scholarly journals Governing Democracy Outside the Law: India's Election Commission and the Challenge of Accountability

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
M. Mohsin Alam Bhat
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Democratic Accountability ◽  
Indian Politics ◽  
Institutional Accountability ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
The Law ◽  
Election Commission

Abstract Comparative law and politics literature widely recognizes the role of election management bodies (EMBs) in securing the well-being of constitutional democracies. Scholars have noted the political desirability of both independence and accountability of these institutions. But striking balance between these two values is easier said than done. This Article highlights the dilemma of accountability by focusing on India's Election Commission (ECI) as a paradigmatic version of a powerful EMB. Scholars of Indian politics have long noted the institution's widening powers – often beyond the original constitutional intent or parliamentary legislation – over the last few decades. This, they argue, has impaired its institutional accountability. This Article adopts a fresh perspective on the ECI's expansive functions, and the attendant concerns these raise. It argues that the ECI regulates the electoral process not through what we may ordinarily identify as the law. The most compelling and consequential of its functions are through extra-legal modalities of regulation. Drawing from recent scholarship on regulation, the Article argues that the ECI shapes the electoral environment and behaviour through non-legal modalities of architecture, nudge and notice-based regulations. Much like the other fields where they are deployed, these extra-legal modalities exhibit unique, and in many ways, inherent limitations with respect to transparency. It is thus this character of the ECI's functions – rather than only their widening breadth – that poses the most significant challenge for democratic accountability. Based on this assessment, the Article notes that for powerful EMBs like the ECI, accountability in the form of on-going operational accountability is inherently limited in compelling ways. This increases the stakes for accountability of these institutions through other means, particularly by securing their constitution, composition and tenure.

scholarly journals Ultranationalism, democracy and the law: insights from Côte d'Ivoire

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Piccolino
Keyword(s):  
Cote D'ivoire ◽  
Côte D’Ivoire ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
Cote D’Ivoire ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Côte D'ivoire ◽  
The Law

ABSTRACTAlthough much has been written about the ideology of Laurent Gbagbo's Front Populaire Ivoirien in Côte d'Ivoire and its impact on the Ivorian politico-military crisis, little attention has been paid to the ubiquitous role of the law in the discourse and political strategy of the pro-Gbagbo elite. The Ivorian case may provide important insights about the connection between ultranationalist ideology and a legalist, formalist conception of democracy and national sovereignty. The article analyses the circumstances of the emergence of ‘legalist nationalism’ in Côte d'Ivoire by looking at key episodes of the Ivorian transition between 2002 and 2012. The article discusses the relevance of Pierre Englebert's concept of ‘legal command’ and the turbulences of democratic transitions in accounting for the prominence of legalism in Ivorian politics. It explores the implications of the Ivorian case for understanding the connection between law and politics in Africa.

How Should Ethics Consultants Weigh the Law (and other Authoritative Directives)?

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 768-777
Author(s):  
Peter Koch
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Ethics ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Ethical Standards ◽  
Legal Standards ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Exclusionary Reason ◽  
The Law ◽  
Normative Considerations

In the continuing debate about the role of the Clinical Ethics Consultant in performing clinical ethics consultations, it is often assumed that consultants should operate within ethical and legal standards. Recent scholarship has focused primarily on clarifying the consultant's role with respect to the ethical standards that serve as parameters of consulting. In the following, however, I wish to address the question of how the ethics consultant should weigh legal standards and, more broadly, how consultants might weigh authoritative directives, whether legal, institutional, or professional, against other normative considerations. I argue that consultants should reject the view that authoritative directives carry exclusionary reason for actions and, further, ethicists should interpret directives as lacking any moral weight qua authoritative directive. I then identify both implications and limitations of this view with respect to the evolving role of the ethics consultant in an institutional setting, and in doing so propose the kinds of considerations the ethicist should weigh when presented with an authoritative directive.

scholarly journals The Sexual Orientation of a Parent as a Factor when Considering Care

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 292
Author(s):  
Chantelle Feldhaus
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
International Law ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Law ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Right

Section 28(2) of the Constitution states that a child's best interest is of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child.  Section 9 further provides that every person is considered equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law. Several grounds are listed relating to the unfair discrimination of persons, including their sexual orientation. The concept of care is incorporated in the Children's Act, and it entails a comprehensive description of parents' daily life regarding children and the powers and duties expected to ensure the general protection, well-being and best interests of the child. The aim of this contribution is to discuss the sexual orientation of a parent as a factor when considering care and the extent to which courts may give consideration to such a factor. The article will also address the question of whether or not the role of a parent's sexual orientation in determining the best interests of the child has changed since the common law concept of custody was replaced by the concept of care in the Children's Act. In this article, care and the best interests of the child will be discussed first. International law will be considered thereafter, followed by a discussion on the approach of our courts, pre- and post-1994, in order to come to a conclusion and make recommendations.

