Copernican paradigm

This article introduces the Copernican paradigm. The Copernican Group advocates establishing an Australian republic by replacing the Queen with a popularly-elected Head of State. The Copernican Gazette (PDF) was published earlier in 2006 to convey the proposals of the group and they are looking for replies to publish.
This article is to introduce members of the South Sea Republic to the Copernican paradigm. The Copernican paradigm was discovered independently by five contributors to republican debate. The five agreed to collaborate and draw strength from their different backgrounds and interests.

The Copernican Group advocates establishing an Australian republic by replacing the Queen with a popularly-elected Head of State with ceremonial powers and a power to appoint and dismiss the Governor-General and state Governors with limited discretion.

Other proposals implicitly merge the roles of Governor-General and Head of State - a superfluous step which has served only to divide republicans into minimalist and direct-election camps. The Copernicans have found a better way, retaining proven constitutional checks and balances, while delivering true sovereignty to the people through their elected Head of State. A model that changes the least and offers the most is best model to put to the Australian people.

The name Copernican was chosen because of fundamental difference between this new approach and other proposals. The original Copernican paradigm overturned centuries of assumption and doctrine to allow us to observe the universe in a new and more realistic way. The Copernican Group believes that there are unconscious presumptions that have created an unresolvable three-cornered contest between monarchists, minimalist republicans and direct election advocates.

It is only in this incomplete view of our constitutional system would one assume a future republic must involve "the Queen and Governor-General replaced by a president". But that is exactly the formulation of both the 1999 referendum question and models that directly elect the Governor-General. Prof. John Power calls this the "merger assumption."

Sure, it may make intuitive sense to follow this formula. But that's exactly the mistake that ancient and medieval astronomers made when they put the Earth at the centre of the universe. Republican attempts to re-engineer the Governor-General into a president under Australian conditions must inevitably resolve a range of tangential issues, which make such a project unviable. The real objective is to make Australia independent of the Queen and so long as the focus remains on the Governor-General, that goal becomes evermore distant.

As Copernicus demonstrated conclusively, intuitive sense sometimes fails us. He challenged the age-old assumptions and took a new interpretation of the heavens beyond the imagination of his fellows. Likewise, republicans will find a solution when they move their technical focus from the Governor-General to the Queen. After all, the Queen is the fulcrum of the whole debate.

Copernicus did not postulate a more complex view of the universe but a simpler and more elegant one. For an Australian republic, this should be as simple as codifying the one actual duty left to the Queen - the appointment of the representative governor on the advice of the prime minister or premier. To complete the codification, the constitution would vest executive authority in the head of state, but reserve the actual exercise of power in the Governor-General or state governor as required. This would allow the relationship between the Governor-General and Prime Minister, including the exercise of reserve powers, to continue to be guided by unwritten convention.

Absent of real executive power, the new head of state may be directly elected and yet above politics. Separate from the business of government, they cannot implement policy and thus any electoral campaign cannot be based upon promises or establishing a mandate. The fear of a popular President taking power away from the parliament is completely dissipated when the Copernican Paradigm is applied.

The Copernican Group is not an advocate of just one model. Last year members of the South Sea Republic read of the Honorary President Model ( http://www.southsearepublic.org/story/2005/7/3/154653/3937 ). The other named models are The Sovereignty Model and The Egalitarian Model. There is a model involving Council of State and another where the States have an active role in defining the Presidency.

The Copernicans are not automatically opposed to codification, but the paradigm has the unique advantage over other direct-election models in that codification is unnecessary. This gives republicans options. The conventions can be maintained as non-judiciable, unwritten rules that can evolve to suit changing political circumstances. Alternatively, we can make a case for codification, not because we have to constrain Presidential power, but because we'd like to constrain governmental power. In other words, we codify when it makes sense to codify. This is a process that will and should continue over the centuries, rather than completed in one hit.

Critics of the Copernicans have said they understate the amount of constitutional change necessary to achieve a republic. It is interesting that in no particular instance has any model been shown to be deficient in that regard. In reply, it can be pointed out that the amount of constitutional change absolutely necessary has been overstated by republican advocates. This has given monarchists the political ammunition to recast reform as radical social policy and promote themselves as the defenders of the constitutional system.

The Copernican Paradigm is redefining the republican debate. Minimalist and conservative republicans now have a supportable direct-election option that they can support. Codification is no longer required for a directly-elected presidency. The focus of the debate is returning to the Queen and the role of an Australian Head of State. Each of these developments is good news for republicans. More importantly it is good news for Australia.

