AHC: U.S. Parliamentary System by Constitutional Amendment

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Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to identify a scenario whereby the following (or a functionally similar) amendment becomes a part of the United States Constitution:

Section 1

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every fourth year, unless the House be sooner dissolved.

Section 2

All Bills for raising Revenue, to borrow Money on the credit of the United States, or for the Appropriation of Money shall originate in the House of Representatives. Every such Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives shall be presented to the Senate of the United States. The Senate shall approve the Bill or return it, with its Recommendations, to the House of Representatives, who shall enter the Recommendations at large on their Journal and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration the House of Representatives again passes the Bill by a Vote determined by Yeas and Nays, with the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill entered on the Journal, it shall be presented to the President of the United States in like Manner as if it had passed the Senate.

Any other Bill, Order, or Resolution passed by the House of Representatives in two successive sessions, with at least one year having elapsed between the dates on which it passed the House of Representatives, and rejected by the Senate in each of those sessions shall, on its rejection for the second time by the Senate, be presented to the President in like Manner as if it had passed the Senate.

If any Bill, Order, or Resolution originating in the House of Representatives shall not be approved, returned, or disapproved by the Senate within thirty Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to it, the Same shall be deemed to have been passed by both Houses and shall be presented to the President in like Manner as if the Senate had acted upon it.

Section 3

The President may summon, prorogue, and dissolve Congress.

Section 4

The executive Power vested in the President shall be exercised on the advice of the principal Officers of the executive Departments and any other members of his Cabinet, all of whom shall be Members of either House appointed by him upon nomination by the House of Representatives and who shall hold their respective Offices at his discretion while they retain the confidence of that House.

Section 5

Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Bonus Challenge: Identify a title other than "prime minister" for the leading member of the Cabinet.
 
I don't think and amendment is going to cover this. You're going to need a new Constitutional Convention to make this work.
 
If parliamentary government were to take root in the US, I don't think it would be by constitutional amendment. More likely it would be the result of something like the Andrew Johnson impeachment--indeed, that was seen to be the real issue in the impeachment fight by some observers at the time.

Consider what was written by a friend of J.A. Garfield (quoted in W.R. Brock, *An American Crisis: Congress and Reconstruction 1865-1867*, Harper Torchbooks edition, p. 260): "The next great question to be decided in our history is this--is the National Legislature to be as omnipotent in American politics as the English is in English politics?...May we not anticipate a time when the President will no more think of vetoing a bill passed by Congress than the British Crown thinks of doing the same thing?"

Also note the remarks of Wisconsin Senator Timothy Howe on the Tenure of Office Act: when a Democratic Senator referred to the President's "own cabinet" Howe specifically denied that it was such. It was, he said, "the Cabinet of the people." He compared the American and British systems and said of cabinet members that "it is no more necessary that they should be on confidential terms with the president than that they should be on confidential terms with the representatives of the people."
(Brock, p. 259)

I doubt that such views would prevail even if Johnson were convicted. Once Grant would be elected president in 1868 (after a few months interim rule by Wade) it seems unlikely that Congressional Republicans would adhere to such an unorthodox position on legislative-executive relations. To the extent that they came to such a position even temporarily in OTL, it was only due to extreme frustration with Johnson's systematic sabotage of Congress's Reconstruction policy (originally, John Sherman did not even want to include Cabinet officers in the Tenure of Office Act). With a popular president of their own party, they would probably revert to more traditional practice.

Still, it's more likely that the US would arrive at parliamentary government that way than through constitutional amendments. (After all, in the UK, the parliamentary system is largely based on what Dicey called "Conventions of the Constitution" http://www.constitution.org/cmt/avd/law_con.htm rather than on either statutory or judge-made law; and the fact that the US has a written constitution does not mean that conventions or customs are unimportant here...)
 
I don't want a president to be able to summon and dissolve Congress. Rather the other way around!

When Congress feels that it's time, I want them to be able to fire the president through a vote of no confidence.

Perhaps similar in emotional texture to firing a head coach. You don't want to do it too often like a lousy franchise, but sometimes it's the best move in the circumstances.
 
I don't want a president to be able to summon and dissolve Congress. Rather the other way around!

When Congress feels that it's time, I want them to be able to fire the president through a vote of no confidence.

Perhaps similar in emotional texture to firing a head coach. You don't want to do it too often like a lousy franchise, but sometimes it's the best move in the circumstances.

Isn't a vote of no confidence just a new election? To that end, yeah, I agree, though I wonder how many elections we'd see right now with this kind of Congress.
 
