Showing papers on "Constitution published in 2003"

Can the Subaltern Speak

Abstract: Some of the most radical criticism coming out of the West today is the result of an interested desire to conserve the subject of the West, or the West as Subject. The theory of pluralized ‘subject-effects’ gives an illusion of undermining subjective sovereignty while often providing a cover for this subject of knowledge. Although the history of Europe as Subject is narrativized by the law, political economy, and ideology of the West, this concealed Subject pretends it has ‘no geo-political determinations.’ The much publicized critique of the sovereign subject thus actually inaugurates a Subject. . . . This S/subject, curiously sewn together into a transparency by denega­ tions, belongs to the exploiters’ side of the international division of labor. It is impossible for contemporary French intellectuals to imagine the kind of Power and Desire that would inhabit the unnamed subject of the Other of Europe. It is not only that everything they read, critical or uncritical, is caught within the debate of the production of that Other, supporting or critiquing the constitution of the Subject as Europe. It is also that, in the constitution of that Other of Europe, great care was taken to obliterate the textual ingredients with which such a subject could cathect, could occupy (invest?) its itinerary not only by ideological and scientific production, but also by the institution of the law. ... In the face of the possibility that the intellectual is complicit in the persistent constitution of Other as the Self’s shadow, a possibility of political practice for the intel­ lectual would be to put the economic ‘under erasure,’ to see the economic factor as irreducible as it reinscribes the social text, even as it is erased, however imperfectly, when it claims to be the final determinant or the tran­ scendental signified. The clearest available example of such epistemic violence is the remotely orchestrated, far-flung, and heterogeneous project to constitute the colonial

Educating the national citizen in neoliberal times: from the multicultural self to the strategic cosmopolitan

Abstract: The paper is a broad, comparative investigation of shifts in the educational rhetoric and policy of three countries over the past two decades. Using England, Canada and the United States as case studies, I argue that the spirit of multiculturalism in education has shifted from a concern with the formation of tolerant and democratic national citizens who can work with and through difference, to a more strategic use of diversity for competitive advantage in the global marketplace. This shift is directly linked with and helps to facilitate the entrenchment of neoliberalism as it supports a privatization agenda, reduces the costs of social reproduction for the government, and aids in the constitution of subjects oriented to individual survival and/or success in the global economy.

The constitution of a European immigration policy domain: a political sociology approach

Abstract: At the 1999 Tampere summit, EU member states committed themselves to developing a comprehensive immigration and asylum policy. Although directives harmonizing border controls or anti-discrimination instruments have been adopted, it remains an incomplete and complex European policy area. This article seeks to explain the timing, form and content of this new domain. It combines the insights of March and Olsen's "garbage can' model with a sociological approach that emphasizes power competition among actors in the same field. Diverse actors have seized upon EU opportunities. Law and order officials in charge of migration control seeking to gain autonomy in intergovernmental settings linked their action to the single market and transnational crime. NGOs providing expertise to Commission units seeking competence in non-economic areas jumped on the "social exclusion' bandwagon by proposing anti-discrimination legislation. These developments - superimposed on policies regarding free movement of workers and servic...

Measuring Judicial Independence: The Political Economy of Judging in Japan

Abstract: Article 76 of the Japanese Constitution requires that all judges be "independent in the exercise of their conscience and bound only by this Constitution and its laws. Consistent with this requirement, Japanese courts have long enjoyed a reputation for vigilant independence. Only leftists have challenged this, and only occasionally and anecdotally. In this book, J. Mark Ramseyer and Eric B. Rasmusen use the latest statistical techniques to examine whether (and if so, to what extent) Japanese politicians manipulate the careers of lower court judges to political advantage. One the basis of careful econometric analysis of career data for hundreds of judges, they find that Japanese politicians do influence judicial careers discreetly and indirectly: judges who decide politically charged cases in ways favoured by the ruling party enjoy better careers after their decisions than those who do not. Ramseyer and Rasmusen's sophisticated yet accessible analysis has much to offer anyone interested in judicial independence or the application of econometric techniques in the social sciences.

