State Constitutional Reform and the Structure of Government Finance in the Nineteenth Century

2000 ◽  
pp. 33-52
Author(s):  
John Joseph Wallis
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Government Finance

Two Forms of Democracy: A Response to Mendelsohn's “Public Brokerage: Constitutional Reform and the Accommodation of Mass Publics”

2000 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 587-592
Author(s):  
Janet Ajzenstat
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Canadian History ◽  
Popular Participation ◽  
Parliamentary Government ◽  
Mass Publics ◽  
The Many ◽  
Constitution Making

Underlying Matthew Mendelsohn's plea for popular participation in constitution making is a tradition of democratic thought that Jennifer Smith calls “anti–partyism.” This is not the place to describe types of anti–partyism, or trace its roots in Rousseau; I will say only that in Canadian history, and still today, anti–partyism is critical of parliamentary government. In the mid–nineteenth century its proponents argued for the rule of the demos, “the many”; they called their philosophy, “democracy.” They were not calling merely for an extension of the franchise; they criticized the very idea of representative and responsible institutions, contending that responsible parliamentary government empowered “the few” at the expense of “the many.” Today, most scholars regard parliamentary government as a form of democracy, and usually remember that “democracy” has more than one definition. In his article, Mendelsohn unfortunately uses “democracy” to describe only views inclining to anti–partyism.

Presidential Term Limits in Bolivia

2019 ◽  
pp. 535-554
Author(s):  
David Doyle
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Term Limits ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Legal Issue ◽  
Long Line ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
Political Battle

The current 2009 Constitution of Bolivia specifies that the president may serve for a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms. This constitution however, is the latest in a long line of constitutional reforms, which have seen term limits repeatedly altered. Across seventeen different constitutions since 1826, Bolivia has overseen twelve reforms to term limits. As argued in this chapter, constitutionalism and term limits in Bolivia, partly due to the period of near constant constitutional reform in the latter half of the nineteenth century, were part of the wider political battle waged by rival caudillos in their pursuit of the presidential prize. Term limits became an instrumental concern, not a normative legal issue, and this legacy has important implications for the debate over term limits in Bolivia today. As such, support for, or opposition to, any reform of term limits tends to be shaped by partisan concerns above all else.

scholarly journals Lisvane's Legacy? Constitutional reform in the Isle of Man

Legal Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-41
Author(s):  
Peter W Edge
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
Legislative Council ◽  
Isle Of Man ◽  
Comparative Framework ◽  
The Uk

AbstractThe Isle of Man is a largely autonomous dependent territory of the UK. In 2016, Lord Lisvane was commissioned to report on the functioning of the principal organ of governance, the Tynwald. This Lisvane Review has led to substantial constitutional reform within this small democracy, particularly in relation to the unelected second chamber of Tynwald, the Legislative Council. This reflects an ancient tension within the Manx constitution between the House of Keys, since the mid-nineteenth century a directly elected chamber, and the unelected Legislative Council. The Lisvane period saw important changes to the composition and powers of the Legislative Council, as well as gender diversity within Tynwald as a whole. Placing the Manx experience within a broader small democracy theoretical and comparative framework demonstrates not only the possibility of constitutional reform, but also provides insights into resources for constitutional development, the special challenges of managing intimacy, and the dangers of over-concentration of power in a small democracy.

Moscow Psychological Society

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall A. Poole
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Russian Philosophy ◽  
Silver Age ◽  
Speculative Philosophy ◽  
Theoretical Support ◽  
Cultural Renaissance ◽  
Autonomous Development ◽  
Intellectual Legacy

The Moscow Psychological Society, a learned society founded in 1885 at Moscow University, was the first and main centre of the remarkable philosophical achievements of the Russian Silver Age, as the cultural renaissance at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries has come to be known. By the end of its activity in 1922, the Psychological Society had attracted most of the country’s outstanding philosophers and had made the major contribution to the growth of Russian philosophy. In pursuit of its goal of the free, autonomous development of philosophy in Russia, the Society advanced a powerful neo-idealist critique of positivism, an outlook that was remarkably pervasive in Russia from the middle of the nineteenth century and that sought to eliminate speculative philosophy as ‘unscientific’. For leading philosophers in the Society, neo-idealism offered compelling theoretical support not only for the autonomy of philosophy against reductive positivism, but also for rule-of-law liberalism and constitutional reform. This philosophical defence of liberalism helps differentiate the Society from other currents in the Silver Age. The Society closed in 1922 with the forced exile of many of its members. Its intellectual legacy has attracted much attention in post-communist Russia.

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