Isn't a vote of no confidence just a new election? To that end, yeah, I agree, though I wonder how many elections we'd see right now with this kind of Congress.
The greatest crisis is always the current crisis, isn't it!

And the fact that we've had rough scrapes before is no guarantee we'll get through this one. But I guess it does provide a reason not to panic.

So, yes, we in the United States are currently in a highly partisan period, and admittedly, a parliamentary system would probably make it worse.

For an example across the pond, right after WWII, the UK swung between Labour and the Conservatives. First, they nationalized steel production I think, then they de-nationalized it. And that wasn't good. Maybe just too abrupt, something like that.
 
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The president seems to have too much power in that model, the president should act on the advice of the leader of the majority of Congress. The president should have to be convinced by the majority leader but ultimately the strong convention would be to accept the advice (direction ). Also the cabinet would be the most senior and powerful members of the majority party in Congress rather than responsible to the president
 
Consider what was written by a friend of J.A. Garfield (quoted in W.R. Brock, *An American Crisis: Congress and Reconstruction 1865-1867*, Harper Torchbooks edition, p. 260): "The next great question to be decided in our history is this--is the National Legislature to be as omnipotent in American politics as the English is in English politics?...May we not anticipate a time when the President will no more think of vetoing a bill passed by Congress than the British Crown thinks of doing the same thing?"


Didn't things come quite close to this in the early Republic?

Istr that at first Presidents usually only vetoed bills which they believed to be unconstitutional. Three of the first six (Adams, Jefferson and JQ Adams) never vetoed any bills at all. I understood that it was Andrew Jackson who first insisted on his right to veto bills, whether constitutional or not, simply because he disagreed with them. Is that correct?
 
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to identify a scenario whereby the following (or a functionally similar) amendment becomes a part of the United States Constitution:

Section 1

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every fourth year, unless the House be sooner dissolved.

Section 2

All Bills for raising Revenue, to borrow Money on the credit of the United States, or for the Appropriation of Money shall originate in the House of Representatives. Every such Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives shall be presented to the Senate of the United States. The Senate shall approve the Bill or return it, with its Recommendations, to the House of Representatives, who shall enter the Recommendations at large on their Journal and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration the House of Representatives again passes the Bill by a Vote determined by Yeas and Nays, with the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill entered on the Journal, it shall be presented to the President of the United States in like Manner as if it had passed the Senate.

Any other Bill, Order, or Resolution passed by the House of Representatives in two successive sessions, with at least one year having elapsed between the dates on which it passed the House of Representatives, and rejected by the Senate in each of those sessions shall, on its rejection for the second time by the Senate, be presented to the President in like Manner as if it had passed the Senate.

If any Bill, Order, or Resolution originating in the House of Representatives shall not be approved, returned, or disapproved by the Senate within thirty Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to it, the Same shall be deemed to have been passed by both Houses and shall be presented to the President in like Manner as if the Senate had acted upon it.

Section 3

The President may summon, prorogue, and dissolve Congress.

Section 4

The executive Power vested in the President shall be exercised on the advice of the principal Officers of the executive Departments and any other members of his Cabinet, all of whom shall be Members of either House appointed by him upon nomination by the House of Representatives and who shall hold their respective Offices at his discretion while they retain the confidence of that House.

Section 5

Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Bonus Challenge: Identify a title other than "prime minister" for the leading member of the Cabinet.

I think this Amendment follows the Westminster system too closely, and it would probably reassemble far more closely Article IX of the 1973 Philippine Constitution if it was to be actually drafted. So it should actually be:

Section 1

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every third year, unless the House be sooner dissolved; in such a case, the newly elected Members shall serve the unexpired portion of the term from the time the President convenes the newly-elected House, which shall not be later than thirty days immediately following the elections.

Section 2

Of the Senators elected in the first Senate elections under this Constitution, as amendmend by this article, those obtaining the highest number of votes in each State shall serve for six years and the remaining shall serve for three years, so that one half may be chosen every third year.

Section 3

The Senate shall choose its own President from among persons who are not Senators but are qualified to be elected as such.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be chosen from among persons who are qualified to be elected as Representatives.

Section 4

Etiher House of Congress or any of its committees may conduct inquiries in aid of legislation in accordance with its duly published rules of procedure. The rights of persons appearing in such inquiries shall be respected.

