Please scrutinise all the proposed amendments and replies before commenting or voting. Short comments are most often read and must not exceed 100 words. You can propose an Amendment at the bottom of this page - please read the guidelines .
Note that the original wording appears again first below and sustains the same comment & voting regime as all other amendment proposals.
10.1 Amendments 10.1 Amendments to the Constitution will require a two-thirds majority vote in parliament followed by a public referendum achieving a two-thirds majority vote.
10.1 Amendments Scotland’s constitutional model is based on Popular Sovereignty (often called Direct Democracy (DD)) so why are the People not allowed to initiate constitutional change ? This is important when Parliament+Government are ignoring public opinion and not legislating on important long-term issues. Currently, Land Reform would be a good example. In such cases, the possibility to launch a Popular Initiative - e.g. by obtaining 80,000 registered voter signatures (2% of the electorate) in 18 months - should be available. A Popular Initiative should then be held with a double majority of People and Regions required to approve the change.
10.1 Amendments section 10.1 An alternative could be: “Amendments to the Constitution will require a two-thirds majority vote in parliament followed by a common majority in a newly elected Parliament”. This form of indirect referendum may prevent populistic referendum campaigns.
10.1 Amendments Double Majority: National Governance is a long-term affair and the Constitution is the expression of the People's will as to how such governance is to function. Parliament and Government - which are, by their nature, short term institutions - should therefore have nothing to say about the Constitution or changes thereto. Popular control over constitutional changes can be achieved by two simple majorities based on the same popular vote - i.e. the first National and the second Regional Councils (a so-called "Double Majority") - a system which has worked well in Switzerland since its first Federal Constitution in 1848.
10.1 Amendments Seems to me that the Constitution is about limiting the power of government to act against the will of the majority of citizens in which case it Parliament should have little to do with it once it has been enacted. I don't know about double majorities but I think a two thirds majority of Citizens voting to amend should be all that's required. But I'll not propose an amendment till the debate develops a bit more.
10.1 Amendments Ok, Voxpop, agreed - - it's the citizen vote that counts, not Parliament (personally, I believe it's none of its business...). But if the Constitution itself is going to be approved by a majority then why shouldn't changes to the Constitution use the same majority ? FYI, here in Switzerland, we have a stable government (very few changes to the composition of the seven-member cross-party coalition government) and citizens' ambitions / frustrations are managed through relatively easy changes to the Constitution via Popular Initiatives.
10.1 Amendments The double majority allows Regions to participate meaningfully in the national debate on the amendment, prior to the vote, and then, on voting day, to have an influence on the result. It therefor helps improve turnout. It also offers a sort of half-way house between a simple 51% (too easy ?) or a 2/3 (too difficult ?) majority. The latter, being a high threshold, would probably act as a deterrent to constitutional change. The Swiss logic tends towards facilitating amendments rather than making them too difficult (this being only one element in a consensual, rather than conflictual, national governance model).
10.1 Amendments 10.1 Amendments to the Constitution will require a two-thirds majority vote in parliament followed by a public referendum which passes by a simple majority.
10.1 Amendments Andrew - please read the guidelines - your amendment should include a Headline - once amendments accumulate people will want to see at a glance what they are being asked to vote for. Otherwise perfectly valid points will miss out on the rankings.
10.1 Amendments What are the conditions for the referendum? A simple majority, a two-thirds majority, a majority of the electorate ...? This needs to be clarified.
10.1 Amendments I agree entirely with this comment.
A requirement for a two-thirds majority in a referendum as well as in Parliament would mean it was almost impossible to pass any constitutional amendment.
10.1 Amendments Amendments to the Constitution will require a two-thirds majority vote in parliament followed by a public referendum which passes by a majority of at least two-thirds of voters in a poll where no less than three-quarters of those elegible to vote at the time actually register a vote.
Proposed Amendments to Section
Please scrutinise all the proposed amendments and replies before commenting or voting. Short comments are most often read and must not exceed 100 words.
You can propose an Amendment at the bottom of this page - please read the guidelines .