Popular Choice and Managed Democracy: The Russian Elections of 1999 and 2000

Abstract: Twice in the winter of 1999-2000, citizens of the Russian Federation flocked to their neighborhood voting stations and scratched their ballots in an atmosphere of uncertainty, rancor, and fear. This book is a tale of these two elections --one for the 450-seat Duma, the other for President. Despite financial crisis, a national security emergency in Chechnya, and cabinet instability, Russian voters unexpectedly supported the status quo. The elected lawmakers prepared to cooperate with the executive branch, a gift that had eluded President Boris Yeltsin since he imposed a post-Soviet constitution by referendum in 1993. When Yeltsin retired six months in advance of schedule, the presidential mantle went to Vladimir Putin --a career KGB officer who fused new and old ways of doing politics. Putin was easily elected President in his own right. This book demonstrates key trends in an extinct superpower, a troubled country in whose stability, modernization, and openness to the international community the West still has a huge stake.

Engendering gay and lesbian rights: the equality clause in the south african constitution

Abstract: The paper focuses on the origins and impact of the “gay rights clause” in the post-apartheid constitution of South Africa. The clause, explicitly prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, was the first of its kind in the world. It represents a paradox given the commitment of the post-apartheid state to mass participation in policy formulation and high levels of homophobia. The clause is explained in terms of the ability of a male-dominated gay rights movement to form strategic alliances with the anti-apartheid struggle, to mobilize the master narrative of equality and to lobby effectively during the constitution making process. Since 1996, it is shown that lesbian initiatives have been significant in attempts to mobilize the clause to realize substantive equality. However, these have tended to reflect class- and race-based privilege, and for the gay rights movement to become a transformative force, any development depends on an extension of the present focus on justice as rights, to include redistribution.

Reflections on liberalism, policulturalism, and ID-ology: citizenship and difference in South Africa

Abstract: How do nation-states in the twenty-first century, nation-states increasingly forced to come to terms with the ethnic heterogeneity of their citizens, deal with the problem of cultural difference? How, in particular, does the Constitution of post-apartheid South Africa — widely believed to be the most enlightened in the contemporary world, the most tolerant of diversity — strike a balance between the ‘One Law’ of ‘The Nation’ and the plurality of customary beliefs sustained, as a matter of right, by the various peoples who make up this postcolony? What happens, in the course of everyday existence, when Constitution and Custom appear to contradict one another — and to do so in such a manner as to raise questions of basic human rights, of freedom of belief, even of life-and-death? These questions are addressed in the paper through a critical, broadly situated analysis of the confrontation between the Constitution of South Africa and the Kingdom of Custom that continues to prevail in one of its provinces, the...

A Revolution in Favor of Government: Origins of the U.S. Constitution and the Making of the American State

Abstract: Edling argues that during the Constitutional debates, the Federalist were most concerned with building a state able to act vigorously in defense of American national interests. By transferring the powers of war making and resource-extraction from states to the national government, the U.S. Constitution created a nation-state invested with all the important powers of Europe's eighteenth-century 'fiscal-military states'. However, the political traditions and institutions of America were incompatible with a strong centralized government based on the European pattern. To secure the Constitution's adoption, the Federalists needed to build a very different state. The administration they designed made limited demands on citizens and entailed sharp restrictions on the physical presence of the national government in society. The Constitution was the Federalists' promise of the benefits of governemnt without its costs. The Federalist proposed statecraft rather than strong central authority as the solution to governing.

Narratives of Norwegian governance: elaborating the strong state tradition

Abstract: Any account of Norwegian governance must engage with four different state traditions (Olsen 1988): the sovereign rationality–bounded or centralised state, the institutional state, the corporatist–pluralist state and the supermarket state. The first three traditions are historically interconnected, while the supermarket state is a fundamental and recent challenge to them. These traditions have co–existed in different combinations and their significance has changed several times, since the Constitution of 1814. In this article, first, I outline each tradition, tracing its historical roots, dominant actors and the competing definitions and interpretations. Second, I discuss the problems or dilemmas that confronted these traditions and the reforms enacted in response to them. Finally, I assess the consequences of these reforms. I focus on the post–World War II period. I finish by discussing the dynamic interdependence of the different state traditions.

