THE UNKINDEST CUTTY (via Mike Earl):

Island cuts back feudal influence (BBC, 3/10/06)

The island with Europe's last feudal system has voted against completely abolishing the role of landowners in its government.

After an extraordinary meeting of Sark's parliament, the Chief Pleas, it agreed to reduce the number instead.

Landowners will now be reserved 14 seats in the Chief Pleas, with the total number of seats on the body reduced from 52 to 28.

The other 14 seats will be made up of elected people's deputies.

The public will also vote to decide which landowners are given seats.

The current set-up is that the legislature gives all 40 landowning tenants an automatic seat in Chief Pleas, with a further 12 seats for elected Deputies.

Why leap into the dung heap that is the rest of Europe? Less democracy seems to work rather better.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 10, 2006 5:23 PM