Showing papers on "Constitution published in 2008"

The constitution of equality

Abstract: Introduction 1. The Basis of Equality 2. Social Justice and Public Equality 3. Democracy as the Public Realization of Equality 4. An Egalitarian Conception of Liberal Rights 5. Equality and Public Deliberation 6. The Authority of Democracy 7. The Limits of Democratic Authority

On Global Order: Power, Values, and the Constitution of International Society

Abstract: 1. Governing the globe PART I: FRAMEWORKS 2. The anarchical society revisited 3. State solidarism and global liberalism 4. Complex governance beyond the state PART II: ISSUES 5. Nationalism and the politics of identity 6. Human rights and democracy 7. War, violence and collective security 88. Economic globalization in an unequal world 9. The ecological challenge PART III: ALTERNATIVES 10. One world? Many worlds? 11. Empire reborn? PART IV: CONCLUSIONS 12. The state of international society and the pursuit of justice Biobliography

Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America's Tradition of Religious Equality

Abstract: From one of America's most distinguished moral philosophers, a sweeping, historically based argument that equal respect for citizens is the bedrock of American freedom. Since even before it was a nation, America had to address the ongoing struggle between religious fervour and religious freedom. But the Founders of the future United States overcame religious intolerance and hatred in favour of a constitutional order dedicated to fair treatment for people's deeply held conscientious beliefs: Liberty of conscience became a right. This respect for religious difference formed the bedrock of America: it made equality possible. Yet today there are signs that this legacy is misunderstood. The prominence of a particular type of Christianity in US public life suggests the unequal worth of citizens who hold different religious beliefs, and political and legal traditions are invoked to defend the idea that this widespread Christianity is what defines America as a nation. Yet nothing, Nussbaum insists, could be further from the Founding Fathers' objectives. "Liberty of Conscience" is an historical and conceptual study of the great tradition of religious freedom at the heart of the American system. Weaving together political history, philosophical ideas and key constitutional cases, this is a rich chronicle of an idea that has always been a necessary condition for freedom and equality, but which is now in serious danger.

Escape Routes: Control and Subversion in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract: Acknowledgements List of figures Prologue I THE POLITICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE PRESENT 1. Sovereignty and control reconsidered 2. Escape! II A CONTEMPORARY ITINERARY OF ESCAPE 3. Life and experience 4. Mobility and migration 5. Labour and precarity References Index

Rescaling the "Alien," Rescaling Personhood: Neoliberalism, Immigration, and the State

Abstract: Through an exploration of relevant legislation and court cases, this article discusses the contemporary constitution of neoliberal subjects via the devolution of select immigration powers to state and local governments by the federal government of the United States. Since the latter decades of the nineteenth century, the federal government has had plenary power over immigration, which has enabled it to treat “people as immigrants” (or as “nonpersons” falling outside of many Constitutional protections), simultaneously requiring that states and cities treat “immigrants as people” (or as persons protected by the Constitution). Beginning in the mid-1990s, however, the devolution of welfare policy and immigration policing powers has challenged the scalar constitution of personhood, as state and local governments have newfound powers to discriminate on the basis of alienage, or noncitizen status. In devolving responsibility for certain immigration-related policies to state and local governments, the federal gov...

The Invisible Constitution of Politics: Contested Norms and International Encounters

Abstract: List of tables and graphs Preface 1. Introduction Part I. Three Theoretical Moves: 2. Constitutionalism beyond modernity 3. The dual quality of norms 4. Making normative meaning accountable for international relations Part II. Case Study: Reconstructing the Structure of Meaning-in-Use: 5. Citizenship 6. Democracy and the rule of law 7. Human rights and fundamental freedoms Part III. Evaluation: 8. Comparative assessment and working hypothesis 9. Incorporating access to contestation Annex References Index.