What Did Lawrence Hold? Of Autonomy, Desuetude, Sexuality, and Marriage

Abstract: The Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas is best seen as a cousin to Griswold v. Connecticut, invalidating a ban on the use of contraception within marriage, and Reed v. Reed, invalidating a preference for men over women in the administration of estates. In both cases, the Court struck down an anachronistic law palpably out of step with existing public convictions. Lawrence should be understood in the same terms, as rooted in a distinctly American-style doctrine of desuetude. The central principle is that at least if certain interests are involved, criminal statutes may not be invoked against citizens when the underlying moral judgments have become anachronistic, as demonstrated by a pattern of nonenforcement. A key problem here is procedural; it involves an absence of fair notice and arbitrary exercise of discretion. This understanding of the decision has implications for the many imaginable constitutional challenges to other laws involving sex and sexual orientation. After Lawrence, states are certainly prohibited from banning fornication; they are almost certainly forbidden to ban use of sexual devices. Bans on prostitution, incest, and adultery stand on firmer grounds, though even here responsible challenges can be imagined. After Lawrence, the Constitution almost certainly forbids public discrimination against those who have engaged in homosexual conduct, at least outside of certain specialized contexts (most notably the military). The hardest cases involve the failure to recognize same-sex marriages. The ban on same-sex marriages cannot be said to be an anachronism, even though it is not easy, in principle, to reject the law struck down in Lawrence while permitting states to deny gays and lesbians the right to marry. One general lesson, underlined by Lawrence, is that political and social change is usually a precondition for changed interpretation of the Constitution.

Culture, Religion and Gender

Abstract: This article explores the intersection of culture, religion and gender in the context of international and constitutional human rights law. The clash between religious or cultural autonomy and gender equality is a pervasive problem for constitutional law, one that arises in connection with claims of immunity from gender equality provisions on the grounds of cultural or religious freedom. I will describe how the resulting clash has been addressed in international law and in the decisions of various constitutional courts and propose a theoretical basis for structuring the hierarchy of values to resolve this issue in a constitutional framework of human rights.

Enhancing WTO Legitimacy: Constitutionalization or Global Subsidiarity?

Abstract: Increasingly, scholars have articulated the challenge of global economic governance in constitutional terms. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is often painted as an incipient global economic constitution. Its legitimacy would be enhanced, some contend, by transforming the WTO treaty system into a federal construct. But the application of the language of constitutionalism to the WTO is likely to exacerbate the fears of the “discontents” of globalization that the international institutions of economic governance are not democratically accountable to anyone. We argue that the legitimacy of the multilateral trading order requires greater democratic contestability. The notion of global subsidiarity would be a more appropriate model for the WTO than that of a “federal” constitution. This notion incorporates three basic principles: institutional sensitivity, political inclusiveness, and top-down empowerment.

Democratic Constitution Making

Abstract: • We live in an era of constitution making. Writing a constitution is part of many peace processes. New nations and radically new regimes that seek democratic credentials make writing a constitution a priority. In a changing world, constitutional practice is also changing. Twenty-first century constitutionalism is redefining the long tradition of expert constitution making and bringing it into the sphere of democratic participation.

