembly in which it shall have originated and which shall enter the objections at large in their journal and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that assembly shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent together with the objections to the other assembly by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if it is approved by two thirds of that assembly, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both assemblies shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered in the journal of each assembly respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Council of Presidents within ten days after it shall have been presented to them, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if they had signed it.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and Assembly of Representatives may be necessary shall be presented to the Council of Presidents, and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by at least two thirds of them, or not being approved by two thirds of them, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and Assembly of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 7
The Congress of the Federal Earth Democracy shall have the following powers:
to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the security and general welfare of the people of the Earth; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform everywhere on Earth;
to borrow money on the credit of the Federal Earth Democracy;
to regulate commerce between nations;
to coin money and regulate the value of currencies;
to provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the Federal Earth Democracy;
to fix the standard of weights and measures;
to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
to constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court of the Federal Earth Democracy;
to provide for the inspection, investigation of disputed treaties, disarmament agreements, and suspected violations of the laws of the Federal Earth Democracy;
to provide for organizing, equipping, disciplining, and missions of the Federal Earth Democracy peacekeepers to resolve international conflicts;
to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Federal Earth Democracy or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 8
The immigration of persons any of the nations shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the Congress.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one nation over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one nation be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law, and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the Federal Earth Democracy, and no person holding any office of profit or trust under it shall without the consent of the Congress accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from any monarch or nation.
No nation shall without the consent of Congress and the Council of Presidents send troops, military forces, weapons or ships of war outside their national borders, enter into any military agreement or compact with another nation or other power, or engage in war.
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Article II
Section 1
The executive power shall be vested in a Council of Nine Presidents of the Federal Earth Democracy. They shall hold these offices during the term of six years and be elected in odd-numbered years by a majority of all the voters in the nine regions using instant runoff voting in both the primary and general elections as described in Article I Section 4.
All persons who are at least thirty-five years of age and inhabitants of the region when elected shall be eligible for the office of President.
In the first year of elections after the ratification of this Constitution the Presidents from the regions of India, North America, and North Asia shall be elected to terms of two years, the Presidents from the regions of China, Middle East, and South America to terms of four years, and the Presidents from the regions of Africa, East Asia, and Europe to terms of six years. Thereafter every other year three Presidents from three regions shall be elected to terms of six years.
In case of the removal of a President from office or of his or her death or resignation, the twenty Senators from that region shall elect an Acting President until the next election can fill the vacancy for the balance of the term.
The Presidents shall receive compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected, and they shall not receive within that period any other emolument from any nation or state.
Before entering on the execution of their offices, the Presidents, Senators, and Representatives shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office to which I have been elected and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Federal Earth Democracy."
The terms of the elected Presidents, Senators, and Representatives shall begin at noon on January 3 following their election.
Section 2
The Council of Presidents shall execute the laws of the Federal Earth Democracy by a two-thirds majority.
The Council of Presidents may require the opinion in writing of the administrator in each of the executive departments upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.
The Council of Presidents by a two-thirds majority shall have power by and with the advice and consent of the Senate to make treaties between nations, provided the governments of those nations and two thirds of the Senators present concur.
The Council of Presidents by a two-thirds majority shall nominate and by and with the advice and consent of at least three-fifths of the Senate shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court of the Federal Earth Democracy, and all other officers of the Federal Earth Democracy, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the Council of Presidents alone, in the courts of law, or in the administrators of departments.
The Council of Presidents shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate by granting commissions which shall expire one month after the end of their recess.
Section 3
The Council of Presidents shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Earth and recommend for their consideration such measures as they shall judge necessary and expedient; they may on extraordinary occasions convene both assemblies or either of them.
The Council of Presidents shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed and shall commission all the officers of the Federal Earth Democracy.
Section 4
The Presidents and all civil officers of the Federal Earth Democracy shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
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Article III
Section 1
The judicial power of the Federal Earth Democracy shall be vested in one Supreme Court and inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The nine judges of the Supreme Court and the judges of the inferior courts shall hold their offices during good behavior for nine years, after which time they may be appointed again, and they shall receive for their services compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. Eight of the first nine judges shall serve terms limited by the annual appointments. Each year the President and twenty Senators representing a region shall appoint a judge from that region with the advice and consent of three-fifths of the Senate. The sequence of annual replacements shall be China, South America, Middle East, India, North America, North Asia, East Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Section 2
The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising under this Constitution, the laws of the Federal Earth Democracy, and treaties made or which shall be made under its authority, to all cases affecting international relations, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; and to controversies between two or more nations, between citizens of different nations, between citizens claiming lands under grants of different nations, and between a nation or the citizens thereof and other nations.