International humanitarian law's old questions and new perspectives: On what law has got to do with armed conflict

2016 ◽  
Vol 98 (903) ◽  
pp. 995-1017
Author(s):  
Thomas Forster
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
State Behaviour ◽  
The Law ◽  
A Current

AbstractThe question of whether international humanitarian law (IHL) has an impact on how armed conflicts are conducted is a controversial one. Sceptics claim that the law is virtually irrelevant in determining State behaviour in armed conflict. Proponents point to its importance in mitigating the suffering caused by war. This paper looks at recent scholarship from historians, political scientists, economists and lawyers that challenges traditional narratives held dear by the law's sceptics and proponents alike. It then discusses implications of these approaches for a current understanding of the role of IHL in today's armed conflicts. The new perspectives allow for a broader understanding of IHL's central issues and permit us to ask more pertinent questions when looking at the law with the aim of putting it to use for the protection of civilians.

Transforming the guest–host relationship: a convivial tourism approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1069-1088
Author(s):  
Xinran Lehto ◽  
Dori Davari ◽  
Soona Park
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Economic Experience ◽  
Market Communication ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This study aims to provide a fresh perspective toward understanding the forces that exist in the guest-host dynamic and thereby contribute to the guest–host relationship literature. Design/methodology/approach This study examines guest–host relationship via the philosophical lens of convivialism. Findings This study conceptualizes conviviality in the guest–host relationship. A convivial guest–host relationship is characterized by well-being mutuality and hospitality mutuality. Such a relation can be built when the guest and the host form a tri-party of coalitions, namely, economic, experience and hospitality. While an economic coalition represents the pragmatic value in a guest–host relationship, an experience coalition represents an experiential value in a guest–host relationship. A hospitality coalition then represents the spiritual alliance in such a relationship. Practical implications This paper suggests that tourism development should be guided by a conviviality vision. Health and well-being of both the visitors and the destination community should be a goal priority. This paper suggests that the starting point of experience planning is the residents, not the visitors. The critical role of hospitality in formulating market communication strategies is emphasized. Social implications This study contributes to the larger conversation of diversity and sustainability. Originality/value This study proposes a convivial tourism model – a form of tourism that is oriented toward mutuality of hospitality and well-being of both visitors and destination communities.

scholarly journals Law and Refugee Crises

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 289-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Pasquetti ◽  
Noemi Casati ◽  
Romola Sanyal
Keyword(s):  
Postcolonial Theory ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
The People ◽  
Push Forward ◽  
The Law ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
The One

Refugees have an increasing global significance, as their numbers continue to grow and the nature of displacement continues to evolve. Different international, state, and local laws and policies play a part in refugee crises. On the one hand, then, it is important to theorize the role of the law in shaping different formations of displacement; on the other, it is also crucial to address how the people involved in these crises (government officials, street-level bureaucrats, forced migrants, and receiving populations) engage with the law. We highlight and develop three areas of sociolegal inquiry that can push forward the study of the law and politics of refuge: ( a) the uneven geography shaping the global humanitarian machine; ( b) the local contexts within which such a machine operates, interacting with different actors’ conceptualizations of justice; and ( c) the distinct dilemmas that the urban environment poses to both refugees and humanitarians. Advancing these areas of sociolegal inquiry requires enriching established theoretical sources in refugee studies with both neglected ones, such as postcolonial theory and Pierre Bourdieu's sociology of forced displacement, and newer ones, such as Didier Fassin's anthropology of morality and pragmatic sociology of ordinary judgments of fairness.