Why Does the American Constitution Lack Social and Economic Guarantees

Abstract: Why does the American Constitution lack certain social and economic guarantees, which appear in most contemporary constitutions? This essay explores four possible answers: chronological, cultural, institutional, and realist. The chronological explanation emphasizes the fact that in the late eighteenth century, social and economic rights simply were not on the viewscreen for constitution-makers. The point is correct, but as a complete account, the chronological explanation fails for the simple reason that constitutional meaning changes over time. The institutional explanation emphasizes that Americans typically see constitutional rights not as mere goals or aspirations, but as pragmatic instruments for judicial enforcement. The difficulty with the institutional explanation is that social and economic rights can, in fact, be enforced judicially. The cultural explanation sees the absence of social and economic rights as part of the general failure of socialist movements in the United States ("American exceptionalism"). The problem with this explanation is that social and economic rights can in fact coexist with a market economy. The realist explanation places a spotlight on the underappreciated fact that the United States Supreme Court came very close, in the 1960s and 1970s, to recognizing social and economic rights under the Constitution. The Court's refusal to recognize such rights was largely a result of the presidential election of 1968 and in particular of four critical appointments by President Nixon. This is an important source of "American exceptionalism" in the domain of social and economic rights. Here as elsewhere, there is a possibility of multiple equilibria, and with a small difference or two, the United States might well have had an equilibrium that included social and economic rights.

Preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission in South Africa: background strategies and outcomes of the Treatment Action Campaign case against the Minister of Health.

Abstract: This paper contextualises the litigation that challenged the South African government’s PMTCT policy and documents its causes and effects. It examines the resort to constitutional litigation by civil society organisations after being frustrated by what Cameron JA described in another context as ‘a pitiable saga of correspondence meetings calls appeals entreaties demands and pleas by public interest organisations’. More practically it describes a ‘contempt of people and process that does not befit an organ of government under our constitutional dispensation’. The TAC case is an interesting one both inside and outside of the legal proceedings. It raises important issues about the functional independence of the public service from the Executive on matters where there is political sensitivity and pressure. It suggests how human rights disputes might increasingly revolve around socio-economic rights and it demonstrates that skillful litigation can take advantage of constitutional promises. Finally the outcome of the case validates the Constitution and should confirm to those who still suffer marginalisation and deprivation that the Constitution can materially impact on and better their lives. It need not be as former Justice Minister Omar once suggested ‘a wonderful document’ but one which ‘because of the imbalances we have inherited . . . will be the sole preserve of the rich and powerful’. (excerpt)

European Constitutionalism Beyond the State: Europe and the constitution: what if this is as good as it gets?

Abstract: In this essay, I argue that national constitutionalism is simply a contextual representation of constitutionalism whose dated and artificial borders are challenged by European constitutionalism. In themselves, constitutional ideals are not dependent nor legitimised by the borders of national polities. As a consequence, there is often no a priori claim of higher validity for national constitutionalism vis-avis European constitutionalism. My first objective at this point is to question the artificial supremacy of national constitutionalism and argue for a new form of constitutionalism. At the same time, I believe it will be possible to derive from a new analysis of constitutionalism a form of legitimation for the European Union arising from its constitutional and democratic added value in facing the present atomisation and deteritorialisation of normative power. The deconstruction of constitutionalism required by European integration may actually promote an extended application of its ideals. We will see that, in many respects, the problems of the European Constitution are simply reflections of the limits of national constitutionalism that we have for long ignored.

Common Law, Common Ground, and Jefferson's Principle

Abstract: Thomas Jefferson's famous argument that "the earth belongs to the living" - and therefore no generation has the right to rule another - is a standing challenge to anyone who believes that written constitutions (or, in many instances, statutes) are binding. Most answers to Jefferson's challenge rely, in one way or another, on a claim that being an American means owing an obligation of some kind to previous generations. These accounts should not be disparaged, but in a large and heterogeneous nation the obligation to adhere to decisions made decades or centuries ago should rest on something less contested. Our written Constitution performs two functions that justify adherence to it, without relying on a contested conception of American citizenship. First, the text, and the judgments of those who wrote and ratified it, are a source of precedents, roughly on a par with certain judicial decisions. Second, the text provides what game theory calls a "focal point": it establishes common ground on questions (such as the length of a President's term) that need to be settled one way or another. There are no other justifications, beyond these two, for requiring adherence to the text of a document adopted long ago. But this account helps explain current practices that might otherwise seem unjustifiable: an emphasis on the words of the text often without regard to the intentions of the drafters, as evidenced, for example, in the debate over the incorporation of the Bill of Rights; the highly selective use of historical sources (what is often called "law office history"); the fact that the text of the Constitution matters most for issues that are the least important; and popular attitudes about constitutional amendment.