Section 5

All Bills for raising Revenue, to borrow Money on the credit of the United States, or for the Appropriation of Money shall originate in the House of Representatives. Every such Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives shall be presented to the Senate of the United States. The Senate shall approve the Bill or return it, with its Recommendations, to the House of Representatives, who shall enter the Recommendations at large on their Journal and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration the House of Representatives again passes the Bill by a Vote determined by Yeas and Nays, with the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill entered on the Journal, it shall be presented to the President of the United States in like Manner as if it had passed the Senate.

Any other Bill, Order, or Resolution passed by the House of Representatives in two successive sessions, with at least one year having elapsed between the dates on which it passed the House of Representatives, and rejected by the Senate in each of those sessions shall, on its rejection for the second time by the Senate, be presented to the President in like Manner as if it had passed the Senate.

If any Bill, Order, or Resolution originating in the House of Representatives shall not be approved, returned, or disapproved by the Senate within thirty Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to it, the Same shall be deemed to have been passed by both Houses and shall be presented to the President in like Manner as if the Senate had acted upon it.

Section 6

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty-five years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen, or a member of any Political Party at any moment in the seven years preceeding his election.

Section 7

The Representatives shall be chosen as follows:

Each State shall form one district for the purpose of electing Representatives, but each voter shall always cast only one vote; seats shall be reserved for the several political parties taking part in the election, by dividing the number of votes cast for candidates sponsored by a given party by the sum of one and the number of seats already reserved for that party, and reserving a seat to the party with the largest number obtained as the result of such a division, until all seats in a State are reserved; every seat reserved to a party shall be filled by the candidate sponsored by that party who received the greatest number of votes and has not already taken a seat, until all seats reserved are filled; a political party shall never sponsor more candidates than there are seats in the House of Representatives for a given State.

In any special election to the House of Representatives, only candidates sponsored by the Political Party for which the seat in which the vacancy occurs is reserved may participate.

Section 8

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, other than that of Chief Secretary, Deputy Chief Secretary, head of a department, Secretary without Portfolio, or Deupty Secretary, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, other than those offices as aforesaid, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office; this section shall also apply, mutuis mutandi, to heads of department, Secretaries without Portfolio and Deupty Secretaries who are not members of either House of Congress.

The Chief Secretary and Deputy Chief Secretary may be granted a seat upon the floor of the Senate, and any other head of a department or Secretary without Portfolio may be granted a seat upon the floor of any House of Congress of which he is not a Member, with the privilege of discussing any measures appertaining to his department or to the exercise of the executive power by the Cabinet generally.

Section 9

The President shall be the head of state of the United States. He shall be elected for a term of six years by an Electoral College consisting of both houses of Congress and of the Legislatures of the several States by an absolute majoirty of its members; but if after three ballots a President is not elected a plurality shall be suffecient. A person holding the office of President may be re-elected, but shall not be qualified for immediate re-election.

Section 10

Upon entering his office, the President shall cease to hold any elective or appointive office other than that of President. He shall be ineligible to hold membership in any political party and to hold any other elective or appointive office, practice any profession, participate directly or indirectly in the management of any business, or be financially interested directly or indirectly in any contract with, or in any franchise or special privilege granted by, the government or any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including government-owned or controlled corporations, during his term.

Section 11

No Person shall be qualified to be President who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty years, and been twenty Years a Citizen of, and fourteen Years a Resident within, the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be a member of any Political Party at any moment in the seven years preceeding his election.

Section 12

The office of Vice-President of the United States is hereby abolished and its provisions under this constitution removed. In case of permanent disability, death, removal from office, or resignation of the President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall act as President until a successor has been elected for the unexpired portion of the term of the President.

Section 13

Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Speaker of the House of Representatives as Acting President.

Section 14

Whenever a majority of either the members of the Cabinet or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless a majority of either the members of the Cabinet or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Section 15

The President shall be immune from suit during his tenure.

Section 16

The President shall have the following duties and functions:

(1) Address Congress at the opening of its regular session.
(2) Appoint the Chief Secretary and Deputy Chief Secretary as provided herein.
(3) Dissolve the House of Representatives, and call for a general election of its members within twenty-one days of the dissolution, when so requested by the Chief Secretary or by two-thirds of the Representatives.
(4) Attest to the appointment or cessation from office (other than by withdrawal of confidence of the House of Representatives) of Members of the Cabinet other than the Chief Secretary and Deputy Chief Secretary, and of other officers as may be provided by law.
(5) Appoint all officers and employees in his office in accordance with the Civil Service Law.
(6) Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
(7) Appoint and recieve ambassadors and other public ministers or consuls.
(8) Sign or Veto bills, orders, and resolutions of the Congress as provided herein.
(9) Convene, on extraordinary Occasions, both houses of Congress, or either of them.
(10) Perform such other duties and functions of State as may be provided by law.
Section 17

The executive Power shall be vested in the Chief Secretary, who shall be the head of government of the United States, and shall be exercised with the assistance of the Cabinet. The Cabinet, headed by the Chief Secretary, shall also consist of the Deputy Chief Secretary, heads of departments (whose number shall not exceed twenty-five) and Secretaries without portfolio (whose number shall not exceed five) as provided by law.

