I knew that Montesquieu had a lot of influence on The founders of the United States but hadn’t read much of his writings. Decided to read “The spirit of the Laws” and came across an interesting passage...
“ It is likewise a fundamental law in democracies, that the people should have the sole power to enact laws. And yet there are a thousand occasions on which it is necessary the senate should have the power of decreeing; nay, it is frequently proper to make some trial of a law before it is established. The constitutions of Rome and Athens were excellent. The decrees of the senate[18] had the force of laws for the space of a year, but did not become perpetual till they were ratified by the consent of the people.”
Of course it’s an exercise in hypotheticals, but it’s and interesting thought that laws would have a trial period before actually being made permanent. Thought I’d toss it out there for discussion of the pros and cons and whether such a system would even be practical today.