The Accidental Constitution: The Story of the European Convention

Abstract: This book tells the story of a great experiment. For sixteen and a half months a Convention of two hundred and seven men and women from twenty eight sovereign states met in Brussels to fashion a constitution for the European Union. Blending narrative and analysis, Peter Norman tracks the twists and turns that led to a draft constitutional treaty. It is a tale of people and policies, but above all of the unexpected, which is why the book is called 'The Accidental Constitution'.

Courts and Political Institutions: A Comparative View

Abstract: The frontier between 'law' and 'politics' is not always clear-cut. A large area exists where courts operate, but where governments and parliaments also make decisions. Tim Koopmans compares the way American, British, French and German law and politics deal with different issues: in many instances subjects which are highly 'political' in one country constitute legal issues in another. Is there, for example a 'sovereign Parliament' (as there is in Britain), or will courts control the compatibility of statutes with the Constitution (as in the United States and Germany)? How far can courts go in controlling the legality of administrative action? Are there general legal theories about the frontier between what courts and what politics can do? Koopmans considers case law on a range of issues, including human rights protection, federalism, separation of powers, equal protection and the impact of European and international law.

More than a name: state-sponsored homophobia and its consequences in Southern Africa

Abstract: In this report Human Rights Watch and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) document and analyze the impact of state-sponsored homophobia in Zimbabwe Namibia Zambia and Botswana. The report shows how these attacks attempt to create an atmosphere of intolerance in which governments can erode the basic principles of human rights and individuals can abuse others with impunity. It contrasts these to the different situation in South Africa where the constitution has promised an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation—but where a lack of will as well as foresight has kept these promises short of fulfillment. As this report documents the verbal attacks by political leaders have often led to persecution and violence. In Zimbabwe and Namibia in particular public vilification has set off police harassment of those who break norms for sexual conduct and gender expression. Official crackdowns have frequently followed politicians’ statements. People have been detained and tortured by police or abused by prison guards. (excerpt)

NGOs and the Constitutional Debate in Zimbabwe: from Inclusion to Exclusion

Abstract: Two competing processes of constitutional reform occurred in Zimbabwe between 1997 and 2000. In 1997, the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), led by churches, NGOs and unions, was formed and initiated a constitutional debate. In 1999, the ZANU(PF) government of Robert Mugabe attempted to reclaim the debate by launching a Constitutional Commission (CC) with a mandate to consult Zimbabweans and draft a new constitution, to be voted on in a plebiscite in February 2000. The governmental process was unprecedented in its participatory and inclusive nature. Opposition politicians, NGO activists and church people were included alongside ZANU(PF) stalwarts. At the same time, the rhetoric used against those in the NCA who rejected the invitation to participate grew increasingly exclusionary and intolerant. The ruling party was, in this period, beset by revelations of scandals, financial crises and declining social services. The constitutional debate was, at least in part, an attempt to regain control of politic...

Saving the City: Philosopher-Kings and Other Classical Paradigms

Abstract: Preface. Introduction. 1. Euboulia in the Iliad, 2. The Disappearing Philosopher King, 3. Zeno of Citium's Anti-Utopianism, 4. Plato on Economy, 5. Political Friendship and the Ideology of Reciprocity, 6. Hierarchy and equality in Aristotle's Social and Political Thought, 7. Ideology and Philosophy in Aristotle's theory of Slavery, 8. Sharing in the Constitution, 9. Morality in the Law: the case of Diogenes of Babylon , 10. Cicero's Definition of Res Publica, Bibliography, Indexes.

Direct Democracy: Designing a Living Constitution

Abstract: "A crucial aspect of constitutional design is the provision of rules on how anconstitution is to be amended. If procedures for constitutional amendment are very restrictive,nchanges will take place outside the constitution. These changes are likely to be against thencitizens’ interests and their ability to influence the political process. We argue that thendevelopment of the constitution must be based on the rule of law. We propose directndemocratic rights that allow citizens to participate in the amendment process. The directndemocratic process of institutional change is theoretically and empirically analyzed. Annumber of counter arguments and issues for a gradual introduction are discussed."

