This is meant to inspire discussion. All the ideas I present are not perfect. In fact, there are a lot of imperfect things about each of them. This is simply an exercise in speculation. I would like to hear other's opinions concerning them. So please comment! That's the point of this!

1) Politicians should not be paid. I know, everyone is already yelling about how that would make this into a plutocracy, but essentially, it already is. Campaign donations would still be allowed (more about this in #2), and if you proved yourself to have promise as a politician, you would find backers. But this would ensure you really want to be there, because there is nothing like volunteer work to sort out who wants to do the job and who doesn't.

2) The Supreme Court is not for life. It is ridiculous to have them removed from the world which they are judging. Some people argue that is exactly why they are appointed for life. I think they could find themselves out of step with what the people desire, and in a democracy, I find this notion a little difficult. I think it is necessary that the details of a country change- abortion rights, gay marriage, campaign finance, etc- this is why we have a Congress. In theory at least, they are supposed to hear from their constituents and introduce bills accordingly. It is the overall form of government that should persist. The founding fathers made things a little vague for this very reason. So if you have an entire branch of the government to which this does not apply, because of the checks and balances system, you are affecting the entire government. Justices get voted in that they do not necessarily want because they will be better over the long run, and others get shot down because of the thought that they could be there a while.

3) Bench the Congress. I think that Congress should rotate. You can argue that it already does, but with districts drawn the way they are, that's not exactly true. Instead, while they are Congressmen, they are divided between active, inactive, and committee. Active are on the floor voting on the bills. Inactive would be (hopefully) at home getting in touch with the needs of their constituents. Committee would be in committee structuring new bills. When a bill goes from committee for a vote, even if it is time for the Congressmen to rotate from committee to active, they would not be allowed to vote on any bill they worked on in committee. This adds a new dimension to the bills. If it is not a good bill, you have to get it onto the floor at just the right time, or it will be voted down. If it is a good bill, in theory, it should pass. I believe it would take party politics out of play a little more, because at any given time, you have to have the right people to structure the bill and then have the right people to vote on it.

Feel free to suggest your own! I'd love to hear what others think would make the "perfect" government.