Constitution

About: Constitution is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 37828 publications have been published within this topic receiving 435603 citations.

Law and politics: the Ministério Público and the defense of collective rights

Abstract: The article analyzes the recent process of institutional reconstruction of the Brazilian Ministerio Publico (MP). The first part deals with the main legal texts which, in the last two decades, have redefined the activities of the MP. Three main elements are considered: the regulation of disperse and collective rights, public civil action and the new legal and constitutional attributions of the MP. The author explains how the 1988 Constitution, in consolidating previous isolated norms, produced an institutional arrangement that has brought about an extensive judicialization of collective conflicts and a politicization of the judicial institutions, especially the MP. The second part, based on a survey, approaches the reconstruction of the institutional role of the MP, seen through the eyes of its own members. Of equal or even greater importance than the new institutional picture is the doctrinal and ideological renewal that has taken place among procuradores e promotoresin recent years. Observation of their discourse provides us with an understanding of the identity that this doctrinal and ideological renewal seeks to stamp on the institution. In its final part, the article points out the limits and contradictions in this process of institutional reconstruction.

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.

The Original Understanding of Original Intent

Abstract: When interpreting the Constitution, judges and commentators often invoke the “original intent of the framers” in support of their positions. Many claim that such an interpretive strategy is not only currently desirable, but indeed was the expectation of the Constitution’s drafters and early interpreters. In this Article, Professor Powell examines the historical validity of the claim that the framers of the Constitution expected future interpreters to seek the meaning of the document in the framers’ intent. He first examines the various cultural traditions that influenced legal interpretation at the time of the Constitution’s birth. Turning to the history of the Constitution’s framing, ratification, and early interpretation, Professor Powell argues that although early constitutional discourse did contain references to “original intention” and the “intent of the framers,” the meaning of such terms was markedly different from their current usage. He concludes that modern resort to the “intent of the framers” can gain no support from the assertion that such was the framers’ expectation, for the framers themselves did not believe such an interpretive strategy to be appropriate.

Judicious choices: designing courts in post-communist politics☆

Abstract: One area which has been generally overlooked in the literature on institutional choice in post communist politics has been the design of judicial institutions. This paper seeks to evaluate a number of different explanations for judicial systems choice in post communist politics, especially those which emphasize the influence of socio-cultural factors, economic factors, the judicial legacies of the past, and political bargaining. As an empirical test of these explanations, we examine variations in the amount of judicial power that constitution makers granted to the constitutional courts in the countries of the former Soviet Union, Mongolia, and Eastern Europe.

The Awakening of Muslim Democracy: Religion, Modernity, and the State

Abstract: Part I. The Making of Islam as a Modern Religion: 1. Modernization and politicization of religion 2. Nation-state building and the inclusion of Muslim polities within the Westphalian order 3. Islam in the constitution 4. Nationalization of Islamic institutions and clerics 5. Islam in the legal system 6. Teaching Islam in public schools Part II. Islamism as the Central Political Force Pre- and Post-Arab Spring: 7. Political opposition through Islamic institutions 8. Ideological strength of Islamist opposition 9. From martyrs to rulers Part III. The Disjunction of Democracy and Secularism - Lessons Learned from the Arab Spring: 10. The rise of unsecular democracies: the conundrum of religious freedom in Muslim democracies 11. The way forward: the role of Islam in future democratizations Conclusion. The tragedy of modernity.