4 ms·

Someone needs to start doing version control systems for legislative bills and documents in governments everywhere. Most lawmakers are ugly sneaks and we will n

Someone needs to start doing version control systems for legislative bills and documents in governments everywhere. Most lawmakers are ugly sneaks and we will need to watch their every move.

Wingman4l7 13y ago
I don't know if this would really fix anything, but it sure would be awesome to see the one-line pork additions to a bill tied directly to a Senator's name.
- tlrobinson 13y ago
  If only we had "git blame" for legislation.
jacques_chester 13y ago
The Australian lawmaking process is more transparent than the US. Bills cannot be amended in committee behind closed doors. All amendments must be moved by an MP, from the floor of the House or Senate. We also have the strictest party discipline in the world, so there's very little room for back-scratching. Finally, our Constitution bans any bill about appropriations from dealing with any other subject. So you can't tack riders onto other subjects.
- Wingman4l7 13y ago
  Not to mention that you give third parties a fighting chance for representation with your preferential voting system. That's a really clever appropriations bit in your Constitution. I've often thought that the US needs some sort of Kevin Bacon Law -- all the measures within a bill have to be related to each other with only a few degrees of separation. No more banning internet poker in a port security bill! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAFE_Port_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAFE_Port_Act)
  - vaughan 13y ago
    There are some problems with preferential voting in the Senate though as Antony Green raises (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-29/green-senate-ballot-system-threatens-more-than-our-eyesight/4921966 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-29/green-senate-ballot-sy...). 95% of Australians will defer to their parties' chosen preferences, rather than stating their preferences explicitly. This is mostly because you have to number hundreds of boxes if you chose to vote "below the line". Some argue that parties' preferences will not always reflect the intention of the voter - but they get away with it because its too difficult to vote preferentially.
    - Wingman4l7 13y ago
      A good demonstration of where theory fails in reality. I also hear that in practice, the third parties are basically bribed with minor legislative concessions if they form a coalition with a major party and cast the deciding vote in favor of their legislation. Still better than the third party not existing & having a say at all, though.
vaughan 13y ago
I am working on it! https://github.com/OpenParliamentAu/law-beta https://github.com/OpenParliamentAu/law-beta All bills are in Microsoft Word. 1. Convert all bills to perfect Markdown for nice looking diffs. 2. Parse amendments (e.g. "Section 1: Omit paragraph 1, replace X with Y".) for bills currently before parliament and create consolidated versions of the bills to view changes in context. 3. Fork GitLab.org and create a pretty interface for law makers to use.

Someone needs to start doing version control systems for legislative bills and documents in governments everywhere. Most lawmakers are ugly sneaks and we will need to watch their every move.

Wingman4l7 13y ago

I don't know if this would really fix anything, but it sure would be awesome to see the one-line pork additions to a bill tied directly to a Senator's name.

tlrobinson 13y ago
If only we had "git blame" for legislation.

jacques_chester 13y ago

The Australian lawmaking process is more transparent than the US. Bills cannot be amended in committee behind closed doors. All amendments must be moved by an MP, from the floor of the House or Senate. We also have the strictest party discipline in the world, so there's very little room for back-scratching. Finally, our Constitution bans any bill about appropriations from dealing with any other subject. So you can't tack riders onto other subjects.

Wingman4l7 13y ago
Not to mention that you give third parties a fighting chance for representation with your preferential voting system. That's a really clever appropriations bit in your Constitution. I've often thought that the US needs some sort of Kevin Bacon Law -- all the measures within a bill have to be related to each other with only a few degrees of separation. No more banning internet poker in a port security bill! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAFE_Port_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAFE_Port_Act)
- vaughan 13y ago
  There are some problems with preferential voting in the Senate though as Antony Green raises (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-29/green-senate-ballot-system-threatens-more-than-our-eyesight/4921966 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-29/green-senate-ballot-sy...). 95% of Australians will defer to their parties' chosen preferences, rather than stating their preferences explicitly. This is mostly because you have to number hundreds of boxes if you chose to vote "below the line". Some argue that parties' preferences will not always reflect the intention of the voter - but they get away with it because its too difficult to vote preferentially.
  - Wingman4l7 13y ago
    A good demonstration of where theory fails in reality. I also hear that in practice, the third parties are basically bribed with minor legislative concessions if they form a coalition with a major party and cast the deciding vote in favor of their legislation. Still better than the third party not existing & having a say at all, though.

vaughan 13y ago

I am working on it! https://github.com/OpenParliamentAu/law-beta https://github.com/OpenParliamentAu/law-beta All bills are in Microsoft Word. 1. Convert all bills to perfect Markdown for nice looking diffs. 2. Parse amendments (e.g. "Section 1: Omit paragraph 1, replace X with Y".) for bills currently before parliament and create consolidated versions of the bills to view changes in context. 3. Fork GitLab.org and create a pretty interface for law makers to use.