The Cosmopolitan Template · Article III
Roles and Structure of Governments
Explore the roles of governments, their organization, executive authority, and management of public corporations within the Cosmopolitan Coalition.
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Selection & Structure
Two Ways to Fill an Office — Two Shapes It Can Take
A legislature does not execute the laws itself — it delegates that power. Every executive office is filled one of two ways, and every elected office takes one of two shapes.
Executive Committees and Elected Executive Officers are chosen by vote; Boards of Governors are appointed for their expertise. The sections below define each in the constitution’s own words.
Scaling to Parity
Worker Seats Grow With the Workforce
Drag the workforce up and the board rebalances: worker-elected seats climb until they match the ownership side — the shareholders of a company, the members of an association, or the legislature of a public-good corporation.
A Level Playing Field
Public and Private, One Rulebook
Public enterprises are regulated identically to private ones, so a jurisdiction can move between public and private provision without ever tilting the field — the principle of regulatory parity.
Faithful Representation and Preservation of Rights
“Governments faithfully execute the will of their constituents while preserving the rights of all Individuals and upholding constitutional order. Powers granted to Governments are granted to them by Individuals residing in the Jurisdiction where the authority of the Government applies. Legislatures establish operating Governments to execute the will of A Fair Constitution and laws enacted.”
A government’s job is to carry out what its constituents actually want — but never at the expense of anyone’s rights or the constitutional order. Its power is on loan from the people who live in its jurisdiction, and it is the legislature that stands each government up to do that work.
Delegation of Executive Authority to Executive Committees
“Legislatures may, by Supermajority vote, delegate portions their Executive authority to Executive Committees.”
Rather than execute the laws itself, a legislature can hand defined executive duties to an Executive Committee — but only by a supermajority, so a bare majority can’t quietly capture executive power.
Composition and Selection of Executive Committees
“Executive Committees are composed of a Legislature’s members in the same kind of factional proportions and selected in the same manner as defined in the Constitution.”
An Executive Committee mirrors the legislature that made it: drawn from sitting members in the same factional proportions and chosen the same way, so it reflects the whole electorate rather than a single dominant bloc.
Delegation of Executive Authority to Elected Executive Officers
“Legislatures may, by Supermajority vote, delegate portions of their Executive authority to Elected Executive Officers.”
A legislature can also place executive duties with Elected Executive Officers chosen directly by the public — again only by a supermajority. This is the second lawful way to fill an executive office, alongside an Executive Committee.
Election and Term Length of Executive Officers
“Elected Executive Officers are elected by the entire population in the same manner as the members of The Legislature and their terms last for the same length.”
These officers are elected by everyone, using the very same proportional method that elects legislators, and serve terms of the same length — so an executive office carries a democratic mandate every bit as strong as the legislature that created it.
Supermajority Agreement for Executive Office Creation or Alteration
“Jurisdictions composed of Constituent Jurisdictions require a Supermajority of Jurisdictions to agree before for any Executive Office can be created or altered.”
When a jurisdiction is itself made of smaller member jurisdictions, no single one — and no bare majority — can reshape the shared executive. Creating or altering an executive office takes a supermajority of those members.
Alternates and Advisors for Individual Executive Offices
“If an Executive Office is modeled for an Individual, then at least the top four (4) runners up serve as alternates and advisors to the Executive Representative. If an Executive Office is modeled for a Committee, then the Committee must have at least five (5) Elected Representatives.”
An executive office can be built for one person or for a group. If it is an individual office, the next four highest vote-getters become that officer’s alternates and advisors — losing candidates aren’t discarded, they are put to work. If it is a committee office, it must seat at least five elected representatives.
Rights, Privileges, and Duties of Executive Representatives
“Executive Representatives enjoy the same rights and privileges as members of The Legislature and are bound by the same ethical and legal duties, including the capacity to be removed from office by Supermajority vote.”
Whoever holds executive office is treated exactly like a legislator — the same rights and privileges, the same ethical and legal duties — and can be removed by the same supermajority vote. No executive sits above the standards that bind everyone else.
How They’re Elected
Elected the Same Way as Legislators
Executive officers are elected by the whole population using the same proportional ranked-choice method that fills the legislature. Step through a real count round by round — each faction that reaches the quota wins a seat, so the result mirrors how people actually voted.
