RUSSIA'S 2020 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
William PARTLETT
Keyword(s):  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Authoritarian Populism ◽  
The People ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Russian Constitution

Abstract This article will place the 2020 amendments to the Russian Constitution in comparative perspective. Although these amendments were officially justified as strengthening the Russian state in order to tackle emerging new problems, they constitutionalise already-existing legislative trends from the last twenty years. They therefore do little to overcome existing problems of Russian state building. What was the reform process about then? It was intended to project the image of reform by involving the people in a staged process of constitutional change while further entrenching the power of the current political elite. The constitutional reforms therefore demonstrate the symbolic role that constitutional law can play in seeking to ensure the survival of mature or later-stage forms of authoritarian populism. This kind of ‘theatrical constitution-making’ is a broader reminder of how the expressive aspects of constitutional change can be (ab)used by established authoritarian regimes.

scholarly journals The Choice of Constitutional Amendments in a Young Democracy – from Indirect to Direct Election of the President in Taiwan

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-131
Author(s):  
Da-chi Liao ◽  
Hui-chih Chang
Keyword(s):  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Loss Minimization ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Direct Form ◽  
Power Maximization ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
The Masses

This paper attempts to determine the kind of constitutional rule preferred in a young democracy when an institutional opportunity for constitutional change occurs. It adopts the standpoint of collective decision-making. This approach involves two crucial theoretical elements: the calculation of the interests of the political elite and the masses' comprehension of what democracy is. The case studied here is Taiwan's constitutional choice between the direct and indirect election of the president during the period from 1990 to 1994. The paper first examines how the political leaders might have used both the logic of power maximization and of power-loss minimization to choose their position on the issue. It then demonstrates that survey results indeed showed that respondents better understood the direct form of electing the president and therefore supported it over the indirect one. This support helped the direct form to eventually win out.

scholarly journals 2020 Constitutional Reform and Center-Region Relations in Russia

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Kudryashova ◽  
Rustam Mirzaev
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Center Region ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Russian Constitution ◽  
Regional Leaders ◽  
Consultative Body ◽  
Upper Chamber

This article examines 2020 constitutional reform in Russia. The amendments recently were approved on July, 1st by nation-vide vote. The purpose of the article is to analyze center-region trends in Russia and how they are reflected in the proposed constitutional amendments. The prospective changes in regional representation in the federal decision-making process shall also be discussed. The article shows how chaotic decentralization during the 90-s was replaced by a trend of centralization. The 2020 constitutional reform reflects a further strengthening of this centralization trend. The problems faced by the Russian regions are left unresolved. It is becoming an overcentralized country. The amended Russian Constitution envisages a reformed role for the Russian State Council. It is supposed to be defined in the Constitution as a consultative body by the President and is expected to be formed of regional leaders. At the same time, the Federal Council of the Federal Assembly (the upper chamber of the Russian parliament), which represents the different constituencies, is also set to be reformed. However, after the reform some of its powers shall be restricted. The changes to regional representation in the federal decision-making process has a controversial and inconsistent character and inevitably supports the general trend towards centralization.

scholarly journals The Yukos Arbitration Saga and Russia’s Constitutional Amendments

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 86-94
Author(s):  
Maren Krimmer
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Russian Company ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Arbitral Award ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Energy Charter Treaty ◽  
Russian Constitution ◽  
Appeals Court ◽  
Domestic Law

In February 2020, a Dutch appeals court ruled that the Russian state owed shareholders in the now-defunct Russian company Yukos 50 billion US dollars, one of the largest sums ever awarded. However, no country has yet been able to enforce the Yukos arbitral award issued in 2014 against Russia: while the arbitration tribunal in the Yukos investment case ruled in favour of the company, affirming that provisional application of the Energy Charter Treaty was compatible with Russian domestic law, Russia regards the matter as one of sovereignty and sees its power as being threatened. The article discusses whether non-enforcement of the award on the Russian government’s part would be justified by Article 15 (1) of the Russian Constitution and what impact the currently planned amendments to that foundational law might have with regard to international treaties and decisions of international bodies. The article concludes that the political and theory-oriented debate regarding Yukos will continue and that it will remain hard for the former Yukos shareholders to collect their money under the PCA’s arbitral award.

scholarly journals Authoritarian Populism in Indonesia: The Role of the Political Campaign Industry in Engineering Consent and Coercion

2021 ◽  
pp. 186810342110278
Author(s):  
Inaya Rakhmani ◽  
Muninggar Sri Saraswati
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequalities ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Political Campaign ◽  
Power Struggle ◽  
Young Voters ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
Authoritarian Populism ◽  
The People

All around the globe, populism has become increasingly prominent in democratic societies in the developed and developing world. Scholars have attributed this rise at a response to the systematic reproduction of social inequalities entwined with processes of neoliberal globalisation, within which all countries are inextricably and dynamically linked. However, to theorise populism properly, we must look at its manifestations in countries other than the West. By taking the case of Indonesia, the third largest democracy and the largest economy in Southeast Asia, this article critically analyses the role of the political campaign industry in mobilising narratives in electoral discourses. We use the Gramscian notion of consent and coercion, in which the shaping of populist narratives relies on mechanisms of persuasion using mass and social media. Such mechanisms allow the transformation of political discourses in conjunction with oligarchic power struggle. Within this struggle, political campaigners narrate the persona of political elites, while cyber armies divide and polarise, to manufacture allegiance and agitation among the majority of young voters as part of a shifting social base. As such, we argue that, together, the narratives – through engineering consent and coercion – construct authoritarian populism that pits two crowds of “the people” against each other, while aligning them with different sections of the “elite.”