Legislative sanctions and the strategic environment of judicial review

Abstract: The independence of the judiciary cannot be assumed The creation and maintenance of an independent judiciary are difficult political problems, chiefly because independent social and political institutions necessarily make life more difficult for those holding political power Powerful political actors constantly face the temptation to subvert judicial independence and transform the court system into a more malleable political instrument serving their own immediate needs Such temptations may be particularly great when the courts become obstructive and the means for overpowering the courts seem readily at hand The constitutional response to this difficult problem is to attempt to insulate the courts from political pressure The US Constitution employs various devices to this end, including giving federal judges lifetime appointments and prohibiting the reduction of their salaries Of course, there are limits as to how independent the courts can or should be It must be possible to hold even independent judges accountable for their actions, through impeachment, for example Given the political power entrusted to judges, it would seem prudent to ensure that they are at least somewhat responsive politically, a goal typically achieved through a political appointment process Nonetheless, protecting a judge’s autonomy is of paramount importance In a variety of other ways, the formal protections of the constitutional text are only the first step toward securing effective judicial independence There remain myriad loopholes that determined elected officials might use to punish the judiciary for its actions and reduce its independence1 The American federal judiciary, therefore, may be better understood as “interdependent,” rather than truly independent, and the degree of independence that federal judges enjoy is, in fact, a function of the cooperation of elected officials and the degree of judicial independence they are willing to tolerate Judicial independence is not “grounded so firmly in the Constitution that it cannot be threatened by politicians or interest groups”2

The politics of judicial review in Chile in the era of democratic transition, 1990–2002

Abstract: The study addresses the politics and effects of judicial review in Chile. It concludes that by and large the Chilean courts have refused to exercise their constitutional review powers in defence of individual rights. Although this suggests that Chile represents a ‘negative model’ of judicial review in transitional democracies, the author argues that such an understanding would be simplistic. The Chilean courts' reluctance to exercise their review powers represents the continuation of a long-held strategic stance of avoiding politically controversial cases. This in turn has contributed to the preservation of the autonomy and political independence that has historically allowed the Chilean judiciary to play a crucial role in the promotion and maintenance of the legality that characterises this country. Merging the insights of two academic fields that rarely communicate – democratization studies and public law and courts – the author proposes that prematurely introducing judicial review of the constitution i...

Housing Rights in South Africa: Invasions, Evictions, the Media, and the Courts in the Cases of Grootboom, Alexandra, and Bredell

Abstract: Low-income residents in urban South Africa have made use of the courts to fight for what they perceive as their democratic right to a home in the city. Despite a democratic Constitution since 1996, with a Bill of Rights that includes socioeconomic rights, such as adequate housing (albeit with a proviso), there is little consistency in the outcome of the route of access to the city through the judiciary. Over the past two years, three eviction-related cases that involved court applications by illegal occupiers for short periods dominated the news in South Africa, and are frequently referred to in the media. Each had a different outcome, none of them satisfactory, highlighting the limitations of the judiciary as a route to democratic access to the city. The cases discussed in this paper raise the question as to the role of courts in a democratic, yet unequally developed country like South Africa. Due to the high level of inequality (eighteen million people, that is 45 precent of the population, have an income of up to R345/adult, which is the poverty line as defined by UNDP [2000], in Liebenberg [2001:234]), very close to half of the population requires the protection of their socio-economic rights through the Constitution. However, when called upon by the poor, the judiciary is seemingly reluctant to interfere in the affairs of the executive arm of government. It is equally reluctant to rule in favour of the poor when the economy or investor confidence is at stake. As primary informer of investor sentiment in a neo-liberal dispensation, the media is now in an increasingly delicate position where reporting on a land invasion may do more harm than leaving it ignored. Royston (1998) analysed the strategies of low-income communities for access to the city during the late apartheid years, when the basis of exclusion was shifting