Globalization and the State in Central and Eastern Europe: The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment

Abstract: Introduction 1. Understanding convergence towards the competition state: The transnational constitution of domestic politics 2. The rise of the competition state: Towards the Porterian workfare postnational regime 3. Creating national capitalism against the odds: The internally oriented project in the Czech Republic 4. The internally oriented pathways in the early nineties: By default or by design? 5. The time of the comprador service sector: How Czechs ignited competition for FDI 6. Political support of the competition state: The comprador service sector and its allies 7. The investment promotion machines: Everyday politics and the multi-scalar constitution of the competition state. Conclusion. Bibliography

The Constitutionalization of International Law and the Legitimation Problems of a Constitution for World Society

Abstract: With the monstrous mass crimes of the twentieth century, states as the subjects of international law forfeited the presumption of innocence that underlies the prohibition on intervention and immunity against criminal prosecution under international law. Since the end of the Second World War, of course, international law has not developed solely in response to wars of aggression and mass crimes; the advances have not been confined to the security and human rights regime of the United Nations. Both inside and outside the United Nations, forms of international governance have developed in the fields of energy, the environment, finance, and trade policy, of labor relations, organized crime, arms trafficking, combating epidemics, etc. Continental alliances between states are also developing in tandem with common markets and currencies. The accelerated incremental growth of international organizations can also be understood as a response to the need for regulation generated by the increasing interdependence of an emerging world society whose functional subsystems cross national borders. With these innovations in international law, there is also a growing need for intercultural communication and interpretation between civilizations shaped by one or more of the major world religions. During the same period, the sovereignty of the subjects of international law was not only formally restricted within the context of the international community – for example, with regard to the elementary right to conduct war and make peace. Nation-states have in fact lost a considerable portion of their controlling and steering abilities in the functional domains in which they were in a position to make more or less independent decisions until the most recent major phase of globalization (during the final quarter of the twentieth century).1 This holds for all of the classical functions of the state, from safeguarding peace and physical security to guaranteeing freedom, the rule of law, and democratic legitimation. Since the demise of embedded capitalism and the associated shift in the relation between politics and the economy in favor of globalized markets, the state has also been affected, perhaps most deeply of all, in its role as an intervention state that is liable for the social security of its citizens. These historical developments must be taken into account when it comes to theorybuilding; hence it is counterproductive to cling to the state-centered tradition of modern political thought. It seems more promising to me to take up Kant’s idea of the cosmopolitan constitution at the requisite level of abstraction with the goal of liberating the notion of a constitutionalization of international law2 from the idea of a world republic that is rejected for good reasons.3 On the other hand, the very historical developments alluded to above call to mind a resulting problem that remains unsolved. For as international institutions form an increasingly dense network and nation-states lose competences, a gap is opening up between the new need for legitimation created by governance beyond the nation-state and the familiar institutions and procedures that have hitherto more or less succeeded in generating democratic

Neo-Liberal Ideology: History, Concepts and Policies

Abstract: 1. Introduction: Reinventing Liberal Ideology I: Ideas in Context 2. Liberal Traditions 3. The 'Rebirth of Liberalism' 4. Reinventing the Liberal Agenda II: Political Concepts 5. The Market: Against the State 6. Welfare: The Legitimacy of State Provision 7. The Constitution: Government and the Rule of Law 8. Property: Individualism and Ownership 9. Conclusion Bibliography Index

Ecuador: Correa's Plebiscitary Presidency

Abstract: With the election of Rafael Correa in 2006, Ecuador joined the ranks of Latin American countries that have taken the "Left Turn" in national politics. Correa views his presidency as an opportunity to effect profound political change by convoking a constituent assembly to write a new constitution. In the course of campaigning for the constituent assembly, Correa constructed a powerful hyper-plebiscitary presidency—a mode of governance marked by the president’s recurrent appeals to public opinion and special elections that enhances the legitimacy of the executive at the expense of congress. Using the informal and formal powers of his office, Correa was able to govern "over the heads" of existing institutions and greatly debilitate what remained of the political opposition.