The Fact of a Rumor: Anthony Trollope's The Eustace Diamonds

2007 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
AYELET BEN-YISHAI
Keyword(s):  
Literary Realism ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Positive Law ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Law ◽  
Legal Fact

This essay joins recent scholarship on the epistemology of realist fiction by investigating the role of facts in the creation of fiction. Close scrutiny of Anthony Trollope's The Eustace Diamonds (1872) reveals several different processes of fact-making: legal ones as well as nonlegal communal endeavors such as rumor, gossip, and the regulation of propriety. The neat division whereby legal facts belong to the realm of the empirical and the facts of rumor belong to the communal does not hold in the novel, however: underneath the surface of almost any empirical and legal fact are traces and residues of a communal endeavor. The instability of facts and fact-making in the novel prompts a reconsideration of the epistemology of realist form and of novelistic probability: just how are fictional facts determined? Building on Irene Tucker's understanding of probability as a self-conscious reflection of the empirical, the essay argues that the ostensibly empirical epistemology of fictional probability is also a communal one. Moreover, the secular empirical rules of realism are not as stable——or empirical——as we have come to understand them. In the legal realm, this epistemological reconsideration shows how literary realism has drawn on the law not only to ground its famously empirical discourse but also to anchor novelistic truth in a communal endeavor. The Eustace Diamonds thus problematizes not only the production of fact in the novel but also the empiricist, positive-law tradition from which this concept emerged.

The Law and Politics of International Cultural Rights: E. Stamatopoulou, Cultural Rights in International Law; F. Francioni and M. Scheinin (eds.), Cultural Human Rights

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-501
Author(s):  
Patrick Macklem
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractTwo recent books place international law at the centre of inquiries into the nature of cultural rights. The first, Cultural Rights in International Law: Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Beyond, by Elsa Stamatopoulou, explores "the concept of cultural rights by reviewing international and national legal instruments, international practice, and especially the role of UN bodies and entities in the implementation of these rights". The second, Cultural Human Rights, is a collection of essays edited by Francesco Francioni and Martin Scheinin. Wide-ranging in scope, Cultural Human Rights includes contributions that explore the relationship between cultural rights and the state, the relationship between cultural rights and other human rights, the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples, normative justifications of human rights in general and minority rights in particular, the law and politics of cultural identity and collective memory, and various forms of cultural protection in a variety of regional and international institutional contexts. Both demonstrate that understanding cultural rights in international law requires a multi-faceted approach, one that pays close attention to the historical, textual and institutional dimensions of cultural rights. They reveal, too, that international legal commitments to sovereignty and human rights are more relevant to moral and political accounts of the significance of cultural rights than they might otherwise appear.

scholarly journals Nationalist Mobilization, Ethno-Religious Contention, and Legal Innovation in a Stateless Nation: Explaining Catalonia’s 2009 “Law on Centers of Worship”

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 295
Author(s):  
Avi Astor
Keyword(s):  
Religious Diversity ◽  
The Other ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Political Autonomy ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Legal Innovation ◽  
The Law ◽  
The One ◽  
Building Project

This article analyzes the development and framing of Catalonia’s “Law on Centers of Worship”, an innovative law dedicated exclusively to the regulation of religious temples that was passed by the regional parliament in 2009. The law was a legal novelty in Spain, as well as in Europe, where regulations pertaining to places of worship are typically folded into regional or municipal laws and ordinances dealing with zoning and construction. This analysis highlights how the law aimed not only to address the challenges generated by the proliferation of places of worship serving religious minorities, but also to legally reinforce and symbolically affirm Catalonia’s political autonomy and cultural distinctiveness vis-à-vis Spain. I place particular emphasis on how the temporal confluence of heightened nationalist mobilization, on the one hand, and tensions surrounding ethno-religious diversification, on the other, contributed to the development of a legal innovation that integrated the governance of religious diversity within the broader nation-building project. The findings illustrate the role of historical timing and conjunctural causality in shaping the dynamic nexus between religion, law, and politics.

scholarly journals The Pivotal Role of a Lawyer in Combating Official Corruption in Nigeria

Rechtsidee ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Ushie James Ebuara
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Body Politics ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Official Corruption

The fact that Nigeria is a corrupt nation is no longer news. Nigeria is ranked internationally as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. As embarrassing as this status is, it is indeed the reality of our situation. The general public and now even the executive arm of the Federal government have continued to question how members of the legal profession discharge their role in applying the law because they have absolute belief in the law as their protection against the tendencies that are depriving them of their well being, dehumanizing them and even threatening the existence of their country, they waited for the law to respond to these tendencies by putting them in check, stop them completely or control them, they have watched helplessly the inability of law to effectively respond to these tendencies and have watched the tendencies continue unabated and escalated into the conditions we found ourselves today The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of lawyers as Judges, as Prosecutors and defence Attorneys in promoting and encouraging corruption in our body politics. It further examines in contrast the role lawyers should play in the renewed fight against corruption. Lawyers as  agents of social change should be in the vanguard for the reorientation of the mind set of Nigerian in the renewed fight against corruption and social rebirth generally. To effectively play this role members of the legal profession must purge themselves of corrupt tendencies and must be seen to be above board.

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