Shaping Presidential Powers in Hungary: Convention, Tradition and Informal Constitutional Amendments

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 307-320
Author(s):  
Attila Vincze
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Exact Role ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Fundamental Law ◽  
Constitutional System ◽  
Presidential Systems ◽  
Judicial Interpretations

Abstract There was no tradition of a republican president in Hungary before the fall of communism, and the transitory constitution of 1989 was unclear about the exact role the President should play in the constitutional system of Hungary. Some provisions even resembled those of presidential or semi-presidential systems; some ambiguities were clarified during the first two decades after the transition. Conventions, however, were established to some extent and sometimes very quickly. This period gave rise to guidelines as to how the powers of the President should be exercised. Some other powers were concretized and interpreted foremost by the Constitutional Court. These conventions and judicial interpretations formed the character of the Presidency to the extent of informal constitutional change. Some of these elements have even been incorporated into and formalized by the new Fundamental Law of Hungary. The present contribution will point out how the originally broad competencies of the President have been narrowed in the practice, and what role the Constitutional Court and political actors played in this process.

The Case for Repealing the Second Amendment? The Historical Barriers to Constitutional Change

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 595-607
Author(s):  
David T. Konig
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Political ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Second Amendment ◽  
The People ◽  
The Right ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Popular Constitutionalism

The controversy surrounding the Second Amendment—“the right of the people to keep and bear arms”—is, to a large extent, historical in nature, redolent of other matters in this country’s legal and constitutional past. But the historical analogies that might support the Amendment’s repeal do not permit easy conclusions. The issue demands that legal historians venture beyond familiar territory to confront unavoidable problems at the intersection of theory and practice and of constitutional law and popular constitutionalism. An interdisciplinary analysis of Lichtman’s Repeal the Second Amendment illuminates the political, legal, and constitutional dimensions—as well as the perils—of undertaking the arduous amending process permitted by Article V of the U.S. Constitution.

scholarly journals Study on the Work Culture & Socio-economic Conditions of the Fishing Community working as Unorganised Labourers in Coastal Mangaluru, Karnataka

2017 ◽  
pp. 105-115
Author(s):  
Pradeep M.D.
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
Work Culture ◽  
Industrial Growth ◽  
Indian Economy ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
The People ◽  
Karnataka State

Labour is the prime contributor for the industrial growth and economic development of a country. It is known to be the segment which contributes significantly to the GDP of the Nation. Work is generally known to be the physical or mental engagement of the people in any economically productive activity for their livelihood. The Indian economy is characterized by the existence of a vast majority of employment in the unorganised sectors. Its dominance in the employment front is such that more than 90 per cent of the total workforce belongs to the informal economy. Planned Economic Development in the country can be achieved by eliminating poverty through employment and income generation. In this regard, Fisheries sector plays an important role in the developing countries of the world. The fisheries contribution to the Indian economy has enriched after the introduction of advanced technology to increase the yield per unit area of water attracting more foreign exchange. The problems of poverty and malnutrition faced in coastal areas can be simultaneously met through, planned utilization of available local resources and encouraging participation of the local people in the fishing occupation. Fisher folk are those people who engage in fishing activities. They are the victims of economic oppression and lives under social prejudices with low social status. There is a need to undertake systematic study on the life of the fishermen to seek solutions to their existing problems and to improve their overall status. This study will review into the work life of fisher folks in Thota Bengre village belonging to Mangaluru taluk in Karnataka State.

scholarly journals ANALISIS KOMODITAS UNGGULAN SEKTOR PERTANIAN DATARAN TINGGI SUMATERA UTARA

AGRIFOR ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Elvin Desi Martauli ◽  
Sarah Gracia
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Agricultural Commodities ◽  
Food Crop ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
The People ◽  
Economic Support ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
North Sumatra ◽  
Central Statistics

The agricultural sector in the highlands of North Sumatra is the main sector of economic support for the people in the area. Although some sub-sectors have not shown significant improvement in the economy. For this reason, researchers are interested in analyzing each basic or superior sub-sector, so that policies can be taken to solve existing problems. The purpose of this study was to analyze the superior commodities of the upland agricultural sector in North Sumatra. The data used in the secondary data is obtained from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2019 covering the food crop sub-sector, the vegetable and fruit horticulture sub-sector, the livestock sub-sector, the plantation sub-sector. To answer the research questions, LQ analysis is used to determine superior commodities. The results showed that the food crop sub-sector in the highlands was a superior commodity with LQ = 1.62. The vegetable and fruit horticultural sub-sector is included in the basic or superior category with each value (1.13), (1.80). The plantation sub-sector has the greatest LQ value with an LQ value of 2.90. So it can be concluded that upland agricultural commodities in North Sumatra are generally the base agricultural sector. 

scholarly journals New Jersey’s Zoning Amendment

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Alex Costin
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
The State ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
State Court ◽  
The People ◽  
Town Meeting ◽  
The Press ◽  
Growth And Change ◽  
The Town

A half century before the New Jersey Supreme Court endorsed inclusionary zoning in Southern Burlington N.A.A.C.P. v. Mount Laurel Township, the state struggled to secure basic municipal zoning. While New Jersey’s political elite embraced zoning in the 1910s and 20s to weather a period of tremendous growth and change, a disapproving judiciary steadfastly maintained that the practice violated basic property rights. Hundreds of state court decisions in the 1920s held zoning ordinances unconstitutional. Finally, the people of New Jersey in 1927 overwhelmingly passed an amendment to the state constitution overruling those decisions and affirming zoning as a reasonable exercise of the state’s police power. This essay traces those uncertain early years of zoning in New Jersey. The amendment was not the result of a state monolithically coming to its senses. Instead, its passage documents a decade-long struggle played out not only in the courts and legislature but also in the press and the town meeting.

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