The Chief Secretary and the cabinet shall be responsible to the House of Representatives for the program of government and shall determine the guidelines of national policy.

Section 18

The Chief Secretary and Deputy Chief Secretary shall be appointed by the President from among the members of the House of Representatives, after consulting with the leaders of political parties in that house. They shall cease to hold office whenever the newly-elected House of Representatives is first convened.

The Chief Secretary shall appoint the heads of departments and Secretaries without portfolio, at least a majority of whom be members of either House of Congress. Heads of departments and Secretaries without portfolio may be removed at the discretion of the Chief Secretary.

The Chief Secretary may appoint himself as a head of a department or as a Secretary without portfolio and may dismiss himself as such for any cause without vacating the office of Chief Secretary or his seat in the House of Representatives.

The Chief Secretary shall also appoint the Deputy Secretaries who shall perform such functions as may be assigned to them by law or by the respective heads of departments or Secretaries without portfolio.

Section 19

The Deputy Chief Secretary shall perform such functions as may be assigned to him by the Chief Secretary and may be appointed as a head of a department or as a Secretary without portfolio.

In case of permanent disability, death, removal from office, or resignation of the Chief Secretary, the Deputy Chief Secretary shall become Chief Secretary. In case of permanent disability, death, removal from office, or resignation of the Chief Secretary when there is a vacancy in the office of the Deputy Chief Secretary, the Cabinet shall designate one of its members to act as Chief Secretary until a successor has been appointed.

Section 20

Whenever the Chief Secretary transmits to the President his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Deputy Chief Secretary as Acting Chief Secretary.

Section 21

Whenever the Deputy Chief Secretary and a majority of either the members of the Cabinet or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President their written declaration that the Chief Secretary is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Deputy Chief Secretary shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting Chief Secretary.

Thereafter, when the Chief Secretary transmits to the President his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Deputy Chief Secretary and a majority of either the members of the Cabinet or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President their written declaration that the Chief Secretary is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon the House of Representatives shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the House of Representatives, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if the House of Representatives is not in session, within twenty-one days after the House is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of its members that the Chief Secretary is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Deputy Chief Secretary shall continue to discharge the same as Acting Chief Secretary; otherwise, the Chief Secretary shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Section 22

The Chief Secretary, Deputy Chief Secretary or any other Member of the Cabinet may resign for any cause without vacating his seat in Congress.

Section 23

The Chief Secretary shall, at the beginning of each regular session of Congress, present to the House of Representatives the program of government and recommend for the consideration of Congress such measures as he may deem necessary and proper.

The House of Representatives may withdraw its confidence from any member of the Cabinet. The resolution delcaring such a withdrawal shall not be required to be signed by the President and shall entail the removal from office of the member named therein or, in case the Chief Secretary is named, the whole Cabinet.

There shall be a question hour at least once a week which shall be included in the agenda of the House of Representatives, during which the Chief Secretary or any other Member of the Cabinet may be required to appear and answer questions and interpellations by the Representatives. Written questions shall be submitted to the Speaker at least three days before a scheduled question hour. Interpellations shall not be limited to the written questions, but may cover matters related thereto. The agenda shall specify the subjects of the question hour.

Section 24

The Chief Secretary shall have control of all executive departments; he shall be the commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the heads of departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices; In case of invasion, or rebellion, or imminent danger thereof when the public safety requires it, he may suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, declare a state of emergency in the United States or any part thereof, or place the United States or any part thereof under martial law; he shall appoint the officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and those whom he may be authorized by law to appoint: However, Congress may by law vest in members of the cabinet, courts, heads of agencies, commissions, and boards the power to appoint inferior officers in their respective offices.

Section 25

The Chief Secretary shall have power to make treaties, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; he may contract and guarantee foreign and domestic loans on behalf of the United States, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.

Section 26

The Chief Secretary shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.

Section 27

All powers vested in the President under the Constitution as it was before this article of amendment coming into force and the other laws of the land which are not herein provided for or conferred upon any official shall be deemed to be, and are hereby, vested in the Chief Secretary, unless Congress provides otherwise.

Section 28

Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.​
 
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