American Royalty
May. 4th, 2011 10:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennythereaderThe recent wedding of England's Prince William got me thinking about this.
Assume that for some reason the American public has decided that we want a monarch of our own. You have been put on the committee implementing it. Who do you chose to be the first monarch, how will the line of succession work, and what duties will the monarch have?
I'm not sure who specifically I'd chose to be the first ruler, but I know the type of person. Someone from a family with a long history of public service, both in elected office and in charitable positions. I think I'd also want a family that had been out of the limelight for a while. Anyone know what Teddy Roosevelt's descendants are up to lately?
My scheme for succession would have more in common with the ancient Celtic system of Tanistry than with any of the systems in use by any existing monarchies. The royal family would be defined as anyone who had a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent who held the throne. There would be a national election every 10 years to chose the heir from a pool defined as all members of the royal family over the age of 21 who have proven their commitment to national service by working as a teacher, in the military, as a police officer or fire-fighter, as a prosecutor or public defender, or doing significant charitable work (this might be tricky to define). When the monarch dies/steps down the current heir would take the throne (for life), and whoever came in second in the last election would become the heir until the next scheduled election. Having the monarch reign for life and choosing the heir from a specific family would contribute to stability, while having the ability to change heirs on a regular basis makes the system flexible.
As for duties, the first thing I'd have the American monarch do is take over all of the President's purely ceremonial/symbolic jobs. Things like christening battleships, opening exhibitions, hosting holiday parties, and so on. This would free up more of the President's time for doing actual administrative work. I'd probably also have the monarch take over the president of the Senate job from the Vice-President, and serve as a tie-breaking vote on those extremely rare occasions when the Supreme Court is evenly split.
Wow. I had no idea I'd put that much thought into this.
Assume that for some reason the American public has decided that we want a monarch of our own. You have been put on the committee implementing it. Who do you chose to be the first monarch, how will the line of succession work, and what duties will the monarch have?
I'm not sure who specifically I'd chose to be the first ruler, but I know the type of person. Someone from a family with a long history of public service, both in elected office and in charitable positions. I think I'd also want a family that had been out of the limelight for a while. Anyone know what Teddy Roosevelt's descendants are up to lately?
My scheme for succession would have more in common with the ancient Celtic system of Tanistry than with any of the systems in use by any existing monarchies. The royal family would be defined as anyone who had a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent who held the throne. There would be a national election every 10 years to chose the heir from a pool defined as all members of the royal family over the age of 21 who have proven their commitment to national service by working as a teacher, in the military, as a police officer or fire-fighter, as a prosecutor or public defender, or doing significant charitable work (this might be tricky to define). When the monarch dies/steps down the current heir would take the throne (for life), and whoever came in second in the last election would become the heir until the next scheduled election. Having the monarch reign for life and choosing the heir from a specific family would contribute to stability, while having the ability to change heirs on a regular basis makes the system flexible.
As for duties, the first thing I'd have the American monarch do is take over all of the President's purely ceremonial/symbolic jobs. Things like christening battleships, opening exhibitions, hosting holiday parties, and so on. This would free up more of the President's time for doing actual administrative work. I'd probably also have the monarch take over the president of the Senate job from the Vice-President, and serve as a tie-breaking vote on those extremely rare occasions when the Supreme Court is evenly split.
Wow. I had no idea I'd put that much thought into this.
