Paper 5 of the Project One Earth programme proposes a layered constitutional architecture centred on the self‑governing city. It argues that a civilisation can combine strong local autonomy with universal fundamental rights by establishing a constitutional floor that protects individual liberties while allowing cities to craft their own cultural and policy rules. The design rests on subsidiarity: decisions belong at the lowest level capable of effective action, with a limited common constitutional level handling cross‑city coordination, shared infrastructure, planetary risks and enforcement of fundamental rights. Democratic participation is reinforced through lifelong civic‑education, an AI‑driven “AI Journal” that supplies personalised, non‑persuasive civic information, and a continuously revisable delegation system where citizens can select, change, or withdraw delegates on issue‑by‑issue bases. The model also incorporates voluntary sortition, term limits for senior officials, and a guild system that regulates professional standards while remaining publicly accountable. Data sovereignty is guaranteed through privacy‑preserving cryptographic techniques, and the sovereign AI that powers the AI Journal is subject to transparent governance, auditing, and strict limits on political authority. The paper outlines constitutional review mechanisms, an independent judiciary, mobility rights, inter‑city fiscal transfers, a 1‑to‑10 discretionary income cap, emergency‑power safeguards, policing standards, anti‑corruption controls, amendment procedures, and a voluntary “One Earth badge” to signal civic identity during the transition phase. A detailed political‑transition roadmap describes how existing nation‑states can seed autonomous chartered cities, create voluntary coalitions, and gradually expand the five‑level constitutional architecture (individual → city → regional → common → planetary). Failure‑mode analysis and a research agenda propose simulations and pilot experiments to test delegation thresholds, fiscal rules, and transition pathways. The overall aim is a constrained pluralist system that maximises local freedom while preventing majority domination, technocratic capture, AI manipulation, or centralised authoritarian drift.
Topics
Constitutional Floor: Inalienable Fundamental Rights
A minimal catalogue of rights (equality, bodily autonomy, freedom of conscience, expression, due process, privacy, right to leave) that cannot be overridden by local majorities.
Subsidiarity as the Engine of Layered Governance
The principle that authority should reside at the lowest level capable of effective action, with higher levels intervening only for problems that cannot be solved locally.
Self‑Governing City Charter: Autonomy Within a Constitutional Network
Each city adopts a written charter defining institutions, taxes, services, cultural rules, and amendment procedures while remaining bound by the constitutional floor.
Civic Education and the AI Journal: Informing Without Persuasion
A lifelong civic‑education programme (ages 16‑18) paired with an AI‑driven personalised information service that explains proposals, evidence, and uncertainty without political bias.
Continuously Revisable Delegation and Representative Mechanics
Citizens can select issue‑specific delegates, review choices every three months, and withdraw support at any time; professional guild heads provide functional expertise.
Voluntary Sortition and Term‑Limit Rotation
A pool of citizens is randomly selected for short‑term civic service to ensure cross‑sectional representation; senior officials are limited to eight‑year tenures.
Data Sovereignty and Privacy‑Preserving AI Governance
Personal data remains under individual control; cryptographic hashes, zero‑knowledge proofs, and secure computation enable qualification verification without unnecessary disclosure.
Independent Constitutional Review and Judiciary
A constitutional court with protected tenure reviews city legislation for compliance with the constitutional floor and provides standing to individuals and groups.