Boundaries and Belonging: States and Societies in the Struggle to Shape Identities and Local Practices

Abstract: List of contributors Preface and Acknowledgements Part I. Introduction: 1. Mental maps and virtual checkpoints: struggles to construct and maintain State and social boundaries Joel S. Migdal Part II. On the Eve of the Nation-State: The Ottoman Empire: 2. Do states always favor stasis? Changing status of tribes in the Ottoman empire Resart Kasaba 3. The preamble boundaries of Ottoman jewry Sarah Abrevya Stein Part III. The State and 'Dangerous Populations': 4. 'Dangerous populations': state territoriality and the constitution of national minorities Adriana Kemp 5. Making Myanmars: language, territory, and belonging in post-socialist Burma Mary Callahan 6. Institutionalizing virtual Kurdistan West: pro-Kurdish politics in Western Europe Nicole Watts Part IV. Inscribing Membership and Contesting Membership in the Nation: 7. Challenging boundaries and belongings: 'mixed blood' allotment disputes at the turn of the twentieth century Lauren Basson 8. Belonging and not: civil boundaries in Rossland, BC during the Great War Kenneth Lawson 9. Boundaries and belonging in conditions of extreme politicization: the Chinese state in private and public spaces, 1949-1968 Neil Diamant 10. Reproductions and maintenance of group boundaries: Why the 'secular' Wtate matters to religious authorities in Israel Patricia Woods Part V. Beyond the State: Transnational Forces and the Challenge to the State: 11. Belonging in the PACE lane: fast border-crossing and citizenship in the age of neoliberalism Matthew Sparke 12. Contested boundaries: citizens, states, and the supranational belonging in the European Union Lisa Conant 13. Boundaries of the nation-state and the lure of the Islamic community in Turkey Yesim Arat Part VI. Conclusion: Conclusion Beatrice Hibou Index.

Constitutional afterlife: The continuing impact of Thailand's postpolitical constitution

Abstract: Thailand’s constitution of 1997 introduced profound changes into the country’s governance, creating a “postpolitical” democratic structure in which an intricate array of guardian institutions served to limit the role of elected politicians. Ultimately, the constitutional structure was undermined in a military coup against populist billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, who had taken over many of the institutions designed to constrain political power. Nonetheless, the 1997 constitution appears to be having a significant afterlife, in that its institutional innovations have survived the enactment of a new Constitution and continue to constrain the political process. This article describes the Thai situation and speculates on the conditions for constitutional afterlife.

Kenya's Quest For Democracy: Taming Leviathan

Abstract: Introduction. The Reconstruction of the African State. Africa and Postcolonial Trauma. The Constitutional History of Kenya. The Liberal Democratic Consensus. The Quest for a Democratic Constitution. The Institution of the Review Commission. The National Conference as Process. Matters of Convergence. Things Fall Apart. The End Game. What Must Be Done.

Second Amendment Minimalism: Heller as Griswold

Abstract: The Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller might be taken in three different ways. First, it might be seen as a modern version of Marbury v. Madison, speaking neutrally for the text, structure, and original understanding of the Constitution. Second, it might be seen as analogous to Lochner v. New York, in which a majority of the Court invoked a dubious understanding of the Constitution in order to override the democratic will. Third, it might be taken as analogous to Griswold v. Connecticut, in which a majority of the Court, proceeding in minimalist fashion, used the Constitution to vindicate the contemporary judgments of a national majority. It is true that in emphasizing constitutional text and structure, the Court spoke in terms close to those in Marbury; indeed, Heller is the most self-consciously originalist opinion in the history of the Supreme Court. It is also true that many historians reject the Court's understanding of the Second Amendment, making it plausible to see the ruling as a modern incarnation of Lochner. But the timing and context of the decision suggest that Griswold is the most illuminating analogy. In both cases, the Court spoke on behalf of the contemporary sentiment of a national majority against a national outlier. The claimed analogy between Griswold and Heller fits well with the fact that Heller is a narrow ruling with strong minimalist elements. No less than the right of privacy, and notwithstanding the backward-looking nature of the Court's opinion, the right to have guns is likely to evolve over time through case-by-case judgments made under the influence of contemporary social commitments.

