Each government entity within a hierarchical republic serves the role of a super-entity and a sub-entity. Local governments are super-entities for the people themselves. Another government entity may act as the super-entity for the local governments with another government as the super-entity for that government and so on until some Global Government or Leviathan, like the united nations or the global government and leviathan I have described in other articles. Regardless of what level a government entity holds in the hierarchy the role of that government is essentially the same.
As a sub-entity a government has but one power. Each sub-entity has the power to choose which super-entity it belongs to. Membership with a super-entity can be ended for any reason, though establishing a relationship with a different super-entity should require the consent of that entity, which may require some negotiation.
As a super-entity a government should have more military or police power than its sub-entities. Without greater power, sub-entities may gain too much power. Super-entities should, however, have a strong legal sense of recognizing that the true authority belongs to the sub-entities.
Consolidation can mean both legal and economic consolidation. Sub-entities should belong to super-entities based on similar legalities and economic needs. The super-entity provides a consolidated power for managing these legalities and encouraging economic cooperation. The European Union is an excellent example of how a super-entity serves the role of consolidation.
The most important policing role of a super-entity is the obligation to ensure that sub-entities respect the right of secession of their sub-entities. The obligation extends all the way down to the local governments, no government lower than the super-entity should be allowed to forcibly occupy any of its sub-entities.
Super-entities may also have laws of various types and therefore the responsibility of policing those laws. Super-entities should, however, only have laws regarding the relationships between sub-entities. The interactions of government entities lower than the immediate sub-entities should be the jurisdiction of the corresponding super-entities.
Super-entities may also provide some oversight of the activities of sub-entities.
Super-entities fund their activities through taxing their sub-entities. Taxes should only be applied to immediate sub-entities. This simplifies the tax system as each entity has only one set of taxes they must pay. It is also another way in which the authority of the super-entity is restricted to just its immediate sub-entities.
Taxes will generally take several possible forms. Most super-entity revenue comes from a flat tax on sub-entity tax revenue which seems appropriate and fair but also provides a convenient starting point for oversight. A set tax which acts like a cover charge ensuring that all sub-entities are of similar size and wealth. A per capita tax based on the number of citizens of each sub-entity to ensure a population of similar wealth. A tax per acre of land overseen by that sub-entity to ensure similar economy types, rural or urban based economies. The types of taxes a super-entity passes will depend on the types of services it intends to provide. For example, it may be difficult for an agrarian oriented super-entity to provide appropriate services for an industrial or research oriented sub-entities. The idea of a super-entity is to provide a medium for sub-entities to cooperate and share a single more influential voice. This is less effective when that voice is of too many minds.
Different relationships between sub-entities and super-entities may function differently. Some governments may be more fascist, communist, capitalist, democratic, or even elitist so long as that is the true will of the people and they are not forced into submission by their super-entities. Do not judge other people because they do not wish to belong to the same type of government that you do. What follows however is a suggested relationship that follows a model of representative democracy.
Each entity consists of a legislative council. The council elects a presidential figure and a prime minister figure. The prime minister is responsible for state executive powers while the president sits on the council for the super-entity, acting as the public image of the entity. There may also be a judicial branch, but the structure of that body is not the subject of this discussion.
This system does not represent direct democracy by the people. However, because any lower body has the right of secession, lower bodies need not fear being oppressed by unsupported policies at some higher level of government. If a lower body feels strongly enough about some higher government policy they can always leave. The advantage of the representative structure is that it reduces politicking since politicians need not pander to the public to get reelected. While power plays will still happen, lack of pander should shift some of the focus toward the policies, which should be what is really important. Also, because reelection is not a public matter there is no need for expensive campaign, and therefore less power goes to lobbyists and other campaign contributers.