In all cases affecting international relations and those in which a nation shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
Section 3
Treason against the Federal Earth Democracy shall consist only in levying war. No Person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason.
Any federal officer impeached by the Assembly of Representatives shall be tried before the Supreme Court, and a vote of two thirds is required for conviction.
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Article IV
Section 1
Full faith and credit shall be given in each nation to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other nation, and the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved and the effect thereof.
Section 2
The people of each nation shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens as described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
A person charged in any nation with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice and be found in another nation, shall on demand of the executive authority of the nation from which he or she fled be delivered up to be removed to the nation having jurisdiction of the crime.
Section 3
New nations may be admitted by the Congress into the Federal Earth Democracy; but no new nation shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other nation, nor shall any nation be formed by the junction of two or more nations or parts of nations without the consent of the legislatures of the nations concerned as well as of the Congress.
If a nation shall be divided, the new nations admitted into the Federal Earth Democracy having less than five million people shall have one non-voting Representative and those having between five and ten million people shall have one Representative with one-half vote.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory and boundaries of nations in the Federal Earth Democracy.
Section 4
The Federal Earth Democracy shall guarantee to the people in every nation in this union human rights and a republican form of government and shall protect each nation against invasion and on application of the legislature or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.
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Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both assemblies shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the nations with more than one million people, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which in either case shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the nations with more than one million people or by a majority vote of the citizens in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress.
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Article VI
This Constitution and the laws of the Federal Earth Democracy which shall be made in pursuance thereof and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the Federal Earth Democracy shall be the supreme law of the Earth, and the judges in every nation shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any nation to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators, Representatives, and all executive and judicial officers of the Federal Earth Democracy shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the Federal Earth Democracy.
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Article VII
Section 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
No peacekeeper shall be quartered in any house without consent of the owner.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for a felony unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall any person be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against oneself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against one, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in one's favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for one's defense.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed; neither capital nor cruel punishments shall be inflicted.
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the nations and the people.
The powers not delegated to the Federal Earth Democracy by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the nations, are reserved to the nations respectively, or to the people.
Section 2
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist on the Earth.
All persons are citizens of the Earth and of the nation where they were born. No nation shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of the citizens; nor shall any nation deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The right of citizens of the Federal Earth Democracy to vote shall not be denied or abridged by any nation on account of race, color, sex, religion, political association, sexual orientation, or previous condition.
The right of citizens of the Federal Earth Democracy to vote in any primary or other election for President, Senator, or Representative shall not be denied or abridged by any nation by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax.
The right of citizens of the Federal Earth Democracy, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by any nation on account of age.
No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect until an election of representatives shall have intervened.
Section 3
Every person on the Earth has the right to attend free public schools and use free public libraries.
Every person on the Earth has the right to receive free health care, and Congress shall make no law interfering with a patient's right to be treated by a physician.
Those serving in the offices of President, Senator, Representative, and Judge shall not receive any other income during their term of public service.
The election campaigns of candidates for the offices of President, Senator, and Representative shall be publicly financed. Citizens may also contribute up to one hundred dollars to one candidate in each office for which they are qualified to vote during each primary and general election. No other person, group, organization, or business may contribute to any election campaign for any of these offices. The contributions from citizens not spent by the campaign before the primary or general election day shall go into the Treasury of the Federal Earth Democracy, which shall finance the debates broadcast for each office and the sample ballots mailed to the voters that shall give equal time and space to all candidates on the ballots.
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Article VIII
The ratification by the legislatures of three fourths of the nations with more than one million people or by a majority vote of the citizens in three fourths of the nations with more than one million people shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the nations so ratifying the same and the nations with less than one million people choosing to join.
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Global Emergency
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Sustainable Economics
Freeing Communication
Spiritual Awakening
Nonviolent Strategies
Appendix:
Global Disarmament Treaty (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the Federal Earth Democracy (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the United States Revised (first draft by Beck)