Island Project Issues - Essay Example

? Island Project Worldwide, most of the island nations have unique and autonomous governance systems. To be specific, geographical setting tends the island nations to be different from other world nations. Still, most of the island nations are interested to inculcate democratic ideas into the core of governance. I consider that small communities under a central authority can transform the proposed island nation (say, near Florida) to a democratic nation. Thesis statement: The description and discussion based on the proposed island nation proves that county system (type), municipal charter (form), mayor council (management), and election (leadership) can be adopted for local governance, judicial hierarchy can be adopted as the judicial system, and agencies entitled to enforce law and public prisons can be adopted for law enforcement/ rehabilitation purposes. Local government: First of all, the local government in the island nation shall be based on certain elements related to governance, like county system (type), municipal charter (form), mayor council (management), and election (leadership). Chandler (2001) states that, “A local authority, however, not only must demonstrate it uses resources efficiently but also it must have as its mission the concern to care for the economic, social and environmental well-being of their community” (p.154). To be specific, the public administration within the scenario of the island nation will be based on local form of governance. I would like to introduce county type local government because it is one of the examples for decentralized governance. The island nation will be divided into different counties, based on population. Besides, municipal charter will be the form of governance because the same will be within the jurisdiction of the proposed type of local/ decentralized government. This will help the inhabitants to gain certain rights and to enjoy certain privileges within the local government. The overall management will be based on mayor-council method, in which the authority’s (say, the mayor’s) influence is limited to his/her personality, not political power. This limits the mayor’s power, but is suitable for the proposed island nation with less population. The leadership positions will be established through general elections because this is important to incorporate democratic ideas to the context of the proposed island nation. To be specific, the people will cast their votes to the candidates, strictly based on their political values. Eligible candidates will be invited to form the government, strictly based on democratic ideas. Judicial system: The judicial system in the proposed island nation will be based on judicial hierarchy. To be specific, there will be a supreme authority that controls the judicial system. But this supreme authority can be arraigned by the members, representing the lower courts. Besides, there will be a law making body elected by the citizens, apart from the government. This will keep judiciary safe from political manipulation or influence. Malleson (2007) states that, “Governments are now expected to introduce policy changes which affect the legal system on an ongoing basis” (p.2). The elected judges cannot act beyond their limits because people elected them and they are answerable for their decisions. There will be lower courts in the counties and these courts will be independent within the counties. So, this decentralized model of judicial system will help the people to approach the court with ease. Besides, the judges cannot go beyond their limits because they can be kept aside by the people. On the other side, law making will not be vested upon the judicial system because it will be vested upon a different body elected by the people. Any citizen can seek help from the court because there main aim of this innovative judicial system is to solve more problems with less time. To be specific, less serious crimes will be dealt by the lower courts. This will help the people to save their valuable time and energy, without any economic burden. Besides, the judicial system will be under the direct control of the constitution, not the government. Law enforcement: One can see that effective functioning of the law enforcement system is utmost important for an island nation. As the proposed island nation is not so far from the US, the authorities can discard the idea of a permanent military. To be specific, there is no need to keep a permanent military, but the police force can act as the military force. This innovative method of law enforcement can help the nation away from military coups. There will be different agencies like central police force, local police force, and crime detection force to guard the nation from criminals. From a different angle of view, the law enforcement process in the island will be based on prevention, not punishment. Besides, the officials will cooperate with the people to prevent crime. For instance, crimes in counties will be deal by the local police, and the crime in national level will be dealt by the national police. On the other side, public prisons will be introduced in the island nation to deal with the criminals. But the main aim of the public prisons in the island nation will be to help the criminals to discard their criminal instinct. Cronkhite (2007) states that, “Community support also is needed in community-based corrections programs” (p.488). Besides, the detainees will be permitted to continue their education and to meet their relatives and friends. So, the law enforcement and rehabilitation facilities in the proposed island nation will be entirely different from traditional methods. Summing, I know that co-ordination among different agencies/divisions within local governance, judicial system, and law enforcement can create an innovative nation. So, I adopted some ideas from the world nations that are supporting democratic ideas. To be specific, the local governance in the proposed island nation is based on localized governance, attached to the central authority. Besides, the judicial system is different because utmost importance is given to lower courts, not the upper court or the supreme authority. At the same time, less importance is given to the military because nearness to a powerful nation (say, the US) is enough to feel secure among the world nations. In short, I think that this decentralized method of governance can be adopted by island nations to amalgamate democracy to the concept of nationality. References Chandler, J.A. (2001). Local Government Today. New York, NY: Manchester University Press. Cronkhite, C. (2007). Criminal Justice Administration: Strategies for the 21st Century. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Malleson, K. (2007). The Legal System. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Read More