Constitution of the Republic of Turkey

Abstract: In line with the concept of nationalism and the reforms and principles introduced by the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Atatürk, the immortal leader and the unrivalled hero, this Constitution, which affirms the eternal existence of the Turkish nation and motherland and the indivisible unity of the Turkish state, embodies; The determination to safeguard the everlasting existence, prosperity and material and spiritual well-being of the Republic of Turkey, and to attain the standards of contemporary civilization as an honourable member with equal rights of the family of world nations; The understanding of the absolute supremacy of the will of the nation and of the fact that sovereignty is vested fully and unconditionally in the Turkish nation and that no individual or body empowered to exercise this sovereignty in the name of the nation shall deviate from liberal democracy and the legal system instituted according to its requirements; The principle of the separation of powers, which does not imply an order of precedence among the organs of state, but refers solely to the exercising of certain state powers and discharging of duties which are limited to cooperation and division of functions, and which accepts the supremacy of the Constitution and the law; The recognition that no protection shall be accorded to an activity contrary to Turkish national interests, the principle of the indivisibility of the existence of Turkey with its state and territory, Turkish historical and moral values or the nationalism, principles, reforms and modernism of Atatürk and that, as required by the principle of secularism, there shall be no interference whatsoever by sacred religious feelings in state affairs and politics; the acknowledgment that it is the birthright of every Turkish citizen to lead an honourable life and to develop his or her material and spiritual assets under the aegis of national culture, civilization and the rule of law, through the exercise of the fundamental rights and freedoms set forth in this Constitution in conformity with the requirements of equality and social justice; The recognition that all Turkish citizens are united in national honour and pride, in national joy and grief, in their rights and duties regarding national existence, in blessings and in burdens, and in every manifestation of national life, and that they have the right to demand a peaceful life based on absolute respect for one another’s rights and freedoms, mutual love and fellowship and the desire for and belief in “Peace at home, peace in the world”. This Constitution, which is to be embraced with the ideas, beliefs, and resolutions it embodies below should be interpreted and implemented accordingly, thus commanding respect for, and absolute loyalty to, its letter and spirit. Is entrusted by the Turkish nation to the patriotism and nationalism of its democracy-loving sons and daughters.

The constitution of risk communication in advanced liberal societies.

Abstract: This article aims to bring to the fore some of the underlying rationales that inform common conceptions of the constitution of risk communication in academic and policy communities. ‘Normative’, ‘instrumental’ and ‘substantive’ imperatives typically employed in the utilisation of risk communication are first outlined. In light of these considerations a theoretical scheme is subsequently devised leading to the articulation of four fundamental ‘idealised’ models of risk communication termed the ‘risk message’ model, the ‘risk dialogue’ model, the ‘risk field’ model and the ‘risk government’ model respectively. It is contended that the diverse conceptual foundations underlying the orientation of each model suggest a further need for a more contextualised view of risk communication that takes account not only of the strengths and limitations of different formulations and functions of risk communication, but also the underlying knowledge/power dynamics that underlie its constitution. In particular it is hoped that the reflexive theoretical understanding presented here will help to bring some much needed conceptual clarity to academic and policy discourses about the use and utility of risk communication in advanced liberal societies.

The Language of Liberty 1660-1832: Political Discourse and Social Dynamics in the Anglo-American World

Abstract: Introduction: the structure of Anglo-American political discouse 1. Law, Religion and Sovereignty 2. Constitutional Innovations and their English Antecedents 3. The genesis of political discourse 4. Transatlantic ties and their failure 5. The Commonwealth paradigm 6. Denominational discourse 7. The implications of theological conflict 8. Denominational dynamics and political rebellions Part I. The Conflict Between Laws: Sovereignty and State Formation in the Uniter Kingdom and United States: 1. Law, nationality and nationalism: monarchical allegiance and identity 2. The creation of the United Kingdom, 1536-1801: religion and the origins of the common-law doctrine of sovereignty 3. Sovereignty and political theory from Justinian to the English jurists 4. Natural law versus common law: the polarisation of a common idiom 5. Sovereignty, dissent, and the American rejection of the British state 6. Sovereignty and the New Republic: the American constitution in transatlantic perspective Part II. The Conflict Between Denominations: The Religious Identity of Early Modern Societies: 1. Before redefinition: politics and religion in the old society 2. Anglicanism as an agency of state formation: the question of establishment 3. Canon law, heterodoxy and the American perception of tyranny 4. The Anglican ascendancy as the hegemony of discourse 5. The Anglican dream: harmony and conflict in the English parish 6. The Anglican nightmare: sectarian diversity in colonial America Part III. Predispositions: Rebellion and its Social Constituencies in the English Atlantic Empire, 1660-1800: 1. Rebellions and their analysis in the Anglo-American tradition 2. Covenanters, Presbyterians and Whigs: resistance to the Stuarts in England and Scotland, 1660-1689 3. Colonial American rebellions, 1660-1689, and transatlantic discourse 4. The rights of Englishmen, the rhetoric of slavery, and rebellions in Britain and America, 1689-1760 5. The right of resistance and its sectarian preconditions in north America, 1760-1799 6. The rhetoric of resistance and its social constituencies in England and Ireland, 1733-1828: some transatlantic analogies 7. Denominations, social constituencies and their activation Part IV. Political Mobilisation: The American Revolution as a War of Religion: 1. The American Revolution as a civil war 2. Predispositions, accelerators and catalysts: the role of theology 3. Heterodox and orthodox in the Church of England 4. The divisions and disruptions of English dissent 5. Heterodoxy and rebellion in colonial America, 1760-1776 Conclusion: 'Desolating Devastation': The Origins of Anglo-American Divergence.