Appointment and Role of Boards of Governors
“Executive Representatives, with the consent of their Legislatures, appoint experts in relevant fields to Boards of Governors. Governors execute the charters, acts and rules of their departments. Members of the Board are politically neutral, and their term length is the same as all other civil officers.”
The day-to-day running of a department is handed to appointed experts, not politicians. Executive representatives name them with the legislature’s consent, they carry out their department’s charter and rules, and they are required to stay politically neutral.
Powers and Oversight of Executive Representatives
“Executive Representatives, have full and equal investigative and administrative power over their respective departments. They may propose changes to department policies and call for the removal of a Board Member if they believe in good faith that the Board Member has failed to execute their duties competently or ethically.”
The elected executive keeps real oversight of the experts it appoints: full power to investigate and administer the department, to propose policy changes, and to call for a governor’s removal if they act incompetently or unethically.
Creation and Oversight of Common Good Corporations
“Legislatures create Common Good Corporations to provide goods and services to Individuals in a Jurisdiction. Legislatures establish Executive Committees or Elected Executive Offices to oversee Common Good Corporations.”
A jurisdiction can run public enterprises — Common Good Corporations — to deliver goods and services to people directly. Each one is overseen by the same kind of elected executive body that runs any other department.
Equal Treatment of Public and Private Enterprises
“Common Good Corporations and Private Enterprises are treated identically with regards to regulations of the same goods, services, and labor practices.”
A public enterprise gets no special rulebook. It faces exactly the same regulations as a private company offering the same goods, services, or labor conditions — so public and private compete on a level field.
Acquisition of Monopolistic or Available Private Enterprises
“Legislatures may purchase Private Enterprises that gain monopolistic control over any good or service as well as Private Enterprises that are for sale on the Open Market.”
If a private company corners a market, or simply comes up for sale, the public is allowed to buy it — a check on monopoly power that keeps essential goods and services from being held hostage.
Fair Market Compensation and Board Transition
“Shareholders of Private Enterprises are paid at least the fair market price for their shares upon conversion. The Board Members of Private Enterprises are given the option to join the founding Board of Governors for the Common Good Corporations that succeed the Private Enterprise.”
Taking a company public is a purchase, not a seizure: shareholders receive at least fair market value for their shares, and the outgoing board is invited to help govern the new public enterprise.
Reorganization or Dissolution of Common Good Corporations
“Legislatures may reorganize, dissolve, or sell Common Good Corporations on the Open Market to Private Enterprises.”
Public ownership isn’t a one-way ratchet. A legislature can restructure a Common Good Corporation, wind it down, or sell it back into private hands whenever that better serves the public.
Public Domain Status of Intellectual Property
“All patents, Trade secrets, and copyrighted works created or owned by Common Good Corporations are universally and eternally in the public domain and can be used by any individual or organization.”
Anything a public enterprise invents or authors belongs to everyone. Its patents, trade secrets, and copyrights pass immediately and permanently into the public domain, free for any person or organization to use.
Worker-Elected Representation on Boards of Governors
“When an Executive Department, Common Good Corporation, or Private Enterprise has a certain minimum number of Individuals contracted to perform work, then at least one worker-elected representative is added to the Board of Governors.”
Once an organization — public or private — is large enough, the people who work there earn a seat at the top table. At a set headcount, at least one worker-elected representative joins its Board of Governors.
Scaling and Parity of Worker-Elected Representatives
“The number of worker-elected representatives scales uniformly until a Maximum Number of Workers has been achieved. At that point and beyond the number of shareholder-elected and worker-elected members on the Board are equal. The chair is elected jointly by the entire Board.”
Worker representation grows with the workforce until it equals shareholder representation — an even split of the board — with a chair both sides elect together. Governance scales toward balance instead of leaving workers permanently outvoted.
Minimum and Maximum Number of Employees for Representation
“Unless otherwise Amended, The Minimum Number of Employees needed to get worker-elected representation is one hundred (100). The Maximum Number of Employees needed to achieve parity is two thousand (2000).”
The defaults are concrete: worker representation begins at 100 employees and reaches a full fifty-fifty board at 2,000. Between those points, the number of worker-elected seats climbs steadily.
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Government That Answers to Everyone
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