On Equal Terms: The Constitutional Politics of Educational Opportunity

Abstract: LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS lx ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi INTRODUCTION xiii PART I RACE, CLASS, AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY CHAPTER 1. Courts and Educational Opportunity: The Movement from Race to Class 3 CHAPTER 2. The Judicial Impact on School Finance Reform 15 CHAPTER 3. Race, Class, and the Limits of Justice 36 PART II THE CONSTITUTIONAL ORDERING OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY CHAPTER 4. How Does a Constitution Mean? Constitutional Ordering and the Lessons of Educational Opportunity 53 CHAPTER 5. A Bounded Ambition: The Judicial Ordering of Educational Opportunity 65 CHAPTER 6. The Public's Opinion: Understanding Public Commitments toward Educational Opportunity 92 CHAPTER 7. Regimes of Inequality: The Organization of Educational Politics 125 CHAPTER 8. Conclusion: Constituting Education in America 163 APPENDIXES 18 NOTES 191 BIBLIOGRAPHY 217 INDEX 229

Invisible capitalism: political economy and the regulation of undocumented ­immigration in France

Abstract: What explains the French government’s unwillingness to accept more legal immigrants or at least ignore those who enter or over-stay clandestinely? This paper answers this question by exploring the political economy and regulation of undocumented immigration in France during the 1990s. In light of a broad liberal and Marxist literature on the political economy of immigration, I argue that three ‘proximate determinants’ shape the regulation of undocumented immigration in France (a ‘Europeanized’ security agenda, ‘self-limited sovereignty’ and control of the labour market, especially informal employment). However, these proximate determinants do not necessarily excavate the social relations of power (that is political economy) which constitute the basis for policy making. I argue then that a return to the importance of the labour market (and thus the class and racial constitution of French society) is essential, but without a simple return to Marxist political economy. Instead, I suggest the value of ‘virtua...

Defining John Bull: Political Caricature and National Identity in Late Georgian England

Abstract: Contents: Caricature and the British public Caricature and the constitution, c. 1760a "1788 Dissenters, levellers and revolutionaries Britannia, John Bull and national identity The rights of Englishmen Majesty, morality and the monarchy Caricatures and the British polity Index of caricatures Index.

Troubled semi-presidentialism: stability of the constitutional system and cabinet in Ukraine

Abstract: THE EVOLUTION OF A CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK is at the heart of the complex political transition experienced by the former Soviet republics during the first post-communist decade. Ukraine, like many other countries in the region, has opted for a semi-presidential constitutional model. As several scholars have already pointed out, both negotiating several constitutional arrangements and practising the norms prescribed by these arrangements proved to be difficult. The first post-communist decade in Ukraine was plagued with numerous conflicts among branches of government, political polarisation and dangerous challenges to democratic legitimacy. While constitutional debates about the underlying institutional framework in most of the countries in the post-communist region have already settled down, allowing politicians to turn to everyday political issues, the debates about the basic issues of government organisation in Ukraine are as topical as ever. Some of the major political parties persistently question the rationality of principles that guide the separation of powers in Ukraine. Both parliamentary factions and individual deputies have repeatedly mounted attacks on the existing constitutional system, proposing radical amendments to the 1996 constitution. And finally, the incumbent president, whose second term in office is about to expire in 2004 and whose chances of securing the election of a favoured successor are slim, declared to the surprise of many observers that the constitutional provisions guiding the separation of powers in Ukraine had to be changed. This article examines how the choice of this constitutional model affects both the relationship among key institutional actors and the prospects of institutional change. It starts by analysing the character of the relationship between the president and parliament in the context of their competition over control of the cabinet. While the issue of constitutional system stability is more fundamental than the problem of cabinet stability, I start with the latter because understanding the conflict over cabinet formation and the cabinet’s stay in office allows illumination of the principal lines of institutional rivalry in the Ukrainian political system. I then proceed by examining how the institutional interests and preferences of key political actors who inhabit the presidency, the legislature and the cabinet affect the prospects of maintaining or changing the constitutional status quo in Ukraine.