Sovereignty

About: Sovereignty is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 25909 publications have been published within this topic receiving 410148 citations.

Indigenous Difference and the Constitution of Canada

Abstract: There is a unique constitutional relationship between Aboriginal people and the Canadian state - a relationship that does not exist between other Canadians and the state. It's from this central premise that Patrick Macklem builds his argument in this outstanding and significant work. Why does this special relationship exist? What does it entail in terms of Canadian constitutional order? There are, Macklem argues, four complex social facts that lie at the heart of the relationship. First, Aboriginal people belong to distinctive cultures that were and continue to be threatened by non-Aboriginal beliefs, philosophies, and ways of life. Second, prior to European contact, Aboriginal people lived in and occupied North America. Third, prior to European contact, Aboriginal people not only occupied North America; they exercised sovereign authority over persons and territory. Fourth, Aboriginal people participated in and continue to participate in a treaty process with the Crown. Together, these four social conditions are exclusive to the Aboriginal people of North America and constitute what Macklem refers to as indigenous difference. Exploring the constitutional significance of indigenous difference in light of the challenges it poses to the ideal of equal citizenship, Macklem engages an interdisciplinary methodology that treats constitutional law as an enterprise that actively distributes power, primarily in the form of rights and jurisdiction, among a variety of legal actors, including individuals, groups, institutions, and governments. On this account, constitutional law refers to an ongoing project of aspiring to distributive justice, disciplined but not determined by text, structure, or precedent. Far from threatening equality, constitutional protection of indigenous difference promotes equal and therefore just distributions of constitutional power. The book details constitutional rights to Aboriginal people that protect interests associated with culture, territory, sovereignty, and the treaty process, and explores the circumstances in which these rights can be interfered with by the Canadian state. It also examines the relation between these rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Feedoms, and proposes extensive reform of existing treaty processes in order to protect and promote their exercise. Macklem's book offers a challenge to traditional understandings of the constitutional status of indigenous peoples, relevant not only to Canadian debates but also to those in other parts of the world where indigenous peoples are asserting greater autonomy over their collective futures.

Globalization, Education, and Citizenship: Solidarity Versus Markets?

Abstract: This article suggests that globalization places limits on state autonomy and national sovereignty, affecting education in various ways. Those limits are expressed in tensions between global and local dynamics in virtually every policy domain. Globalization not only blurs national boundaries but also shifts solidarities within and outside the national state. Globalization cannot be defined exclusively by the post-Fordist organization of production; therefore, issues of human rights will play a major role affecting civic minimums at the state level, the performance of capital and labor in various domains, and particularly the dynamics of citizenship and democracy in the modern state. However, educational policy and its contributions to citizenship, democracy, and multiculturalism will face unprecedented challenges if the logic of fear, exacerbated by the events of September 11, prevails.

The Politics of Direct Democracy: Referendums in Global Perspective

Abstract: Tables and Figures Acknowledgements Introduction: Understanding Referendums * Referendums in Democratic Societies * Theoretical, Conceptual, and Procedural Problems * Referendums on Constitutional Issues * Canada's 1992 Constitutional Referendum * The 1993 Russian Constitutional Referendum * Electoral Reform in New Zealand * A Bill of Rights and a Republic? The Australian Constitutional Referendums of 1988 and 1999 * Referendums on Treaties and International Agreements * Spain's 1986 Referendum on NATO * The 1992 French Referendum on the Maastricht Treaty * The Nordic Referendums on European Union Membership * Denmark Says 'NO' Again: the 2000 Referendum on the European Currency * Referendums on Sovereignty, National Self Determination, Devolution * The Quebec Sovereignty Referendums * The 1991 Independence Referendum in Ukraine * Local Self Government for Scotland and Wales * Statehood for Puerto Rico? * Referendums on Public Policy Issues * Sweden's 1980 Referendum on Nuclear Power * Ireland's Referendums on Divorce and Abortion * The "California Model" * Switzerland: Government By Referendum? * Citizens, Parties and Voters * The Present and Future of the Referendum in Democratic Politics References Index "

State sovereignty as social construct: The social construction of state sovereignty

Abstract: During the last several years, there has been a virtual explosion of scholarly interest in sovereignty. This interest transcends all of the major divisions within the study of international relations, and it engages scholars across the globe. There has been a comparable increase in the level of attention given to sovereignty within the popular media. Much of this concern with sovereignty can be explained at least in part by the end of the Cold War and the possibilities of a “New World Order,” which have raised questions about many old assumptions, including those made about state sovereignty. Moreover, the dramatic fragmentation and dismemberment of major states such as Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, along with the potential fragmentation of many others, have led to renewed questions about the location of sovereignty – whether it lies in a population, or within a contiguous territorial space – and about the criteria for recognition as a sovereign state. As questions begin to be raised about the criteria for recognizing the modern state, can challenges to the traditional idea of sovereignty be far behind? Traditionally, sovereignty has been characterized as a basic rule of coexistence within the states system, a concept that transcends both ideological differences and the rise and fall of major powers, and it is frequently invoked as an institution that must be both protected and defended.