The Copernican Gazette was published this earlier in 2006 to convey the proposals of the group forward and put the paradigm in the hands of every parliamentarian in Australia, state and federal. For the next issue of the Gazette we are looking for letters to publish to encourage debate on the paradigm, to identify difficulties and extend the range of designs and concepts already available. Read a copy of the Gazette (issue 1) here: http://www-personal.usyd.edu.au/~dlatimer/archive/Gazette-Issue1-Final.pdf .

REFERENCES

Copernican Information Page http://www.copernican.info

The Copernican Constitution http://www.quadrant.org.au/php/archive_details_list.php?article_id=1125

Honorary President Model http://www-personal.usyd.edu.au/~dlatimer/honpres/

Egalitarian Republic Model http://7gs.com/republic.html

Submissions to the Senate Republican Inquiry
Peter Carden: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/republic03/submission s/sub105.doc
David O'Brien: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/republic03/submission s/sub126.doc
Prof John Power: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/republic03/submission s/sub28a.doc
Permalink, Copernican paradigm, Jun 2006, dlatimer
adam: Good to see you around again Dave: It\'s good to sit the Copernican approach next to some of the more radical proposals coming out of our recent month-long constitution writing bender.

Just to continue a theme from those submissions, particularly Alan\'s, perhaps having a citizen\'s council appoint a President isn\'t inconsistent with the Copernican approach of retaining both G-G and President. It still seems a little redundant to me, but other constitutional protections like a Bill of Rights are probably higher priority fixes.

I\'ve presumptively inlined the first link, as it was formatting strangely on the main page. I can undo if you wish.
cam: You will have to do a Copernican Constitution: for the next CFC which we will probably do at the end of the year. While the Copernican model is politically pragmatic with an eye to what is achievable, it appears limited in wider application outside of national government. I doubt the states would warm to it.

Does Copernican government or doctrine extend deeper into other parts of the constitution? Such as federalism, subsidiarity, universal rights etc?

cam
dlatimer: Gotta do something on the Queens Birthday: Having worked on the Gazette and its distribution over the last three months, its time to return to the Internet and keep the ball rolling. Being the Queen\'s birthday, I felt the additional sense of duty to our Head of State, her successor in particular.

The Copernican paradigm is a framework, and having a Citizens\' Council undertaking the role of shortlisting candidates, makes even more sense when the role is decidedly non-executive. The role with the potential need for technical governmental skills is undertaken by the Governors/Governor-General.

As for redundancy, there is no redundancy in the Copernican arrangment, as the Governor-General and Head of State currently have different jobs and should continue to do so, rather than merge these roles.
dlatimer: States will be excited by the Copernican paradigm: I believe the states would be very excited about it. At the moment, each state has a governor and would not look forward to repeating the whole process of adjusting their consitutions to adopt a republican structure. Far easier and cost effective to have an Australian Head of State, with the authority of an elected official, but with no executive power over states, to appoint the governors just as is done today.

And if the States have a role in nominating candidates for Head of State, as proposed by Dr Peter Carden, Prof George Winterton and myself, then the states are in a better position. States like Tasmania and South Australia get a better change of having one of their own become Head of State.

The alternative is a range of different state constitutional systems, including state referendums and probably ongoing elections for governor.
dlatimer: Federalism and separation of powers: The Copernican paradigm covers to federalism and separation of powers and potentially governmental integrity, although to what extent is a matter of friendly debate between us in the group.

The paradigm brings out the existing federal structure, with a common Head of State who has no domestic governmental role. Australia has an unusual federal arrangement in this legal sense, and we only notice it when the states and federal govt. fought in the High Court. It seems untidy, but has an important benefit in recognising that the various Australian governments are peers before the High Court, and have a common object rather than self-interest (as is the case for a corporation.)

On separation of powers, this is usually viewed in terms of legislative vs executive vs judicial, however it also works vertically, such as a judge vs jury. In Australia\'s case, we have a Head of State with no real executive power, a governor with limited execitive power, an executive council with formal executive power and a Head of Government and cabinet with political executive power. Having a Head of State with no real executive power puts the notion of separation of powers in proper context and gives the constitution system a buffer against illegal executive control - because the governor\'s first loyalty is not the Prime Minister but the Head of State.

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