Constitution Writing in Post-conflict Settings: An Overview

Abstract: During the past forty years, over 200 new constitutions have emerged in countries at risk of internal violence. Internationally brokered peace accords have entailed the development of constitutions not only in the Balkans but also in Cambodia, Lebanon, East Timor, Rwanda, Chad, Mozambique, Bougainville-Papua New Guinea, Nepal, the Comoros, and other places. (1) New constitutions have heralded the adoption of multiparty systems from Albania to Zambia. (2) Policymakers have started to ask what we have learned and specifically whether some constitutional reform processes are more likely than others to deliver a reduction in violence or more rights-respecting fundamental documents. For example, over the past decade, the Commonwealth, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the non-governmental organization International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) have worked to develop good practice guidelines for the conduct of constitution writing. (3) Does the type of deliberative forum make a difference? Do better results emanate from elected constituent assemblies than from unelected bodies? Does the choice of decision rules shape the regard for a broader range of interests? This challenge is difficult. Our instincts tell us that process makes a difference. Constitution writing has sometimes inflamed passions and sparked violence, as it did in the Solomon Islands, Iraq, Chad, and the Republic of the Congo, for example. (4) It has produced better than expected results in some other countries, including South Africa. (5) It is devilishly difficult to show, empirically, that procedures made the difference in these cases, however. A number of very serious analytical problems hamper the ability to give a social science answer to the question policymakers have asked. Mark Tushnet is right to wave warning flags. (6) Nonetheless, there may be some paths forward. My primary intention here is to offer a description of the range of procedures currently in use and the "results," very narrowly defined, associated with these procedures. This overview draws on an original dataset, (7) as well as on conversations that took place among constitution drafters and scholars under the auspices of Princeton University, Interpeace, and International IDEA in May 2007. (8) It serves as a preface to some of the other contributions in this issue. Part I probes some of the expectations one might have about the effects of process on outcomes. Part II defines what drafters mean by "process" and offers a quick, general description of recent trends in the choice of procedure. Part III explores some of the patterns in the data. Part IV offers an agenda for research and discussion of constitution writing and conflict resolution. I. EXPECTATIONS High hopes often attend efforts to write new constitutions. "Success" has many dimensions. A common aspiration includes the achievement of a durable agreement, an arrangement that will not be disregarded or suspended lightly and within a short period. More immediately and perhaps more importantly, people often hope for a reduction in violence and an increase in civility. The degree to which a constitution or a constitution-writing process displaces conflict from the streets and into institutions is an important measure of success. Said one participant in a conference at Princeton University in May 2007, "a successful process is transformational; it converts the spoilers." (9) The people most able to cause violence accept the basic terms and are willing to process disagreements in constitutionally acceptable ways. Their orientation toward political institutions and toward law changes in the course of negotiations. Success may have other dimensions as well. It may pertain to the choice of terms in the document itself. Order is not all that matters in today's world. Historically, constitutions often developed as agreements about how to design government so that the sovereign could not abuse citizens, especially those who had to foot the bill, in money or lives, of foreign misadventures and lavishness at home. …

Constitutional design for divided societies : integration or accommodation?