Note that the original wording appears again first below and sustains the same comment & voting regime as all other amendment proposals.
Original Version
10.1 Amendments 10.1 Amendments to the Constitution will require a two-thirds majority vote in parliament followed by a public referendum achieving a two-thirds majority vote.
10.1 Amendments Scotland’s constitutional model is based on Popular Sovereignty (often called Direct Democracy (DD)) so why are the People not allowed to initiate constitutional change ? This is important when Parliament+Government are ignoring public opinion and not legislating on important long-term issues. Currently, Land Reform would be a good example. In such cases, the possibility to launch a Popular Initiative - e.g. by obtaining 80,000 registered voter signatures (2% of the electorate) in 18 months - should be available. A Popular Initiative should then be held with a double majority of People and Regions required to approve the change.
10.1 Amendments section 10.1 An alternative could be: “Amendments to the Constitution will require a two-thirds majority vote in parliament followed by a common majority in a newly elected Parliament”. This form of indirect referendum may prevent populistic referendum campaigns.
10.1 Amendments Double Majority: National Governance is a long-term affair and the Constitution is the expression of the People's will as to how such governance is to function. Parliament and Government - which are, by their nature, short term institutions - should therefore have nothing to say about the Constitution or changes thereto. Popular control over constitutional changes can be achieved by two simple majorities based on the same popular vote - i.e. the first National and the second Regional Councils (a so-called "Double Majority") - a system which has worked well in Switzerland since its first Federal Constitution in 1848.
10.1 Amendments Seems to me that the Constitution is about limiting the power of government to act against the will of the majority of citizens in which case it Parliament should have little to do with it once it has been enacted. I don't know about double majorities but I think a two thirds majority of Citizens voting to amend should be all that's required. But I'll not propose an amendment till the debate develops a bit more.
10.1 Amendments Ok, Voxpop, agreed - - it's the citizen vote that counts, not Parliament (personally, I believe it's none of its business...). But if the Constitution itself is going to be approved by a majority then why shouldn't changes to the Constitution use the same majority ? FYI, here in Switzerland, we have a stable government (very few changes to the composition of the seven-member cross-party coalition government) and citizens' ambitions / frustrations are managed through relatively easy changes to the Constitution via Popular Initiatives.
10.1 Amendments The double majority allows Regions to participate meaningfully in the national debate on the amendment, prior to the vote, and then, on voting day, to have an influence on the result. It therefor helps improve turnout. It also offers a sort of half-way house between a simple 51% (too easy ?) or a 2/3 (too difficult ?) majority. The latter, being a high threshold, would probably act as a deterrent to constitutional change. The Swiss logic tends towards facilitating amendments rather than making them too difficult (this being only one element in a consensual, rather than conflictual, national governance model).
10.1 Amendments Voxpop - you might be interested in the attached article: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/switzerland-is-not-unique-in-its-double-majority-system/46196670
Proposed Amendment to 10.1 Amendments
10.1 Amendments 10.1 Amendments to the Constitution will require a two-thirds majority vote in parliament followed by a public referendum which passes by a simple majority.
10.1 Amendments Andrew - please read the guidelines - your amendment should include a Headline - once amendments accumulate people will want to see at a glance what they are being asked to vote for. Otherwise perfectly valid points will miss out on the rankings.
Proposed Amendment to 10.1 Amendments
10.1 Amendments 10.1 Amendments to the Constitution will require a two-thirds majority vote in parliament followed by a public referendum.
10.1 Amendments What are the conditions for the referendum? A simple majority, a two-thirds majority, a majority of the electorate ...? This needs to be clarified.
10.1 Amendments I agree entirely with this comment.
A requirement for a two-thirds majority in a referendum as well as in Parliament would mean it was almost impossible to pass any constitutional amendment.
Proposed Amendment to 10.1 Amendments
Referendum majority
10.1 Amendments Amendments to the Constitution will require a two-thirds majority vote in parliament followed by a public referendum which passes by a majority of at least two-thirds of voters in a poll where no less than three-quarters of those elegible to vote at the time actually register a vote.