Abstract: Introduction: Integration, Accommodation and the Agenda of Comparative Constitutional Law PART I: SETTING THE STAGE 1. Integration or accommodation? The enduring debate in conflict regulation 2. The internationalization of minority rights 3. Does the world need more Canada? The politics of the Canadian model in constitutional politics and political theory 4. Beyond the dichotomy of universalism and difference: four responses to cultural diversity 5. Groups and constitutionalism in divided societies: a dynamic approach to the design of democratic institutions PART II: CASE STUDIES 6. Indonesia's quasi-federalist approach: accommodation amidst strong integrationist tendencies 7. Integrationist and accommodationist measures in Nigeria's constitutional engineering: successes and failures 8. The limits of constitutionalism in the Muslim world: identity and narration in Islamic law 9. A tale of three constitutions: ethnicity and politics in Fiji 10. Rival nationalisms in a plurinational state: Spain, Catalonia and the Basque Country 11. Northern Ireland 12. Iraq's Constitution of 2005: liberal consociation as political prescription 13. Recognition without empowerment: minorities in a democratic South Africa 14. Giving with one hand: Scottish devolution within a unitary state

The Unitary Executive: Presidential Power from Washington to Bush

Abstract: This book is the first to undertake a detailed historical and legal examination of presidential power and the theory of the unitary executive. This theory, that the Constitution gives the president the power to remove and control all policy-making subordinates in the executive branch, has been the subject of heated debate since the Reagan years. To determine whether the Constitution creates a strongly unitary executive, Steven Calabresi and Christopher Yoo look at the actual practice of all forty-three presidential administrations, from George Washington to George W. Bush. They argue that all forty-three presidents have been committed proponents of the theory of the unitary executive, and they explore the meaning and implications of this finding.

Security, Law, Borders: Spaces of Exclusion

Abstract: Politics of borders and the distinction between inside/outside have become an important security practice of liberal states. Borders are strategically used to change the balance between security and liberties. This article analyzes the legal constitution of border zones and argues that security is not exceptional in its constitution but results from ordinary law and practices. Illiberal practices at border zones are embedded in ordinary politics of the liberal state.

Same players, different game: how better rules make better politics

Abstract: In this essay, I summarize a whole area of inquiry associated with constitutional political economy. I first try to outline the elements of political structure, the political rules that clearly influence the outcomes of the process. I look, briefly, at a range of specific structures that, taken together, will shape the constitution of any organized democratic polity. This constitution will, in its turn, influence the pattern of collective outcomes that may be observed. I argue that the disparate success of differing political communities in achieving objectives that seem to be commonly shared may be primarily due to the mix of elements in the basic structure of rules, and not to the differences as among the political players.

The Challenge of a Critical Gerontology : The Problem of Social Constitution

Abstract: Abstract This article focuses on the problem of social constitution which is seen as the principal theoretical challenge that is implicit in the different approaches to “critical gerontology. ” The acknowledgment of a social constitution of both gerontology and aging contrasts with the conventional understanding of gerontology, which is dominated by an idealized concept of natural science as the representative of “objective” knowledge. In an analysis of recent developments in the philosophy, sociology and history of science it is shown that the problem of social constitution can no longer be avoided in theoretical reflection on gerontology. The theoretical and practical relevance of this problem is illustrated at different levels of analysis. These levels correspond partly with the different traditions that inspire the approaches to “critical gerontology.”

Regarding the Dutch `Nee' to the European Constitution A Test of the Identity, Utilitarian and Political Approaches to Voting `No'

Abstract: In June 2005, 61.5% of the Dutch voted ‘nee’ in the referendum on the European constitution. In the present contribution I test hypotheses from the national identity, utilitarian and political approaches to explain this voting behaviour. I collected data in the Netherlands to test whether one of those approaches has been decisive in explaining the referendum outcome. I also provide information about whether specific EU evaluations from these approaches explain the voting behaviour, thus bringing in the discussion on the importance of domestic political evaluations (second-order election effects). I also test hypotheses on which theoretical approach explains differences between social categories in rejecting the constitution. My results show that specifically EU evaluations in particular accounted for the ‘no’ vote, although in conjunction with a strong effect from domestic political evaluations. I also find evidence for ‘party-following behaviour’ irrespective of people’s attitudes. Utilitarian explanations determine the ‘no’ vote less well than political or national identity explanations. The strongest impact on voting ‘no’ came from a perceived threat from the EU to Dutch culture.